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In most areas of Xinjiang, edible sunflower is harvested in stages by means of transplanting plates for drying and taking plates for threshing. In some areas, edible sunflower harvesters are used for field operations, and problems such as edible sunflower plate leakage and grain loss exist in the process of harvest, which seriously hinder the development of edible sunflower scale and industrialization. In order to solve these problems and improve the harvesting efficiency of edible sunflower machine, this paper conducted a field survey on planting mode and biological characteristics of the edible sunflower in Xinjiang, and summarized the harvesting mechanism of edible sunflower. Starting from the operation path of manual harvesting sunflower tray, and combining with the requirements of field harvesting, a kind of collecting station for edible sunflower was designed. Field experiment was carried out to verify the field performance of the collecting station for edible sunflower. The specific research contents and conclusions were as follows. First of all, experimental study on the physical characteristics of edible sunflower was made during harvest in Xinjiang. It mainly included the determination test of the basic physical quantity, the friction characteristic test and the impact seed falling test. The average moisture content of edible sunflower plate was 38.97% and that of culm was 65.49%. By the bevel method, we got the friction angle between the dish and the steel plate was about 29.2°, the static friction coefficient was 0.56. The experiments were carried out to obtain the operating parameters with less loss of sunflower plate, which provided the theoretical basis for the field operation of edible sunflower harvesting platform. Secondly, in this paper, the whole plan of the collecting station for edible sunflower was determined, and the structural design and parameter analysis of the key devices were carried out. This paper designed a kind of station for collecting edible sunflower by imitating the manual way of picking dish. The whole machine structure was mainly composed of the pick-up device, conveying device, collecting dish box, walking device, power transmission system and frame. By analyzing the segmented path map of manual picking-up and parabolic dish, and combining the working posture of the pick-up device in each harvesting stage, the bionic pick-up device was designed and the basic structural parameters were determined to achieve the goal of bionic dish taking action and the shortest parabolic dish path. The 3D model of the pick-up device was established and the kinematics analysis were carried out to obtain the displacement, speed and acceleration change rules of the pickup device's disk-bar and determined the best structure and working parameters combination of the pickup device. The conveying device was designed and the speed of it was calculated to be 92 r/min, the theoretical productivity was 2.19 t/h. By analyzing the power transmission system, we got the transmission law of chain. The field harvest test finally was carried out with the total harvest loss rate as the test index, the height of the plug plate, the rotational speed of the take-up rod and the forward speed of the unit as the test factors. The results showed that the collecting station for edible sunflower could complete the functions of picking up, transporting and collecting. The optimal combination of the collecting station for edible sunflower was that the height of the disc was 650 mm, the forward speed of the unit was 0.88 m/s, the rotational speed of the take-up rod was 23 r/min, and the total loss rate of harvest was less than 5%, which could meet the operation requirements of Xinjiang edible sunflower harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oats have been paid more and more attention because of their high nutritional value and economic benefits. In view of the inconsistency of grain maturation in the same plant caused low maturity of grains is difficult to desquamate, so the content of grains with skin (shell) is high, which affects the harvest quality and subsequent processing. The oat-grains are strong and tough, are not easy to break, this paper according to the special characteristics of oat-grains, combined with the advantages of rubbing resistance, put forward a scheme to purify oat-grains. The scheme used the advantages of strong toughness and rubbing resistance to rub and remove the shell (peel) of the oat-grains first, then cleaned the grains with negative pressure clearance. It could avoid the disadvantages of miscellaneous surplus and separate the grain easier. This paper used the principle of rubbing grain peel (shell) and negative pressure clearance, designed a high degree of clarity and low loss oat grain purification device to solve the problem of high clutter content of oat grain caused by the large grains with shell. The device used a vertical conical rubbing roller to rub and treat the miscellaneous residues of oat leather grain and so on, and used the negative pressure cleaning room to clear and remove the clutter in the oat grain. The device could achieve the high cleanliness and low loss result, improve the quality of oat grains harvesting, and avoid the loss of grains, finally achieved the goal of increasing harvest yield and improving grain quality. In this study, the factors affecting including the speed of rubbing roller, the air speed of miscellany expert and the bezel length were analyzed and screened, and the clean ratio and loss ratio were used as the evaluation indicators. A single factor test was carried out to determine the range of optimal values for each influencing factor, and multivariate regression test was carried out on the basis of the single factor test. The multivariate regression model of test factors and evaluation indicators were established and solved, and the response surface analysis of the influence of 2 factors on the evaluation index was processed. The parameter values after optimization were validated. The test results showed that the single factor affecting the performance index of the device was 700-900 r/min of the roller speed, the air speed of miscellany expert was 12-16 m/s, the bezel length was 15-25 cm. The multivariate regression test results in a better combination of parameters: the roller speed was 816 r/min, the air speed of miscellany expert was 13.8 m/s, the bezel length was 20.5 cm, then the clean ratio of the index was 99.23% and the loss ratio was 1.53%. When the optimization parameter combination condition was pressed, the verification test results were trusted within the allowed test error within 3%. This study provides a reference and experimental basis for improving the technical level of oat harvesting machinery in China and the development of subsequent oat food processing machinery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic directional packaging of corn seeds is the precondition for realizing mechanical directional sowing of corn. The key technology is tip orientation and embryo side facing recognition. Combined with the actual demand of directional packaging, tip orientation for dent corn seeds needs that the tip orientation success rate reaches 100% (i.e. the tip is completely directed), and the embryo side facing recognition accuracy rate is required to achieve a high level at the same time. In addition, combining the actual demand of agricultural production and popularization, the method and its dependent device used to realize the tip orientation and embryo side recognition method for corn seeds should have low requirements for the working environment and the operation cost should be reduced as far as possible. The existing methods of tip orientation and embryo recognition are difficult to fulfil practical requirement. On the basis of the available research results of the research team, taking dent corn seeds with horizontal posture and tip orientation incomplete exported by existing tip orientation device as research object, a tip orientation and embryo side recognition method for dent corn seeds based on laser switch and range theory was proposed and the tip orientation and embryo side recognition device was designed in this paper. According to the shape characteristics of the corn seeds, the corn seeds large head facing forward was removed by using the laser sensors and other components first to get the seeds tip orientation done, and then the embryo side facing direction of each corn seed was identified one by one and outputed. There were 2 main characteristics of the corn seed shape: shape characteristic and surface characteristic. The shape characteristic was that the outline of corn seed was similar to "V" shape with narrow tip and wide large head, the surface characteristic was that there was a germinal groove extending from tip to large head on the embryo side, and the germinal groove shape was approximately elliptical, and its long axis coincided with the symmetric axis of the embryo side, the reverse side was smooth. The tip orientation method was proposed based on the shape characteristics of corn seed and laser switch sensor. Referring to the shape characteristics of the corn seed, a "V" shape slot was designed, the corn seeds with tip facing forward could enter into the slot, while the corn seeds with large head facing forward could not enter the slot as the large head of seed would block the entrance, based on this difference, by means of a normally open laser switch sensor, a specific straight track and a push rod, the tip orientation of each corn seed could be identified and the corn seeds with large head facing forward were removed. When the seed’s tip was oriented, it would be stayed in the slot with tip facing forward, and then the direction of embryo side would be recognized based on the surface characteristic and laser range sensor. With the combined of designed device and existing tip orientation device, a practical test bench was built and the orientation test for dent corn seeds was carried out to verify the actual effect of tip orientation and embryo side recognition method. The result showed that: the tip orientation success rate of existing tip orientation device was 89.6%, the embryo side recognition accuracy rate of designed device was 96.4% and the tip orientation success rate of designed device was 99.1%, which increased by 9.5 percentage points comparing with the existing tip oriented devices. The orientation method proposed in this study could basically realize the tip orientation of the corn seeds, and at the same time, the embryo side recognition accuracy rate could be reached to a high level. Generally, the tip orientation and embryo side recognition method and the device proposed in this paper have low requirements for