Design and Construction
M. Hasannia Samakoush; S. R. Mousavi Seyedi; A. Mahdavian
Abstract
IntrodutionNowadays, supplying the needed food for people is one of the main global issues. Among foods, rice as the second vital crop has an important role in the world. The amount of global rice losses is about 21 percent and in Iran is reported between 16 to 30 percent that the most amount of it belongs ...
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IntrodutionNowadays, supplying the needed food for people is one of the main global issues. Among foods, rice as the second vital crop has an important role in the world. The amount of global rice losses is about 21 percent and in Iran is reported between 16 to 30 percent that the most amount of it belongs to harvest (mowers and crushers) part. The measuring device for rice picker combine losses at lab scale is a tool which could report the losses of separating and cleaning units. One of the advantages of this device is choosing maximum speed by the operator with considering the acceptable amount of seed losses. Therefore, research about detecting and decreasing this type of losses is important. In this research, only the losses of the harvesting step, especially at the end of a combine harvester machine was addressed. Different methods included piezoelectric and acoustic sensors, load cell, and FIS controller were used as the measuring device of rice picker combine seed losses. In this research, on the contrary with other studies, the slope of meshed plate and humidity of product was measured using a piezoelectric sensor at lab scale under different conditions of the rotational speed of meshed plate. Therefore, the general purpose of this research was design, construction, and evaluation of the measuring device for rice picker combine losses based on the piezoelectric sensor at lab scale to measure the seed losses in the straws at the end of the machine at rice picking.Materials and MethodsA meshed plate with the 100 × 60 cm2 dimension was one of the main parts of the measuring device of seed losses. The diameter of its meshes was 7 mm based on the rice seed size. It separates the rice seeds from straws. Separated seeds from this part were fallen on the other plate which is mounted under the meshed plate. The seeds through four separated routes were fallen on the sensors and output pulses from sensors were sent to the operator plus shown at a monitor. The used seeds at tests were selected from Fajr rice cultivar with a high yield and short height. The used piezoelectric sensor had the ability to convert imposed force and pressure to voltage and vice versa. After the seed falling on the sensor and its vibration, the piezoelectric sensor worked as a beam fixed at one end. The used Integrated Circuit (IC) was ATMEGA328, which receives the needed data through the sensor as a processing and action system. An electric motor was used to create the rotational speed of meshed plate. The LCD indicator was used for monitoring the obtained data from the test. The amount of seed losses at the end of rice picker combine machine was studied using the piezoelectric sensor with high sensitivity for detecting seeds to separate the seeds from straws. The tested sample in this research was 1 kg straw plus 52 g seed which was equal to 3 percent loss at the end of the harvest combine machine. The experimental design was a simple randomized complete design with three replications. The used treatments included the rotational speed of meshed plate at 3 levels (50, 75, and 100 rpm), the slope of meshed plate at 3 levels (25, 37, and 45 deg) plus humidity at 3 levels (12, 18, and 24 percent). Then the data analysis was done using the conducted test design. The GenStat software was used for data analysis.Results and DiscussionThe analysis of variance table showed that all treatments have a significant difference in the number of rice lost seeds at 1% probability level. The interaction between the rotational speed of meshed plate and seed humidity had a significant difference at the 1% level. On this base, the best separation of seed from straw recorded at 100 rpm and 12% humidity. The reason was the higher vibration of the meshed plate at high rotational speed and better separation of seeds at low humidity. Increasing the slope of meshed plate and humidity of seeds caused decreasing in the device efficiency. Because the motion speed of the sample on the meshed plate increased with increasing the slope of the meshed plate, a lower period was needed for separating the seeds from straws, and this separation at higher humidity was done hardly. The highest efficiency at this condition was obtained with 12% humidity and 25º slope. Increment of the rotational speed of meshed plate and decrement of meshed plate slope caused the best separation by the device. Its reason was high vibration at the high rotational speed and having enough time for separating the seeds from straws at a low slope of the meshed plate. The best angle for separating was 37º. Increment of the rotational speed of meshed plate, decrement of meshed plate slope, and sample humidity caused increasing the device efficiency. The reasons were high vibration at high rotational speed, having enough time for separating seeds from straws, and decreasing the compression at low humidity amounts. The results showed that the best device efficiency with 95.51% was obtained at 100 rpm rotational speed, humidity of 12%, and 25º slope of the meshed plate.ConclusionIn this research, a measuring device for detecting the amount of seed losses combined by straws at the end of a rice picker combine machine was designed and constructed, and then was assessed. The results of lab tests showed that increment of the rotational speed of meshed plate plus decrement of meshed plate slope and sample humidity causes an increment of device efficiency. With installation and evaluation of this device on the rice picker combine machine, the needed correction at the farm will be done and the amount of losses will be decreased.
