Development of an automated precision planter for solanaceous vegetable seeds

Abstract

An automated precision planter was developed to mechanize the seedling preparation process. The machine was fabricated based on the seeds size and tray cells distance. It can precisely place single seeds per row in tray continuously. Tomato, eggplant, and pepper were used as test materials. Three vacuum pressures (0.68 kPa, 0.93 kPa, and 1.18 kPa) were used to determine the performance of the machine. Evaluated in terms of single seeds, double, multiple, missing cells, singulation efficiency, seed utilization efficiency, seeding efficiency and seeding capacity. Results showed it can plant single seeds with 57.81–86.98%, double with 4.95–29.43%, multiple with 0.09–4.25%, and missing cells with 4.43–36.89%. Also, the machine has a singulation efficiency of 63.98–93.91% with a seed utilization efficiency of 70.69–94.17%, seeding efficiency of 63.11–95.57% and a seeding capacity between 3,310 – 5,011 cells per hour which was 3.8 times faster than manual. The precision of the machine was affected by pressure and seed surface area which are highly significant on the performance of the machine. The total cost of the planter was $564.94 with a payback period of 1.41 years with a return on investment of 60.36 % using a custom rate of $0.055/tray.