Multi-cutter synchronous control system and method for intelligent sugarcane seed cutting machine

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of agricultural machinery, in particular to a multi-cutter synchronous control system and method for an intelligent sugarcane cutting machine, the multi-cutter synchronous control system adopting semi-closed loop control is designed by taking a PLC as a carrier, specifically, the positions of sugarcane joints are extracted after the sugarcane joints are recognized and detected through a sugarcane joint recognition system, and the positions of the sugarcane joints are extracted through a control system; and then the positions of the sugarcane sections are sent to the electrical control system, the electrical control system calculates the optimal cutting position after receiving the positions of the sugarcane sections, the cutter is controlled to move to the corresponding position to conduct cutting, and after cutting is completed, the cutter is lifted up to wait for a next cutter adjusting signal. Sugarcane knot coordinate information of sugarcanes is extracted in real time through machine vision and then sent to the control system, the control system controls the cutter to move to the target position for cutting, the mechanical bud damage rate of sugarcane buds is effectively reduced, and the qualified rate of sugarcane seeds is increased.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of agricultural machinery technology, specifically to a multi-blade synchronous control system and method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter. Background Technology

[0002] Guangxi is my country's largest sugarcane-growing region, but its sugarcane production suffers from low mechanization due to geographical limitations, planting methods, and a lack of understanding of mechanization. Mechanized sugarcane planting is a crucial aspect of sugarcane production, encompassing processes such as ditching, seed placement, sowing, fertilization, hilling, mulching, and compaction. However, in Guangxi, 70% of sugarcane cultivation still relies on mechanized ditching followed by manual seed placement, resulting in high labor intensity, low efficiency, and consequently increased planting costs.

[0003] Sugarcane planters can be broadly categorized into three types: whole-stalk type, real-time cutting type, and pre-cutting type. In my country, real-time cutting type is the dominant method. This method has a low degree of automation, often requiring manual assistance, resulting in high labor intensity, high planting costs, and frequent mechanical damage to the sugarcane buds during cutting. This compromises the budding rate of newly planted sugarcane, failing to meet the technical requirements of manual planting. These factors have hindered the development of automated sugarcane planting machinery in my country. Pre-cutting type seeding devices are more efficient and have a higher degree of automation, but require pre-processing of the sugarcane seed. This seed preparation process necessitates workers observing the condition of the sugarcane buds before cutting them into sections, involving repetitive and labor-intensive manual labor.

[0004] Deficiencies and shortcomings of existing products: Although research on sugarcane cutting machinery has yielded some results, existing sugarcane cutting operations suffer from problems such as damage to sugarcane buds due to the inability to locate sugarcane nodes during blind cutting, thus affecting the quality rate of produced sugarcane seeds. Furthermore, due to varying sugarcane growth conditions, inconsistent spacing between sugarcane nodes may occur. Some sugarcane cutting machines lack adaptability, leading to unusable conditions and mechanical damage to buds, further impacting the quality rate and efficiency of sugarcane seeds. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a multi-blade synchronous control system and method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter, which realizes automatic control of multiple cutters moving synchronously to the target position. A semi-closed-loop control system for multi-blade synchronous control is designed using PLC as the carrier. The control system controls multiple cutters to move accurately and quickly to the target position for cutting, reducing the sugarcane bud damage rate and improving the sugarcane seed qualification rate.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a multi-blade synchronous control system for an intelligent sugarcane cutting machine, including an electrical control system and a sugarcane node recognition system. The electrical control system is responsible for controlling the functions of various electrical components, and the sugarcane node recognition system mobilizes a camera to collect sugarcane images and perform image processing, target object recognition, and positioning.

[0007] The electrical control system includes two sets of PLC controllers, a cutting module, several position sensors, and a conveyor chain. The conveyor chain is responsible for transporting sugarcane. The cutting module contains six cutting blades. The position sensors are responsible for enabling the PLC controllers to sense the positions of each cutting blade and the conveyor chain, providing positioning information support. The PLC controllers ensure that the conveyor chain can complete the transportation and positioning of sugarcane at a suitable speed. They also need to control the cutting blades to accurately and quickly position and complete the cutting work, as well as coordinate the timing of the control of the conveyor chain and the cutting blades.

[0008] The sugarcane node identification system includes a camera and an industrial control computer. The camera is responsible for capturing images, and the industrial control computer is responsible for communication with the PLC controller and providing human-machine interaction functions.

[0009] The two sets of PLC controllers are divided into master PLC and slave PLC. The number of input and output ports are evenly distributed between the master PLC and slave PLC. Each set of PLCs corresponds to three cutting blades. The input signals are all digital quantities, including position sensor and emergency stop signal inputs. The output ports are responsible for sending commands to the motors.

[0010] The cutting module uses a saw blade to cut sugarcane, controls the lifting and lowering of the cutting blade through a micro-stepping driver, and controls the translation of the cutting blade through a servo controller.

[0011] Each cutter is equipped with five position sensors to achieve limit positioning: two for cutter lifting limit, two for cutter translation limit, and one for cutter origin calibration.

[0012] The position sensing of the conveyor chain is achieved by fiber optic sensors. The photo-taking position and the sugarcane cutting position are not in the same location, but are arranged sequentially along the conveyor chain's transport direction.

[0013] The number and arrangement of cameras in the sugarcane section recognition system must cover the design width range of the sugarcane cutting machine.

[0014] This invention also proposes a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter, which employs the aforementioned multi-blade synchronous control system for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter, and includes the following steps:

[0015] Step 1: The conveyor chain transports sugarcane to the camera position, the camera takes pictures, and the industrial control computer performs target detection and positioning of the sugarcane sections;

[0016] Step 2: After extracting the x-coordinate of the center position of the identification frame of each sugarcane segment, send the position information to the main PLC and the slave PLC one by one;

[0017] Step 3: After receiving the coordinate data, the PLC controller will calculate the cutting position of each cutter based on the previously stored information. After the calculation is completed, the target movement position data of the cutter will be sent to the servo controller of each cutter in sequence.

[0018] Step 4: The servo controller adjusts the tool according to the instructions sent by the PLC controller. After sending the tool adjustment instruction, the PLC controller erases and transfers the data, and waits for the next data retrieval.

[0019] Step 5: The conveyor chain does not stop running during the execution of this step. The cutting operation is performed when the cutter is adjusted to the correct position and the sugarcane is in the cutting position.

