Developments of a new grain flow sensor for yield monitor system

摘要

Field information collection is the key technology of Precision Agriculture. To obtain the yield information, an impact-type grain flow sensor is developed for the yield monitor system. The grain flow sensor consists of a mechanical unit and an electrical unit. The mechanical unit is composed of an impact plate, a sensitive bar, some strain gauges, etc. The strain gages are stuck on the sensitive bar. When grain flow impacts the plate, the bar bends and the bridge circuit consisted of the strain gages outputs electrical signal. The output of the sensor is voltage signal. Base on the static experiment and indoor experiment, field experiment was finished in Baoding in Hebei Province and the city of Jiamusi in Heilongjiang Province. Harvesting crops were wheat and rice. The result shows that the sensor has higher linear property and the accuracy meets the requirements of the precision agriculture.