Design optimization and performance evaluation of a tillage depth precision measurement system

Abstract

Tillage depth measuring is essential in modernization of agricultural production, including tillage depth, seed germination, plant growth and soil conservation. At present, there are no reliable measuring method or equipment for on-line tillage depth data acquisition. To solve this problem, equipment for real-time measuring tillage depth was designed based on ultrasonic sensing technology. This system comprises mainly mechanical constructions, hardware structure, software, specific measurement process and data processing technology. To improve the measuring accuracy, Kalman filter method is used to reduce the influence of uneven surface, weed, and stubble in field. This device was installed on subsoiler, and a field test was conducted. The test results show that: The accuracy of the ultrasonic measuring depth is comparable with the manual measuring method in the field condition of ploughed field, bare field and stubble field.