Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 162 (2019) 836–844

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Computers and Electronics in Agriculture

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compag

Original papers

A solid fertilizer and seed application rate measuring system for a seed- T
fertilizer drill machine
⁎
Hongfeng Yua,c, Yongqian Dinga,b, , Xiuqing Fua,c, Haitao Liua, Minfeng Jina, Chuanlei Yanga,
Zhuo Liua, Guoxiang Suna,c, Xianglin Doua
a
College of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210031, China
b
National Engineering and Technology Center for Information Agriculture, Nanjing 210095, China
c
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Intelligent Agriculture Equipment, Nanjing 210031, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keyword: To achieve a precise seeding and fertilization control on a seed-fertilizer drill machine, it is essential to first
Weighing principle realize accurate on-line measurement of the application rate for the machine. This study was focused on creating
Application rate measuring system an on-line solid fertilizer and seed application rate measuring system based on the weighing principle for seed-
Seed-fertilizer drill machine fertilizer drill machines. The invented device consisted of a spring set and a weighing sensor, with its weighing
Dynamic performance evaluation
mechanism, accurately measures the application rate of the seed-fertilizer drill machine. A real-time signal
processing algorithm based on the low-pass filter, mean filter and adaptive Kalman filter was formulated based
on analyzing field test results under various conditions. The developed device (with the on-line signal processing
algorithm) was integrated to a commercial seed-fertilizer drill machine widely used on Jiangsu region of China
and tested in field operations. The parameters being collected for assessing the performance of this developed
system included the cumulative and the dynamic application rates in real time. In the cumulative rate mea-
surement tests, this system was operated at three different seeding and fertilizing rates under two operating
speeds of the machine. Obtained results showed that the maximum relative error of the cumulative application
rate was 4.88%, and the average error of 2.62% with a standard deviation of 1.7% over about 2.5 ha of operation
area. In the dynamic rate measurement performance tests, the device was operated at four combinations of
seeding and fertilizing rates under two operation speeds. Under the condition of no seeding and fertilization, the
average error of the dynamic application rate measurement was 3.15% with a standard deviation of 1.64% over
about 2.2 ha of operation area. The seed-fertilizer drill machine was also tested on a wheat seeding operation,
the obtained performance results showed that the application rate measuring system can provide the dynamic
and cumulative performance information of the seed-fertilizer drill machine. The fluctuation degree of dynamic
application rate can illustrate the dynamic regulation performance of the machine. Obtained results verified that
the developed solid fertilizer application rate measuring system could not only used to precisely measure ap-
plication rate, but also used to provide a needed feedback information for accurately control the application via a
closed-loop controller to the machine to achieve a variable rate application.

1. Introduction rational utilization of pesticides in the complete process of crop pro-

The on-line measure of application rate in seed-fertilizer drill ma-
chine. can provide real-time feedback signal for application-rate control
systems and can also be used as evaluation basis for the operation
quality. It is the key to implement precision seeding and variable fer-
tilization effectively (Lee and Ehsani, 2015). Meanwhile, the electronic
information plot based on GPS positioning data and real-time applica-
tion-rate data is indispensable for “prescription farming”. It can provide
analytical data for evaluating soil characteristics, fertilizer use, and
duction (Khanal et al., 2017; Reyes et al., 2015). The difficulty in ap-
plication-rate measure in seed-fertilizer drill machine lies in over-
coming the complex material characteristics and adverse working
conditions and taking into account the precision of real-time applica-
tion rate and cumulative application rate (Reyns et al., 2002). Ac-
cording to the method of harvesting and yield measurement, the main
application-rate measure methods include the photoelectric method,
impulse method, capacitance method, and weighing method (Fulton
et al., 2009).

