Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Opto-Electronic Sensor System For Rapid Evaluation Of Planter Seed Spacing Uniformity, Michael F. Kocher, Yubin Lan, Changhe Chen, John A. Smith

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

An opto-electronic seed spacing evaluation system that measured time intervals between seeds and detected front-to-back location of seed drop events relative to the planter was used to rapidly determine planter seed spacing uniformity in the laboratory. The seed detection sensor for the opto-electronic system consisted of a rectangular photogate with 24 phototransistors receiving light beams from 24 LEDs opposite to them. The system also included circuitry to interface the photogate with a digital I/O board in a personal computer. The opto-electronic system was tested with three planter configurations. During the tests, the photogate was positioned beneath the seed drop tube …