Study on the Method and Mechanism of Seedling Picking for Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Plug Seedlings

Abstract

To better meet the requirements of mechanized transplanting of pepper plug seedlings, this study explores the seedling picking mechanism of a fully automatic pepper transplanting machine. It introduces a novel “eagle beak” type trajectory for seedling picking and designs a probe-type mechanism for pepper plug seedling retrieval. We establish a kinematic theoretical model and delineate the composition and operational principles of this probe-type mechanism. Additionally, we develop an auxiliary optimization software tailored based on Visual Basic 6.0 visual programming software for this mechanism. It employs a blend of manual fine-tuning and a “parameter guidance” optimization algorithm, enabling the determination of 11 optimal target parameters. Our comparative analysis between the theoretical model, optimization software, and high-speed camera experiments reveals a strong correlation in the motion trajectories, and the maximum error of the pose angle is 1.2°. To validate the mechanism’s design, we conducted a seedling retrieval experiment. In this test, the success rates of the seedling harvesting mechanism at speeds of 30, 40, and 50 r/min were 96.4%, 94.3%, and 91.4%, respectively, thus demonstrating its practical feasibility.