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Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester

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A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Biosystem and Biological Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 24088

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Hua Li

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Guest Editor

College of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 008625, China
Interests: precision; planting; harvesting; agricultural equipment; modern agriculture; parameter optimization; machine systems-crops-soil
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Lizhang Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education & Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu University, Nanjing 008625, China
Interests: modern design methodology of farm machinery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As is known, the earliest farming dates back to 10,000 years ago. By combining the reaping, threshing, and winnowing, we humans invented the very first combine harvester in history. Nowadays, agricultural productivity has been largely boosted thanks to modern planting machinery and combine harvesters. Meanwhile, millions of farmers are freed from labor-intensive production work. In the foreseeable future, more techniques concerning precise detection, monitoring and decision support systems, and innovative machinery optimization are broadly needed. Specifically, these techniques could be critical to the construction of future farms and AI management systems, which can be highly automatic and economic to human society. Fortunately, a lot of research has been dedicated to solving these problems and improving our practical agricultural production. Lastly, the integration of agronomy and machinery technologies has contributed to significant progress and gained widespread support in research of these decades, which is exactly what Agronomy aims to achieve. New research papers, reviews, case reports, and conference papers are welcome in this issue. Papers dealing with new approaches to apply precise monitoring or real-time detection in planting and harvesting machinery, as well those based on modern design methodologies in farm machinery and precise planting and management, are also welcome. Other manuscript types accepted include methodological papers, position papers, brief reports, and commentaries.

Here are some examples of topics that could be addressed in this Special Issue:

New method and equipment in planting machinery;
New method and equipment in harvesting machinery;
Design methodology in farm machinery;
Precise monitoring or real-time detection technologies;
AI management system;
Integration of agronomy and machinery technologies.

Prof. Dr. Hua Li
Prof. Dr. Lizhang Xu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

planting machines
machinery optimization
precise monitoring
real-time detection
decision support system
harvesting techniques
simulation analysis
agronomy
machine learning

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 172 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester

by Hua Li and Lizhang Xu

Agronomy 2022, 12(12), 3177; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12123177 - 15 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1290

Abstract

Vegetable production machinery has developed considerably over the years [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

20 pages, 8930 KiB

Open AccessArticle

CFD Simulation and Experiments of Pneumatic Centralized Cylinder Metering Device Cavity and Airflow Distributor

by Baolong Wang, Yi Na, Yihong Pan, Zhenbo Ge, Jian Liu and Xiwen Luo

Agronomy 2022, 12(8), 1775; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12081775 - 28 Jul 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1429

Abstract

The distribution of airflow field in the pneumatic centralized cylinder metering device cavity, airstream distributor and different angle seed feeding tubes was investigated based on the pneumatic centralized cylinder direct-seeding metering device to study the effect on the movement law of rice seed. In total, three suction hole sizes (1.5 mm, 2 mm and 2.0 mm 45° wedge) were used for CFD simulation. The results showed that under the same inlet vacuum, the pressure at the 1.5 mm hole is higher than the other two types of holes, and the five measurement points of the 2 mm hole are more stable than the other two types of holes. At the positive pressure seed feeding area, the inlet pressure was set as 1.5 kPa, and the outlet pressure was set as 0 Pa. The pressure distribution at different measuring points showed that the 2 mm 45° wedge had the most uneven positive pressure distribution, and the 1.5 mm hole had higher positive pressure distribution than the 2 mm hole in general. Three different structured airflow distributors were designed. CFD simulation experiments showed that the arc transition type presented better uniformity than the other two types. The uniformity experiments at the ends of the seed-feeding tubes indicated that the airflow velocity had the trend of large in the middle and small at two sides. Finally, the movement law of the rice seeds in seed feeding tubes at different angles was obtained by using high-speed photography. The results showed that the rice seeds in tube C (maximum angle) presented a movement posture of falling sector a and kept falling after colliding in sector b; the rice seeds in tube B (the second angle) presented a movement posture of falling in sector a and kept falling after colliding in sector b. The above research provides a reference for the optimal design of a pneumatic centralized cylinder metering device. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester)

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19 pages, 4661 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

DEM-MBD Coupling Simulation and Analysis of the Working Process of Soil and Tuber Separation of a Potato Combine Harvester

by Yuyao Li, Zhichao Hu, Fengwei Gu, Bing Wang, Jiali Fan, Hongguang Yang and Feng Wu

Agronomy 2022, 12(8), 1734; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12081734 - 22 Jul 2022

