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Design and experiment for a small electric-fertilization vehicle with a mobile phone-based program

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Abstract

In order to enlarge the regulating range and precision of fertilization application, an electric-fertilization vehicle with a fan-shaped leakage apparatus is proposed here, further avoiding some defects of centrifugal force application device such as the additional energy consumption and the fragmentation of particles. First, the vehicle scheme is proposed to the fertilizer amount electrically under the command of a phone-based program. Second, the hardware and software components of the control system are established. The phone-based control program is developed to continuously change crucial parameters such as the speed of the vehicle, the steering angle, the speed of rotating disc and the openings of the fan-shaped funnel. Third, mathematical models and discrete element simulations (DES) are carried out to establish fertilization amounts for a single cycle at given rotation speeds of rotating disc (5–20 r/min) and openings of funnel (35°–50°). Compared with mathematical values, DES results present a suitable relative error ranged from 0.16 to − 5.10%, and the maximum errors of test results relative to two computing values are − 3.85% and − 3.97%, respectively. Fourth, a series of experiments and comparisons will be carried out. For example, changing openings and speeds separately, the maximum standard deviations of reproducible experiments are 7.01 g and 9.60 g. The maximum coefficients of variation are 3.07% and 8.61%. The fertilization amounts of test conversion can be varied from 1281.86 to 11,002.07 kg/\({\mathrm{hm}}^{2}\) on the basis of single cycle and different openings, and test results based on the 2 m distance and different vehicle speeds are changed from 1281.50 to 11,002.50 kg/\({\mathrm{hm}}^{2}\). Compared with results of mathematical models, the maximum errors of two types of simulated-field values are 1.97% and 2.17%. Also drawn from experimental results, the maximum response time from 11 m distance is about 1.7 s. Therefore, the stable and uniform fertilization can be achieved by such a structure and the control system, and the whole system can be switched quickly. The mathematical and DES models have presented a good reference for designing these variable fertilization devices.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (No. 2021CFB592). This work was also sponsored by the initiation fund for doctoral research from Hubei University of Automotive Technology (No. BK201608).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Automotive Engineering, Hubei University of Automotive Technology, Shiyan, 442002, People’s Republic of China

    Lei Zhang, **anju Yuan & Tianyu Qiu

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  1. Lei Zhang
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  2. **anju Yuan
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  3. Tianyu Qiu
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Correspondence to **anju Yuan.

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Zhang, L., Yuan, X. & Qiu, T. Design and experiment for a small electric-fertilization vehicle with a mobile phone-based program. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 45, 633 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-023-04549-4

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