Design and Construction
O. Esmand; S. R. Mousavi Seyedi; D. Kalantari
Abstract
Introduction The use of new technology in planters is one of the most important factors in the advancement of agricultural science. In the present study, an electronic warning system has been designed and implemented to prevent large seeds from falling from the fall pipe into the ground groove. In this ...
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Introduction The use of new technology in planters is one of the most important factors in the advancement of agricultural science. In the present study, an electronic warning system has been designed and implemented to prevent large seeds from falling from the fall pipe into the ground groove. In this study, three types of corn, bean and soybean seeds have been used, using two laser and microwave sensors. Viewing and comparison of the two sensors and their performance in two conditions of medium and high sensitivity in both laboratory and field conditions were conducted. In this case, the differences between the two sensors in different sensitivities have been evaluated and compared. The performance of the sensors in seed count has also been studied and compared. According to the results obtained in both cases, the sensors performance was acceptable, and especially in the maximum sensitivity of the sensors, they were able to handle well the clogs created in different situations (clogging down or above the fall pipe or emptying the seed tank). Detect and alert in a timely manner. Also, the count of seeds in all three seed types was recorded with high accuracy compared to the actual number. Materials and Methods Three types of coarse seeds (corn, beans and soybeans) as well as two types of sensors (laser and microwave) with two levels of medium sensitivity and high sensitivity were used for the experiments. Laser sensors are one of the most precise instrumentation and industrial automation tools that use laser light to detect objects or even precise distances. The function of the microwave sensor is that the high frequency waves are transmitted when the power supply is connected. These waves are reflected back to the module receiver if they hit objects. The open waves in the module are multiplied by the frequency of transmission by the mixer and a low-output (IF) signal is generated. The output frequency is equal to the difference between the frequency of the transmitted and reflected waves caused by the Doppler effect. Based on this frequency, the presence of a moving object and its speed are detected. Experiments were carried out at both laboratory and field levels and in both moderate and high sensitivity modes using variable resistance mounted on the controller. The equivalent distance for each seed test is 100 meters, so twice for each seed in the laboratory and field level for each of the laser and microwave sensors in both high and medium sensitivity modes. In this system, in case of falling pipe clogging due to seed accumulation or mud under the falling pipe or other factors, an alert system (warning beep), along with the corresponding LED light, indicates a problem in the seed fall system and the operator alerts paying attention to the LED light (green or red) will detect the problem. Results and Discussion The results indicated that by installing a variable resistance inside the circuit, different sensors can be created in the sensors. Increasing the sensitivity of the sensor as much as possible can cause higher the efficiency of the sensor. In the two cases of medium and high resistance, sensors work with medium and high sensitivity. It works since both modes have been tested and the results have been satisfactory. The accuracy of counting and seed detection accuracy between two laser sensors and microwave sensors in two medium and high sensitivity modes were calculated and evaluated. The experiments in the laboratory showed that the difference in the number of seed count by laser sensor compared to the actual number in maize seed at medium and high sensitivity were 87.4% and 94.3%, respectively, in bean seeds 89.1% and 94.2%, respectively. And in soybean seed were 89.4% and 92.3%, respectively. Conclusion The developed embedded system can successfully check and announce the instantaneous state of three types of grain tested (corn, beans and soybeans) in the seed delivery tube of a hand single-row planter with visual cues (on or off LED lights) and audible signals (on or off the alarm), whenever there is a grain flow or no grain flow. Likewise, the developed system can show the blockage at the end of the seed delivery tube with visual indications of the green and red lights on or off and the alarm sound described in detail. These warnings are indications of a fall pipe failure or lack of grain flow in the grain measuring mechanism toward the opening groove and then into the ground. This type of detection alerts the operator in a timely manner by monitoring the status of the grains in the measuring system and ensuring that the grains are located in the ground.