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2278

Abstract

To address the competing relationship between tuber damage and soil removal in potato combine harvesting, this study investigated the operating mechanism of a belt-rod type separator of a small-scale self-propelled potato combine harvester and the separation performance between tuber and soil. The main factors affecting the tuber-soil separation characteristics were derived from a theoretical analysis of the belt-rod angle, belt-rod linear velocity, and harvester forward speed. A simulation model based on DEM (Discrete Element Method)-MBD (Multibody Dynamics) coupling was constructed and single-factor simulation tests were carried out. Then a three-factor, three-level Box–Behnken test was conducted using the coefficient of force on the tuber and soil clearing rate as response indicators. The optimal combination of parameters resulting in low tuber damage and high soil clearing rate was obtained by solving the regression equations. The optimal parameters were a belt-rod angle of 17.5°, a belt-rod linear velocity of 1.37 m/s, and a harvester forward speed of 0.80 m/s. The simulation model was validated by field experiments and the error between the simulation model and the field harvest was found to be 3.81%. The results can be used as a reference for parameter optimization of small-scale potato combine harvesters and coupled DEM-MBD simulation of tuber-soil separation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester)

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13 pages, 2617 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of Field Performance of Different Driving Systems and Forward Speed Measuring Methods for a Wet Direct Seeder of Rice

by Yunxia Wang, Wenyi Zhang, Bing Qi and Qianqian Xia

Agronomy 2022, 12(7), 1655; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12071655 - 11 Jul 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1570

Abstract

Research on precision seeders operated in the dry field shows that an electric driving system used for a seed meter can significantly improve the planting uniformity. The measuring method for forward speed greatly affects the control accuracy of the electric driving system. However, the performance of an electric drive system for precision seeders operating in wet fields, such as paddy, is still unclear. The operating conditions of dry and wet fields are quite different, and it is necessary to study the effects of an electric driving system and corresponding speed measuring methods on a wet-field operating seeder. In this paper, field experiments were carried out by using a wet direct planter of rice under three driving methods for seed meter, including classic mechanical driving system (MDS), electric driving system with speed acquiring from an encoder (EDSE), and electric driving system with speed acquiring from the global positioning system (EDSG), at forward speeds of 4.62, 5.81, and 7.23 km·h⁻¹. The seeding uniformity (seeding rates, coefficient of variations) and the slippage (slippage rate, broken strips) were investigated. Results showed that the EDSG exhibited more qualified operation performance compared with the MDS and the EDSE. For both the MDS and EDSE, the seeding rates significantly decreased and deviated from the desired value as the forward speed increased. The negative slippages of MDS and EDSE were 3.47–31.72% and 2.13–7.7%, respectively, and they significantly increased when the forward speeds increased from 4.62 to 7.23 km·h⁻¹. Analysis of the seeding uniformity and slippage presented that the EDSG exhibited a more qualified operation and is recommended for the wet direct seeder of rice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester)

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17 pages, 7681 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Parameter Optimization of a Finger Clip Plate Garlic Seed-Metering Device Based on EDEM

by Haoyi Wang, Xinping Sun, Hua Li, Jieyi Fu, Xiaoping Zeng, Youzhi Xu, Yongjian Wang, Huaqing Liu and Zhimin Lü

Agronomy 2022, 12(7), 1543; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12071543 - 28 Jun 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1563

Abstract

In present-day mechanized garlic seeding, high missing rates and low qualified percentages of single seeds are common problems; thus, a finger clip plate garlic seed-metering device was designed in this study. First, the structure and working principle of the seed-metering device were studied. Subsequently, the critical component parameters of the seed-metering device were determined using theoretical calculations; then, EDEM software was used in single-factor simulation experiments to analyze the effects of opening the diameter of the seed-collecting spoon, the operating speed of the seeding tray, and the population number on the seed-filling performance. Finally, a Box–Behnken center combination experiment was conducted with the population, opening the diameter of the seed-collecting spoon, and rotating the speed of the seeding tray as experiment factors, with the single-seed filling rate, qualified percent, and missing rate as evaluation indicators. A three-factor and three-level orthogonal test was conducted to establish the mathematic regression model of the experiment factors and evaluation indicators, as well as to realize the parameter optimization. After rounding, the laboratory validation test was carried out with 240~280 seeds, a 26 mm seed scoop-opening diameter, and a 28 r/min operating speed. The average qualified rate, missing rate, and reply rate of single seeds were 91.86%, 2.71%, and 5.43%, respectively, which is basically consistent with the forecast results of regression model. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester)

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14 pages, 2677 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bionic Optimization Design and Experiment of Reciprocating Cutting System on Single-Row Tea Harvester

by Zhe Du, Denghui Li, Jiangtao Ji, Liyuan Zhang, Xinping Li and Huankun Wang

Agronomy 2022, 12(6), 1309; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12061309 - 30 May 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1806

