Design and Testing of an Integrated Lycium barbarum L. Harvester

Yutan Wang, Chan Yang, Yaoyao Gao, Yuqing Lei, Liefei Ma and Aili Qu ()
Additional contact information
Yutan Wang: School of Mechanical Engineering, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
Chan Yang: School of Mechanical Engineering, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
Yaoyao Gao: School of Mechanical Engineering, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
Yuqing Lei: School of Mechanical Engineering, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
Liefei Ma: School of Mechanical Engineering, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
Aili Qu: School of Mechanical Engineering, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: L. barbarum; integrated harvesting; structural design; test; EDEM simulation; agricultural machinery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/8/1370/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/8/1370/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:8:p:1370-:d:1457227

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().