⁎
Corresponding author at: College of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210031, China.
E-mail address: yongqiand@njau.edu.cn (Y. Ding).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2019.05.007
Received 11 January 2019; Received in revised form 30 April 2019; Accepted 4 May 2019
Available online 21 May 2019
0168-1699/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
H. Yu, et al.
The principle of photoelectric method is that the photoelectric
sensor is occluded in the process of material sowing, and the volume of
material can be calculated by measuring the duty cycle of the photo-
electric sensor to realize the measure of application rate. Joseph et al.
(2003) used a gamma-ray sensor as a yield sensor, which reflects the
instantaneous flow through the relationship between the intensity of
the gamma-ray signal and the grain thickness and has high measure
accuracy; however, gamma-ray radioactivity limits the use and pro-
motion of the gamma-ray yield sensor (Joseph et al., 2003). Swisher
et al. (2002) used a laser light source and transmitted light to an array
of 32 photodiodes through a trapezoidal light chamber. According to
the shielding intensity of the granular fertilizer to the light, the in-
stantaneous flow rate of fertilizer was obtained (Swisher et al., 2002).
Sui et al. (2010) designed a simulation system for the cotton yield
measurement experiment based on a light reflecting flow sensor. The
system consisted of a yield monitor, centrifugal fan, feeding hopper,
and cotton feeder to test the relationship between the harvest quality
and the signal of the optical sensor. The experimental results indicated
that the quality of cotton seeds showed good agreement with the output
signal of the sensor, with a correlation coefficient R2 of 0.99 (Sui et al.,
2010). However, the precision of the photoelectric method is con-
siderably affected by the fertilizer density and moisture content. At the
same time, the probe gets easily covered by the fertilizer powder and
thus, needs to be calibrated and cleaned frequently.
The principle of the impulse method is that the material impacts the
impulse sensor at a certain angle, converts the measured impulse into
an electrical signal, converts the real-time application rate, and obtains
the spatial distribution map of the application rate by combining the
speed sensor and GPS. Magalhães and Cerri (2007) designed a su-
garcane yield measurement method based on a mass flow sensor. The
method was applied to the Case7700 sugarcane harvester in Sao Paulo,
Brazil from 2004 to 2005. The correlation coefficient between the
system yield measurement and the actual yield was 0.66 (Magalhães
and Cerri, 2007). Hu et al. (2009) designed a double-plate impulse
grain flow sensor. The feed rate range of the combine harvester was
0.5–2 kg/s. The laboratory measurement error was less than 3% and the
field measurement error was less than 5% (Hu et al., 2009). Zhou et al.
(2006) designed a parallel beam impulse grain mass flow sensor. The
yield measurement system could work reliably under normal field
conditions. The measurement error of the unit yield and total yield was
less than 10% (Gao et al., 2009; Zhou et al., 2006). At present, mainly
the impulse method is used for yield measurements. Compared with
yield measurement, the sowing and fertilizing application rate in this
case is smaller, and the error of the impulse method is larger.
The capacitance method measures the application rate by the dif-
ference in the dielectric coefficient between material and air. Kumhala
et al. (2010) tested the parallel plate capacitive yield sensor. The re-
lationship between the output value of the capacitance sensor and the
output value of maize was nonlinear, with a correlation coefficient
R2 = 0. 99(Kumhala et al., 2010). Zhou et al. (2017) employed the
capacitance method to determine the real-time and cumulative appli-
cation rate. Under laboratory conditions, the application rate of several
commonly used fertilizers was tested with high measure accuracy.
However, in actual field operation, the material characteristics and
types of fertilizers were limited, which required repeated calibration,
and the measure accuracy was difficult to guarantee (Zhou et al., 2017).
In general, the accuracy of photoelectric and capacitive application-
rate measure is greatly affected by the materials kinds and physical and
chemical properties of materials. Sensors need to be calibrated and
cleaned frequently, and the accuracy and reliability of measure are
difficult to guarantee. The impulse method is suitable for harvest yield
measurement with large flow rate and continuous impact, in which case
the fertilization and seeding flow rate is small and discontinuous;
however, the error of the impulse method is large. (Aristotelis et al.,
2018) Compared with other application-rate measure methods, the
weighing application-rate measure method is simple in principle and
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Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 162 (2019) 836–844
can perform measure intuitively; further, it can ensure the measure
accuracy of the dynamic application rate and cumulative application
rate. The difficulty lies in overcoming the vibration interference of the
machine during field operation, and reliably extracting the weighing
signal (Liu et al., 2007; Zhang et al., 2010).
In this paper, a method of measuring the application rate for a seed-
fertilizer drill machine, based on the weighing principle, is proposed.
The research is carried out considering two aspects: mechanical struc-
ture design and reliable signal extraction. An application rate mea-
suring system, which can be used in field seeding and fertilizing op-
eration, is designed. The precision of dynamic application rate and
cumulative application rate of the measuring system was tested. On this
basis, the application-rate performance evaluation test of mechanical
wheat seed-fertilizer drill machine was carried out by using the de-
signed application rate measuring system. The scatter plot of applica-
tion-rate information was drawn, which helped evaluate the dynamic
process of fertilization and seeding.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Principle of application-rate measure
A spring and weighing sensor are used as the measure unit to con-
struct the measure device. The principle diagram of the measure device
is shown in Fig. 1.
