Design and Development of a Yield Monitor for Grain Combine Harvester

Abstract

Yield monitor is an important development in precision farming that allows the farmers to assess the yield variability within the field during crop harvesting. In advanced countries, developed yield monitors used for high hp combines cannot be applied on small indigenous combines due to design constraint and high cost. So, to spread the use of yield monitoring combines in India, it was necessary to develop an indigenous yield monitor for indigenous combines. For development of an indigenous yield monitor, components such as auxiliary tank, load cell, inductive sensor and display unit with micro-controller were identified. Indigenous yield monitor was developed by assembling designed/selected components on local manufactured combine. Yield monitor was also calibrated and evaluated in the field. The average value of measured yield was 3931.1 kg•ha-1 with a standard deviation of 2020.8 kg•ha-1 having coefficient of variation 51% which indicated that yield variability existed within the small and marginal field.

Uređaj za merenje prinosa daje značajan doprinos razvoju precizne poljoprivrede tako što farmerima omogućuje merenje promenljivosti prinosa tokom žetve. U naprednim zemljama razvijeni uređaji ne mogu da se primene na malim kombajnima domaće proizvodnje zbog visoke cene i razlika u konstrukciji. Zato postoji potreba da se proširi upotreba monitora prinosa na domaćim kombajnima u Indiji, tako šro će se razviti domaći uređaj. Za razvoj ovog uređaja određene su domaće komponente: pomoćni rezervoar, ćelija tereta, indukcioni senszor i ekran sa mikro-kontrolerom. Uređaj od ovih komponenti je postavljen na domaći kombajn, kalibrisan i ocenjen u poljsim uslovima. Srednja vrednost izmerenog prinosa iznosila je 3931.1 kg•ha-1, sa standardnom devijacijom od 2020.8 kg•ha-1 i koeficijentom varijacije od 51%, što pokazuje da je promenljivost prinosa postojala u malom i zanemarljivom interval.