Embedded System for Precision Cotton Planting

Abstract

It is imperative to use a single seed planter to ensure uniform distribution of seeds. Through transmission members such as chains, gears, shafts and belts, conventional planters' seed metering mechanism receives motion from ground wheels. Mechanical planters are often unable to maintain spacing due to transmission loss or a slippage. In order to make precision planting, an embedded system comprised of a microcontroller, stepper motor and rotary encoder developed and fitted to a cotton planter. The response time of the system was 200 milisecond. The developed setup fitted to cotton planter has been calibrated in the laboratory on sticky belt to assess the missing index (Mi) (%), multiple index (Mui) (%), quality of feed index (Qfi) (%), seed spacing (Ss) (mm) and seed rate (kg/ha). Results indicate that precision seeding meets the "good" performance criteria for Mi (3.21%), Mui (4.53%), and Qfi (92.26%). Furthermore, the spacing of the seeds and seed rate were found to be 607.3 mm and 2.56 kg/ha, which is in line with recommendations. Performance of Cotton planter fitted with embedded system was evaluated in the field and results were compared with existing cotton planter. The cotton planter equipped with an embedded system achieves plant spacing values of (607.3 ± 1.59), which are closer to the desired spacing. The embedded system fitted cotton planter saved 13 and 11.5% of seed rate and operational costs in contrast to existing cotton planter. The cost of embedded system was Rs. 40,000. By removing only the power transmission system, the developed system would be suitable for tractor and power tiller-operated seed drills and planters.