Root Crop Conveyor Condition Sensing to Reduce Crop Rot
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for root crop conveyance result in significant crop rot due to mechanical forces, leading to reduced utilization for starch and food production.
Innovation Solution
A method involving measurement and evaluation of root crop conditions using sensors to adjust conveyor settings for optimal handling, minimizing damage and enhancing throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional root crop conveyance methods are used, then throughput is maintained, but significant crop rot occurs due to mechanical forces
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts conveying parameters (speed, acceleration, force) based on real-time crop condition measurements. By changing these parameters adaptively, the system maintains high throughput while reducing mechanical stress that causes crop rot.
Solution Approach 2:
Measurement devices continuously monitor crop condition and provide feedback to the control system. This feedback loop enables real-time optimization of conveying parameters, allowing the system to respond to crop vulnerability and adjust handling gentleness accordingly while maintaining productivity.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If measurement and evaluation systems are added to monitor crop conditions, then crop damage is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces complex mechanical handling adjustments with automated optical or sensor-based measurement and electronic control. This substitution reduces the need for manual intervention and complex mechanical linkages while achieving precise control over crop handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The measurement and control system operates autonomously, with the root crop conveyor device self-adjusting its parameters based on real-time crop condition data. This self-service capability reduces the need for external monitoring and manual adjustment, offsetting the initial complexity increase with operational simplicity.
3Productivity
If conveying speed is increased to improve efficiency, then throughput increases, but mechanical forces on root crops increase causing more rot
Solution Approach 1:
The conveying system transitions from static, fixed-speed operation to dynamic, variable-speed operation. The system continuously adapts conveying speed and acceleration based on real-time crop condition measurements, enabling high throughput during favorable conditions and gentler handling when crops are vulnerable.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes conveying parameters including speed, acceleration, and force based on measured crop conditions. This allows optimization of the relationship between throughput and mechanical stress, achieving high efficiency without excessive force that causes crop rot.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided in which measurement data that characterize at least one condition of at least one root crop conveyed by the root crop conveyor device are measured by at least one measuring device. Result data which are dependent at least on the measurement data are then calculated by an evaluation device. The result data serve, indirectly or directly, for the adjustment of the root crop conveyor. The result data or a signal dependent thereon are/is then provided by the evaluation device.