working environment and low operation cost, which could provide a reference for automatic directional packaging and mechanically directional sowing of corn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sowing opener is one of the key parts of seeders, and its working performance affects the seeding quality. Domestic and foreign scholars have done a great deal of research on sowing openers in terms of traction resistance, soil disturbance, soil return performance and blocking performance. But there are few reports on the research of sowing opener for the integrative structure of ditching, earthing and suppressing. In this paper, an integrated sowing opener, which can be used to ditch, earth and suppress, was designed. It can solve the problems such as large disturbance of soil, insufficient compactness of seed bed soil, and poor uniformity of sowing depth. The combination of its sliding knife, retaining plate and repressing wheel can realize the seeding ditch, the seed falling to the bottom of the ditch, the wet soil returning to ditch, the suppressing wheel suppressing the seeding ditch, and the seed being in close contact with the soil. In this paper, the cutting edge curve is analyzed according to the slip cutting principle. It sets the cutting edge curve equation as parabola equation to deduce the conditions which can satisfy the needs of the slide cutting. That is, the slip angle is larger than the friction angle. The final result shows the range of the slider slip angle is 25°-65°. Based on the analysis of the principle of soil reflux after the operation of the trench opener, it can be seen that the change of the obliquity angle of the retaining plate affects the soil disturbance and the soil reflux, and the range of the inclination of retaining soil plate is 0-12.4°. According to the agronomic requirements, the range of soil compactness required for seed growth is 30-50 kPa, and the spring deformation amount is calculated to be 9-15 mm. Finally, the influencing factors can be determined. They are the slip angle, the slope of the retaining plate and the deformation of the spring. The slider slip angle, inclination of retaining soil plate and deformation variables of spring were selected as test factors. Soil compaction and soil disturbance were selected as experimental indices. The optimal parameter combination of the integrated seeding opener obtained from the soil bin text of optimizing the structural parameters was as follows: The slider slip angle was 44.6°, the inclination of retaining soil plate was 3.2° and the deformation variable of spring was 11.8 mm. In order to verify the operation performance of the integrated seeding opener better, field contrast tests were carried out with a double-disc opener and a sharp angle opener under the optimal parameters. The variation coefficient of sowing depth, soil compactness, soil disturbance and backing soil quantity were selected as test indices. The experimental results showed that variation coefficient of sowing depth of the integrated opener was 6.03%, which was 32.4% lower than that of the double-disc opener and 25.2% lower than the sharp angle opener. When the integrated opener was operated, the seeds fell into the ditch prior to the soil, which improved the seeds depth uniformity. The soil compactness was 38.6% higher than that of the double-disc opener and 62.9% higher than that of the sharp angle opener after the working of integrated opener. The suppression part of the integrated opener suppressed the ditches, after the soil-covering ditches were suppressed again by suppressing wheels of the seeder, which increased the soil compaction of the seed bed. The amount of soil disturbance generated by the integrated opener was 16.3% lower than that of the double-disc opener and 36.5% lower than that of the sharp angle opener. But its backing soil quantity was 29.9% higher than that of double-disc opener and 61.5% higher than that of sharp angle opener. Therefore, the integrated opener has little disturbance to the soil. In general, the integrated opener can improve the seedbed environment, enhance soil compaction and improve the uniformity of seeding depth. Besides, this type opener provides an integrated reference for the design of sowing openers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural implements tilt angle measurement is one of the key technologies to achieve agricultural implements and equipment precision operations. For example, the precision navigation control and the leveling control of agricultural implements are all dependent on the accurate measurement of tilt angle. What’s more, agricultural implements of tilt angle are one of the key parameters of agricultural mechanics modeling and agricultural implements safety warning learning. In order to further improve the quality of agricultural implements operation, we developed a new agricultural implement tilt angle measurement system in this paper and verified by tests on triaxial turntable platform and field. Modern micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technologies provide the moderate-cost and miniaturized solutions for the development of attitude reference system. Using highly-integrated inertial measurement units (IMUs) ADIS16445 provided by ADI company and micro ARM processor STM32F446 provided by ST company, we built the hardware platform. ADIS16445 ISensor® includes tri-axial gyroscopes and tri-axial accelerometers, the raw sensors data was sampled by STM32F446RC processor through SPI interface. The attitude calculation was carried out based on the Euler angle algorithm. The Kalman filter model with four state vectors and two observations was established to fuse the accelerometer and gyroscope information to achieve the accurate measurement of the tilt angle of agricultural implements. Considering the zero bias and drift characteristics of the gyroscope and the motion characteristics of the MEMS micro sensor, adaptive error covariance matrix Q and R rules were established to achieve precise tilt angle measurement of agricultural implements under different working conditions. Tests were conducted on SGT320E triaxial turntable platform and ZP9500 high level sprayer provided by LOVOL company dual in the field with the assistance of antenna positioning and attitude module BD982 provided by Trimble company. The SGT320E triaxial turntable platform was the standard equipment for testing the angular motion parameters and inertial systems. By setting the triaxial motion parameters to simulate a variety of motion states, it had speed, position and sine swing modes on all triaxial with a rate resolution of 0.0001°/s. In this paper, we used six position accelerometer calibration method and gyroscope error model to verify the performance of accelerometers and gyroscopes. Three-axis multi-function turntable test results showed that ADIS16445 built-in gyroscopes’ and accelerometers’ zero bias were under 0.15°/s and 0.075 mg, qualified to meet the system design hardware requirements. Kalman fusion algorithm were more accuracy and effective compare to simple integral by gyroscope and can solve the problem of zero bias and drift characteristics of the gyroscope with tilt static measurement error accuracy was 0.15°, typical dynamic measurement accuracy was 0.3°, maximum measurement error was less than 0.5°. The BD982 supports high precision positioning, attitude and heading output with high stability and fast dynamic response, which is widely used in construction implements, automobiles, agricultural implements and other fields, making it to be the leader of the industry. In this paper, the baseline length was 1.4 m with the measurement accuracy of 0.1°. Test results from high level sprayer showed that the average error of the attitude inclination was less than 0.55°, maximum measurement error was less than 0.91°, which satisfied the precise operation requirement of the agricultural equipment. Test results also verified that self-adaptive Kalman filter algorithm was more accuracy and stable than normal Kalman filter algorithm, which made the system development by this paper have more applicability. The agricultural implements tilt angle measurement system developed in this paper not only can reducing costs but also can improving the quality of agricultural implements operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the pneumatic centralized fertilizing and seeding methods were developing rapidly. The pneumatic centralized fertilizing system was mainly used for layered fertilizing operation. The fertilizing pipes of the fertilizer discharging system were connected with the fertilizer outlet of the layered fertilizing shovel. Under the actions of air flow, the fertilizer was transported to the outlet of the fertilizing shovel quickly and remotely, so as to realize the layered application of the fertilizer in the soil. In this paper, in view of the problems such as the fertilizer falling into the inlet was not smooth and the airflow velocity at the outlet was too high, which leading to fertilizer bounce and dust when the fertilizer discharging system and layered deep fertilizing shovel were combined, the relationship between the structure of each part of the fertilizer discharging system and the working parameters was studied through the test-bench of the pneumatic centralized fertilizer discharging system, and the structure of the fertilizing system was optimized. An air-fertilizer separation device was designed, which was installed between the distributor outlet and the fertilizer discharging pipe of the layered deep fertilization shovel, part of the airflow from the fertilizing system was discharged by the air-fertilizer separation device in advance to reduce the airflow velocity at the fertilizer outlet of fertilizing system. The structure and basic working parameters of each component of fertilizing system were determined through theoretical analysis and parameter calculation. In specific, the airflow velocity of the fertilizing system inlet should be greater than 25 m/s, the diameter of the air-fertilizer conveying pipe, fertilizer inlet and fertilizer outlet was 76, 55 and 20 mm, respectively. The main factors affecting the airflow velocity at fertilizer outlet and inlet of fertilizing system were also determined through analysis. Taking the exhaust outlet area of the air-fertilizer separation device (A), the airflow velocity of the fertilizing system inlet (B) and the fertilizing rate (C) as the test factors, the quadratic regression rotary orthogonal platform experiment was conducted. According to the test results, the mathematical regression model between the test indexes and the influencing factors was established. The results showed that the exhaust outlet area of air-fertilizer separation device, airflow velocity of the fertilizing system inlet and