The features designed of mechatronic system of adaptive hopper's feeder: case study for Scots pine seeds morphometry

This article will be of interest to engineers involved in designing devices for improving the quality of forest seeds. From the point of view of automated processing, in order to obtain a quality seedling, the seed of the Scots pine must be conditioned, that is, properly graded, and have sufficient ability to germinate in the field, that is, properly sown. It is based on studies of the movement of a single pine seed in the mechanical system of an optoelectronic separator. The experiment was established by measuring the geometric dimensions of samples (n = 500) from a representative sample of a seedlot. The Pinus sylvestris L. seeds were collected in the Pavlovsky district of the Voronezh region in autumn 2019. Seed samples were measured using a microscope in three mutually perpendicular directions. Seed samples asymmetric shape and an adaptive hopper's feeder were modeled using SolidWorks software. Our results point to an important feature in the design of loading bins-the need to approximate the complex shape of a single seed of Scots pine with an asymmetric ellipsoid. The need for discrete seed feeding with a frequency no faster than 10⁻³-10⁻² s is established to improve both the separation process.