In Fig. 1, Fs is the constant elastic force of the spring, Fw is the total
gravity of the fertilizer box and material, and Fc is the pressure of the
weighing sensor. In the actual use process, the spring position is lim-
ited, the spring elastic force remains unchanged, and the spring force is
larger than the total gravity when the box is fully loaded. When seed-
fertilizer drill machine works, the weight reduction of the box is loaded
to the weighing sensor in the form of an equal spring force, so that the
sensor measures the material reduction in the box, and then calculates
the dynamic application rate and cumulative application rate of the
seed-fertilizer drill machine Because the weight of the box and its ac-
cessories is borne by the spring, the weighing sensor only measures the
material reduction in the box. Therefore, a small-range and high-pre-
cision weighing sensor can be selected to improve the measure re-
solution of the sensor.
According to the measure principle described in Fig. 1, two condi-
tions are needed to achieve effective measurement: (1) the spring
support force remains constant in the measurement process; (2) the
spring support force can be effectively loaded on the weighing sensor
after overcoming the box weight.
First, the constant spring support force needs to be restrained using
an appropriate mechanical structure; second, it can effectively elim-
inate the impact of vibration on the spring support force change. The
direction of spring support force is the same as that of weighing sensor,
position limit board weighting
bolt
nut sensor
Fs granular
container material
Force analysis
spring
Fw Fc
foundation support
Bearing force of the weighting sensors are: Fw = Fs — Fc
Fig. 1. Principle diagram of the measuring system based on dynamic weighting
technology.
H. Yu, et al.
1. Sensor connection bolts, 2. Weighing sensor, 3.Spring, 4. Box connection kits, 5. Linear bearing seat ,
6.Guide shaft, 7. Support frame,
Fig. 2. Mechanical structure diagram of the application-rate measure device.
which is the primary factor to ensure effective loading.
The above mentioned measurement conditions are ensured through
mechanical design and signal processing.
2.2. Mechanical design and realization
Fig. 2 shows the mechanical structure diagram of the application-
rate measure device, which is mainly composed of a weighing sensor,
box connection kit and support frame. The complete measure device is
supported by the support frame (label 7), and the spring and sensor are
installed on the support frame; the material box is assembled into an
integral component through the box-connecting sleeve (label 4), and
loaded on the spring of the support frame. To prevent relative move-
ment between the box and the support frame, the positioning block
installed on the box-connecting sleeve is installed with the linear
bearing seat (label 5) on the support frame through a guide shaft
(label6). The length of the spring is effectively restrained to produce a
constant support force. The upper end of the box connection kit is
connected with the weighing sensor (label 2) fixed on the support frame
through the bolt (label 1). The mechanical structure can effectively
ensure the stability of the spring support force and its consistency with
the force direction of the sensor. At the same time, through linear
bearings and lubrication measures, the friction interference can be ef-
fectively reduced.
2.3. Signal processing method
The main purpose of signal processing method is to eliminate the
interference of the weighing sensor caused by operation vibration, ex-
tract the effective information, and calculate the cumulative application
rate and dynamic application rate. By collecting and analyzing the
signals of application-rate measure device in the actual field operation,
we summarize a set of effective signal processing methods. The process
flow is shown in Fig. 3. The signal process method includes three main
processes: low-pass filtering, mean filtering, and adaptive Kalman fil-
tering.
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Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 162 (2019) 836–844
2.3.1. Design of low pass filter
The interference of the weighing signal arises primarily from the
vibration of the tractor, the disturbance caused by the non-concentric
driving shaft of the seed-fertilizer drill machine, the vibration caused by
the cutting soil block of the rotary tiller, and other random vibration. To
study the spectrum of the vibration signal, a spectrum analysis of the
output signal of the weighing sensor under actual working conditions
(sampling frequency 10 kHz by data acquisition card) was carried out.
(Sun et al., 2014; Kang et al., 2015). It was found that two distinct peaks
occur in the spectrum of the signal, which indicate the existence of
periodic vibration interference.
The two peaks include a 40 Hz and its double-frequency band,
which represent the disturbance caused by the dislocation of the driving
shaft through the seed-fertilizer drill machine with fluted rollers. The
300–600 Hz frequency band represents the vibration interference
caused by the rotary tillage machine cutting the land (Haitao et al.,
2018). To effectively eliminate the two periodic vibration disturbances,
a low-pass filter with a cut-off frequency of 20 Hz is designed. The
spectrum analysis is shown in Fig. 4.
2.3.2. Mean filter processing
To effectively reduce the influence of random vibration inter-
ference, the signal output by the low-pass filter is sampled at a fre-
quency of 1000 Hz by application rate measuring system. Every 500
points is averaged into one valid data, which eventually becomes the
average filtering data for a 2-Hz frequency. A section of weighing sensor
data was selected for mean filtering to show the filtering effect (see
Fig. 5). This data is used as the input for the subsequent Kalman fil-
tering.
2.3.3. Design of adaptive Kalman filtering algorithm
The Kalman filtering algorithm is mainly applied to cases in which
the statistical characteristics of the disturbance information of the
working conditions are known, that is, the measurement variance R and
the system variance Q can be determined under the working condition
of the system, and then based on the current theoretical predictions and
actual measurements. Five recursive formulas are used to calculate the
H. Yu, et al. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 162 (2019) 836–844

