Experiment research of impact-based sensor to monitor corn ear yield

Accurate yield information is important for drawing yield map. In order to analyze the performance of impact-based sensor applied to monitoring the yield of corn ear, we did experiment on the test platform. In the experiment, the elevator speed ranged from 300 rpm to 550 rpm. Groups were divided according to the rotational speeds, and in every group the elevator speed was constant. The yield monitor recorded real-time yield of the corns. The data showed the significant relation between yield and the elevator speed, and R² was 0.852936; max error was 16.04%. The variance analysis was done about the data of yield at three rotational speeds: low speed (300 rpm), medium speed (450 rpm), and high speed (550 rpm). When the elevator speed was 300 rpm, the yield was the most stable and its coefficient of variation (CV for short) was the lowest one: 3.66%. When the speed was 550 rpm, the yield had min error and even its max error was just 12.29%. In the experiment, with different impact frequencies, the CV of the yield was 5.86%. When the frequency was higher than 2.5, the yield was more stable. The impact-based sensor can meet the requirement of yield monitoring for corn ear.