Vibration analysis of seedling picking mechanism based on EEMD-MA

Authors

  • Xin Jin 1. College of Agricultural Equipment Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, Henan, China; 2. Science&Technology Innovation Center for Completed Set Equipment, Longmen Laboratory, Luoyang 471000, Henan, China
  • Shaofan Li 1. College of Agricultural Equipment Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, Henan, China
  • Mingyong Li 1. College of Agricultural Equipment Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, Henan, China
  • Xiaowu Zhu 1. College of Agricultural Equipment Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, Henan, China
  • Guoqing Zhao 1. College of Agricultural Equipment Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, Henan, China
  • Mengnan Liu 3. First Tractor Company Limited, Luoyang 471003, Henan, China
  • Xiaolin Xie 1. College of Agricultural Equipment Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, Henan, China

Keywords:

ensemble empirical modal decomposition, planetary carrier, finite element analysis, vibration signal, seedling picking test

Abstract

Aiming at the problems such as high substrate damage rate and low seedling picking success rate of the seedling picking mechanism of automatic vegetable transplanters under high-speed operation, this paper proposes an EEMD-MA method combining signal processing and modal analysis. Taking the cam-linked planetary gear system automatic seedling picking mechanism as the research object, this paper conducts research and analysis on its key component—the planet carrier. Sensitive components of vibration signals are extracted, and it is found that resonance is the critical factor deteriorating seedling picking performance. Subsequently, sequential quadratic programming is adopted to carry out optimal design of the component, and vibration tests as well as seedling picking tests are performed on the optimized seedling picking mechanism. The results show that the amplitude at the sensitive component decreased by 61.36%. At seedling picking speeds of 90, 100, 110, and 120 seedlings per minute, the average seedling picking success rate increased by 3.3%, 3.4%, 2.6%, and 1.8% respectively, while the average substrate damage rate decreased by 13.53%, 11.88%, 9.15%, and 8.12% respectively. The tests verify the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed method.      

Key words: ensemble empirical modal decomposition; planetary carrier; finite element analysis; vibration signal; seedling picking test

DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20261904.10489

Citation: Jin X, Li S F, Li M Y, Zhu X W, Zhao G Q, Liu M N, et al. Vibration analysis of seedling picking mechanism based on EEMD-MA. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2026; 19(4): 112–122.

References

[1] Yue R C, Hu J P, Liu Y J, Yao M J, Zhang T F, Shi J W. Design and working parameter optimization of pneumatic reciprocating seedling-picking device of automatic transplanter. Agriculture, 2022; 12(12): 1989.

[2] Xu Q C, Chen H Y, Liu C X, Zhu J T, Li S J, Ye M Q. Design of the filling device for citrus seedling pot based on turnover box. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2025; 18(3): 97–104.

[3] Li L H, Zhu C H, Liu B X, Li D H, Lyu Z, Xu L C, et al. Design and optimization of the seedling needle and push device for a mechanical transplanter of seedlings from bowl-type trays made of paddy straw. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2025; 18(6): 75–82.

[4] Yu Y X, Liu J K, Ye B L, Yu G H, Jin X J, Sun L, Tong J H. Design and experimental research on seedling pick-up mechanism of planetary gear train with combined non-circular gear transmission. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2019; 32(1): 49.

[5] Hu S Y, Hu M J, Zhang W Y. Design and experiment of flexible clamping device for pepper plug seedlings. Advances in Mechanical Engineering, 2022; 14(6): 16878132221107254.

[6] Wang L, Lin Z W, Zhou Z H, Yu G H, Yang Z Y, Yu X F, et al. Design and experiment of a vegetable plug seedling planting mechanism combining non-circular gear system and multi-link. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2025; 18(3): 124–134.

[7] Du F J, Yu G H, Liu J G, Qi P, Ao M, Wang L. A novel tooth profile for low-tooth-count gears: design methodology and application in noncircular gear transmission mechanism. International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 2026: 1–19. DOI: 10.1007/s12541-026-01480-1.

[8] Khadatkar A, Pandirwar P, Paradkar V. Design, development and application of a compact robotic transplanter with automatic seedling picking mechanism for plug-type seedlings. Scientific Reports, 2023; 13(1): 1883.

[9] Zhou M L, Sun L, Du X Q, Zhao Y, Xin L. Optimal design and experiment of rice pot seedling transplanting mechanism with planetary Bezier gears. Transactions of the ASABE, 2014; 57(6): 1537–1548.

[10] Ye B L, Wang X W, Tang T, Zeng G J, Zheng Y. Design and tests of a planetary non-circular gear train transplanting mechanism for flower plug seedlings. Mechanical Sciences, 2025; 16(2): 303–316.

[11] Yin J J, Wang Z L, Zhou M L, Wu L N, Zhang Y. Optimized design and experiment of the three-arm transplanting mechanism for rice potted seedlings. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2021; 14(5): 56–62.

[12] Liu J P, Yu G H, Tong Z P, Hua Y. Design and experimental study of a planetary gearing mechanism based on twice unequal amplitude transmission ratio. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2022; 15(1): 155–163.