Input analog signal of Cumulative application rate:

weighing sensor Q(t)=W(t)-W(t0)

Linear fitting for every N

Low-pass filter points to produce W(t)
With cut-off frequency at
20 Hz

Dynamic application rate

M(t)
Data is sampled at 1000Hz and
averaged every 500 points to
produce a series of 2Hz data
Longitude
Drawing a
and latitude
Adaptive Kalman filter to dynamic map of
information
output digital signal of application rate
of the vehicle
weighting sensor S(t)

Fig. 3. Signal processing flow.

optimal estimates of the system (Marcin and Janusz, 2014; Kalman,

1960). More accurate estimation can effectively improve the stability
1.Peak Caused by disturbance of and reliability of the measurement data.
drive shaft with scroll 1,2,3,4,5,6
Using the recursive formula of the Kalman filter, the key is to es-
tablish the calculation formula of the predicted value and determine the
measurement variance R and system variance Q. According to the
characteristics and actual working conditions of the designed seed-
2.Peak Caused by vibration of
rotary cultivator 7
fertilizer drill machine, this paper proposes (1) the calculation method
for the predicted value, (2) the method of dynamic adjustment of
measurement variance R and system variance Q according to actual
working conditions; further, a set of adaptive Kalman filtering algo-
rithms are established.

(1) Formula for calculating predicted value

Fig. 4. Spectrum analysis. X (k ) = Xg (k − 1) + Tar ∗ B ∗ T ∗ V (k ) (1)

In the above formula, X (k) is the predicted value of the current

moment, Xg (k-1) is the optimal estimate of the previous moment, V (k)
is the forward speed of the operating machinery, Tar is the target ap-
plication rate of the set unit area, B is the operating width of the op-
erating machinery, and T is the data update period (sampling period).

(2) Calculation Method for Measurement Variance R and System

Variance Q

The main factors affecting the working conditions are the working
speed of the tractor and the load level of the seed-fertilizer drill ma-
chine. To ensure that the measurement variance R and the system
variance Q demonstrate adaptive performance, we first measured R and
Q under given conditions through experiments. According to the ex-
perimental results, a linear relationship between R and Q and the
tractor speed and load level is established by using the multiple linear
regression method, which serves as the basis for adaptive parameter
adjustment.
The detailed method can be described as follows: under the actual
Fig. 5. Mean filtering effect. possible working conditions, the target application rate, operating
speed, and the load weight of the box are set to a number of levels, and
all-factor tests are carried out. During the test, the weight of the ma-
terial (seeds or fertilizers) in the box remains unchanged, that is, no
sowing occurs. R and Q can be calculated according to the following

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H. Yu, et al. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 162 (2019) 836–844

Table 1
Design of multi factor cross experiments.
Level Experimental factors

Load Speed (km/h)

Seed (kg) Fertilizer (kg)

1 0 0 2
2 20 25 3
3 40 50
4 60 75

formula:
n
1
Q=
n
∑ (Xi − X¯ )2
i=1 (2)

n
1
R=
n−1
∑ (Xi − Z )2
i=1 (3)

where Xi is the sampling value of the weighing sensor, X̄ is the overall
average value of the testing process, and Z is the actual weight of the
material in the box. n is the amount of data collected for a single test.
(3) Test of measurement variance R and system variance Q
According to the application-rate range and operation speed of the
seed-fertilizer drill machine, two operation speeds and four fertilizer
box load weights were set to carry out the all-factor test. Each test was
repeated once, and 16 groups of test data were obtained from each
fertilizer box. The designed factor level table is presented in Table 1. In
the course of the test, every 300 m of tractor driving in the field is re-
garded as the completion of a test.
The multivariate regression equations of measurement variance Rs,
system variance Qs and load level Wr, with the vehicle speed of the
wheat box are as follows:
Rs = −0.9344 + 0.35 ∗ speed + 0.0394 ∗ Wr
Qs = −0.19 + 0.073 ∗ speed + 0.0065 ∗ Wr
2
The R coefficients of regression were 0.899 and 0.851, respectively.
The regression equations of measurement variance Rf, system var-
iance Qf, load level Wr and vehicle speed of the fertilizer are as follows:
Rf = −1.4559 + 0.574 ∗ speed + 0.051 ∗ Wr
Qf = −0.3318 + 0.135 ∗ speed + 0.0133 ∗ Wr
Fig. 6. Kalman filtering effect.
random interference, the data obtained after Kalman filtering is linearly
fitted according to a certain data length N, and then, the fitted data is
calculated for the application-rate measure value. The data length N is
also the number of data measurements for calculating the dynamic
application rate; its corresponding time length is NT, where T is the
data update period.
(1) Method for calculating cumulative application rate
The cumulative application rate Q (t) can be calculated by the fol-
lowing formula:
Q (t ) = W (t ) − W (t0) (8)
where W (t) is the current output value of the weighing sensor, and W
(4) (t0) is the weighing value at the start of the operation.
(5) W (t) is actually the end data linearly fitted by the nearest N data
after Kalman filtering; W (t0) is the beginning data linearly fitted by the
first N data at the beginning of the job.
(2) Method of dynamic application-rate calculation
(6)
The dynamic application rate M (t) can be calculated by the fol-
(7) lowing formula:

The R2 coefficients of regression were 0.899 and 0.987, respectively. W (t ) − W (t − (N − 1) ∗ T )

M (t ) =
When the Kalman filter is applied in practice, the fertilizer allow- ΔS
ance and vehicle speed are measured in real time; R and Q are calcu- W (t ) − W (t − (N − 1) ∗ T )
=K∗ i=N −1
lated according to the multiple linear regression equation and sub- ∑i = 0 B ∗ V (i) ∗ T (9)
stituted into the Kalman recursive formula to realize the adaptive
Kalman filter. A section of data is selected during the experiment, and M (t) was the dynamic application rate, kg/ha; B is the operation
the corresponding effect of the adaptive Kalman filter is shown in Fig. 6. width of the drill machine, m; V (i) is the vehicle speed, km/h; T is
signal update period, s; K is unit conversion coefficient.
2.3.4. Calculation method of application-rate detection measure value According to the Q(t) and M(t) values and the path information of
To effectively evaluate the operation performance of the seed-fer- the operating machinery, the dynamic application-rate information of
tilizer drill machine, the cumulative application rate and the dynamic the seed-fertilizer drill machine can be obtained.
application rate during the operation process were used to evaluate the
operation performance of the system. The cumulative application rate 3. Results and discussion
refers to the actual total application rate of the operating machinery
after the system has completed its set task in the field, which is used to 3.1. Test conditions
characterize the degree of coincidence between the cumulative appli-
cation rate of the operating system and the set cumulative target ap- A wheat seed-fertilizer drill machine with fluted rollers was mod-
plication rate. ified. The seed box and fertilizer box of the seed-fertilizer drill machine
In practical calculation, to further reduce the impact of some were installed on the application-rate measure device shown in Fig. 7.

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H. Yu, et al.
Fig. 7. Seed-fertilizer drill machine with an application rate measuring and
controlling system.
RTK-GPS Vehicle PC
Signal process Seed and fertilizer application rate
Module controlling system
Seed and fertilizer application rate Seed and fertilizer mechanical
measuring system actuator
Fig. 8. Communication system structure chart of the seed-fertilizer drill ma-
chine.
The main parts of the measure and control system of the seed-fertilizer
drill machine shown in Fig. 8 is mainly composed of the application-
rate control system, application rate measuring system, RTK GPS, on-
board PC, etc.
The application-rate control system collects the vehicle speed by
RTK GPS, combines the calibration curve of fertilizing and seeding
drive shaft speed and the outlet flow rate, dynamically adjusts the drive
shaft speed according to the set target application rate, and realizes the
application rate control.
The output signal of the application rate measuring system is pro-
cessed firstly. then, the cumulative and dynamic application-rate values
are calculated by the application-rate control system and transmitted to
the vehicle PC. The electronic information map of the application rate is
drawn by the vehicle PC combined with the RTK GPS location in-
formation.
3.2. Capacity test of application rate measuring system
3.2.1. Performance test of cumulative application rate
In this part of the experimental tests, only the cumulative seeding
and fertilization amount measured by the application rate measuring
system were compared with the actual cumulative seeding and fertili-
zation amount. Field experiments of the seed-fertilizer drill machine
equipped with application rate measuring system was carried out in a
farm located in Jintan, a south county of Jiangsu Province in China. In
combination with the local agricultural production practice, three sets
of target application rate and two speed levels were set for the seeds
and compound fertilizers in the conventional application-rate range and
operation speed, and the experiments were repeated three times for
each condition. The multi-factor and multi-level experiments was de-
signed as shown in Table 2 (Rehman et al., 2019). A total of 36 sets of
experimental data was obtained. In each test, the seed-fertilizer drill
machine dragged by a tractor to travel approximately 300 m in length
(about 0.07 ha in area), and the material discharged from each seed-
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Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 162 (2019) 836–844
Table 2
Design of multi-factor and multi-level experiments.
Level Experimental factors
Target application rate (kg/ha) Speed (km/h)
Seed Fertilizer
1 150 225 2
2 300 375 3
3 375 525
Fig. 9. Linear correlation between the measured value and actual value of
cumulative application rate.
fertilizer outlet of the drill machine is collected in a bucket. At the end
of each test, the material in the bucket was weighed as the actual cu-
mulative application rate Wr which was recorded as the performance
evaluation reference value.
The test results showed that the maximum relative error of the cu-
mulative application rate was 4.88%, the average relative error was
2.62%, and the standard deviation of error was 1.7% during all the tests
(approximately 0.07 ha in area for each test). The correlation between
the application-rate measure value Wr and the actual application rate
Ws was analyzed, as shown in Fig. 9. The linear correlation degree
reached 0.998.
3.2.2. Dynamic performance test of the application rate measuring system
In order to effectively test the dynamic performance of the seed-
fertilizer drill machine (mainly evaluated by the seeding or fertilization
amount per unit area), it is necessary for the application rate measuring
system itself to have high measurement accuracy and stability in the
field operation process. For this purpose, we designed multi-factor and
multi-level experiments. The experimental factors and levels are shown
in Table 3. Each multi-factor experiment is repeated once, and total 32
sets of experimental results were obtained. In the experiments, the seed-
fertilizer drill machine travelled in the field according to the normal
operation mode (the rotary tiller was in working state to keep cutting
soil), but keeps the material quantity in the boxes (seed and fertilizer)
unchanged to get an explicit reference value for evaluating the stability
and accuracy of the application rate measuring system. The absolute
average and standard deviation of the relative errors between the actual
material weight Wr and the measured weight W(t) were used as the
H. Yu, et al. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 162 (2019) 836–844

