Design, Construction, and Experiment-Based Key Parameter Determination of Auto Maize Seed Placement System

Abstract

Germination rate test is a mandatory process before seeds sell on the market. In practical applications, seeding process is fully manual, which makes the process pricy and inefficient. Our group developed a new autonomous seeding system, which consists of four parts: sand filling, seeds placement, watering and sand covering. Seed placement, consisting of seed container and seed sigulation and placement, is the most important part. The seed placement device has been built, but its three key parameters (tilted bottom angle of seed container, brush spinning and horizontal speed configuration, and seed dropping height) have not been determined yet. In this study, we compared the performance of four tilt angles (20°, 30°, 40°, and 50°). Using seed uniformity of distribution as the evaluation index, 40° tilt angle has been determined to generate the most satisfactory performance. The hole’s seed filling performance of brush under four speed configurations was compared and it was decided that the configuration of fast spinning speed (0.15 r/s) and slow horizontal speed (0.76 cm/s) would generate the highest hole’s seed filling rate. Seed dropping heights (13 cm, 15 cm, 17 cm, and 19 cm) from aluminum sheet to sand surface was compared and it was quantitatively determined that dropping height did not affect seed layout uniformity. Thus, the height of the aluminum sheet can be adjusted according to the tray size. The results of this study provide the key parameters that machine would work in good performance. This study demonstrated that the autonomous seeding machine has a robust performance and meets the requirements of auto seeding process for germination test. It also has potential for commercial applications.