Design and Experimental Validation of Stem-Clamping-and-Pull-Out-Type Pepper Plug Seedling-Picking Mechanism
As a core component of a fully automatic pepper transplanter, the performance of the seedling-picking mechanism is of particular significance. However, existing seedling-picking mechanisms have problems such as being prone to damaging the seedling roots and substrate, as well as having poor stabilit...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Agriculture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/14/1563 |
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| author | Zhenhua Lin Xiao Li Hao Sun Maile Zhou Jianjun Yin Jijia He Daqing Yin |
| author_facet | Zhenhua Lin Xiao Li Hao Sun Maile Zhou Jianjun Yin Jijia He Daqing Yin |
| author_sort | Zhenhua Lin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As a core component of a fully automatic pepper transplanter, the performance of the seedling-picking mechanism is of particular significance. However, existing seedling-picking mechanisms have problems such as being prone to damaging the seedling roots and substrate, as well as having poor stability. To develop a highly efficient, stable, and minimally damaging seedling-picking mechanism, this study proposed a design scheme for a stem-clamping-and-pulling-out-type seedling-picking end actuator driven by a non-circular gear system. The specific methods and objectives include the following: (1) designing a differential non-circular gear system to replicate a manual picking trajectory accurately; (2) establishing a kinematic model and developing optimization software to determine the optimal parameter combination; (3) experimentally validating the mechanism’s performance through virtual simulations and bench tests. The bench tests showed that the mechanism could complete two seedling-picking operations per rotation, extracting an entire row (eight plants) in a single rotation at a speed of 30 r/min. The measured angles of the end effector at four key postures were highly consistent with simulation and high-speed camera data, with all key posture errors less than 1°. These results demonstrate the mechanism’s high accuracy, efficiency, and reliability. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9c4983105bce4e138d9d6ab199d58c91 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2077-0472 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj-art-9c4983105bce4e138d9d6ab199d58c912025-08-20T03:55:48ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722025-07-011514156310.3390/agriculture15141563Design and Experimental Validation of Stem-Clamping-and-Pull-Out-Type Pepper Plug Seedling-Picking MechanismZhenhua Lin0Xiao Li1Hao Sun2Maile Zhou3Jianjun Yin4Jijia He5Daqing Yin6School of Agricultural Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, ChinaSchool of Agricultural Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, ChinaSchool of Agricultural Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, ChinaSchool of Agricultural Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, ChinaSchool of Agricultural Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, ChinaSchool of Agricultural Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, ChinaCollege of Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, ChinaAs a core component of a fully automatic pepper transplanter, the performance of the seedling-picking mechanism is of particular significance. However, existing seedling-picking mechanisms have problems such as being prone to damaging the seedling roots and substrate, as well as having poor stability. To develop a highly efficient, stable, and minimally damaging seedling-picking mechanism, this study proposed a design scheme for a stem-clamping-and-pulling-out-type seedling-picking end actuator driven by a non-circular gear system. The specific methods and objectives include the following: (1) designing a differential non-circular gear system to replicate a manual picking trajectory accurately; (2) establishing a kinematic model and developing optimization software to determine the optimal parameter combination; (3) experimentally validating the mechanism’s performance through virtual simulations and bench tests. The bench tests showed that the mechanism could complete two seedling-picking operations per rotation, extracting an entire row (eight plants) in a single rotation at a speed of 30 r/min. The measured angles of the end effector at four key postures were highly consistent with simulation and high-speed camera data, with all key posture errors less than 1°. These results demonstrate the mechanism’s high accuracy, efficiency, and reliability.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/14/1563transplanting machineryseedling-picking mechanismpepper plug seedlingsstem clamping and pullingseedling-picking posture |
| spellingShingle | Zhenhua Lin Xiao Li Hao Sun Maile Zhou Jianjun Yin Jijia He Daqing Yin Design and Experimental Validation of Stem-Clamping-and-Pull-Out-Type Pepper Plug Seedling-Picking Mechanism Agriculture transplanting machinery seedling-picking mechanism pepper plug seedlings stem clamping and pulling seedling-picking posture |
| title | Design and Experimental Validation of Stem-Clamping-and-Pull-Out-Type Pepper Plug Seedling-Picking Mechanism |
| title_full | Design and Experimental Validation of Stem-Clamping-and-Pull-Out-Type Pepper Plug Seedling-Picking Mechanism |
| title_fullStr | Design and Experimental Validation of Stem-Clamping-and-Pull-Out-Type Pepper Plug Seedling-Picking Mechanism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design and Experimental Validation of Stem-Clamping-and-Pull-Out-Type Pepper Plug Seedling-Picking Mechanism |
| title_short | Design and Experimental Validation of Stem-Clamping-and-Pull-Out-Type Pepper Plug Seedling-Picking Mechanism |
| title_sort | design and experimental validation of stem clamping and pull out type pepper plug seedling picking mechanism |
| topic | transplanting machinery seedling-picking mechanism pepper plug seedlings stem clamping and pulling seedling-picking posture |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/14/1563 |
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