Abstract
To realize the mechanization of flowerpot seedling transplanting, a creative mechanism to transplant flowerpot seedlings was designed. The mechanism is based on noncircular gear in combination with a transplanting arm equipped with an extensive seedling pick-up device to transplant the flowerpot seedlings from the growing tray to the flowerpot, which in accordance with the transplanting agronomy requirements. The working principles of a theoretical model and kinematic characteristics of the transplanting mechanism were analyzed. The computer-aided analysis and optimization software based on Visual Basic 6.0 was developed and used to obtain a set of special trajectory and attitude parameters satisfying the transplanting operation requirements. The optimized parameters were used for virtual manufacturing and simulation testing of the transplanting mechanism. The virtual prototype testing results are consistent with the theoretical analysis, verifying the structural design validity and rationality. The high-speed photography was used in a bench test of the transplanting mechanism with “Salvia Splendens” pot seedlings as test samples. The trajectory and attitudes of the theoretical analysis, virtual test, and physical prototype test were essentially identical. The bench test results showed that the success rate was 91.67% for the seedling pick-up device penetrating into the root mass at 35 mm, thus, the quality of the extracting seedling was satisfactory. Keywords: transplanting mechanism, rotary-extensile type, pot seedlings, flowers DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20191206.5188 Citation: Yin D Q, Wang J Z, Zhang S, Zhang N Y, Zhou M L. Optimization design and experiments of a rotary-extensile type flowerpot seedling transplanting mechanism. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2019; 12(6): 45–50.
Highlights
With the acceleration of China’s urbanization process, urban landscape construction gradually advances
The transplanting method is that seedling production occurs on a growing tray, and the flowerpot seedlings are transplanted from the tray to the flowerpot with a suitable growth status[2]
To realize the mechanization of a potted flower plant, the Netherlands, the United States and other countries have applied mechatronics technology to increase the efficiency of flowerpot seedling transplantation by expanding the number of manipulators
Summary
With the acceleration of China’s urbanization process, urban landscape construction gradually advances. To realize the mechanization of a potted flower plant, the Netherlands, the United States and other countries have applied mechatronics technology to increase the efficiency of flowerpot seedling transplantation by expanding the number of manipulators. Feng et al.[12] reported that a key part of automatic transplanting for flower seedlings was developed based on the machine’s vision technology. This flexible grasper was applied to hold the seedling root; after inserting the fingers into the soil, the ring-shaped spring drove the fingers to remove the seedling from the tray holes to the flowerpots. To develop a high-efficiency and simple flowerpot transplanting mechanism is of great significance for liberating labor and realizing large-scale flowerpot transplantation. The results from the model were consistent with those from the bench test, verifying the validity and feasibility of the transplanting mechanism
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