Theoretical study of the working process of a multivariate cabbage harvester

BACKGROUND: A multivariate cabbage harvester of a block-modular design is proposed for small-scale farming in vegetable growing. At the same time, the cabbage harvester is considered to have three configurations: with an elevator, with a lower longitudinal conveyor, with an elevator and an upper longitudinal conveyor. AIM: Modeling the working process of a multivariate cabbage harvester to identify its main technological parameters that ensure the efficiency of its operation. METHODS: The working process of a multivariate cabbage harvester is presented as the functioning of a certain physical system, the state of which changes during the technological process over time depending on stochastic factors. The process of sequential transition of a system from one state to another is considered on the basis of queuing theory depending on the motion intensity of the flow of cabbage heads λ in the technological line of the machine and the service intensity μ of this flow. In this paper, the maximal probabilities of the model states are determined and the stochastic indicators of its functioning are calculated. RESULTS: Based on the results of calculations of stochastic indicators of the functioning of the model, the optimal number of service personnel n = 2 people was found, when the maximal probability of servicing cabbage heads can be up to 0.934. CONCLUSION: The working process of a multivariate cabbage harvester is modeled as a stationary stochastic queuing process. Based on the study results, it is recommended to take the number of service personnel at the refining table of the harvester as n = 2 .