An Adjustable Pneumatic Planter with Reduced Source Vibration for Better Precision in Field Seeding

Jyotirmay Mahapatra; Prem Shanker Tiwari; Krishna Pratap Singh; Balaji Murhari Nandede; Ramesh K. Sahni; Vikas Pagare; Jagjeet Singh; D. J. Shrinivasa; Sandip Mandal

doi:10.3390/s24113399

Sensors (May 2024)

An Adjustable Pneumatic Planter with Reduced Source Vibration for Better Precision in Field Seeding

Jyotirmay Mahapatra,
Prem Shanker Tiwari,
Krishna Pratap Singh,
Balaji Murhari Nandede,
Ramesh K. Sahni,
Vikas Pagare,
Jagjeet Singh,
D. J. Shrinivasa,
Sandip Mandal

Affiliations

Jyotirmay Mahapatra: Division of Agricultural Engineering, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi 110012, India
Prem Shanker Tiwari: ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Nabi Bagh, Bhopal 462038, Madhya Pradesh, India
Krishna Pratap Singh: ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Nabi Bagh, Bhopal 462038, Madhya Pradesh, India
Balaji Murhari Nandede: ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Nabi Bagh, Bhopal 462038, Madhya Pradesh, India
Ramesh K. Sahni: ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Nabi Bagh, Bhopal 462038, Madhya Pradesh, India
Vikas Pagare: Division of Agricultural Engineering, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi 110012, India
Jagjeet Singh: Division of Agricultural Engineering, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi 110012, India
D. J. Shrinivasa: Department of Agricultural Engineering, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, Uttar Pradesh, India
Sandip Mandal: ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Nabi Bagh, Bhopal 462038, Madhya Pradesh, India

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s24113399
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 24, no. 11
p. 3399

Abstract

Read online

The growing demand for agricultural output and limited resources encourage precision applications to generate higher-order output by utilizing minimal inputs of seed, fertilizer, land, and water. An electronically operated planter was developed, considering problems like ground-wheel skidding, field vibration, and the lack of ease in field adjustments of ground-wheel-driven seed-metering plates. The seed-metering plate of each unit of the developed planter is individually driven by a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor, and a BLDC motor-based aspirator is attached for pneumatic suction of seeds. The revolutions per minute (RPM) of the seed-metering plate are controlled by a microcontroller as per the received data relating to RPM from the ground wheel and the current RPM of the seed-metering plate. A feedback loop with proportional integral derivative (PID) control is responsible for reducing the error. Additionally, each row unit is attached to a parallelogram-based depth control system that can provide depth between 0 and 100 mm. The suction pressure in each unit is regulated as per seed type using the RPM control knob of an individual BLDC motor-based aspirator. The row-to-row spacing can be changed from 350 mm to any desired spacing. The cotton variety selected for the study was RCH 659, and the crucial parameters like orifice size, vacuum pressure, and forward speed were optimized in the laboratory with the adoption of a central composite rotatable design. An orifice diameter of 2.947 mm with vacuum pressure of 3.961 kPa and forward speed of 4.261 km/h was found optimal. A quality feed index of 93% with a precision index of 8.01% was observed from laboratory tests under optimized conditions. Quality feed index and precision index values of 88.8 and 12.75%, respectively, were obtained from field tests under optimized conditions.

Published in Sensors

ISSN: 1424-8220 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Chemical technology
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords