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Research Article

Design and experimentation of crawler tea harvesting machine

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Received 10 Aug 2023, Accepted 17 Mar 2024, Published online: 27 Apr 2024
 

ABSTRACT

In this paper, a tracked self-propelled tea harvesting machine is designed. The machine is composed of a tracked chassis, a picking unit, a collection unit, a tea canopy sensing unit, and a cutter height adaptive adjustment unit, The tracked chassis is designed with a narrow width to accommodate the planting mode of Chinese tea plantations. The tea canopy sensing unit and the height adaptive adjustment unit of the cutting platform allow for real-time adjustment of the picking unit’s height based on the tea canopy’s height, improving the tea production rate of fresh leaves. Kinematic analysis of the reciprocating cutter was conducted. To optimize the parameters of the entire machine, a three-factor, three-level quadratic rotational orthogonal test was established, and regression analysis of the test data was performed using Design Expert. The optimized parameters were: machine speed of 3.170 km/h, crank radius of 18.737 mm, average cutter speed of 0.951 m/s, and processable tea rate of 91.38%. To validate the optimization results, field trials were conducted. The findings demonstrated that the processable tea rate was 91.26%, which closely aligned with the optimized results. This study provides a theoretical reference for the tea harvesting machine in tea plantations on hilly slopes.

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Nomenclature

a=

The ground contact length of the track (m)

a1=

The length of the crank (m)

b=

The width of the track (m)

b1=

The length of the connecting rod (m)

e=

The eccentric distance (m)

F=

Driving force (N)

Fn=

The friction force of the two-moving blade on the stalk (N)

fmax=

The maximum static frictional force (N)

G=

Combined force of the machine’s working gravity and vertical external loads (N)

I=

The processable tea rate (%)

m=

The weight of fresh picked leaves (kg)

m1=

The weight of Plucked undamaged, lightly, and severely bruised buds and leaves in the trial (kg)

Pa=

The average ground contact pressure of the track (Pa)

r=

Crank radius (m)

T=

The supporting force of the two moving blades on the stalk (N)

t=

Time (s)

α=

The gradient (°)

α1=

The sliding cutting angle (°)

β=

The friction angle of the stalk (°)

γmin=

The minimum transmission angle (°)

μ=

The maximum static friction coefficient

ω=

The crank angular velocity (rad/s)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Anhui Provincial Department of Education [2022AH040124]; Anhui Provincial Department of Science and Technology [2022296906020005].

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