fertilizing rate had a significant effect on airflow velocity at fertilizer outlet of fertilizing system, and exhaust outlet area of air-fertilizer separation device had a significant effect on the airflow velocity at inlet of fertilizing system. The optimized parameters were conducted by fitting and optimizing the test results. It was obtained that airflow velocity at fertilizer outlet, fertilizer inlet of fertilizing system was 5.91 and 3.94 m/s, respectively, the exhaust outlet area of the air-fertilizer separation device, airflow velocity of the fertilizing system inlet and fertilizing rate were 798.0 mm², 28.10 m/s and 0.28 kg/s, respectively. The verification test results showed that the airflow velocity at fertilizer outlet and fertilizer inlet of the system was 6.02 and 4.11 m/s, the fertilizer at the inlet of the fertilizer discharging system falled smoothly and stably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fertilizer is essential to safeguard food security, and rationalizing fertilization and improving fertilizer use efficiency can reduce its detrimental impact on environment and sustain agriculture production. Current corn fertilization in China is largely growth stage-based with a base fertilization coupled with a number of topdressings. This is inefficient in fertilizer use and labor-intensive, difficult to meet the requirements for sustainable agriculture. Delivering the fertilizer to the location in soil where the crop mostly demands for is a technology to effectively improve fertilizer use efficiency and increase crop yield. In this paper we present a pneumatic centralized device to stratifying fertilizer in soil based on the demand of crop roots. The structure and working parameters of the key components in the device were calculated theoretically; the diameter of the conveying pipe in the device was 76 mm, the inlet airflow velocity should be higher than 25 m/s, and the distribution ratio of the fertilizer can be adjusted arbitrarily from 1:1 to 1:2. The performance of the device was analyzed using the discrete element method coupled with the computational fluid dynamics by taking the rotational speed of the rotary cone (A), the inlet airflow velocity (B) and the fertilization velocity (C) as determinants, and the coefficient of variation (CV) of the fertilizer amount at each fertilizer outlet as an performance index. A quadratic-regression rotation orthogonal simulation test was used to link the performance index to the determinants. The results showed that both rotational speed of the rotating cone and the inlet airflow velocity had a significant effect on the CV. When rotational speed of the rotary cone was 735-1 196 r/min, the inlet airflow velocity was 36-41 m/s, the fertilization velocity was 0.14-0.42 kg/s and the distribution ratio was 1:2, the associated CV at different fertilizer outlets varied from 3.7% to 4.9%. The influence of all determinants on the CV was ranked in the order of A>B>C. Bench test of the device was conducted in the Conservation Tillage Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Areas, with rotational speed of the rotary cone being 735 r/min, the inlet airflow velocity being 36 m/s, the fertilization rate being 0.42 kg/s and the distribution ratio being 1:2. The results showed that the CV was less than 5.18% and the deviation of the distribution ratio was less than 2.68%, consistent with the results obtained from simulation and meeting the requirements for fertilization operation. This work provides a new technology with theoretical support to optimize pneumatic centralized device for stratifying fertilizers into soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digging machine is a kind of digging and tillage machine. Because its structure is simple and it can be operated conveniently, it is widely used as a hole digger. There are mainly 4 types of digging machines, i.e. suspension type, portable type, traction type and self-propelled type. On the mountains, hills, ravines and other complex terrain conditions, portable type of digging machine is popularly used to dig a hole so as to plant or transplant trees. Hence, this paper designed a new portable digging machine with a half-nut mechanism to keep the feed rate stable and decrease the torque of the drilling bit as far as possible when drilling the hole. In addition, the support structure was also designed for the digging machine for the sake of guaranteeing the verticality of the hole and ensuring the reliability and stability of the digging machine, as well as making the structure more secure. The feed rate of the digging machine was an important factor, which affected the torque and work efficiency of the drilling bit greatly. Research on the effect of the feed rate on the dynamic mechanical parameters of digging machine was of great significance for developing a new model of digging machine. However, the power of the digging machine was gasoline engine, so the power output shaft could not reversely rotate, and it could not be used for actual digging. Thus there was a great need to design a new structure that could solve the gasoline engine's problem of rotating only in one direction. Accordingly, the half-nut mechanism was designed. According to the working principle of the half-nut, the motion characteristics of half-nut mechanism were analyzed by using the analytic method. The straight track angle of half-nut picks was decided as 105°, and thus a portable digging machine with half-nut mechanism was designed. The new designed digging machine could not only realize the digging operation automatically, but also complete the return movement rapidly. Then based on the working principle of digging machine, the relationship between the feed rate and the effect of lifting soil was studied. In order to verify the result, the experiment of testing the torque and rotational speed during the process of drilling a hole was conducted by using the torque measuring device JN338-100A made by Beijing Xinyuhang Century Science and Technology Co., Ltd. to collect the data afterward. Therefore it successfully provided a theoretical basis for the determination of feed rate of a new type of digging machine. It showed that when the pitch of half nut was taken as 3 or 5 mm, the torque and its fluctuation both were small. However when the pitch of half nut was taken as 8 mm, for it did not satisfy the working principle of digging machine, the torque and its fluctuation varied greatly, and the digging machine could not lift soil smoothly. In order to improve the work efficiency, the pitch of half nut was taken as 5 mm for this new designed digging mechanism finally. This paper provides a theoretical basis for the design of automatic feed mechanism of a new portable digging machine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precise seeding on point is a wheat seeding method which can control the spatial distribution of seeds in the soil effectively and strive to achieve equal seeding amount, grain spacing and seeding depth, so as to further improve the seeding quality of wheat. In order to achieve this goal, the organic combination of precision seeding and accurate seed casting was put forward. The functions of quantitative seed separation and stable seed transportation of seeder were integrated into the seed casting device to change the form of seed transportation, so as to realize the precision fixed seeding of single grain of wheat. This paper put forward a method based on seed adsorption, point perforation and precision seeding. According to this method, the pinhole-tube wheat precision seeding device was designed. The main working principle is as follows: The outer wall of the seeding wheel is pressed on the soil, and the pinhole seed suction tube is inserted into the soil. When the seeding wheel rolls, the pinhole seed suction tube is driven to rotate. The pneumatic distribution mechanism is connected with the fan that is divided into negative pressure area and positive pressure area to provide pressure for the pinhole seed suction tube in the position of seeding and throwing. The pinhole seed suction tube with negative pressure picks up the seeds in the seed box, and transports the seeds to the soil with the rotation of the seeding wheel. When the pinhole seed suction tube reaches the designated seed drop point, it is in the positive pressure area of the pneumatic distribution mechanism. The seed suction hole changes from negative pressure to positive pressure, and seeds are blown into the soil to complete the sowing. According to the number of basic seedlings required by precision seeding method, the planting frequency was calculated to determine the plant spacing. The appropriate directional planting distance was 2.73 cm and the spacing angle in seeding wheel of pinhole seed suction tube was 15.65°. When the pinhole seed suction tube was inserted into the soil, the rotation of seeding wheel and other factors would produce displacement in the soil. The stirring distance in the soil was 7.86 cm by calculating, which was greater than the plant spacing. 3 rows should be arranged because of the less the row number of pinhole seed suction tube, the greater the absolute distance between 2 plants. The seed suction hole diameter had a great influence on seed suction effect by studying the principle of pinhole seed suction tube to absorb seed. The mechanical model of seed suction was established when seed suction holes were arranged in different positions of pinhole seed suction tube. The factors arranged from largest to smallest by the seed suction force requirement was reverse side of contact soil surface, top surface and contact soil surface. It was concluded that it would have a great influence on seed suction by analyzing the seed suction surface shape of pinhole seed suction tube. Therefore, the above 3 factors were taken as influencing factors, and the orthogonal test was conducted with the parameters of leakage seed index, multiple seed index and single seed index. The optimum combination was obtained as follows: the seed suction hole position was in the top surface, the seed suction hole diameter was 2 mm, and the seed suction surface shape was convex. Under the condition of optimal parameter combination, the experimental results showed that the leakage seed index was 4.1%, the multiple seed index was 7.3%, and the single seed index was 88.6%, which met the design requirements. By analyzing the experimental data, it was concluded that the 3 factors had significant influence on the experimental results. The reliability of the theoretical analysis results was verified by comparing with the experimental results. The rationality analysis of the differences between the results and analysis is carried out to lay a foundation for further research. It provides a reference for the design and performance