Kinematic synthesis and optimization design of a rice pot seedling transplanting mechanism

Abstract

To achieve the precise operation trajectory and posture required for pot seedling transplanting and solve the problem that the partial reversal of the transplanting arm’s output in the double planet carrier transplanting mechanism, which is unconducive to the realization of the seedling pushing action, a motion synthesis method for a double planet carrier gear train mechanism with attitude constraints based on the output angle and four exact task poses is proposed. First, the ideal transplanting trajectory is planned according to the transplanting agronomic requirements, and the position and attitude information of the four key points on the ideal trajectory are extracted as the constraints of the mechanism design. Then, based on the relative displacement equation, a comprehensive design equation of the motion of the plane 3R mechanism (simplified model of the transplanting mechanism) about the output rotation angle and the precise four pose constraints is established, and the mechanism parameters that meet the constraint requirements are obtained by solving the multicellular homotopy method. A mathematical model of the roundness of the non-circular gear was also established, and the roundness of the transmission non-circular gears in the gear-train transplanting mechanism was optimized by using the genetic algorithm. Finally, the structural design, virtual simulation, and experimental analysis of the double-planet carrier gear train transplanting mechanism were completed. The results show that the actual trajectory and attitude are consistent with the theoretical design, and when then the mechanism was under the transplanting efficiency of 120 and 180 plants/min, the success rates of picking seedlings were 91.53% and 87.46%, respectively, meeting the design requirements.