[0020] Step 6: Repeat the process until the seeding is complete.

[0021] Optionally, the calculation of the cutting position follows the method below:

[0022] First, calculate the midpoint of the positive and negative soft limit switches, then determine the number of sugarcane segments in the area each cutter is responsible for. If the number of segments is zero, select the cutting position as the cutter origin. If the number of sugarcane segments is not zero, the PLC controller determines the position of the sugarcane segment relative to the midpoint position.

[0023] When the coordinates of the center point of the sugarcane node recognition frame are less than the coordinates of the midpoint, the target position for cutting is the sum of the coordinates of the center point of the sugarcane node recognition frame and the set cutter offset. Otherwise, a subtraction operation is used, and the target position for cutting is the difference between the coordinates of the center point of the sugarcane node recognition frame and the set cutter offset.

[0024] Finally, the relationship between the calculated cutting position of the cutter and the soft limit is determined. If the cutting position is within the limit, the final cutting position is taken from the calculated data; otherwise, the coordinates of the limit point are taken as the final cutting position of the cutter.

[0025] Optionally, when calculating the cutting position of each cutter, it is also necessary to meet the agronomic requirement of avoiding sugarcane nodes by 30mm-50mm.

[0026] Optionally, the data transmission interval is less than or equal to 100 milliseconds.

[0027] This invention provides a multi-blade synchronous control system and method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter. A semi-closed-loop control system based on a PLC is designed. Specifically, a sugarcane node recognition system identifies and detects the sugarcane nodes, extracting their positions. These positions are then sent to the electrical control system. Upon receiving the node positions, the electrical control system calculates the optimal cutting position and controls the cutter to move to the corresponding position before cutting. After cutting, the cutter is raised to await the next adjustment signal. This invention uses machine vision to extract the sugarcane node coordinates in real time and sends them to the control system. The control system then controls the cutter to move to the target position for cutting, effectively reducing the rate of mechanical damage to sugarcane buds and improving the quality rate of sugarcane seeds. Attached Figure Description

[0028] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0029] Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention.

[0030] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the electrical control system of a multi-blade synchronous control system for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention.

[0031] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the photo-taking triggering procedure in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the wiring method between the stepper motor and the microstepping controller in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the wiring method between the servo motor and the servo controller in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a semi-closed-loop control framework in a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention.

[0035] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the servo controller with built-in feedback control flow of a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention.

[0036] Figure 8This is a schematic diagram of the semi-closed-loop periodic origin correction module structure of a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention (used to realize the displacement passing through the origin judgment and counting function).

[0037] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the synchronization control process of a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention.

[0038] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the blade position calculation in a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention.

[0039] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the midpoint calculation and sugarcane section number judgment module of a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane cutting machine according to the present invention.

[0040] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the cutting position of a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention.

[0041] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of a calculation block for a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention when the blade position is less than the midpoint.

[0042] Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram of a calculation block for a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention, when the blade position is greater than the midpoint.

[0043] Figure 15 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the cutting position calculation of a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention.

[0044] Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of the data movement program for the cutting algorithm of a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention.

[0045] Figure 17 This is a schematic diagram of the cutting algorithm position sending program for a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention.

[0046] Figure 18 This is a schematic diagram of the cutting position sending module in the cutting algorithm of the multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane cutting machine according to the present invention.

[0047] Figure 19 This is a schematic diagram of the speed information transmission module of the multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter according to the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0048] Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and intended to explain the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0049] This invention provides a multi-blade synchronous control system for an intelligent sugarcane cutting machine, including an electrical control system and a sugarcane node recognition system. The electrical control system is responsible for controlling the functions of various electrical components, and the sugarcane node recognition system uses a camera to collect sugarcane images and performs image processing, target object recognition, and positioning.

[0050] The electrical control system includes two sets of PLC controllers, a cutting module, several position sensors, and a conveyor chain. The conveyor chain is responsible for transporting sugarcane. The cutting module contains six cutting blades. The position sensors are responsible for enabling the PLC controllers to sense the positions of each cutting blade and the conveyor chain, providing positioning information support. The PLC controllers ensure that the conveyor chain can complete the transportation and positioning of sugarcane at a suitable speed. They also need to control the cutting blades to accurately and quickly position and complete the cutting work, as well as coordinate the timing of the control of the conveyor chain and the cutting blades.

[0051] The sugarcane node identification system includes a camera and an industrial control computer. The camera is responsible for capturing images, and the industrial control computer is responsible for communication with the PLC controller and providing human-machine interaction functions.

[0052] The two sets of PLC controllers are divided into master PLC and slave PLC. The number of input and output ports are evenly distributed between the master PLC and slave PLC. Each set of PLCs corresponds to three cutters. The input signals are all digital quantities, including position sensor and emergency stop signal inputs. The output ports are responsible for sending commands to the motors.

[0053] The cutting module uses a saw blade to cut sugarcane, controls the lifting and lowering of the cutting blade through a micro-stepping driver, and controls the translation of the cutting blade through a servo controller.

[0054] Each cutter is equipped with five position sensors for limit operation: two for cutter lifting limit, two for cutter translation limit, and one for cutter origin calibration.

[0055] The position sensing of the conveyor chain is achieved by fiber optic sensors. The photo-taking position and the sugarcane cutting position are not in the same location, but are arranged sequentially along the conveyor chain's transport direction.

[0056] The number and arrangement of cameras in the sugarcane section recognition system must cover the design width range of the sugarcane cutting machine.

[0057] This invention also proposes a multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter, which employs the aforementioned multi-blade synchronous control system for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter, and includes the following steps:

[0058] Step 1: The conveyor chain transports sugarcane to the camera position, the camera takes pictures, and the industrial control computer performs target detection and positioning of the sugarcane sections;

[0059] Step 2: After extracting the x-coordinate of the center position of the identification frame of each sugarcane segment, send the position information to the main PLC and the slave PLC one by one;

[0060] Step 3: After receiving the coordinate data, the PLC controller will calculate the cutting position of each cutter based on the previously stored information. After the calculation is completed, the target movement position data of the cutter will be sent to the servo controller of each cutter in sequence.

[0061] Step 4: The servo controller adjusts the tool according to the instructions sent by the PLC controller. After sending the tool adjustment instruction, the PLC controller erases and transfers the data, and waits for the next data retrieval.