improvement of precision seeding machinery and promotes the development of precise seeding on point of wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of rice “standing-stalk” and “stubble” will remain in the paddy field after the rice is harvested by a combined harvester. At present, the harvest rate of rice “standing-stalk” and “stubble” remained in the paddy field after joint harvest using single baling machine is low. The single baling machine is usually pulled by a tractor which causes intermittent collection and baling of stubble in paddy field. The working efficiency of traditional baling machine is low due to the halt of the baling machine when unloading the baling wire. In this paper, threshing and cleaning device and the grain tank in existing rice and wheat combine harvester were replaced with round baling device. The rice and wheat combine harvester, in which threshing and cleaning device and grain tank were disassembled, was used as the self-propelled tracked collection platform. A design idea of setting collecting device at the exit of conveying groove and the feed port of baling device as cache area and using round baling device as the main working part was put forward to solve the problem of discontinuity caused by the round baling device failing to feed during the unloading of bales. The collecting device was set at the position of the original threshing device directly behind the conveying groove, straw thrown from the conveyor groove was fed to the baling machine's transfer area after passing through the cache area, and the bottom part of the collecting box of the material collecting device was successively arranged with the brush rod and the conveying auger. The round baling device was set directly behind the cab, and the rotary shaft of the spring-tooth picking machine located in the feeding port was installed in parallel with the conveying auger shaft, which not only ensured the connection between the outlet of the collecting box and the feeding port of the round baling machine, but also realized the reasonable configuration of the center of gravity of the whole machine and improved the passing ability of the whole machine. In this way, a rice straw continuous collection and baling machine used in paddy field and with functions of harvest, pickup, collect, bale and bundle was developed, which realized the multi-use of the combined harvester and reduced the cost. The whole machine adopted mechatronics technology. An automatic control system of loading and unloading of baling was designed. The six-way commutator switch was adopted as the sensing and detection component, which simplified the operating process of the manipulator, ensured the automatic operation and monitoring of the whole loading and unloading process, and effectively improved the working efficiency of key components. The structure and motion parameters of each functional component were optimized and the whole machine was finally coordinated and working continuously and efficiently. The continuous collection and baling requirements of rice straw in paddy field including "standing-stalk" cutting, stubble picking, collecting, baling and binding can be completed at one time. The field performance test showed that the performance of the whole machine was safe and reliable. Under the working conditions on working gear, the faster the operation speed, the shorter the time of collecting a straw bale, the shorter the compression time of rice straw bale in the bundling room, the higher the efficiency of bundling, but the worse the specification degree of cylinder. After a continuous operation of 3.4 h at medium speed, the binding rate was 98%, the operating efficiency was 0.4 hm2/h, and the harvest rate of straw was 95%. All other technical indicators met the relevant standards and requirements of agricultural work were met. This study provides a reference for improving the utilization rate of straw after mechanized harvest and realizing the multi-use of one agricultural machine in agricultural production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollination is a key process in the hybrid rice seed production. At present, the traditional artificial assisted pollination is still the main method of hybrid rice seed production in China. Traditional artificial assisted pollination methods have some disadvantages, and they are not conductive to the realization of full mechanization of hybrid rice seed-making. In order to find a more efficient and more reliable auxiliary pollination method to facilitate the full mechanization of hybrid rice seed production, a ducted-fan pollination machine based on high-clearance chassis for hybrid rice was designed in this paper. The flow field characteristics of ducted-fan-pollinator were simulated and analyzed by using computational fluid dynamics technology (CFD). The simulation and measurement airflow field results showed that, when the motor velocity of ducted-fan pollinator was 9 000 rad/min, the uniformity of air velocity distribution was better and the average wind velocity was 4 m/s at 6.0 m from the air outlet. It satisfied the minimum requirements for pollen lifting and suspension transportation during hybrid rice pollination. In addition, the ducts played a certain role in enclosing the airflow formed by the rotor rotation, and avoided the airflow formed by the rotor rotation to diffuse around in a certain area. A prototype had been trial-produced accordingly. Field validation tests were carried out by optimizing the parameters of the device. The ducted-fan pollination machine was composed of high ground clearance power chassis, micro gasoline generator, DC power supply, truss, truss automatic leveling device, ducted-fan start-up controller, truss lifting mechanism and several ducted-fan-pollinators. The chassis clearance was 1.7 m, the wheelbase was 2.4 m. The tread was 2.5 m, which could span one compartment of male parent. And the truss width was 11.0 m. The coverage width of single pollination operation could reach 31.5 m. Under the walking velocity 1.5 m/s, the operation efficiency could reach 7 hm2/time (30 minutes for each pollination). The results showed that under the conditions of 1.5 m/s walking velocity and 9 000 rad/min motor revolving velocity of the pollination machine, the average number of pollen grains was 8.39 grains in the pollen collection point of the female parent compartment in the unit visual field, which satisfied the minimum requirement of hybrid rice seed production and pollination (at least 3 grains of pollen were required in the agronomy of hybrid rice seed production). A comparative experiment was conducted on the actual production of hybrid rice pollination by ducted-fan pollination machine based on high-clearance chassis and agricultural UAV. The results showed that the seed-setting rates of the 2 pollination methods were 44.2% and 42.7% respectively. The results of the 2 operations were similar, which showed that the designed ducted-fan pollination machine based on high-clearance chassis for hybrid rice could meet the actual production requirements of hybrid rice seed-making. This study provides a reference for the mechanization of hybrid rice seed production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are the main producing areas of winter rapeseed in China. However, due to the effects of harvesting agricultural crops, heavy soil compaction, small field, the mechanization level of rapeseed is low. The level of intelligent seeding needs to be improved. In this paper, a navigation controller for small crawler-type seeder based on immune PID was designed to solve the problem of intelligent seeding in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River where the soil is sticky, the field is small. The small crawler-type rape seeder automatic navigation control system was designed. It used the small crawler-type rape seeder as the platform, and its steering system was modified by electromagnet. The high-precision BeiDou positioning module and the electronic compass was used for combined navigation to obtain the position and heading information of the crawler-type rape seeder as the input of the navigation controller. The immune PID controller was a nonlinear P controller that could adjust the proportional coefficient according to the feedback in real time. The control process was as follows. First, the plane coordinates of the start and end points of the straight path to be tracked are artificially set, and the main controller automatically calculated the distance of the target heading the start point and the end point. The weighted average algorithm was used to filter the longitude and latitude coordinates collected four times to get the current position. The controller calculated the distance deviation from the current position to the set route by the point-to-line distance formula. Taking the filtered distance deviation as an input, the target heading was calculated using the target heading correction formula distance deviation. Then, the course deviation (the deviation between the corrected target heading and the heading acquired by the electronic compass in real time) is used as an input of the immune PID controller, and the immune PID controller determines the Duty Ratio as the output u to act on the steering mechanism, achieving control of the steering of the track-type seeder. In addition, According to the characteristics of the tracked vehicle, the steering of the small crawler-type rape seeder was analyzed, and its steering model and steering angle transfer function were established. The immune PID controller was verified by Matlab simulation and experiment. Under the same parameters, the simulation showed that, compared with the conventional PID control, the immune PID control had the characteristics of fast response, small overshoot and small average tracking error. The pavement experiment showed that when the vehicle speed was 0.50 m/s, the average absolute deviation of the linear tracking of the immune PID controller was 4.2 cm, and the maximum deviation was not more than 12.0 cm. The field experiment showed that when the vehicle speed was 0.50 m/s, the average absolute deviation of the linear tracking of the immune PID controller was 5.8 cm, and the maximum deviation was not more than 15.2 cm, which was 32.6% and 18.1% higher than the conventional PID. It could better meet the requirements of the seeder navigation operation. This research provides a technical reference for the autonomous navigation of the crawler-type rape seeder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For transplanting vegetables plug seedlings, it is difficult to directly pick up seedlings from the tray cells. Damages of root lumps of plug seedling happen all the time in extracting. In this paper, a root lump loosening mechanism using air