Authors

Abstract

To address the increasing demand for potato seed-piece cutting and the persistently low level of mechanization dominated by manual operations, an automatic cutting device was designed and developed based on the physical characteristics and agronomic requirements of seed potatoes. Guided by a design strategy that integrates positional clamping with segmented cutting, the system consists of a clamping–feeding module, a flipping unit, and a PLC-based control system. The clamping mechanism secures the positioned tuber, the flipping unit rotates it by 90°, and the PLC coordinates the sequential operations to achieve precise gripping, orientation adjustment, and quartering. Furthermore, the cutting process was analyzed to identify the key factors affecting the quality and uniformity of seed-piece cutting. The qualified cutting rate and blind-eye rate were selected as evaluation indicators, and a three-factor, three-level response surface experiment was conducted using cutter inclination angle, cutting speed, and clamp width as experimental factors. The results indicated that the optimal parameter combination consisted of a cutter inclination angle of 20.7°, a cutting speed of 0.42 m/s, and a clamp width of 15.5 mm, resulting in a qualified cutting rate of 96.66% and a blind-eye rate of 1.85%. All performance indicators met the operational requirements for potato seed-piece cutting.

Abstract in Chinese

对当前马铃薯种薯切块需求大以及以人工切种为主，马铃薯种薯切块机械化程度低等问题，结合种薯的物理特性和农艺要求，基于定位夹取与分段切割的设计思路，研究设计了一种马铃薯种薯自动切块夹取切分装置，通过夹持取料装置完成对定位种薯的夹持，夹持翻转单元实现种薯翻转，PLC控制各机构动作工序，实现种薯精准夹持、90°翻转及四等分切块的整个切种过程。对马铃薯种薯切块作业过程进行分析，明确该工艺影响种薯切块效果的主要因素。以切种合格率和切种盲眼率为评价指标，以切刀倾斜角、切割速度、夹片宽度为试验因素，进行三因素三水平响应面试验，确定试验最优参数组合。试验结果表明，当切刀倾斜角为20.7°、切割速度为0.42m/s、夹片宽度为15.5mm时，切种合格率为96.66%，切种盲眼率为1.85%，各项性能指标满足马铃薯切种要求。