[0062] Step 5: The conveyor chain does not stop running during the execution of this step. The cutting operation is performed when the cutter is adjusted to the correct position and the sugarcane is in the cutting position.

[0063] Step 6: Repeat the process until the seeding is complete.

[0064] The overall control logic of this invention is as follows: After the control system controls the conveyor chain to transport the sugarcane to the designated location, a camera takes an image. A computer with image recognition technology identifies and locates the sugarcane sections in the image, determining their relative positions based on the origin, and sends these coordinates to the control system. Upon receiving the position information, the control system calculates the optimal cutting positions for the six cutters and controls the cutters to move to the target positions to complete the cutting process.

[0065] The specific control process is as follows: Figure 1 As shown (Memory 1 is located in the main PLC, and Memory 2 is located in the slave PLC):

[0066] After the system starts operating automatically, the saw blade is powered on, rotates, and descends to the lowest cutting height. The conveyor chain begins to move forward. When the conveyor chain reaches the designated position, the PLC controller will activate the camera's supplementary lighting for two seconds to provide a bright environment for the camera to take pictures. The design of positive triggering to illuminate the supplementary lighting also helps save energy consumption. The PLC simultaneously controls communication with the industrial control computer. After receiving the control signal, the industrial control computer will take pictures of the sugarcane and perform target detection and positioning of the sugarcane segments. After extracting the horizontal coordinate of the center position of the identification frame of each sugarcane segment, the position information is sent to the PLC one by one. The PLC selects the sugarcane segment closest to the cutting origin from all the received sugarcane segment coordinates and stores the six coordinate data of the sugarcane segment in the built-in memory. At this time, the sugarcane segment data is stored in memory 2.

[0067] Due to the size limitations of the filming black box and the cutter, and considering the overall working efficiency of the cane cutter, it cannot complete the cutting action at the filming position immediately after filming. Therefore, the conveyor chain needs to move backward a certain distance after filming before cutting the cane. Assuming that two sugarcanes are in the following positions... Figure 2 At the position shown, the previous sugarcane is being cut, while the next sugarcane is being photographed. Correspondingly, the PLC's built-in memory should store the position information of both sugarcanes. This design, while balancing the cutting and photographing positions, also significantly improves the overall working efficiency of the seed cutter.

[0068] After receiving the coordinate data, the PLC retrieves the previously stored coordinate data of the six sugarcane segments (stored in memory 1) and calculates the cutting position of the cutter for each segment. The cutting position is oriented and calculated according to the principle of "a specified distance from the sugarcane segment position towards the cutter's origin position." After calculating the cutting position, the PLC calculates the distance between the current cutter position and the cutting position, converts this distance into the number of pulses required for the cutter's translation servo motor to move, and sends this number to the servo controllers of each translation motor. Upon receiving the adjustment signal, the cutter immediately adjusts. During adjustment, the servo controller strictly executes the instructions sent by the PLC. When the cutter reaches the target position and the limit sensor has not sent a limit signal, or when it reaches the limit point and the limit sensor sends a limit signal to the servo controller, the cutter stops. This control method utilizes the limit function of the servo controller to replace the PLC's judgment and calculation of the limit position, reducing the computational load and improving the efficiency of the seed cutter control.

[0069] Meanwhile, after the PLC sends the knife adjustment signal to the servo controller, the data in memory 1 becomes invalid. The PLC will erase the data and transfer the data from memory 2 to memory 1, awaiting the next data retrieval. This also prepares for storing the new sugarcane section position next time. During this period, the conveyor chain does not stop running, but if the cutter is not yet adjusted when the conveyor chain reaches the sugarcane cutting preparation position, the conveyor chain will pause and wait for the cutter to be adjusted before resuming operation. After the conveyor chain reaches the sugarcane cutting completion position, in order to quickly leave the sugarcane section and not affect the sugarcane's continued forward movement to the subsequent process, the cutter will be raised by 20mm, and the knife adjustment for the next process will begin.

[0070] The hardware design of the electrical control system, such as Figure 2 As shown, the main function of various position sensors is to enable the PLC to sense the positions of each cutter and conveyor chain, providing information support for precise positioning of the cutters and conveyor chain. Micro-stepping drivers and servo drivers precisely control the translation and lifting of the cutters according to PLC commands.

[0071] The following description, in conjunction with specific embodiments, illustrates the hardware selection process for this invention:

[0072] 1) Controller selection

[0073] The sugarcane seed cutter operates in a harsh environment, dealing with a mixture of bagasse, sugar, and juice. Additionally, Guangxi experiences high temperature and humidity. Furthermore, the control system needs to communicate simultaneously with the industrial computer's vision recognition system and perform real-time scheduling and control of six cutters. This complex timing control places stringent demands on response speed and command reliability. The deterministic execution cycle, industrial-grade anti-interference characteristics, and the ability to be directly exposed to the field environment without requiring additional sealed enclosures make the PLC an ideal choice for agricultural machinery control. A single Siemens S7-200S SMART controller with 24 input ports and 16 output ports is sufficient to meet the requirements of all sensors and controllers. However, since the PLC in this invention also calculates the cutter's movement position, two PLCs of this model are used in this embodiment to meet the control speed requirements, with PLC1 and PLC2 as the master and slave PLCs.

[0074] The normal operation of the control system requires a reasonable allocation of the PLC's input and output addresses. Distributing the input and output addresses evenly can reduce the workload of both PLCs. The input signals in this invention are all digital, including position sensor and emergency stop signal inputs. The input addresses of PLC 1 are shown in Table 1, and the input addresses of PLC 2 are shown in Table 2. The output ports mainly issue commands to the various motors; the output addresses of the two PLCs are shown in Table 3.

[0075] Table 1 PLC 1 Input Address Allocation

[0076]

[0077] Table 2 PLC 2 Input Address Allocation

[0078]

[0079] Table 3 PLC Output Address Allocation

[0080]

[0081] 2) Position signal acquisition and motion execution unit

[0082] The displacement limitation of the cutter is achieved through a Jiazhun FC-SPX303Z through-beam slotted photoelectric sensor. When the cutter's baffle reaches the sensor slot, the sensor sends an electrical signal to the PLC controller, which then controls the stepper motor to start and stop, thus achieving the limit. Each cutter uses five of these sensors for limit operation: two for cutter lifting limit, two for cutter translation limit, and one for cutter origin calibration.

