Evaluation of a Real-Time Monitoring and Management System of Soybean Precision Seed Metering Devices

Aiming at precise evaluation of the performance of soybean seed metering devices, a photoelectric sensor-based real-time monitoring system was designed. The proposed system mainly included a photoelectric sensor module for seeding signal collecting, Hall sensors speeding module, microcontroller unit (MCU), light and sound alarm module, human-machine interface (HMI), and other parts. The indexes of miss, multiples, flow rate, and application rate were estimated on the basis of seeder speed, seed metering disk rotation rate, photoelectric sensor signals, and clock signals. These real-time statistics of the seeding process were recorded by seeding management system. The laboratory results showed that the detection errors of seeding quantity of both big- and small-diameter soybeans were less than 2.0%. Miss and multiples index estimated by this system were 0.4% and 0.5% than that of seeding image monitoring platform (SIMP), respectively. In field tests, miss and multiples index can be used to evaluate the performance of seed metering device, and big-diameter seeds can be detected more precisely than small ones by these photoelectric sensors. This system can provide support for evaluation of working performance of seed metering devices and have a positive effect on seeding monitoring technology.