[13] Hu S Y, Hu M J, Yan W, Zhang W Y. Design and experiment of an integrated automatic transplanting mechanism for picking and planting pepper hole tray seedlings. Agriculture, 2022; 12(4): 557.

[14] Su Q, Li X Y, Zeng F D, Wang J Y, Zhang Y Z, Bai H B, Wu L, Wang J. Vibration characteristics test and analysis of hanging cup transplanter. INMATEH-Agricultural Engineering, 2022; 66(1). DOI: 10.35633/inmateh-66-28.

[15] Chowdhury M, Reza M N, Kabir M S N, Kiraga S, Kin S J, Choi L S, et al. Vibration assessment of a 12-kw self-propelled riding-type automatic onion transplanter for transplanting performance and operator comfort. Applied Sciences, 2023; 13(3): 1927.

[16] Zhu D Q, Gao K J, Xue K, Zhang S, Liao J, Wang T J, et al. Vibration analysis and parameter optimization of seedling pushing device of transplanting mechanism with planetary elliptic gears. Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, 2023; 46(2): 154–162.

[17] Ji J T, Chen K K, Jin X, Wang Z Y, Dai B Q, Fan J Y, et al. High-efficiency modal analysis and deformation prediction of rice transplanter based on effective independent method. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2020; 168: 105126.

[18] Chen S R, Zhao Y P, Tang Z, Lu S N. Modal vibration response of rice combine harvester frame under multi-source excitation. Biosystems Engineering, 2020; 194: 177–195.

[19] Jin X, Zhang B, Suo H B, Lin C, Ji J T, Xie X L. Design and mechanical analysis of a cam-linked planetary gear system seedling picking mechanism. Agriculture, 2023; 13(4): 810.

[20] Liu M P, Sun X H, Wang Q N, Deng S H. Short-term load forecasting using EMD with feature selection and TCN-based deep learning model. Energies, 2022; 15(19): 7170.

[21] Guo R X, Wang Y, Zhang H C, Zhang G L. Remaining useful life prediction for rolling bearings using EMD-RISI-LSTM. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2021; 70: 1–12.

[22] Cao Y, Hou X L, Chen N. Short-term forecast of OD passenger flow based on ensemble empirical mode decomposition. Sustainability, 2022; 14(14): 8562.

[23] Li Y, Zhou J W, Li H G, Meng G, Bian J. A fast and adaptive empirical mode decomposition method and its application in rolling bearing fault diagnosis. IEEE Sensors Journal, 2022; 23(1): 567–576.

[24] Pan H Y, Zheng J D, Yang Y, Cheng J S. Nonlinear sparse mode decomposition and its application in planetary gearbox fault diagnosis. Mechanism and Machine Theory, 2021; 155: 104082.

[25] Liu Z L, Li M G, Zhu Z F, Xiao L H, Nie C H, Tang Z C. Health state identification method of nuclear power main circulating pump based on EEMD and OQGA-SVM. Electronics, 2023; 12(2): 410.

[26] Zhou X, Zhao H, Jiang T. Adaptive analysis of optical fringe patterns using ensemble empirical mode decomposition algorithm. Optics Letters, 2009; 34(13): 2033–2035.

[27] Guo Y Y, Si J C, Wang Y L, Hanif F, Li S, Wu M W, et al. Ensemble-Empirical-Mode-Decomposition (EEMD) on SWH prediction: The effect of decomposed IMFs, continuous prediction duration, and data-driven models. Ocean Engineering, 2025; 324: 120755.

[28] Zadeh L. Probability measures of fuzzy events. Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, 1968; 23(2): 421–427.

[29] Tran M Q, Elsis M, Liu M K. Effective feature selection with fuzzy entropy and similarity classifier for chatter vibration diagnosis. Measurement, 2021; 184: 109962.

[30] Xin G, Ying L. Multi-attribute decision-making based on comprehensive hesitant fuzzy entropy. Expert Systems with Applications, 2024; 237: 121459.

[31] Zhang Y F, Li Y H, Kong L F, Niu Q B, Bai Y. Improved DBSCAN spindle bearing condition monitoring method based on kurtosis and sample entropy. Machines, 2022; 10(5): 363.

[32] Pang J, Lin Y, Wang S S, Du Z, Xie L L, Chen X Q. Vibration analysis and structure optimization of grain cleaning screen based on VMD. Transactions of the CSAE, 2023; 39(12): 1–9. (in Chinese)

Downloads

Published

2026-09-03

How to Cite

(1)
Jin, X.; Li, S.; Li, M.; Zhu, X.; Zhao, G.; Liu, M.; Xie, X. Vibration Analysis of Seedling Picking Mechanism Based on EEMD-MA. Int J Agric & Biol Eng 2026, 19, 112-122.

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 4 (2026): IJABE

Section

Power and Machinery Systems

License

Copyright (c) 2026 International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

IJABE is an international peer reviewed, open access journal, adopting Creative Commons Copyright Notices as follows.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 > >>