High Precision Fertilizer Applicator for Industrial Plantation: Discrete Element Method Simulation and Prototyping.

Fertilizer dose should meet the nutritional requirements of plants and be given uniformly, so that plant growth is more effective while reducing waste to the environment. This study aimed to design a high-precision fertilizer applicator to distribute fertilizer according to the required dose uniformly to every specified point. The fertilizer applicator was designed to have an auger and drive system that can discharge the fertilizer precisely. A 3D CAD model of the applicator was created to conduct a discrete element simulation to predict the discharge fertilizer process. An experiment was carried out to validate the simulation model. The experiment utilized a small-scale applicator prototype manufactured by 3D printing. A small electric actuator controlled by an Arduino microcontroller was installed to rotate the auger. The dose of the fertilizer discharged from the applicator can be adjusted by determining the number of auger rotations. Based on the analytical calculation, the applicator discharged fertilizer with a resolution of around 3.04 gr/rotation. Both simulation and experiment results were compared and showed a small error of 7.26%. The results show our designed fertilizer applicator has good accuracy and precision, which indicates the applicator was suitable to distribute fertilizer uniformly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]