Abstract

The reciprocating cutting system is one of the key parts of a tea harvester; and its cutting performance directly determines the cutting power consumption and harvesting quality of the machine. Because the structural parameters of reciprocating cutting systems do not match the tea cut; resulting in larger cutting resistance, it is necessary to optimize the structural parameters. The cricket mouth part has outstanding performance in tea tree fiber cutting; and the curved structural characteristics of the upper jaw of the cricket have been useful to improve the cutting efficiency of cutting system. Quantitative analysis of the structure of the upper jaw revealed that the arc-shaped structure of the incisor lobe would inspire new bionic blades and bionic cutters to solve the above problems. The cutting performance experiment of the cutting blade was designed for investigating the effects of inter-node number; tea variety and blade type (ordinary blade; bionic blade e and bionic blade f) on the cutting force and cutting power consumption. Experimental results of cutting performance have shown that the bionic blade could reduce cutting resistance and cutting power consumption. Tea varieties had little effect on cutting force and cutting power consumption. In addition, the orthogonal test was carried out to study the influence of cutter type with the cutting speed ratio and cutting angle on the integrity rate and missing rate of tea shoot. The field cutting experiment showed that the cutting angle was the most important for the integrity rate and missing rate of tea shoot; followed by the cutter speed ratio; and finally, the cutter type. The optimum combination of parameters was a cutting speed of 0.8 m/s; a forward speed of 1.0 m/s; a cutting angle of −3°, and using the bionic cutter e. With the optimal parameter combination, the integrity rate and missing rate of the tea shoot were 92.7% and 3.9%, which were increased by 13.2% and decreased by 6.4% compared to those under the condition of the 0° cutting angle and an ordinary cutter. As a result, the bionic cutter could obviously reduce cutting resistance; reduce cutting power consumption and improve the harvesting quality. These results would provide guidance for the design of the reciprocating cutting system of tea harvesters and other stalk cutting machinery. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester)

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18 pages, 9382 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biotribological Characteristic of Peanut Harvesting Impact-Friction Contact under Different Conditions

by Peng Zhang, Hongbo Xu, Xiaoru Zhuo, Zhichao Hu, Chenglong Lian and Bing Wang

Agronomy 2022, 12(6), 1256; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12061256 - 24 May 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2247

Abstract

Although cutting flow peanut-picking is the main peanut harvesting method, it has the problems of a large harvest loss and a high damage rate of peanut shells. The analysis of impact-friction contact characteristics during peanut fruit picking is crucial to illustrate peanut fruit picking damage. A typical peanut variety, “Dabaisha”, was considered in this study. The characteristics of peanut-picking impact-friction were studied using a peanut-picking impact-friction test bench under different conditions. An orthogonal test with three factors and levels was performed after the single-factor condition was determined. The apparent morphologies of peanut shells before and after the collision and friction tests were compared and analyzed using micro-computed tomography, white-light interferometry, and optical microscopy, whereas the impact-friction damage characteristics of peanuts under the influence of various factors were discussed. The results show that the orders of influence of the coefficient of friction of peanuts and wear loss of peanut pods were as follows: invasion depth > moisture content > contact linear velocity and moisture content > invasion depth > contact linear velocity, respectively. The experimental results and discussion in this study can provide a data reference for developing and designing peanut mechanization production equipment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester)

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16 pages, 5244 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Performance Parameters Optimization of a Three-Row Pneumatic Precision Metering Device for Brassica chinensis

by Xinping Sun, Hua Li, Xindan Qi, Samuel Mbugua Nyambura, Jiaqiao Yin, Yunlong Ma and Jinshuang Wang

Agronomy 2022, 12(5), 1011; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12051011 - 23 Apr 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 1700

Abstract

To improve the problem of low seeding efficiency facing the single-row planting mode traditionally used in China, this study aimed to design a novel three-row pneumatic precision metering device. The working principle and main structure were introduced in the paper. The three main factors affecting the seeding performance comprised of vacuum pressure, angular velocity of the metering tray, and taper angle of the sucking hole. A Box-Behnken experiment design having the qualified index and missed seeding index as the experimental index was used, and the results indicated that optimal performance of the metering device was achieved when the vacuum pressure was 2.16 kPa, the angular velocity of the metering tray was 29.43 rpm, and the taper angle of the sucking hole was 61.51°. The qualified index of the inner, middle, and outer ring was 95.12%, 94.68% and 94.24% respectively, while the missed seeding index of the inner, middle, and outer ring was 3.67%, 3.12% and 2.58% respectively under the optimal combination of parameters. The bench test results were basically consistent with the optimized results. This paper can provide support for the design of a three-row pneumatic precision metering device for Brassica chinensis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester)

