Experimental verification of cutting blade path for reduction of pitch angle fluctuation in a spinach automatic harvester

Abstract

In the spinach automatic harvester which has been developed by the authors, pitch angle fluctuation sometimes deteriorates spinach harvesting accuracy. It is caused by resistance force from soil, and previous studies have shown that the resistance force from soil can be reduced by considering the moving speed of the root cutting blade into soil. In this paper, we examined the improved path which suppresses pitch angle fluctuation by taking into account the moving speed of the root cutting blade into soil.