DEVELOPMENT OF A TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESS AND A DEVICE FOR REMOTE SEED RIPENESS CONTROL

Abstract

Bjective determination of the ripeness of plant seeds is one of the directions of development of agricultural electrical technologies. The methods currently used have disadvantages related either to subjectivity or to their duration, or they are destructive and require the chemicals. A good alternative to existing methods is the optical luminescent method. (Research purpose) The research purpose is developing a technological process for determining the ripeness of plant seeds based on changes in their spectral luminescent properties and creating a remote control system for its practical implementation. (Materials and methods) Experiments were carried out to measure the spectral excitation response (effective absorption) and photoluminescence of plant seeds of various ripeness. Samples of wheat, oats, corn and peas with varying ripeness were selected for experiments during the ripening process. (Results and discussion) The spectral excitation response with the ripening of seeds have maxima at wavelengths of 362 and 424 nanometers and decrease, the long-wavelength of 485 nanometers remains unchanged. Therefore, the ratio of photoluminescence fluxes allows us to predict the ripeness of seeds. The dependence of the ratio on the maturation time is statistically reliably approximated by a linear function. The developed technological process for assessing the ripeness of seeds includes the following stages: sample preparation, excitation of luminescence in the short-wave and long-wave ranges, its registration and amplification, followed by analysis based on previously obtained a priori equations and making a decision on the timing of harvesting. The developed design can be implemented both as a separate device and as an attachment on an unmanned aerial vehicle, the most suitable for the implementation of remote ripeness monitoring is the DJI Phantom 4 pro drone. (Conclusions) A device has been developed to determine the level of physiological maturity of seeds. The device can be used remotely using an unmanned aerial vehicle.