[0083] The position sensing of the conveyor chain is achieved using an Omron E32-LT11 diffuse reflection fiber optic cable in conjunction with an Omron E3X-NA11 general-purpose fiber optic amplifier. When the sugarcane holder baffle of the conveyor chain passes the fiber optic sensor, the photoelectric signal is transmitted to the PLC via the fiber optic amplifier, and the PLC can then sense the position of the conveyor chain. When the conveyor chain passes the photo-taking position, it triggers the taking of a picture and the lighting of the supplementary light. The program in the PLC program that senses whether the cutter has reached the photo-taking position is as follows: Figure 3 As shown. Simultaneously, the corresponding indicator block on the control panel display will indicate to the operator that the conveyor chain is passing through a certain node.

[0084] The lifting and lowering action of the cutter is achieved by a Hamps 86HA80-T16*16 through-type motor in conjunction with a lead screw. The cutter lifting frame is mounted on the cutter translation frame via a slide rail. The cutter lifting frame weighs approximately 8.5 kg. According to the cutter control design, the cutter needs to lift and lower by 20 mm during operation. Based on the overall efficiency requirements of the seed cutter, this invention is designed so that the cutter completes the lifting and lowering action within 1 second. Therefore, the designed cutter lifting and lowering speed is v = 20~50 mm / s, and the acceleration and deceleration time Δt = 0.05 s.

[0085] Under the condition of vmax=50mm / s, the maximum acceleration required for the entire cutter is:

[0086]

[0087] At this acceleration, the maximum acceleration required for the cutter to lift is:

[0088]

[0089] To meet the design service life of the lead screw, a four-wire trapezoidal thread lead screw with good load-bearing capacity is selected. The trapezoidal thread lead screw matched with this type of motor has an efficiency η=0.3 and a diameter of 16mm. To meet the rapid response of the cutter lifting, a thread lead L=16mm is selected. The required torque T of the through-type motor is then:

[0090]

[0091] The motor speed range is:

[0092]

[0093] The maximum power requirement is calculated based on the highest operating speed:

[0094]

[0095] Substituting the data into the above formula, we obtain the following results: the required torque for the through-type motor is 0.779 N·m, the required speed is 75~187.5 RPM, and the required power is 15.3 W. The maximum torque of this motor is 4 N·m, and it meets the torque requirements of the cutter for acceleration and deceleration according to the set acceleration, uniform speed operation, and fixed-point holding within the range of 70~200 RPM, while also leaving a large safety margin.

[0096] The translational movement of the cutter is achieved by the Huichuan MS1H1-40B30CB servo motor connected to a 5:1 planetary reducer and relying on the gear and rack mechanism.

[0097] The cutter section weighs approximately 20kg. Calculations show that the static friction force of the cutter moving on the slide rail is 100N, and the dynamic friction force is 40N. According to the cutter control design, the cutter needs to translate a maximum of 100mm during operation. Based on the overall efficiency requirements of the seed cutter, the cutter is designed to complete the translation in approximately 1 second, i.e., at a speed within the range of 50~150mm / s, with an acceleration / deceleration time Δt=0.05s. The design uses a rack and pinion drive with a module of 2 and 18 teeth.

[0098] Under the condition of vmax=150mm / s, the maximum acceleration required for the entire cutter is:

[0099]

[0100] Under this acceleration, the maximum force F required for the cutter to translate is:

[0101]

[0102] The required torque T at this point is:

[0103]

[0104] The speed range of the gears and motor is:

[0105]

[0106] The maximum power requirement is calculated based on the highest operating speed:

[0107]

[0108] Substituting the data into the above formula yields the following results: to meet the speed and acceleration requirements of the cutter's translation, the servo motor requires a torque of 0.576 N·m, a speed of 132.63~397.89 RPM, and a power of 24W. This model of motor has a low moment of inertia and low power capacity, and its dynamic response characteristics ensure that the cutter mechanism can achieve high-frequency start-stop actions. The lower power consumption, while meeting the power requirements, can satisfy the needs of rapid start and stop of cutter adjustments, while also achieving energy saving and environmental protection.

[0109] Next, select a motor controller and motor combination. The controller for the lifting stepper motor is the Hanpus DM860H micro-stepping controller, whose electrical interface definition is as follows: Figure 4 As shown. This controller achieves precise positioning through the direction control signal DIR+ and pulse sequence signal PUL+ output by the PLC main control unit. Under a peak drive current configuration of 5.14A, it ensures static torque stability through full current sustaining mode. The controller parameters are set to 1600 microsteps, corresponding to a step angle of 0.225°, meaning that 1600 pulse signals are required for every 360° rotation of the motor.

[0110] The servo controller model is SV660FS2R8I, and the wiring is as follows: Figure 5 As shown in the diagram. Port CN3 is the controlled end input port, where the controller and PLC communicate via a local Ethernet network. Port CN4 is the control end signal output port, which can connect to other servo controllers of the same model; this wiring method reduces the number of Ethernet switches required. Ports DI1 and DI2 are used to connect the signal terminals of the left and right limit sensors; this connection method reduces the number of signal processing steps required by the PLC, simplifies its control program, and improves operating efficiency.

[0111] 3) Image Acquisition

[0112] The sugarcane images were acquired using a Hikvision MV-C5050-10GC color camera. At a height of 800mm, the camera has a field of view of approximately 900mm. Therefore, this paper uses two cameras of this model, arranged at a 900mm interval, which can cover a range of 1800mm, sufficient to cover the design width range of the seed cutter.

[0113] 4) Control panel and industrial computer

[0114] The control panel uses a Weintek MT8106iQ touchscreen with a resolution of 1024×600. It is powered by a 24V DC power supply and has an IP65 protection rating, offering high safety and reliability while also providing high processing efficiency. The touchscreen connects to the PLC via a PROFINET interface, allowing for clear monitoring and control of system operation. Embedded in a self-made frame, the control panel includes a power switch, a running indicator light, and an emergency stop button. The industrial PC is a Yanmeng P15KL6 model with an i7-8565U CPU and a Windows 7 operating system. This PC has six USB ports and four Ethernet ports. In the operating conditions of this invention, two Ethernet ports are used to connect two cameras for image acquisition, and one Ethernet port is used to connect to the PLC for control communication. The industrial PC's protection features meet the requirements of the seed cutter's working environment; harsh working environments will not affect normal operation.