Table 3
Design of multi-factor and multi-level experiments.
Level Experimental factors

Load Speed (km/h)

Seed (kg) Fertilizer (kg)

1 10 10 2
2 20 25 3
3 40 50
4 60 75

Fig. 11. The original and processed data of cumulative application rate.

Fig. 10. Statistic results of dynamic performance.

evaluation indexes of the dynamic performance. The statistic results of

the 32 experiments were displayed in Fig. 10.
As Fig. 10 shows, among all the 32 tests, the maximal absolute
average of the relative errors is 3.15%, and the maximal standard de-
viation is 1.64%. This shows that the application rate measuring system
has much higher dynamic detection accuracy and stability. It can be
equipped to measure the dynamic performance of the seed-fertilizer
drill machine.
Fig. 12. One test data of the dynamic application rate.

3.3. Evaluation test of a seed-fertilizer drill machine working performance

26.64 Kg respectively. The mean, maximum and standard deviation of
with the application rate measuring system
the absolute relative error were 2.82%, 11.12% and 2.17% respectively.
The integral statistical results of the field application rate measuring
Using the developed application rate measuring system, the appli-
system were given in Table 4, where the marks of T_dym and M_dym
cation-rate performance of wheat seed-fertilizer drill machine with
means target and measured value of dynamic application rate respec-
fluted rollers was evaluated. The target application rate of wheat was
tively, while Relerr_cum means absolute relative errors of cumulative
300 kg/ha, the one of the compound fertilizer was 375 kg/ha, the total
application rate, Macerr_dym, Averr_dym and Sderr_dym means the
testing area of the field was approximately 0.42 ha, and the vehicle
maximal, average and standard deviation value of absolute relative
speed was 1.5–4 km/h. After running every 80 m or so, the seed-ferti-
error of dynamic application rate respectively. The relative error of
lizer machine needed to turn around at the field boundary. And it also
cumulative application rate of seeding and fertilization were 3.13% and
needed to add fertilizer and seed material into the boxes about every
3.76%, respectively. The maximum absolute relative error of dynamic
300 m. At the each adding material time, the actual cumulative appli-
application rate of seeding and fertilization were 20.80% and 15.9%
cation rate, measured cumulative application rate and dynamic appli-
respectively, and the corresponding average error value were 5.410%
cation rate of the seed-fertilizer drill machine were recorded.
and 4.42% with the standard deviation value were 3.32% and 2.37%
Figs. 11–14 showed one fertilization test data between two adding
respectively. From the test results, the errors of dynamic application
material, including cumulative application rate, dynamic application
rate were relatively larger than those of cumulative ones. This was due
rate, absolute relative error of dynamic application rate, and area-cu-
to the less-than-perfect regulation performance of the application con-
mulative application rate curves. The actual, measured and target va-
trolling system. On the other hand, the data points for calculating
lues of cumulative application rate were 25.19 Kg, 25.27 Kg and

