Prototype for soil mechanical resistance measurement with chisel plow automated control

Abstract

In Brazil, there are several available models and systems to measure soil compaction; however, the data generated by such equipment have to be processed and interpreted, making the process expensive. Our study aimed to evaluate a prototype of instrumented rods to identify soil compacted layers and control chiseling depth, and compared it to a conventional system at a fixed depth of 0.35 m. In order to compare them, we assessed the following parameters: hourly fuel consumption, operational fuel consumption, drawbar power, average power, average speed, slipping, tractor effective field capacity and response time. Our results showed that mechanical chiseling at variable depths reduced in 26% the operational fuel consumption and increased in 14% the effective field capacity. Furthermore, the prototype of chisel plow automated control generated maps displaying spatial variability of soil mechanical resistance with resolution, sampling density and high operating capacity.

Universal equipment for determining traction resistance of working bodies and their combinations designed for soil treatment

“…Technical tools measure the traction resistance of the whole machine or one working body which is not an objective and reliable characteristics of combined tillage units. [3,10,11].…”

Data Acquisition System for On-the-Go Soil Resistance Force Sensor Using Soil Cutting Blades

“…In most cases, the load cell or strain gauges are used to convert soil resistance into an electric signal. To evaluate this parameter in various depths, a cutting blade can be equipped with multiple strain gauges [ 18 ], or multiple cutting blades with various lengths can be used [ 19 , 20 ]. The sensors of some devices are mechanically connected with a penetrating cone or prismatic tip [ 21 ].…”