jets to eject vegetable plug seedlings making for transplanting was designed and evaluated. It consisted of air jets, a linear module, a double-rod cylinder, a control system and some other supporting parts. The step transmission of the air jet along the horizontal direction was performed using the linear module, which was a synchronous belt system. The air jet′ motion along the vertical direction up and down for ejecting plug seedlings was moved by the double-rod cylinder. For high blowing rates, wholes rows of air jets aiming for each drain hole was designed. In this arrangement, the seedlings could be loosened row by row. With a row of air jets blowing the seedling plugs from the drain holes of the tray cells, air pressures along with the force of the plungers effectively loosened seedlings. It would be good for manual pulling seedlings or automatically picking up seedlings from the tray cells. Based on the integrated design and analysis, the air pressure range of succeeding in loosening seedling plugs was 0.098-0.235 MPa using the air jet at the diameter of 5 mm. Under this condition, the seedlings appeared to be most effective in the loosening and not in destroy of the root soil. Meanwhile, the air jet could eject each drain hole at the bottom of the 128-cell tray. Being the first prototype, its optimal machine parameters were examined under various conditions. In the optimum tests, it was found that the air pressure of the air jet plungers exerted the greatest effect on the integrated ratio in loosening seedling plugs, and followed by the moisture content. Other factors such as the seedling age, the air flow rate and the air jet with sponges or not had no significant effects on the integrated ratio in loosening seedling plugs. In reality, it would probably be a moderate air blast for blowing of the plug seedlings from the tray. If the moisture content of root lumps of the plug seedlings was less than 55%, the cohesion forces between the roots and the tray cell walls would increase. In this case, wetting the roots might serve to reduce the adhesion making for blowing. For cucumbers seedlings, when the air pressure of the air jet plungers was 0.2 MPa, the root zone moisture was 55%-60%, the seedling age was 25 d, the airflow circuit was fully open at the outlet of 4 mm, and the air jet had no sponges, the best intact rate succeeding in loosening root lumps of plug seedlings was achieved. Finally, the overall loosening performance test was carried out. The intact rate of seedling and root lump in loosening root lumps by blowing was more than 96%. It needed about 48 s for finishing loosening the whole tray of plug seedling. The loosening mechanism using air jets to eject vegetable plug seedlings has a good performance, which can meet the actual requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widely use of plastic film mulching technology in agriculture increase crop yields and farmers' income. However, with the extensive use of plastic film, the residual film in the soil is also accumulating yearly, and the accumulated residual film is hard to be removed from soil. If the residual film in soil plough layer can-not be timely treated, it will lead to soil fertility decline, resulting in crop yield reduction and soil contamination. Therefore, it is an urgent issue to remove the residual film from soil, especially in the tillage layer. In order to solve the problem of remnant film recovery, according to the characteristics of the remnant film recovery machine, and according to the requirements of the agronomy of plastic film recovery, a chain-tooth residual film recovery machine is designed and manufactured. It is expected that the transport of membrane-soil, reverse separation of membrane-soil and membrane-collecting process can be completed. In this paper, we studied the influence of the parameters of the reverse membrane-soil separator of the chain-tooth residual membrane recovery machine on the separating effect of the membrane-soil. By analyzing the influence of the parameters on the performance of the reverse membrane-soil separator of the chain-tooth residual membrane recovery machine, the optimal working parameters were obtained, which could provide reference for the follow-up study and optimization of the membrane-soil separator. Aiming at the problems of poor mechanical properties of residual film deposited in the soil plough layer for many years, difficult separation of membrane and soil, and low recovery rate of residual film debris, a chain-tooth residual film recovery machine was designed. The main working parts of the machine are picking up device and membrane soil separating device. The working depth of the machine is 0-150 mm. The pickup device completes the membrane pickup and conveys the soil with the plastic membrane. Then the residual membrane is separated by the reverse membrane soil separating device, and finally the residual membrane is transported to the membrane collector. Taking angular velocity of pickup device, angular velocity of membrane-soil separator and angle of membrane-soil separator as experimental factors, quadratic regression orthogonal test of three factors and three levels was carried out in this study on chain-tooth residual membrane recovery machine with response values of residual membrane recovery rate and soil content. The response surface model of each factor was obtained by experiment, and the influence of each factor on the operation effect was analyzed and optimized. The results showed that the order of the factors affecting the recovery of residual membrane was: angle of membrane-soil separator > angular velocity of pickup device > angular velocity of membrane-soil separator. The order of the factors affecting the soil content was: angle of membrane-soil separator > angular velocity of membrane-soil separator > angular velocity of pickup device; and the optimized results were tested. The results showed that the recovery rate of residual membrane was 81.12% and the soil content was 34.83% when the angular velocity of the pickup device was 42 rad/s, the angular velocity of the membrane-soil separator was 57 rad/s and the angle of the membrane-soil separator was 37°, and the relative error between the experimental value of each evaluation index and the optimized value of the model was less than 5%. The reverse membrane-soil separator can solve the problems of difficult membrane-soil separation and low recovery rate of residual membrane fragments. It can provide a reference for further research and optimization of membrane-soil separator mechanism of residual membrane recovery machine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The method of regarding corn seed as bullet to sow is a new way, which can realize mechanically directional sowing of corn. The concrete realization process is as follows: Firstly, it needs to make directional corn seed bullet clip, and then the corn seed in the bullet clip is inserted into the soil by specific equipment. The key technology of making directional corn seed bullet clip is directionally pushing corn seeds. In order to realize directionally the pushing of corn seeds, taking dent corn seeds with horizontal posture as research object, most tip orientation of which had been oriented by existing directional device, in this paper, a directional push device for dent corn seeds was designed. Those dent corn seeds could be directionally received, then directionally moved and pushed by the device. The device consisted of 3 parts: directional receiving and moving mechanism, directional pushing mechanism, and power unit. Among them, the directional receiving and moving mechanism was mainly composed of a turntable, 4 seed holders, a turntable base and other components. The directional pushing mechanism mainly consisted of a cam, a linear push rod and some others. And the power unit was a simple stepper motor system. There were 2 kinds of stations when corn seeds with horizontal posture got into the seed notch on seed holder: tip facing forward or main part facing forward. The working process of directional push device for corn seeds was as follows: The turntable started to rotate after corn seeds got into the seed notch, taking seed holders and corn seeds turning together on the turntable base. The corn seeds with main part facing forward would be eliminated when the seed holder passed through the sorting notch, and the corn seeds with tip facing forward could be passed through smoothly, thus completing the directional receiving of the corn seeds. The turntable continued to rotate, and the corn seeds held were kept relatively fixed with the seed holder under the constraint of guard board, and the turntable stopped after turning 90°, thus completing the directional moving of the corn seeds. At last, the linear push rod would push each seed in seed holder outward to complete the directional pushing function. Among the 3 functions of the directional push device for corn seeds, the directional receiving function was the most critical, as it provided a basis for directionally moving and pushing. The analysis of the principle of directional receiving function showed that the shape parameters of the sorting notch had great influence on the process of directionally receiving. Taking arc angle and depth of sorting notch as factors, and respectively taking holding success rate of corn seeds with tip facing forward and elimination success rate of corn seeds with main part facing forward as test index, 2 simulation tests were carried out with corn seeds of 2 different stations. The best parameters of the sorting notch were obtained: Arc angle was 14° and the depth was 3 mm. Under this condition, the holding success rate and elimination success rate respectively reached 94% and 100%. In order to verify the accuracy and reliability of simulation optimization result and test the performance of the device, the practical directional push device for corn seeds was constructed. A performance experiment was performed with 600 corn seeds whose most tip orientation had been oriented. The results show that the device works stably, and the 3 functions of directional receiving, moving and pushing perform well. For directional receiving function, the holding success rate of corn seeds with tip facing forward and elimination success rate of corn seeds with main part facing forward are respectively 93.8% and 100%, which coincide with simulation very well. Generally, this research provides a reference for mechanically making directional corn seed bullet clip subsequently and mechanically directional sowing of corn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the problem that seedlings cultivated by pie-shaped compression matrix can not be planted by the existing transplanter, a semi-automatic compression matrix seedling transplanter was designed