Korean Journal of Agricultural Science (Korean J. Agric. Sci.; KJOAS)
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Habineza E, Ali M, Reza MN, Woo JK, Chung SO, Hou Y. Vegetable transplanters and kinematic analysis of major mechanisms: a review. Korean Journal of Agricultural Science 50:113-129.
Korean Journal of Agricultural Science (Korean J. Agric. Sci.) 2023 March, Volume 50, Issue 1, pages 113-129. https://doi.org/10.7744/kjoas.20230007
Received on 29 December 2022, Revised on 29 December 2022, Accepted on 21 February 2023, Published on 30 March 2023.
Eliezel Habineza1, Mohammod Ali2, Md Nasim Reza1,2, Jea-Keun Woo3, Sun-Ok Chung1,2,*,†, Yaxiu Hou4,*,†
1Department of Smart Agricultural Systems, Graduate School, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea
2Department of Agricultural Machinery Engineering, Graduate School, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea
3National Institute of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration, Jeonju 54875, Korea
4College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
†These authors equally contributed to this study as corresponding author.
*Corresponding authors: sochung@cnu.ac.kr, 452739945@qq.com
Seedling transplanting is an essential step in vegetable cultivation. Although vegetable transplanting can be automated and mechanized, mostly is still performed manually, which is laborious, time-consuming, and inefficient. The objective of this study was to conduct a review of the existing vegetable transplanters used for seedling transplanting, and of kinematic analyses of their major mechanisms. Generally, vegetable transplanters are classified into three main categories: handheld, semi-automated, and fully automated. Researchers described mechanisms involved in the overall transplanting process, which included seedling picking from the nursery tray, conveyance to the planting unit, and planting in the soil. The main mechanisms involved are picking and dibbling, which both include bar-based and gear-based mechanisms. For successful seedling transplanting, analytical techniques, CAD systems, and computer methods are used to evaluate the operating characteristics of transplanter components, and to determine the number of link bars and gears required to achieve the appropriate seedling transplanting trajectory. The effective field efficiency and transplanting efficiency of transplanters were evaluated based on seedling pick-up, feeding, planting rates, and operational speed. Recent studies reported that seedling transplanting methods using clamp-type and sliding-type picking mechanisms with 4 and 5-bar-based linkages, and 1 to 2 degrees of freedom, were effective at holding and releasing seedlings without damaging them. In addition, gear-driven rotating dibbling mechanisms were recommended for their capacity to plant 45 seedlings per minute at a sufficient rate. Scientific trends highlight the performance capabilities of each type of transplanter, which could guide the manufacturers to enhance vegetable-transplanter designs.
agricultural machinery, kinematic analysis, picking mechanism, transplanting mechanism, vegetable transplanter
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Eliezel Habineza, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0364-420X
Mohammod Ali, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1822-3005
Md Nasim Reza, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7793-400X
Jea-Keun Woo, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8045-8908
Sun-Ok Chung, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7629-7224
Yaxiu Hou, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7449-4547
This work was carried out with the support of “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science and Technology Development (PJ01606101, Combined work type high-performance field crop precision planting & transplanting technology development)” Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.
No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.