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Development of a Laboratory Scale Seeding Test Platform for Evaluating the Performance of a Vacuum Type Precision Planting Mechanism

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  2026 ASABE Annual International Meeting  2600290.(doi:10.13031/aim.202600290)
Authors:   Juhee Lee, Jinho Son, Wonyeol Choi, Bumseok Park, Hyunggyu Park, Yushin Ha
Keywords:   Precision planting, Vacuum seeder, Seeding performance, Single seed rate, Laboratory test platform, Soybean, Plastic mulch cultivation

Abstract. In Korea, conventional seeders for upland crops — including holed roller and rotary plate types — show limited single-seed placement accuracy due to mechanical constraints in seed singulation. Vacuum-type precision seeders have been commercialized abroad but are mostly designed for drill seeding, offering low compatibility with the plastic-mulch point-seeding systems widely used in Korean upland agriculture. This study developed a laboratory-scale seeding test platform to quantitatively evaluate a vacuum-type precision planting mechanism using Daewon soybean as the test crop. The platform comprises a 2,000-mm linear conveying unit and a rotary vacuum planting unit, enabling independent control of suction cell diameter (three levels), forward speed (three levels), and target within-row spacing (three levels) at a fixed vacuum pressure of −40 kPa. Seeding performance was assessed using single seed rate, with 50 events recorded per condition using high-speed camera. Forward speed was the dominant factor: as speed increased from 0.3 to 0.9 km/h, single seed rate declined from 79.1% to 43.5% for the 1.5 mm cell, from 74.4% to 51.7% for the 1.7 mm cell, and from 68.4% to 47.5% for the 2.0 mm cell. The 1.7 mm cell showed the highest single seed rates overall, while the 2.0 mm cell showed the lowest performance across most conditions. Within-row spacing showed no consistent effect on seeding performance. These results demonstrate that the developed platform enables systematic analysis of key design parameters under controlled conditions, confirming its suitability as a factor-testing platform for vacuum-type precision planter development prior to field testing.

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