in this paper by mimicking the artificially transplanting method of putting seedlings after punching a hole. The compression matrix type seedling transplanter mainly consists of a ground wheel, a swing mechanism, a ratchet wheel, a hole puncher, a displacement mechanism, a seedling clamping mechanism, a conveying device, a transmission system, a rack, and so on. The physical dimensions and mechanical properties of the compression matrix type seedling are the key basis for the design of the seedling planting schemes and structures. Taking watermelon seedlings as the research object, the dimensions of the seedlings were measured, and the friction coefficient of the compression matrix with different water contents and the compressive strength of the compression matrix were determined. The coefficients of friction between the slideways and the flanks of watermelon seedlings with 2 groups of different water contents were determined to be 0.755 and 0.634 respectively by single-factor tests. The relationship between the compression load and the compression amount of the 2 groups was also analyzed. When the load is 0-5 N, as the surface of the seedling is in point contact with the semi-circular thin metal at the initial stage of compression, the compression load increases evenly and the amount increases rapidly. When the load is between 5 and 20 N, as the surface of the seedling is in surface contact with the semi-circular thin metal, the compression load increases evenly with less impact on compression. When the load is greater than 25 N, some external cracks are observed on the surface of the seeding during the test. Comparing the 2 tests, it can be seen that the seedling with high water content is not easily destroyed. The swing mechanism is optimized according to the known movement law of the initial angle of the crank and the output angle of the driven rod. The dimensions of optimized parts are 57, 161, 79 and 170 mm, respectively. When the crank rotates one revolution of 360°, the reciprocating swing angle of the driven rod is 92.3°, which satisfies the working requirements of the four-equal-part ratchet wheel mechanism. The structure and specific size parameters of the hole puncher are determined according to the measurement size and planting depth requirements of the watermelon seedling. The width of the edge surface is 1.5 mm. The inner diameter of the small end is 64 mm, and the height of the tapered part of the hole puncher is 65 mm, and when the incision angle is 21°, the inner diameter of the big end is about 114 mm. The structure parameters of the seedling clamping mechanism are determined according to the mechanical properties and the dimension of watermelon seedling. And it is also concluded that the seedling’s matrix can overcome the self-gravity of the seedling, which ensures that the seedling clamping mechanism can securely grip the seedlings when transplanting with a clamping force of 26 N. The seedling conveying device and the planting holding device are driven by the same power source, ensuring that the feeding speed of the seedlings is synchronized with taking seedling action of the planting holding device. The conveyor belt is used to transport the seedlings, and the conveyor belt was designed to send seedlings at a speed of 40 plants per minute. Using a compression matrix for field planting functional verification tests, the average plant spacing is 98.6 cm when the transplanter moves at a stable speed of 2.1-2.6 km/h. The pass rate of the plant spacing is 90.62% and the lodging rate is 21.9% which is slightly higher. In the follow-up study, dual-ground-wheel driving would be used to improve the reliability of the transmission and obtain uniform spacing; a hole shape with the same level and the same depth should be acquired, and the lodging rate after the landing of pie-shaped matrix would be reduced by increasing the copying mechanism and optimizing the shape and structural parameters of the hole puncher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corn seeds' directional and fixed-distance output and embryo surface's identification are the keys f mechanically directional sowing of corn. Besides, corn seeds' directional and fixed-distance output s also the base of embryo surface's identification. However, at the present, there are few studies on corn seeds' directional and fixed-distance output, and there is even no practicable implementation. In order to deal with the problem, a dent corn seeds' directional and fixed-distance output device with lateral standing posture was designed based on electromagnetic vibration in this paper, and implementation principles of orientation and fixing distance for corn seeds by this device were discussed. The device was composed of 2 parts: corn seeds' arraying mechanism with lateral standing posture and corn seeds' directional and fixed-distance mechanism. The second part was the crux of this device. The corn seeds' arraying mechanism with lateral standing posture was made up of circular electromagnetic vibrator and hopper. After dispersion, orderly transportation, separation and posture transformation by corn seeds' arraying mechanism with lateral standing posture, the stacked corn seeds became arrayed with lateral standing posture. After orientation and fixing distance by corn seeds' directional and fixed-distance mechanism, the corn seeds arrayed with lateral standing posture were output with tip-forward state, and the spacing between adjacent seeds was consistent. The core part of corn seeds' directional and fixed-distance mechanism was directional and fixed-distance function module, and it was a combination of lateral feeding orbit, directional and fixed-distance turntable, left and right side panels and lateral output orbit. Corn seeds' directional and fixed-distance mechanism had 4 essential working parameters, namely inclination angle of lateral feeding orbit, amplitude of lateral feeding orbit, angular velocity of directional and fixed-distance turntable, and amplitude of lateral output orbit. The result of implementation principles showed that the 4 working parameters had great influence on the process of orienting and fixing distance for corn seeds. Inappropriate working parameters could cause unsuccessful orientation and fixing distance for corn seeds. In order to optimize the working effect of corn seeds' directional and fixed-distance mechanism, the simulation model of the directional and fixed-distance module was established by software ADAMS (automatic dynamic analysis of mechanical systems), and then orthogonal tests and single-factor tests were carried out. The inclination angle of lateral feeding orbit, amplitude of lateral feeding orbit, angular velocity of directional and fixed-distance turntable and amplitude of lateral output orbit were taken as factors, the success rate of orientation and fixing distance for corn seed and the spacing between adjacent seeds as test indices. Based on the analysis of experimental results, the optimal working parameters were determined: Inclination angle of lateral feeding orbit is 3°, lateral feeding orbit is 0.3 mm, angular velocity of directional and fixed distance turntable is 30%, and amplitude of lateral output orbit is 0.3 mm. Under the conditions, the success rate of orientation and fixing distance for corn seed reached 94.4%, and the average spacing between corn seeds was about 43 mm. In order to verify the accuracy and reliability of simulation optimization result, the practical dent corn seeds' directional and fixed-distance output device with lateral standing posture was produced. According to the optimal working parameters obtained from the simulation test, the working parameters of the practical device were adjusted. The performance test was performed on the basis of 300 corn seeds and the results coincided with simulation very well, which were as follows: 1) The device worked stably under the condition; 2) The realistic success rate of orientation and fixing distance for corn seed was 90.7%; 3) The realistic average spacing between adjacent seeds was about 45 mm. Generally, this research provides conditions for embryo surface's identification, directional packaging and mechanically directional sowing of corn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In annual double cropping areas in northern China, the straw is directly returned to the field after maize harvest, and the wheat is sown by no-tillage planter. However, the high water content and strong toughness of maize straw result in the low qualification rate of traditional rotary flail knife type returning machine, which can easily lead to straw blocking and thereby affect wheat sowing quality. To address the above problems, in this paper, a chopping method based on the principle of four-bar linkage mechanism was put forward. The maize straw was chopped using ground as the support. A chopping-type straw returning machine, composed of the frame, pressure roller, transmission device and straw cutting device, was developed. The pressure roller was located at the front of the machine, and was designed to press the standing or lying straws forward in the direction of machine movement. The cutting device was at the back of the roller, and was designed to cut the lying parallel straw into segments. To avoid straw blocking, maize straw was chopped into segments with the length less than 6 cm, and the length was half of the narrow row spacing of wheat. Based on theoretical calculation and motion simulation, the size of 4-link mechanism of cutting device was designed and the cutters' movement trajectory was optimized. In 4-link mechanism, the minimum transmission angle was 70°, the maximum swing angle of rocker was 20°, the eccentric distance of eccentric wheel was 80 mm, and the lengths of cutter holder (connecting rod) and rocker were 267.375 and 460.702 mm, respectively. The distance between the rotation center of eccentric wheel and the hinge point of rocker on frame was 526.627 mm. According to the finite element static analysis by using ANSYS software, the maximum stress of the cutter was calculated as 162 MPa generated near the bolt holes on both sides, which met the design requirements. The field performance experiment was conducted in Hebei Province to compare the chopping-type straw returning machine and traditional flail knife type machine. The comparison and research objects included the unqualified rate of straw length, working stability, soil physical property and the subsequent sowing operation effect. The experiment results showed that the average length of the straw with the designed machine was 4.8 cm, the unqualified rate was 6% and the coefficient of variation was 0.209, which were all superior to the traditional machine. The vibration of the designed one was slightly larger than that of traditional one with