Simulation and analysis of movement of rice seedlings passing through separating chutes

In order to understand the performance of designed separating chutes, the movement of rice seedlings passing through separating chutes was simulated based on Pro/E and ADMAS software. Two nutrient soil bowl models of rice seedlings, a sphere model and a real size model were developed. The results show that the velocity, acceleration and contacting force have sudden changes when rice seedlings pass through the arc sections of the chutes. The longest time is 0.633 s (chute 1) and the shortest time is 0.463 s (chute 6) when rice seedlings pass through a group of seven chutes. It has no much difference in the performance of rice seedlings passing through chutes when the posture of chutes is tilt of 2° and in vertical. The movement trajectory of seven rice seedlings in seven chutes at different time points was obtained by the virtual simulation of a computer. Furthermore, the distribution of rice seedlings after passing through two groups of chutes was also simulated when the machine was moving forward with the velocity of 0.3 m/s. The research can provide valuable reference data for the optimal design of the device and the experimental work in the future.