Seed drill instrumentation for spatial coulter depth measurements

Søren Kirkegaard Nielsen; Lars Juhl Munkholm; Mathieu Lamandé; Michael Nørremark; Nick Skou-Nielsen; Gareth Thomas Charles Edwards; Ole  Green

doi:10.1016/j.compag.2017.07.014

Seed drill instrumentation for spatial coulter depth measurements

Søren Kirkegaard Nielsen, Lars Juhl Munkholm, Mathieu Lamandé, Michael Nørremark, Nick Skou-Nielsen, Gareth Thomas Charles Edwards, Ole Green

Department of Agroecology - Soil Physics and Hydropedology

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

39 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

An even and correct depth placement of seeds is crucial for uniform crop germination and for obtaining the desired agricultural yield. On state-of-the-art seed drills, the coulter down pressure is set manually by static springs or heavy weights, which entails that the coulter’s seeding depth reacts to variations in soil resistance. The aim of the study was to develop and test an instrumentation concept installed on a low-cost, lightweight, three meter wide, single-disc seed drill, for on-the-go measurements of spatial depth distributions of individual coulters under real field conditions. A field experiment was carried out to measure individual coulter depths at three different operational speeds. The targeted seeding depth was −30 mm but shallower mean coulter depths were obtained and the depth decreased slightly – although not significantly – with increasing speed, i.e. to −22.1, −20.9 and −19.0 mm for 4, 8, and 12 km h−1, respectively. The coulter depths ranged between −60 mm (below the surface) and even above surface at all speeds, but the variation tended to decrease with decreasing speed. However, soil resistance influenced coulter depth as indicated by a significant block effect. The mean coulter depth varied up to ±5 mm between the blocks. In addition, significant depth variations between the individual coulters were found. The mean depths varied between −14.2 and −25.9 mm for the eleven coulters. The mean shallowest coulter depth (−14.2 mm) was measured for the coulter running in the wheel track of the tractor. The power spectral densities (distribution) of the coulter depth oscillation frequencies showed that the majority of oscillations occurred below 0.5 Hz without any natural vibration frequency. The study concluded that the instrumentation concept was functional for on-the-go spatial coulter depth measurements.

Original language	English
Journal	Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
Volume	141
Pages (from-to)	207-214
Number of pages	8
ISSN	0168-1699
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2017.07.014
Publication status	Published - 2017

Keywords

Seeding depth
Coulter depth sensors
Mapping
Operation speed
Spring barley

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10.1016/j.compag.2017.07.014

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@article{b03cbbb45bc04f4d9965e5d685e033ce,

title = "Seed drill instrumentation for spatial coulter depth measurements",

abstract = "An even and correct depth placement of seeds is crucial for uniform crop germination and for obtaining the desired agricultural yield. On state-of-the-art seed drills, the coulter down pressure is set manually by static springs or heavy weights, which entails that the coulter{\textquoteright}s seeding depth reacts to variations in soil resistance. The aim of the study was to develop and test an instrumentation concept installed on a low-cost, lightweight, three meter wide, single-disc seed drill, for on-the-go measurements of spatial depth distributions of individual coulters under real field conditions. A field experiment was carried out to measure individual coulter depths at three different operational speeds. The targeted seeding depth was −30 mm but shallower mean coulter depths were obtained and the depth decreased slightly – although not significantly – with increasing speed, i.e. to −22.1, −20.9 and −19.0 mm for 4, 8, and 12 km h−1, respectively. The coulter depths ranged between −60 mm (below the surface) and even above surface at all speeds, but the variation tended to decrease with decreasing speed. However, soil resistance influenced coulter depth as indicated by a significant block effect. The mean coulter depth varied up to ±5 mm between the blocks. In addition, significant depth variations between the individual coulters were found. The mean depths varied between −14.2 and −25.9 mm for the eleven coulters. The mean shallowest coulter depth (−14.2 mm) was measured for the coulter running in the wheel track of the tractor. The power spectral densities (distribution) of the coulter depth oscillation frequencies showed that the majority of oscillations occurred below 0.5 Hz without any natural vibration frequency. The study concluded that the instrumentation concept was functional for on-the-go spatial coulter depth measurements.",

keywords = "Seeding depth, Coulter depth sensors, Mapping, Operation speed, Spring barley",

author = "{Kirkegaard Nielsen}, S{\o}ren and Munkholm, {Lars Juhl} and Mathieu Lamand{\'e} and Michael N{\o}rremark and Nick Skou-Nielsen and Edwards, {Gareth Thomas Charles} and Ole Green",

year = "2017",

doi = "10.1016/j.compag.2017.07.014",

language = "English",

volume = "141",

pages = "207--214",

journal = "Computers and Electronics in Agriculture",

issn = "0168-1699",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Seed drill instrumentation for spatial coulter depth measurements