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H. Yu, et al. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 162 (2019) 836–844

Fig. 15a. Operating trajectory diagram.

Fig. 13. The absolute relative error of dynamic application rate.

M(t) / Kg/ha

Longitude

Latitude

Fig. 15b. Seeding dynamic application rate.

4. Conclusion

The experimental results based on multi-factors and multi-levels

Fig. 14. The relationship curve about cumulative area and cumulative appli-
cation rate.
dynamic application rate may be too few (6 points were used in this
paper), and the influence of random on the measuring results increases.
According to the M(t) value and the path information of the seed-
fertilizer drill machine, the dynamic application rate can be plotted
following the working routes. Part plots of the machine routes and the
dynamic application rate in this evaluation test of the machine were
shown in Figs. 15a, 15b, and 15c, which can help realize the quanti-
tative and intuitive evaluation of the operation performance of the
seed-fertilizer drill machine.
performance tests showed that the average value of absolute relative
error of cumulative application rate was 2.62% and the standard de-
viation was 1.7%, and the corresponding results for the dynamic ap-
plication rate was 3.15% and 1.64% respectively. Those tests results
indicated that the application rate measuring system had a high pre-
cision in measuring cumulative application rate, and stable dynamic
performance under the condition of field vibration operation. The ap-
plication rate measuring system was a credible way to evaluate the
dynamic working performance of a seed-fertilizer drill machine in field.
Based on the evaluation test results of a seed-fertilizer drill machine
working performance, it was concluded that the application rate mea-
suring system could provide the dynamic performance information of
the seed-fertilizer drill machine. The fluctuation degree of dynamic
application rate indicated the dynamic regulation performance of

Table 4
The evaluation test results of the seed-fertilizer drill machine.
T_dym (kg/ha) M_dym (kg/ha) Relerr_cum (%) Maxerr_dym (%) Averr_dym (%) Sderr_dym (%)

Seeding 300 309.4 3.13 20.8 5.41 3.32

Fertilizing 375 389.1 3.76 15.9 4.42 2.37

843
H. Yu, et al.
M(t) / Kg/ha
Longitude
Latitude
Fig. 15c. Fertilizing dynamic application rate.
application-rate control system of the seed-fertilizer drill machine, and
can point out the direction for improving the performance of the seed-
fertilizer drill machine.
The design scheme of the application rate measuring system, which
based on weighing principle, and its signal processing method which
includes a series of processes of low-pass filter, mean filter and adaptive
Kalman filter, can realize cumulative and dynamic application rate
measurement for a seed-fertilizer drill machine. It provided a new way
not only for the seed-fertilizer drill machine to precisely monitor fer-
tilizing rate, but also for improving the application rate control per-
formance via a closed-loop controller to the machine to achieve a
variable rate application.
Acknowledgement
This work was mainly supported by the National Key Technology
Support Program of China (program number is 2013BAD08B04), and
partially supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central
Universities, China (Grants No KYGX201703), and the National
Engineering and Technology Center for Information Agriculture in
Nanjing Agricultural University, China.
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