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14 pages, 4819 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimation of Crop Height Distribution for Mature Rice Based on a Moving Surface and 3D Point Cloud Elevation

by Yixin Sun, Yusen Luo, Qian Zhang, Lizhang Xu, Liying Wang and Pengpeng Zhang

Agronomy 2022, 12(4), 836; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12040836 - 29 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2103

Abstract

Estimation of rice plant height distribution plays a significant role in keeping the feed rate of rice combine harvesters stable. This is an effective way to guarantee the working stability of the whole machine, as a consequence, improving threshing and cleaning efficiency and reducing loss and damage rates. However, dense growth and leafy and bent branches of mature rice make it difficult to detect the lowest point of aggregated growing plants in three dimensional (3D) point cloud data. Therefore, the objective of this study was to put forward a method to estimate plant height distribution on the basis of a moving surface and 3D point cloud elevation. The statistical outlier removal (SOR) algorithm was used to reduce noise points far away from target point cloud body, and then moving surface fitting elevation was applied to achieve accurate classification of ground and crop point cloud data for plant height estimation. Experiments showed that, compared with the actual value, the average square root error (RMSE) of the estimation results was 8.29, the average absolute percentage error (MAPE) was 9.28%, and the average accuracy was 90%. The proposed method could accurately estimate the height of mature rice and is beneficial to calculating the feed rate in advance, which can provide a reference for further investigation in automatic and intelligent harvesting. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester)

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16 pages, 5036 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of an Attitude Adjustment Crawler Chassis for Combine Harvester and Experiment of Adaptive Leveling System

by Jinpeng Hu, Jiahui Pan, Buwang Dai, Xiaoyu Chai, Yixin Sun and Lizhang Xu

Agronomy 2022, 12(3), 717; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12030717 - 16 Mar 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3644

Abstract

Body tilt is typically unavoidable for agricultural vehicles or platforms when operated over tough terrain in agricultural production, and, therefore, it is not possible to guarantee the operation performance. Current leveling methods mainly focus on wheeled vehicles or adjustment for single working parts rather than the vehicle body, and few of them could be applied to crawler vehicles. The objective of this research was to put forward an adaptive leveling system for combine harvesters based on the development of a new four-point lifting adjustable crawler chassis. The working principle of the proposed adjustable mechanism was studied on the basis of the analysis of adjustment characteristics under multiple posture adjustment conditions in a RecurDyn environment. The design relies on the combination of the attitude detection of the leveling system and adjustment calculation of driving hydraulic cylinders according to the established mathematical models. Within the designed adjustable extent (including adjustment range of vehicle height 0–87.8 mm, lateral inclination ±3.98° and longitudinal inclination −2.9–5.2°), the leveling performance of lateral and longitudinal inclination was then tested separately. The experiment showed that the leveling system could achieve automatic leveling with an accuracy of ±0.4° and could provide technical support for the development of crawler vehicles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester)

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29 pages, 9512 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Key Structure Design and Experiment of Air-Suction Vegetable Seed-Metering Device

by Jian Xu, Junwei Hou, Weibin Wu, Chongyang Han, Xiaoming Wang, Ting Tang and Shunli Sun

Agronomy 2022, 12(3), 675; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12030675 - 11 Mar 2022

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3132

Abstract

The air-suction precision seed-metering device is prone to the instability of the seed adsorption state, which arises from blockage of the suction hole and leads to uneven seeding. This paper analyzed and determined key structural parameters of the seed-metering plate, then established an adsorption mechanics model of the seed during the migration process and designed the key structure of the air-suction seed-metering device with the aim of improving the uniformity of high-speed direct seeding of vegetables. Furthermore, we used the DEM-CFD coupling method to analyze the influence of the law of seeds on the change of the flow field with different hole types. Results showed that the turbulent kinetic energy (202.65 m²∙s⁻²) and the coupling force to the seeds (0.029 N) of the B-type hole are the largest, which is the best fluid domain structure for the suction hole of the seed-metering plate. Moreover, we used Adams to analyze the meshing process between the knock-out wheel and the seed-metering plate, affirming the rationality of the knock-out wheel design. Finally, in order to improve the working efficiency of the seed-metering device, we performed one-factor and response surface experiments of seeding performance using the air-suction seed-metering device designed with the optimized structure as the experimental object. Analysis of the influence of weights across each factor on the experimental performance evaluation indicators revealed an optimal combination of seeding performance parameters in the air-suction seed-metering device, namely a seed-throwing angle of 13°, a working speed of 14.5 km/h, and negative pressure of 3.1 kPa. Results from verification experiments revealed the corresponding experimental indicators, namely qualified, multiple, and missing indexes of 95.9, 1.2%, and 2.9%, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Key Technologies of Planting Machinery and Combine Harvester)

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