Optimization and Experiment of Straw Back-Throwing Device of No-Tillage Drill Using Multi-Objective QPSO Algorithm

• Published in: Agriculture (Basel) 2021-10, Vol.11 (10), p.986
• Main Authors: Xu, Hongbo, Hu, Zhichao, Zhang, Peng, Gu, Fengwei, Wu, Feng, Song, Wanli, Wang, Chunci
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural practices; Algorithms; Cameras; Conservation tillage; Cross-sections; Efficiency; Energy consumption; Impellers; Mathematical models; multi-objective optimization; no-tillage drill; Optimization; Parameters; Particle swarm optimization; Pipes; Power consumption; Power management; quantum behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO); Retention; Rotation; Sensors; Soil conservation; Straw; straw back-throwing device; Throwing; Tillage; verification test
• ISSN: 2077-0472; 2077-0472
• DOI: 10.3390/agriculture11100986

Reducing operation energy consumption is the development demand of conservation tillage equipment. In order to solve the problems of high power consumption and the easy blockage of the no-tillage drill under full straw retention, the key parameters of the straw back-throwing device were optimized in this study. The Box–Behnken central combination test method was used to analyze the influence of the impeller rotating speed, feed quantity and cross-sectional area of the throwing pipe on the specific power consumption and throwing speed, the mathematical models of which were built with the aid of the least square method. In addition, the mathematical models were optimized by using a multi-objective quantum behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) with an improved target weighting coefficient. The optimization results indicated that, when the impeller rotating speed was 2287 r/min, the feed quantity was 1.1 kg/s and the cross-sectional area of the throwing pipe was 506.997 cm2, the specific power consumption and throwing speed by the models were 7528 m2/s2 and 11.73 m/s, respectively. The models were verified by comparing the optimization results with the measured data in the simulation filed tests, which proved that the multi-objective QPSO algorithm was feasible to optimize the working and structural parameters of the straw back-throwing device of the no-tillage drill under full straw retention. The results provide references for the parameter optimization of similar no-tillage drills under straw retention.