Design and test of soft-pot-tray automatic embedding system for light-economical pot seedling nursery machine

Authors

  • Lintao Chen College of Engineering, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
  • Xu Ma College of Engineering, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
  • Cong Wang College of Engineering, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
  • Hongwei Li College of Engineering, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
  • Zehua Li College of Mathematics and Informatics, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
  • Xueshen Chen College of Engineering, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
  • Tao Chen College of Engineering, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China

Keywords:

automatic embedding, pot seedling nursery machine, embedded hard tray, soft pot tray, conveyor-belt embedding system

Abstract

Most of the commercially-available pot seedling nursery machines are incompatible with soft-pot-trays and are labor-intensive and low in productivity. A soft-pot-tray automatic embedding system was developed in this study to achieve automatic embedding of the soft pot tray into the hard tray following sowing and covering with soil. A control system was constructed using the Arduino program development environment. An embedded-hard-tray automatic lowering mechanism and conveyor-belt-based pot-tray embedding system were designed. Dynamics analysis was conducted to derive an equation to describe the embedding process of the soft pot tray into the embedded hard tray. A prototype of the soft-pot-tray automatic embedding system was manufactured and tested. The analytical equation suggested that a minimum linear velocity of 0.86 m/s was required for a complete embedding process. The experimental results showed that the embedded-hard-tray automatic lowering mechanism was reliable and stable as the tray placement success rate was greater than 99%. The successful tray embedding rate was 100% and the seed exposure rate was less than 1% with a linear velocity of the conveyor belt of 0.92 m/s. The experiment findings agreed well with the analytical results. The proposed soft-pot-tray automatic embedding system satisfied the technical specifications for a light-economical pot seedling nursery machine. Keywords: automatic embedding, pot seedling nursery machine, embedded hard tray, soft pot tray, conveyor-belt embedding system DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20201301.4726 Citation: Chen L T, Ma X, Wang C, Li H W, Li Z H, Chen X S, et al. Design and test of soft-pot-tray automatic embedding system for light-economical pot seedling nursery machine. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2020; 13(1): 91–100.

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Published

2020-03-02

How to Cite

Chen, L., Ma, X., Wang, C., Li, H., Li, Z., Chen, X., & Chen, T. (2020). Design and test of soft-pot-tray automatic embedding system for light-economical pot seedling nursery machine. International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 13(1), 91–100. Retrieved from https://ijabe.migration.pkpps06.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/ijabe/article/view/4726

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 1 (2020): IJABE

Section

Power and Machinery Systems

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