[0115] Furthermore, the multi-blade synchronous control method of the present invention has the following design logic:

[0116] 1) Control strategy selection

[0117] Open-loop control, with its simple structure, rapid response, and low cost, demonstrates significant advantages in specific application scenarios. Its execution process does not rely on real-time feedback mechanisms, making it suitable for stable loads and environments with minimal interference. However, open-loop control is also sensitive to mechanical errors and external disturbances, and because the backlash in gears and racks cannot be eliminated, long-term reversing operation can lead to accumulated errors. In contrast, closed-loop control monitors position in real time using sensors and dynamically corrects deviations, offering higher accuracy and stronger anti-interference capabilities. However, this requires additional feedback components such as distance and position sensors or linear encoders, significantly increasing hardware costs and algorithm complexity. Especially in the harsh environments of agricultural machinery, sensors are more prone to failure. In sugarcane seed production sites, a large amount of splashed bagasse can easily cover the position feedback sensors relied upon by closed-loop control, leading to signal distortion or even malfunction. Open-loop control, on the other hand, does not expose precision sensors, thus significantly improving reliability. Furthermore, agricultural machinery is cost-sensitive; adopting a closed-loop solution would require additional hardware costs. Open-loop control can achieve millimeter-level repeatability and positioning accuracy through mechanical design and optimized control algorithms such as origin reset correction strategies, thus meeting the agronomic requirement of "avoiding sugarcane nodes by 30mm-50mm".

[0118] Meanwhile, agricultural machinery requires high ease of maintenance. Open-loop systems can withstand general contamination and are easy to clean and lubricate on-site, while closed-loop sensors, with their sealing protection and fault diagnosis, increase maintenance difficulty. However, open-loop control suffers from sensitivity to mechanical errors, external disturbances, and cumulative errors. For example, misalignment of the rack and pinion installation can lead to off-center wear, requiring laser calibration to ensure rack parallelism and the use of backlash-free couplings to compensate for alignment errors. Furthermore, long-term wear increases backlash, which can be addressed by dynamically adjusting the origin correction cycle, for example, gradually reducing it from 100 cutting corrections to 50, or using nitrided hardened gears to extend their lifespan. These measures can further enhance the reliability of open-loop control without significantly increasing costs.

[0119] In this invention, open-loop control can achieve a balance between accuracy and cost through periodic calibration, while adapting to the special needs of agricultural scenarios and meeting the comprehensive goals of functionality, economy and reliability.

[0120] 2) Semi-closed-loop control

[0121] The system mainly consists of a PLC controller, a servo controller, and a servo motor with a built-in encoder. The PLC is responsible for motion planning and logic control, while the servo motor achieves closed-loop drive through its built-in encoder. Combined with a photoelectric sensor at the midpoint of the stroke, this forms a semi-closed-loop control architecture. Figure 6 As shown. After retrieving the center position information of each sugarcane segment from the memory, the master and slave PLCs sequentially calculate the movement distance of each cutter and send it to the servo controller, which then executes the action. If the cutter position calculation shows that the current displacement passes through the origin, the PLC will control the cutter to perform a reset operation once. After the reset, the cutter will be adjusted again and the operation will continue, while the counter will be incremented by 1. After each cutter position calculation, before sending the cutter adjustment control signal, the PLC will check whether the counter is equal to 50. If the condition is met, a reset will be performed, and the cutter position will be adjusted again after the reset. If the condition is not met, the reset step will be ignored.

[0122] Because the servo controller has built-in feedback control, such as Figure 7 The cutter can accurately complete the actions given by the PLC. Therefore, the biggest error in this design lies in the difference between the cutter position recorded by the PLC and the actual cutter position. By presetting a safety margin of 30-50mm between the cutter's entry position and the center of the sugarcane node, the goal of avoiding the sugarcane node can be achieved.

[0123] A program used to implement the function of determining and counting displacements passing through the origin, such as... Figure 8As shown in the diagram, the program uses a multiplication module to multiply the cutting position calculated in the previous step with the current position of the cutter. If the product is negative, it indicates that the cutter position adjustment needs to pass through the origin. In this case, the addition module is triggered to increment the origin-passing count by 1. When the origin-passing count reaches 50, the system automatically performs a cutter return-to-origin operation, i.e., resets to the initial position. Simultaneously, the assignment module resets the value of LD36 to 0, ensuring that the counting restarts. After this program finishes running, the data in LD36 will be stored in the PLC's V memory area for easy retrieval later.

[0124] 3) Origin calibration

[0125] The cutter position is determined based on the pixel coordinates of the photo captured by the camera. Setting the left side of the photo as the zero point of the horizontal coordinate, there are 2448 possible positions to the right. Lower the cutter to its lowest point, place a calibration ruler, align the calibration line with the cutter, and record the distance between this calibration line and the sugarcane support. Place the calibration ruler under the camera at the recorded distance, and use the industrial control computer's recognition mode to identify the calibration line aligned with the cutter and extract its position. This position is the horizontal coordinate position of the cutter. Perform position calibration on each of the six cutters. Next, it is necessary to find the relationship between the pixel distances in the photo and the corresponding actual distances. The spacing between the calibration lines on the calibration ruler is 1 cm, while the spacing between two calibration lines in the camera is 30 pixels. Therefore, the correspondence between the distances in the photo and the actual distances can be determined.

[0126] 4) Multi-pole synchronous control

[0127] The control system consists of an industrial computer and two PLCs that collaboratively control the translation servo motors of six cutting blades. Each PLC is responsible for controlling the translational movement of three cutting blades, achieving efficient and precise sugarcane segment cutting. The specific workflow is as follows: Figure 9 As shown, the industrial control computer first sends the position information of the sugarcane segment to the register of the PLC. After the image sensor is triggered, PLC 1 and PLC 2 retrieve the position information of the sugarcane segment from the register. Based on this position information, the PLCs sequentially calculate the target movement position of each cutter. The calculation process includes parsing the position of the sugarcane segment, reading the current position of the cutter, and determining the target position. After the calculation is completed, PLC 1 and PLC 2 sequentially send the target movement position data of the cutter to the servo controller of each cutter.

[0128] Since the data transmission interval is approximately 100 milliseconds, this can be considered synchronous control. This synchronous control ensures that all cutters receive the target position information almost simultaneously and begin moving. After receiving the target position data, the servo controller drives the translation servo motors of the cutters, enabling the cutters to move precisely to the target position.

