Design and Testing of an Integrated Lycium barbarum L. Harvester

In the mechanized harvesting of Lycium barbarum L. (L. barbarum), there are prominent problems such as low harvesting efficiency, high damage rate, incomplete separation of leaves and delayed transportation. Therefore, an integrated L. barbarum harvester was designed and developed in this study, whi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAgriculture (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 8; p. 1370
Main Authors Wang, Yutan, Yang, Chan, Gao, Yaoyao, Lei, Yuqing, Ma, Liefei, Qu, Aili
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.08.2024
Subjects
agricultural machinery
Agronomy
Air flow
Axial flow
Belt conveyors
Biomechanics
Damage
Degrees of freedom
Design
EDEM simulation
Field tests
Fruits
Harvest
Harvesting
integrated harvesting
L. barbarum
Lycium barbarum
Parameters
Physical tests
Picking
Silicones
structural design
test
China
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Summary:In the mechanized harvesting of Lycium barbarum L. (L. barbarum), there are prominent problems such as low harvesting efficiency, high damage rate, incomplete separation of leaves and delayed transportation. Therefore, an integrated L. barbarum harvester was designed and developed in this study, which has the functions of picking, undertaking, transportation, winnowing and collection. The design requirements and constraints were identified by cultivation agronomy. Through simulation and physical tests, the tarpaulin was determined as the undertaking material. This machine achieved efficient picking with a vibrating picker with a multi-degree-of-freedom picking arm. The two-stage conveyor belts and the intermediate receiving plate were designed for low loss transportation of fruit. The axial flow fan and secondary buffer device were used to realize winnowing and reduce the damage rate. Through the three-factor and three-level orthogonal test, an optimal working parameter combination was determined: the vibration frequency of the picker was 20 Hz, the conveyor speed was 4 m/min, the airflow speed of the fan was 7 m/s. A field test was conducted under these parameters, and the results showed that the harvesting efficiency was about five times that of manual harvesting. The integrated L. barbarum harvester basically met the harvesting requirements and provided a new scheme for mechanized harvesting.
ISSN:2077-0472
2077-0472
DOI:10.3390/agriculture14081370