Abstract
To realize real-time and accurate performance monitoring of large- and medium-sized seed metering devices, a performance monitoring system was designed for seed metering devices based on LED visible photoelectric sensing technology and a pulse width recognition algorithm. Through an analysis of the of sensing component pointing characteristics and seed motion characteristics, the layout of the sensing components and critical photoelectric sensing system components was optimized. Single-grain seed metering devices were employed as monitoring objects, and the pulse width thresholds for Ekangmian-10 cotton seeds and Zhengdan-958 corn seeds were determined through pulse width threshold calibration experiments employed at different seed metering plate rotational speeds. According to the seeding quantity monitoring experiments, when the seed metering plate rotational speed ranged from 28.31~35.71 rev/min, the accuracy reached 98.41% for Ekangmian-10 cotton seeds. When the seed metering plate rotational speed ranged from 13.78~19.39 rev/min, the seeding quantity monitoring accuracy reached 98.19% for Zhengdan-958 corn seeds. Performance monitoring experiments revealed that the qualified seeding quantity monitoring accuracy of cotton precision seed metering devices, missed seeding quantity monitoring accuracy, and reseeding quantity monitoring accuracy could reach 98.75%, 94.06%, and 91.30%, respectively, within a seeding speed range of 8~9 km/h. This system meets the requirements of real-time performance monitoring of large- and medium-sized precision seed metering devices, which helps to improve the operational performance of seeding machines.
Highlights
Seeding is a critical link in agricultural production, and improving the seeding quality is a meaningful way to increase crop yield
The seeding quantity monitoring results showed that the pulse width recognition method (PRM) proposed in this study significantly improved the monitoring accuracy over the traditional pulse counting method (PCM), especially for Zhengdan-Table 3
The reason for the slightly lower missed seeding quantity monitoring accuracy was that a small number of seeds categorized as suitable by the monitoring system collided with the seed guide tube or were deflected by the sticky belt after passing through the detection area
Summary
Seeding is a critical link in agricultural production, and improving the seeding quality is a meaningful way to increase crop yield. Performance monitoring systems for seed metering devices have been developed, and the majority of these devices are based on piezoelectric, capacitance, machine vision, and photoelectric sensing methods. This was the main reason that the accuracy of the photoelectric sensor is unsatisfactory in monitoring the performance of the seed metering device, especially regarding the reseeding quantity. Wang et al [4] developed a piezoelectric sensor for rice seeds using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) material Their results indicated that the detection accuracy declined with increasing advancing speed of the planter. The obtained results demonstrated that the maximum detection error of the sensor remained within 5% when the air pressure reached 166 Pa, and the seeding rate was lower than 170 seeds/s under the recommended operating parameters
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call