[0129] 5) Calculation of the cutting position

[0130] The calculation logic and process for the PLC to determine the cutting position are as follows: Figure 10 .

[0131] First, calculate the midpoint of the positive and negative soft limits. Then, determine the number of sugarcane segments within the area each cutter is responsible for. If the number of segments is zero, no further calculations are performed, and the target position is the cutter origin. If the number of segments is not zero, continue the subsequent calculations. The calculation procedure is as follows: Figure 11 As shown.

[0132] The positive and negative limits are determined by the sensor's hard limit. The hard limit is set at the extreme position where the cutter and the blade are about to collide. If the blade exceeds the hard limit due to a sudden cause or a control system malfunction, the servo controller will receive a signal and control the blade to stop immediately. Simultaneously, it will send a signal to the PLC, which will stop operation and issue an alarm. The soft limit is set 2 mm from the midpoint of the sensor's hard limit. The purpose is to use software limits to provide the first layer of protection for the blade's translational control. The PLC will refer to the soft limit position when calculating the target position of the blade.

[0133] After calculating the soft limit midpoint, the PLC will determine the position of the sugarcane node relative to the midpoint. When the coordinates of the center point of the sugarcane node recognition frame are less than the coordinates of the midpoint, an addition operation is used. The coordinates of the center point of the sugarcane node recognition frame are added to the set cutter offset, which is the distance from the cutter's downward movement to the center point of the sugarcane node recognition frame. See [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 12 Conversely, a subtraction operation is used, subtracting the set cutter offset from the coordinates of the sugarcane section. See the detailed calculation procedure below. Figure 13 and Figure 14 .

[0134] like Figure 15 The diagram shows the parent program for calculating the cutter's position. This program is used for the position calculation of each cutter. Taking cutter 1 as an example, the result is temporarily stored in address LD28 after calculation. The next step is to determine the relationship between the cutter's target movement position and the soft limit. If it is within the limit, the final cutting position of the cutter is taken from the calculated data. Otherwise, the coordinates of the limit point are taken as the final cutting position of the cutter. Finally, the calculated position information is stored in LD20 and transferred to address VD.2108 after the program ends.

[0135] After the previous sugarcane stalk is cut, the current coordinate position of the sugarcane will be moved to VD2080, awaiting the next cutter adjustment. The data movement procedure is as follows: Figure 16 Because the data length for the cutter position is quite long, in order to ensure that all the data is moved to the correct position, it is necessary to move the cutter position address and the subsequent three bytes of storage space.

[0136] Next, the PLC will send the calculated position information to each cutter. The position sending module is as follows: Figure 17As shown. After receiving the command for automatic translation of the cutter, the PLC extracts the cutter position information from VD2080 and transfers it to VD1508 before preparing to send it. The cutter target position information can only be sent from the communication module via address V300.3 if the cutter reset is complete and the device is in automatic mode; otherwise, the program terminates. The cutter position transceiver communication module (including cutter position and speed information) is shown below. Figure 18 and Figure 19 .

[0137] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the control panel was developed using EasybuilderPro software, and it needs to implement parameter display and adjustment, manual / automatic control switching, and alarm functions.

[0138] Finally, to verify the method of this invention and determine the optimal parameter combination, this invention quantitatively analyzes the operating effect of the equipment by collecting data such as the processing time of several sugarcanes under continuous operation, the proportion of sugarcane segments with qualified lengths, the flatness of the cut, and the number of seed buds. Ultimately, a combination of factors with optimal efficiency and qualification rate is selected.

[0139] Selection of statistical scope:

[0140] T, Total time (seconds) for cutting five sugarcanes: The time it takes for the cutting machine to cut five sugarcanes. The recording begins when the first sugarcane passes the recognition camera and the sugarcane segment recognition supplementary light is turned on, and ends when the fifth sugarcane is cut and the cutter begins to rise.

[0141] Q1, Sugarcane Seed Segment Length Qualification Rate: To ensure that sugarcane seed segments can be matched with the planting machine, the length of double-bud sugarcane seed segments should generally not exceed 330mm. This article adopts this requirement, and sugarcane seed segment length ≤ 330mm is considered qualified.

[0142]

[0143] Q2, Sugarcane segment quantity qualification rate: To ensure the success rate of planting, a sugarcane segment with two or more sugarcane segments is considered qualified.

[0144]

[0145] Q. Sugarcane variety qualification rate: Taking into account both length and number of sugarcane nodes, sugarcane varieties that are qualified in both aspects are considered qualified.

[0146]

[0147] E, Work Efficiency Index: Taking into account the total time T for cutting five sugarcanes and the sugarcane variety qualification rate Q, a parameter combination that is excellent in both time and qualification rate is obtained.

[0148]

[0149] (1) Orthogonal experimental design

[0150] 1) Factor selection and rationale

[0151] An orthogonal experiment was designed with factors such as conveyor chain speed, cutter descent speed, cutter translation speed, and circular saw rotation speed. The orthogonal array was selected as L25 (56). The influence of these factors on the operation performance of the sugarcane seed cutter was systematically studied. The following is an explanation of the factor selection.

[0152] Conveyor chain speed. The faster the conveyor chain, the more sugarcane can be transported per unit time, improving cutting efficiency. However, excessively high conveyor chain speeds also require greater driving force, leading to increased motor energy consumption and decreased economic efficiency.

[0153] The cutting speed of the cutter. After completing the previous cut, the cutter will rise 20mm. This is because some sugarcane is naturally curved, but under the combined pressure of the pressing strip and the cane seat, the sugarcane is straightened. At this point, the sugarcane can be regarded as a leaf spring, and the elastic deformation stores elastic potential energy in the sugarcane fibers. When the cutter cuts the sugarcane fibers, the elastic potential energy is released. Controlling the lifting of the cutter at this time can prevent the sugarcane on both sides of the cutter from squeezing the cutter and causing deformation, which would affect the life of the cutter. The speed at which the cutter lifts will affect the contact time between the cutter and the sugarcane; the faster the speed, the shorter the contact time.

[0154] The cutting blade translation speed determines how quickly the blade moves laterally to the next cutting position after completing the previous cut. Its purpose is to avoid the sugarcane node area based on the identification results, preventing damage to the seed buds. A faster cutting blade translation speed and shorter time can shorten the cutting cycle, thereby increasing the cutting frequency. However, high-speed translation may reduce the cutting blade's reset accuracy, causing subsequent cuts to deviate from the preset position. Furthermore, the cutting mechanism requires greater torque to move from a standstill to high speed, placing higher demands on the servo motor's power.

