Design and experiment of a transverse row-follow system for agricultural implements based on seedling strip deviation

Abstract

To achieve precise alignment of the working implement with the centreline of the seedling strip during agricultural operations, a transverse row-follow system is proposed, comprising a row-follow deviation acquisition system, a hydraulic-driven transverse actuator, and a controller. A PID control method based on seedling strip deviation is developed. Deviation is determined by capturing real-time crop images and using the weighted least squares method to identify crop row centrelines, which are fused to extract the seedling strip centreline. Simulation and PID parameter tuning were performed using AMESim and AMESim-MATLAB co-simulation. The optimal hydraulic cylinder response was achieved with K_p = 2.508, K_i = 0.08, and K_d = 0.0045. A response experiment showed an average deviation of 2.32 mm and a maximum of 5.22 mm. Field experiments demonstrated improved performance: average deviation decreased from 48.98 mm to 31.65 mm, variance from 250.67 mm to 55.88 mm, and straightness accuracy from 65.47 mm to 24.37 mm. Results confirm the system's effectiveness in enhancing alignment precision.