AU - Kirkegaard Nielsen, Søren

AU - Munkholm, Lars Juhl

AU - Lamandé, Mathieu

AU - Nørremark, Michael

AU - Skou-Nielsen, Nick

AU - Edwards, Gareth Thomas Charles

AU - Green, Ole

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - An even and correct depth placement of seeds is crucial for uniform crop germination and for obtaining the desired agricultural yield. On state-of-the-art seed drills, the coulter down pressure is set manually by static springs or heavy weights, which entails that the coulter’s seeding depth reacts to variations in soil resistance. The aim of the study was to develop and test an instrumentation concept installed on a low-cost, lightweight, three meter wide, single-disc seed drill, for on-the-go measurements of spatial depth distributions of individual coulters under real field conditions. A field experiment was carried out to measure individual coulter depths at three different operational speeds. The targeted seeding depth was −30 mm but shallower mean coulter depths were obtained and the depth decreased slightly – although not significantly – with increasing speed, i.e. to −22.1, −20.9 and −19.0 mm for 4, 8, and 12 km h−1, respectively. The coulter depths ranged between −60 mm (below the surface) and even above surface at all speeds, but the variation tended to decrease with decreasing speed. However, soil resistance influenced coulter depth as indicated by a significant block effect. The mean coulter depth varied up to ±5 mm between the blocks. In addition, significant depth variations between the individual coulters were found. The mean depths varied between −14.2 and −25.9 mm for the eleven coulters. The mean shallowest coulter depth (−14.2 mm) was measured for the coulter running in the wheel track of the tractor. The power spectral densities (distribution) of the coulter depth oscillation frequencies showed that the majority of oscillations occurred below 0.5 Hz without any natural vibration frequency. The study concluded that the instrumentation concept was functional for on-the-go spatial coulter depth measurements.

AB - An even and correct depth placement of seeds is crucial for uniform crop germination and for obtaining the desired agricultural yield. On state-of-the-art seed drills, the coulter down pressure is set manually by static springs or heavy weights, which entails that the coulter’s seeding depth reacts to variations in soil resistance. The aim of the study was to develop and test an instrumentation concept installed on a low-cost, lightweight, three meter wide, single-disc seed drill, for on-the-go measurements of spatial depth distributions of individual coulters under real field conditions. A field experiment was carried out to measure individual coulter depths at three different operational speeds. The targeted seeding depth was −30 mm but shallower mean coulter depths were obtained and the depth decreased slightly – although not significantly – with increasing speed, i.e. to −22.1, −20.9 and −19.0 mm for 4, 8, and 12 km h−1, respectively. The coulter depths ranged between −60 mm (below the surface) and even above surface at all speeds, but the variation tended to decrease with decreasing speed. However, soil resistance influenced coulter depth as indicated by a significant block effect. The mean coulter depth varied up to ±5 mm between the blocks. In addition, significant depth variations between the individual coulters were found. The mean depths varied between −14.2 and −25.9 mm for the eleven coulters. The mean shallowest coulter depth (−14.2 mm) was measured for the coulter running in the wheel track of the tractor. The power spectral densities (distribution) of the coulter depth oscillation frequencies showed that the majority of oscillations occurred below 0.5 Hz without any natural vibration frequency. The study concluded that the instrumentation concept was functional for on-the-go spatial coulter depth measurements.

KW - Seeding depth

KW - Coulter depth sensors

KW - Mapping

KW - Operation speed

KW - Spring barley

U2 - 10.1016/j.compag.2017.07.014

DO - 10.1016/j.compag.2017.07.014

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0168-1699

VL - 141

SP - 207

EP - 214

JO - Computers and Electronics in Agriculture

JF - Computers and Electronics in Agriculture

ER -

Seed drill instrumentation for spatial coulter depth measurements

Abstract

Keywords

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