[0155] Circular saw rotation speed. The rotation speed of the circular saw determines the linear velocity of the saw blade edge. The higher the rotation speed, the faster the cutting speed and the shorter the single cutting time. However, at rated power, the higher the rotation speed, the lower the torque. The maximum rotation speed of the circular saw motor is 7000 RPM. To allow for torque margin, the upper limit of the rotation speed is selected as 6000 RPM. Therefore, the circular saw rotation speed is selected between 2000 and 6000 RPM, which is reduced to 1000 to 3000 RPM after reduction by a 1:2 synchronous belt pulley. Therefore, the selection of each factor level is shown in Table 4.

[0156] Table 4. Orthogonal Experimental Level Table

[0157]

[0158] 2) Experimental process

[0159] First, the pretreated sugarcane was divided into several groups of five, with 25 groups serving as the experimental group and the remaining groups as the reserve group. To minimize the influence of sugarcane characteristics such as shape and color on the experimental results, each group of sugarcane was manually selected to ensure that the characteristics of each group were similar. The sugarcane was placed on the sugarcane support of the sugarcane cutting machine conveyor chain in the same direction, and the conveyor chain was made to start moving from the same position for each experiment.

[0160] Before the experiment, adjust the conveyor speed (factor A) on the conveyor speed control panel. Change experimental factors B and C in the "Cutter Translation - Running Speed" and "Cutter Lifting - Running Speed" columns on the industrial control computer panel. Adjust the circular saw speed using the servo motor control. During the experiment, record 120 frames of video using a camera. After the experiment, play the recorded video frame by frame in video processing software, recording the moment the first sugarcane reaches the recognition position and the sugarcane section recognition supplementary light is turned on. Continue playing, recording the moment the cutter is raised to its highest point after the fifth sugarcane is cut. Subtract the two times to obtain the time required to cut five sugarcanes under the experimental conditions of this set of factors.

[0161] Each experiment was conducted using an orthogonal array design, and the results were statistically analyzed according to the same standard to obtain the data for each group.

[0162] 3) Experimental Results and Analysis

[0163] The experimental results are shown in Table 5. Range analysis and variance analysis were performed on the operating efficiency and work efficiency index, respectively.

[0164] Table 5. Orthogonal Experiment Data

[0165]

[0166] (1) Analysis results of operating efficiency. Since time and efficiency are inversely proportional, converting time into efficiency can more intuitively reveal the information in the data. Therefore, this analysis will preprocess the experimental data according to the formula. The analysis results are shown in Tables 6 and 7.

[0167]

[0168] In the formula: X is the data used for analysis; T is the running time.

[0169] Table 6. Analysis of Operating Efficiency Range

[0170]

[0171] Table 7 Analysis of Variance of Operating Efficiency

[0172]

[0173] Experimental data show that the p-values ​​of factors A, B, and C are much less than 0.01. Therefore, ignoring the quality of sugarcane seeds, the factors that have a highly significant impact on the operating efficiency of the seed cutter are the conveyor chain speed and the lifting and translating speed of the cutter.

[0174] The reasons are as follows: the conveyor chain plays a crucial role in feeding sugarcane, and its speed controls the overall operating efficiency. A higher conveyor chain speed allows for a greater quantity of sugarcane to be transported to the photographing and seeding steps per unit time. Therefore, in practical production applications, adjusting the conveyor chain speed can effectively control the overall production efficiency of the seeding machine. The speed adjustment of the cutter also affects the overall operating efficiency and time of the seeding machine.

[0175] (2) The results of the analysis of the work performance index are shown in Tables 8 and 9.

[0176] Table 8 Range Analysis of Work Performance Index

[0177]

[0178] Table 9. Analysis of Variance of Work Performance Index

[0179]

[0180] Experimental data show that the p-values ​​for factors A, B, and C are all less than 0.01, while the p-value for factor D is greater than 0.05. Therefore, considering the combined effects of the sugarcane seed qualification rate Q and the operational efficiency index E on the overall working effect of the seed cutter, the conveyor chain speed A, the cutting blade lifting speed B, and the cutting blade translation speed C have a highly significant impact on the overall working effect of the seed cutter, while the circular saw speed D has no significant impact. The order of influence of the three factors is A>B>C, and the optimal parameter combination is A4B3C1, namely, conveyor chain speed 105 mm / s, cutting blade lifting speed 35 mm / s, and cutting blade translation speed 75 mm / s.

[0181] According to the working logic of the seed cutter, when the conveyor chain speed is too high, if the cutter has not reached its positioning position by the time the conveyor chain reaches the sugarcane cutting preparation position, the conveyor chain will pause to wait for the cutter to adjust. Therefore, when the conveyor chain speed exceeds a certain value, the overall efficiency of the seed cutter will not continue to increase; instead, the start-stop time of the conveyor chain wastes overall efficiency. The lifting, lowering, and translating speed of the cutter is related to the cutter adjustment time, which needs to be coordinated with the conveyor chain speed. Provided that the conveyor chain delivers the sugarcane precisely to the cutter after the cutter adjustment is completed, a faster overall speed will improve the overall efficiency of the seed cutter. Therefore, these three factors must be considered comprehensively to ensure their coordination for the best working effect.

[0182] (2) Verification of experimental design

[0183] Using the optimal parameter combination obtained—conveyor chain speed of 105 mm / s, cutter lifting speed of 35 mm / s, and cutter translation speed of 75 mm / s—three repeated verification experiments were conducted. The sugarcane seeds showed uniform length and no damaged buds; the cut surfaces were smooth, without tearing or incomplete cutting. Cutting efficiency was high; in the three experiments, cutting five sugarcane seeds took 16.27 s, 16.14 s, and 16.48 s respectively, with an average time of 16.3 s.

[0184] In summary, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0185] (1) In response to the problems of blind cutting and inconsistent spacing between sugarcane nodes in the existing sugarcane cutting operation, which leads to mechanical damage to the buds by the cutting machine, the control logic and control process are formulated, and the software and execution elements of the control system are analyzed and designed. The coordinate information of the sugarcane nodes is extracted in real time by machine vision and sent to the control system. The control system then controls the cutter to move to the target position for cutting, which effectively reduces the mechanical damage rate of sugarcane buds and improves the qualification rate of sugarcane seeds.