no significant difference, and both of the machines worked stably. The cutting depth of new cutter reached 7.71 cm averagely, and soil bulk density in 0-10 cm depth decreased obviously. The subsequent wheat seeding experiments were carried out, and the results showed that there was no straw blocking during seeding when the seeder operated on the surface on which the chop-cutting straw returning machine worked, and the coefficient of sowing depth was 92.5% and it was significantly higher than another one. This study provides a new equipment for the maize straw returning in the double cropping areas in northern China, and it is also conducive to the popularization of straw returning technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The royal jelly pick worm is a process that must be completed before harvesting pulp. Because of the larvae of bee are small and in a great deal of numbers, the labor intensity of the manual sorting process is very large. Moreover, the aging of Chinese beekeeping workforce is becoming increasingly serious in the bee keeping industry, and now the royal jelly picking worm have not yet reached mechanization, which hinders the production of royal jelly. In this paper, we developed a method for the present situation of Chinese beekeeping in a three-needle structural picking machine, which would not affect the quality of the royal jelly. First, the machine put the queen cell without beeswax one by one into the king's guide slot, then turned the pedal, the drive shaft was turned by pulley, and the main shaft would transfer the power to the drive unit and the picking worm unit. The toothed belt of the transmission unit transmitted the queen cell to the picking insect unit. Because of the its own weight, the queen cell which in guide groove was falling, implement automatic supply of queen cell, the action of picking worm was completed by pick worm unit, then bee larvae are collected by the insect collecting box. The queen cell was sent out after picking worm, thus finish the picking worm process. This device was easy to operate and had compact structure, suitable for the field operation for beekeepers. The machine was mainly used to construct the whole machine scheme of the three needles pick worm. The three needles were evenly distributed in the inner wall of queen cell, and at the same time, it also had a centripetal movement to clamp or loosen the bee. The three-needle mechanism was used for the coordination between the space sheave and cam mechanism, and the parameters of the space tank wheel and cam were calculated. The force situation of the foot pedal of the power input was obtained through finite element analysis. Finally, the arc length of the space slot was 7.5 PI, and the groove depth was 20.68 mm. The theoretical profile and work profile of the cam were obtained. The finite element analysis of the foot pedal was concluded that the actual stress was much less than the allowable stress of the material itself, which indicated that the method met the requirement of use. The experimental comparison and economic benefit of the artificial picking insects and the robot were summarized as follows: the machine will control the rate of worm picking at 10/min, 10 times the efficiency of manual sorting. The machine in royal jelly, royal jelly larvae preserved and did not affect the quality under the premise of one-time whole queen cell bee larvae all picked out of a hole (64), which realized continuous operation, greatly improved the efficiency of the pick of royal jelly, overcame long manual work time and labor intensity. It was very helpful to expand the scale of bee keeping in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic film mulching technique has been used widely in China because of its notable benefits such as raising soil temperature, inhibiting weed growth, promoting crop maturity and increasing production, especially in the field of cotton cultivation, almost all of them used plastic film mulching technique in XinJiang. Recycled waste plastic film and cotton straw, stubble and other trash were difficult to separate, this problem caused difficulty in reutilization of waste plastic film. A large number of recycled waste plastic films were buried or burned randomly in field which lead to secondary environment pollution. In order to separate the waste plastic film from cotton straw, stubble and other trash, realize recycling of waste plastic film and solve the problem of environment pollution results from waste plastic film at source. The movement state and trajectory of cotton straw, stubble and plastic film were simulated through building of wind field device, and suspension velocity of cotton straw, stubble and plastic film were measured in wind field. The mathematical model of separation conditions was established through analysis of stress condition of different materials in wind field and law of settling of different materials in air medium. High speed dynamic camera was used to observe the movement of the material in the wind field, the feasibility of the principle was verified. Based on results of researches above, a type of roller sieve waste plastic film and trash winnowing machine was designed. In this paper, the overall structure and working principle of the machine were introduced, the structure and size parameters of the key components of rotating sieve cylinder and the helix in rotating sieve cylinder were determined. In order to determine the relationship between the best separation effect with rotating sieve cylinder speed, the outlet velocity of wind pipe, and the material feed quantity, an orthogonal test with rotating sieve cylinder speed, the outlet velocity of wind pipe, and the material feed quantity as the experimental factors were carried out, the raw material composition after mechanical harvesting was analyzed as test condition. Primary and secondary order of plastic film rate in trash and rate of trash in plastic film were confirmed through analysis of test results. Reasons of change were analyzed, and significance tests were done for factors of plastic film rate in trash and rate of trash in plastic film. Finally, the optimal parameter combination was determined. The results proved that when the rotating sieve cylinder speed was 30 r/min, the outlet velocity of wind pipe was 15 m/s, and the material feed quantity was 250 kg/h, the operation effect was best, the rate of trash in plastic film was the least, the plastic film rate in trash was minimum, the waste plastic film production was maximum. The machine was adjusted to the best working parameters for conducting production test and verifying the foregoing conclusion. The results showed that all indexes were met the design requirements, the rate of trash in plastic film was 13.71%, the plastic film rate in trash was 0.133%, the production of waste plastic film upped to 35.8 kg/h after separating. In summary, we designed roller sieve waste plastic film and trash winnowing machine, it can realized separation of waste plastic film from cotton straw, stubble and other trash effectively. This research fills gaps in this area in China. The secondary pollution causes by waste plastic film recycling can be reduced if the machined used, the utilization rate of waste plastic film can be improved greatly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing use of the agricultural plastic film, the pollution it brings is also becoming more and more serious. Therefore, design and experiment on plastic film collector of ridged peanut mean great significance to us, of course, facing huge problems. Mechanical recycling plastic film can overcome shortcomings of the great labor intensity and low efficiency using artificial picking up. However the existing plastic film recycling equipments are generally designed based on experiences and have no precise theoretical researches for components, and there are some issues including unreliable picking up performance and unloading mechanism and serious wear of working parts. This paper focuses on the lack of effective automatic removing mechanism for teeth type residue plastic film collector, and according to this situation, automatic removing and smooth returning mechanism for teeth type residue plastic film collector have been designed. Teeth type residue plastic film collector with self-motion unloading mechanism consists of frame, hydraulic shaft fixture, hydraulic fixing bracket, rake, self-motion unloading square tube, hydraulic device, and self-motion unloading scraper. The stability, reliability, and returning smoothness of the motion of the parallel 4-rod linkage mechanism are analyzed. We design a variety of different forms of squeegees to test, and at last find the best form of squeegee named V-shaped. The key part of the mechanism is focused and the stress analysis is performed. Teeth are persistently distorted when they are working. We design 3 types of squeegees including horizontal squeegee, U-shaped squeegee, and V-shaped squeegee, and at last we find the V-shaped squeegee can ensure that teeth are put back in origin place, so it can achieve the best results. The design and innovation of the hydraulic system are also important. We choose single-rod hydraulic cyclinder of 45# steel, the size of hydraulic cyclinder diameter is 40 mm, and the size of piston rod diameter is 25 mm. We use the stress analysis on squeegee, and the movement analysis on planar linkage, and find the movement track of the squeegee at last. Based on this, the objective function and constraints are determined, and the major influencing factors of teeth type residue plastic film collector with self-motion unloading mechanism are the space between teeth and squeegee, squeegee angle, and automatic removing mechanism angle. We do experiment in Jiaozhou, Qingdao, China, the previous crop is peanut, and moisture content of soil is 16%. The experiment and response surface analysis are done for the space between teeth and squeegee, squeegee angle, and automatic removing mechanism angle. The data are then processed, and the parameters are optimized by the response surface method with Design Expert. The response surface analysis of the model shows that the effect of the 3 factors on the primary film removal rate is significant. The order of influencing factors is: the space between teeth and squeegee > squeegee angle > automatic removing mechanism angle. The machine is optimized by the function of optimization of Design Expert, the space between teeth and squeegee is 2 mm, the squeegee angle is 70°, and the automatic removing mechanism angle is 60°. Through the field test, which shows the feasibility of the optimization scheme and will provide theoretical basis for the optimization of related machines. The teeth type residue plastic film collector of ridged peanut has a good film removal