N. Kazemi; M. Almassi; H. Bahrami; M. J. Sheikhdavoodi; M. Mesgarbashi
Abstract
Overall energy efficiency (OEE) is an important indicator of energy consumption in tillage operations. Tillage energy was studied objectivity to accurately measure the OEE of MF399-4WD tractor. The tractor was equipped with different types of sensors to measure and calibrate the required data including: ...
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Overall energy efficiency (OEE) is an important indicator of energy consumption in tillage operations. Tillage energy was studied objectivity to accurately measure the OEE of MF399-4WD tractor. The tractor was equipped with different types of sensors to measure and calibrate the required data including: fuel consumption, actual forward speed, wheel speed and slippage, engine speed, draft and drawbar power. The data were recorded with frequency of 1000 Hz and transmitted by employing a suitable wireless technology in the range of up to1.5 km to the user's personal computer and is stored in Excel format. The hardware and the software program, which was written in C# language, simultaneously monitor the changes in functional parameters and the monitoring can be done even from far away and via the Internet. The split factorial experiment with three factors including ballast, selected gear ratio and two wheel drive configurations (two and four wheel drive) was employed to perform analysis of variance (ANOVA), POST ANOVA AND PATH ANALYSIS. The results show that the performance of remote monitoring devices installation was very accurate and high-quality. Furthermore, statistical analysis showed that three parameters including slippage, fuel consumption and tractor Power Equivalent (PEQ) were the most effective parameters on overall energy efficiency of tractors – tillage. The variance analysis showed that the effect of gear ratio and drive configuration on the OEE were also significant at the one percent level. However, ballasting had no significant effect on the OEE.
A. Sharifi Malvajerdi; M. Younesi Alamouti; A. Mohsenimanesh
Abstract
Soil compaction can occur as a result of a number of factors. One of the most important factors is soil response to pressures imposed by wheels and soil engaging tools. This research investigated the effect of tyre load and inflation pressure on soil compaction-related factors. These factors include ...
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Soil compaction can occur as a result of a number of factors. One of the most important factors is soil response to pressures imposed by wheels and soil engaging tools. This research investigated the effect of tyre load and inflation pressure on soil compaction-related factors. These factors include rut width, rut depth, cone index and horizontal force in different layers of soil profile. In this research a stiff carcass tyre has been used and a soil compaction profile sensor in controlled soil bin laboratory conditions. This sensor consisted of eight flaps, each equipped with strain gauges, installed on a subsoiler leg face with working depth of 45 cm. Studies were conducted using a factorial experiment at two levels of axle load of 6.3 kN and 23.9 kN and three levels of inflation pressure of 324 kPa, 524 kPa and 724 kPa with three replications in a randomized complete design. Duncan test and F test were applied to compare the means of pressure and axle load, respectively. The soil compaction profile sensor measured soil compaction at different layers from soil surface to 45 cm depth at 5 cm interval. The results of experiments indicated that vertical load significantly affected the horizontal force at different tyre inflation pressures on the soil profile. The tyre inflation pressure exhibited greater effects on shallow depths than those of higher depths. The amount of rut width, rut depth and cone index increased with an increase in vertical load. Increasing of the inflation pressure decreased rut width and increased rut depth and cone index.
