Optimization of an installation angle of a root-cutting blade for an automatic spinach harvester

13th International Conference on Motion and Vibration Control; 12th International Conference on Recent Advances in Structural Dynamics

Fujisawa, A.^1 ; Chida, Y.^2

Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Japan^1

Faculty of Engineering, Shinshu University, Japan^2

关键词: Design parameters;    Evaluation function;    Harvesting operations;    Installation angle;    Non-linear optimization problems;    Rigid body;    Root cuttings;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/744/1/012135/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1742-6596/744/1/012135

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

This paper presents an optimization of the installation angle of a root-cutting blade relative to the arm of an automatic spinach harvester. In the harvesting operation, the blade, which is a rigid body, moves under the planted rows in soil of powder consistency to cut the roots of the spinach and to harvest the spinach on a conveyor. Therefore, the interaction between a rigid body and powder is an important consideration. Experiments were conducted on the design of the harvester. The experiments revealed that a certain path of the blade is more favorable for both harvesting spinach easily and minimizing the amount of soil removed by the blade. In this paper, without revising the favorable path, the optimum installation angle of the blade is derived. To derive the installation angle, a nonlinear optimization problem is solved as an evaluation function consisting of the volume of soil pushed by the blade and the installation angle, which is a design parameter. The utility of the installation angle is confirmed by the Discrete Element Method (DEM), which analyzes the interaction between a rigid body and powder.