Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment
Agricultural Machinery Research Design Centre
Agricultural Machinery Research Design Centre
Optimising collection of medic seeds by pneumatic means.
Annual medics are an important component of ley-farming systems in Australia, and this project aims to improve the harvesting of these medic seeds. Annual medics produce seeds in pods, which drop on the ground as they ripen. Therefore a ground harvesting method is used to pick them up. This is currently performed using a suction type machine - the Horwood Bagshaw Seed Harvester for example.
Factors targeted included:
collecting pods selectively.
reducing the degradation of the fertile top soil.
reducing the required power per unit area for harvesting.
reducing the time taken for harvesting.
increasing the economic life of the harvester.