effect, which meets the design requirements of plastic recyling machine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foxtail millet is a kind of minor coarse cereal. It is not one of the main grain crops, and is a kind of rainfed crop. So, it is mainly planted in the hilly and mountainous areas in northern China. Foxtail millet is becoming more and more popular in congee because of its mellow taste and abundant nutritional value. Given the characteristics of small and scattered planting plots for foxtail millet in northern hilly and mountainous areas, small seeder is more suitable for this kind of plot. According to the agronomic requirements of fine and small-amount sowing for foxtail millet, we design and manufacture the 2BZ-2 type fine and small-amount seeder for foxtail millet. This seeder consists of 2 sowing units, transmission system, ground wheels and body frame. Every unit is mainly made up of seed-metering device, furrow opener, soil coverer and press wheel. We use the tilt dise-type fine and small-amount seed-metering device for foxtail millet that was designed previously, and its working angle is 45°, and it has 36 filling holes and 36 seeding grooves. This device has got the national invention patent in China, and we have published an academic paper about it on Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering. We design a kind of ship-shaped shovel type furrow opener, and its penetrating angle is 60°, its soil-cutting angle is 30°, its trenching width is 30 mm, and its height is 100 mm. We design a kind of scraper type soil coverer, and it mainly consists of 2 covering boards, connecting board and pull rod. The covering board is trapezoid-shaped, and its length is 100 mm, its front width is 80 mm, its back width is 40 mm, and its thickness is 3 mm. The included angle between the 2 covering boards is 50°, the inclined angle of the covering board toward the ground is 70°, and the width of the back opening between the 2 covering boards is 30 mm. We push the seeder and provide the driving force. The ground wheels pass the driving force to the seed-metering device via the transmission system. The transmission system is composed of two-stage chain drive and one-stage bevel gear drive. The chain drive uses the 08B roller chains and the matched chain wheels to drive down. The bevel gear drive uses 45° straight bevel gears to realize constant speed drive. According to the experimental requirements of Chinese National Standards, we design and conduct the seeding performance experiments and the field sowing experiments to test the working performance of this seeder. The seeding performance experiments include the tests of the consistency of every row's seeding quantity, the steadiness of total seeding quantity and the percentage of damaged millet. The field sowing experiments include the tests of the uniformity of sowing quantity and the consistency of sowing depth. The results of the seeding performance experiments indicate that, the coefficient of variation of consistency of every row's seeding quantity is less than or equal to 1.10%, the coefficient of variation of steadiness of total seeding quantity is less than or equal to 0.66%, and the percentage of damaged millet is less than or equal to 0.05%. The results of the field sowing experiments indicate that, the qualified index of hill spacing is greater than 83%, the replay index is less than 7%, the miss-seeding index is less than 12%, the coefficient of variation of qualified hill spacing is less than 10%, and the coefficient of variation of sowing depth is less than 1.5%. All the 8 indices meet the requirements of Chinese machinery industry standards. This study can provide a theoretical reference for the design and analysis of the fine and small-amount seeding equipment for foxtail millet suitable for the hilly and mountainous areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thinning is required in fruit tree production to ensure high quality fruit and proper fruit size, which is one of the most labor-intensive practices. Mechanical blossom thinning is an environmental friendly alternative to chemical blossom thinning. Good tree training techniques are required to get high-level blossom removal for mechanical thinning. Electric flexible thinner can realize blossom thinning by rotating flexible strings. There is a challenge in mechanical thinning due to the varying shape of tree canopy. To improve the adaptability of the electric flexible thinner on fruit tree variety, canopy shape and size, it is important to develop a profiling control system. In this paper, the structure of the actuators for profiling action of the electric flexible thinner was proposed. The flexible thinner was suspended on the rear three-point hitch of a tractor and consisted of a vertical rotating spindle attached with several segments of nylon cords in horizontal direction. The spindle was rotated by a brushless direct current motor and its spatial position could be adjusted by translational screw and profile adjusting screw. The ball screws were driven and controlled via stepper motors, which could control the offset into the trees and the angle of the thinner. With the ball screws, the thinning spindle could be stretched and tilted to conform to the height and inclination of the tree canopy. The range measuring rod could map the canopy as it passed and was placed ahead of the spindle to avoid sensor collision with rotating cords. Two pairs of ultrasonic sensors suspended on the range measuring rod could provide the angle and lateral offset sensing of the flexible thinner position by sending infrared laser pulses out and measuring the round-trip flight time to the trees. The spindle rotation speed, screw displacement and thinning angle were adjusted by the electric motors. During the blossom thinning process, the centrifugal force on the panicles of the fruit tree was used to cause rotating nylon cords to thin blossom. The intensity of thinning could be controlled by changing the spindle rotation speed, tractor speed and string arrangement and other parameters. To get the key parameters of profiling control, the geometric relationship between flexible thinner and canopy edge was analyzed. Using the modular structure, the hardware and software of profiling control system were developed. The controller performed the planning task and calculated the number of pulses for stepper motors of ball screws between the current position of the thinner and the currently measured canopy. All field tests with the electric flexible thinner were conducted at a tractor speed of 1.93 km/h. The field test results of single litchi plant illustrated the position servo control performance of two ball screws of the electric flexible thinner. The measured dynamic mean errors of the translational screw and profile adjusting screw were 0.17 and 0.07 cm respectively. To improve the performance of profiling controller, it required to move the thinner quickly without affecting thinning speed and to reduce the control latency to acceptable levels. The experimental results show that the actuators have good position adjusting accuracy and the proposed profiling control system can meet the requirements of real-time control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notoginseng is one of rare medicinal herbs in China, and it is mainly grown in Yunnan Province. Market demand of notoginseng is very large, and hence, until December 2014, the planting area of notoginseng has reached 40000 hm2. At present, the main planting pattern is through manual operation, and the labor intensity is very high and the sowing quality is discrepant. However, there is no precision seeding device suitable for notoginseng. Therefore, the mechanization planting of notoginseng has important practical significance. Notoginseng is planted on small plots of land, the planting density and the requirement of seeding precision are high, so we designed a small sized precision metering device. The liquidity of the seeds is not good and the shape of seeds is irregular for notoginseng, so we chose the pneumatic seed-metering device to adapt to the characteristics of the seeds accordingly. In order to meet the precision seeding requirements of notoginseng planting, a unique pneumatic cylinder-type precision metering device was designed. This device integrated the features of vacuum suction, insulated pressure for seed-clearing and zero speed of seed dropping. In this paper, the main structure and the working principle of the metering device were expounded. The pitch-row of the hollow shaft was determined and the stability of the flow field was ensured by the flow field analysis through the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. The key structure parameters were determined through theoretical calculation according to planting requirements. The contrast test of dropping seed indicated that zero speed of seed dropping was necessity. According to the extensive testing combined with the experimental results of relevant scholars, the main factors which affected seeding performance of pneumatic cylinder precision seed-metering device were determined, which were forward velocity, negative pressure and adsorption angle. During the test process, in order to reach zero speed of seed dropping, the installation angle of adjustable insulated pressure plate was changed with forward velocity. The notoginseng seeds in Wenshan were chosen for sowing object. Based on the three-factor five-level quadratic orthogonal rotating combination test method, the influences of forward velocity, negative pressure and adsorption angle on sowing performance were explored. The experimental results showed that the influence of negative pressure on the qualified rate was very significant (P<0.01), and the influences of forward velocity and adsorption angle were significant (P<0.05). The regression equations of the 3 factors were fitted through the processing by Design Expert 8.0.6 (experimental design expert) software. Based on the results of examination, we found that the fitting of the equations was good, the best parameter combination was adsorption angle of 20°, negative pressure value of 660-720 Pa and forward velocity of 0.72-0.76 m/s, and under the optimal condition, the qualified index was greater than 90.2, the missing index was less than 4.9, and the multiple index was less than 5.3. The pneumatic cylinder precision seed-metering device met the standard and requirements by comparing the results with the national standard and notoginseng planting requirements. This approach of research is suitable for the exploitation of notoginseng seed-metering, and provides a theoretical reference for the design of pneumatic cylinder precision seed-metering device for Panax notoginseng. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]