STUDY ON A CONTACT TYPE SENSOR FOR DETECTING HEIGHT FROM GROUND SURFACE

The tillage operation by rotary implements is widely done in Korea. In the case of rotary implements, the tillage depth control system is one of important implement control systems. A contact type-sensor for measurement of the ground height was designed and fabricated to evaluate the possibility of application of the sensor on the tillage depth control system. Indoor experiments were conducted to obtain static and dynamic detection characteristics of the sensor under various conditions; 1) several moisture contents for four soil samples, 2) two soil surfaces with a designed configuration, 3) four heights of the sensor from the soil surface, 4) five traveling speeds of the carrier on which the sensor was attached, and so on. The experimental results showed the detection characteristics of the sensor sufficient as the ground height sensor of the tillage depth control system.