[0186] (2) A multi-blade synchronous control method was designed. The industrial control computer sends the position information of the sugarcane section to the PLC. After the photo sensor is triggered, the PLC extracts the position information of the sugarcane section from the register, and then calculates the target movement position of each cutter in turn. After the calculation is completed, the PLC sends the target movement position data of the cutter to the servo controller of each cutter in turn. Since the data transmission interval is very short, it can be regarded as synchronous control. This method ensures that all cutters receive the target position information and start moving almost simultaneously, thus improving work efficiency.

[0187] (3) A sugarcane cutting position algorithm was designed. First, the midpoint of the positive and negative soft limits is calculated. Then, the number of sugarcane segments in the area to which each cutter is responsible is determined. If the number of segments is zero, the cutting position is selected as the origin of the cutter. When the number of sugarcane segments is not zero, the PLC judges the position of the sugarcane segment relative to the midpoint. When the coordinates of the center point of the sugarcane segment recognition frame are less than the coordinates of the midpoint, the target cutting position is the sum of the coordinates of the center point of the sugarcane segment recognition frame and the set cutter offset. Otherwise, a subtraction operation is used, and the target cutting position is the difference between the coordinates of the center point of the sugarcane segment recognition frame and the set cutter offset. Finally, the relationship between the calculated cutting position of the cutter and the soft limits is judged. When within the limits, the final cutting position is the calculated data. Otherwise, the coordinates of the limit point are taken as the final cutting position of the cutter. Through the algorithm, the bud damage rate is effectively reduced and the sugarcane seed qualification rate is improved.

[0188] The above description discloses only one or more preferred embodiments of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can understand that implementing all or part of the above embodiments and making equivalent changes in accordance with the claims of the present invention are still within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A multi-blade synchronous control system for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter, characterized in that, It includes an electrical control system and a sugarcane node identification system. The electrical control system is responsible for controlling the functions of various electrical components, and the sugarcane node identification system uses a camera to collect images of sugarcane and performs image processing, target object identification, and positioning. The electrical control system includes two sets of PLC controllers, a cutting module, several position sensors, and a conveyor chain. The conveyor chain is responsible for transporting sugarcane. The cutting module contains six cutting blades. The position sensors are responsible for enabling the PLC controllers to sense the positions of each cutting blade and the conveyor chain, providing positioning information support. The PLC controllers ensure that the conveyor chain can complete the transportation and positioning of sugarcane at a suitable speed. They also need to control the cutting blades to accurately and quickly position and complete the cutting work, as well as coordinate the timing of the control of the conveyor chain and the cutting blades. The sugarcane node identification system includes a camera and an industrial control computer. The camera is responsible for capturing images, and the industrial control computer is responsible for communication with the PLC controller and providing human-machine interaction functions.

2. The multi-blade synchronous control system for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The two sets of PLC controllers are divided into master PLC and slave PLC. The number of input and output ports are evenly distributed between the master PLC and slave PLC. Each set of PLCs corresponds to three cutters. The input signals are all digital quantities, including position sensor and emergency stop signal inputs. The output ports are responsible for sending commands to the motors.

3. The multi-blade synchronous control system for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The cutting module uses a saw blade to cut sugarcane, controls the lifting and lowering of the cutting blade through a micro-stepping driver, and controls the translation of the cutting blade through a servo controller.

4. The multi-blade synchronous control system for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter as described in claim 3, characterized in that, Each cutter is equipped with five position sensors for limit operation: two for cutter lifting limit, two for cutter translation limit, and one for cutter origin calibration.

5. The multi-blade synchronous control system for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The position sensing of the conveyor chain is achieved by fiber optic sensors. The photo-taking position and the sugarcane cutting position are not in the same location, but are arranged sequentially along the conveyor chain's transport direction.

6. The multi-blade synchronous control system for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The number and arrangement of cameras in the sugarcane section recognition system must cover the design width range of the sugarcane cutting machine.

7. A multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter, employing the multi-blade synchronous control system for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Step 1: The conveyor chain transports sugarcane to the camera position, the camera takes pictures, and the industrial control computer performs target detection and positioning of the sugarcane sections; Step 2: After extracting the x-coordinate of the center position of the identification frame of each sugarcane segment, send the position information to the main PLC and the slave PLC one by one; Step 3: After receiving the coordinate data, the PLC controller will calculate the cutting position of each cutter based on the previously stored information. After the calculation is completed, the target movement position data of the cutter will be sent to the servo controller of each cutter in sequence. Step 4: The servo controller adjusts the tool according to the instructions sent by the PLC controller. After sending the tool adjustment instruction, the PLC controller erases and transfers the data, and waits for the next data retrieval. Step 5: The conveyor chain does not stop running during the execution of this step. The cutting operation is performed when the cutter is adjusted to the correct position and the sugarcane is in the cutting position. Step 6: Repeat the process until the seeding is complete.

8. The multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter as described in claim 7, characterized in that, The cutting position is calculated using the following method: First, calculate the midpoint of the positive and negative soft limit switches, then determine the number of sugarcane segments in the area each cutter is responsible for. If the number of segments is zero, select the cutting position as the cutter origin. If the number of sugarcane segments is not zero, the PLC controller determines the position of the sugarcane segment relative to the midpoint position. When the coordinates of the center point of the sugarcane node recognition frame are less than the coordinates of the midpoint, the target position for cutting is the sum of the coordinates of the center point of the sugarcane node recognition frame and the set cutter offset. Otherwise, a subtraction operation is used, and the target position for cutting is the difference between the coordinates of the center point of the sugarcane node recognition frame and the set cutter offset. Finally, the relationship between the calculated cutting position of the cutter and the soft limit is determined. If the cutting position is within the limit, the final cutting position is taken from the calculated data; otherwise, the coordinates of the limit point are taken as the final cutting position of the cutter.

9. The multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter as described in claim 8, characterized in that, When calculating the cutting position of each cutter, it is also necessary to meet the agronomic requirement of avoiding sugarcane nodes by 30mm-50mm.

10. The multi-blade synchronous control method for an intelligent sugarcane seed cutter as described in claim 9, characterized in that, The data transmission interval is less than or equal to 100 milliseconds.

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