Automated Soil Sampler Tractor-Mounted Sampling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional soil sampling techniques are time-consuming and costly, limiting the number of samples that can be collected, which affects the accuracy of nutrient analysis and application in farm fields.
Innovation Solution
An automated soil sampler mounted on a tractor that collects soil samples at periodic intervals, noting GPS locations and storing them in bar-coded containers, with a soil breakdown assembly and sampling chambers to ensure consistent and reliable sampling across different soil depths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional hand probe sampling is used, then sampling can be performed with simple equipment, but the sampling speed is slow and the number of samples collected per hour is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical sampling with an automated mechanical system mounted on a tractor. The collection knife, sampling chambers, and automated transfer mechanism eliminate manual operation, dramatically increasing sampling speed while maintaining relatively simple equipment structure through automation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-service through automated operation. The collection knife automatically cuts soil, samples are automatically transferred via the cup mover assembly and spout mechanism, and GPS locations are automatically recorded, eliminating the need for continuous manual intervention and enabling high-speed sampling.
2Measurement precision
If the number of soil samples is increased to accurately measure nutrient variability, then measurement precision improves, but the time and cost required for sample collection increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables continuous sampling as the tractor moves through the field. The automated collection knife continuously cuts soil at periodic intervals, and samples are continuously transferred and stored, allowing for a high number of samples to be collected without interruption or manual handling delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the sampling parameter from manual, sporadic collection to automated, periodic collection at fixed intervals (e.g., every 150 feet). This parameter change enables consistent, high-volume sampling that accurately captures nutrient variability across the field without proportional increases in time or cost.
3Productivity
If automated sampling equipment is used to increase sampling speed, then productivity increases, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves multi-functionality by combining soil cutting, sampling, transfer, storage, and GPS location recording into a single integrated apparatus. The collection knife serves both cutting and sampling functions, while the cup mover assembly handles both cup positioning and sample transfer, reducing overall system complexity despite high productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
An automated soil sampler is removably mounted on an agricultural tractor and collects soil samples in a farm field while the tractor is driven through the field. At a periodic interval, the soil sampler momentarily lowers a soil collection knife into the soil to collect a soil sample, raises the collection knife out of the soil, and transfers the collected soil sample into a bar-coded storage container. The GPS location of the soil sample is associated with the storage container's bar-code in a data file. The interval between successive periodic soil samples corresponds to a determined forward displacement of the tractor. Storage containers that have received soil samples are moved to a storage area until all of the soil samples for a given field have been collected.