Development of a simulation model of the driving platform of a self-propelled two-row radish harvester according to collector load

Radishes are one of the most popular vegetables in many South Asian countries (e.g., Korea, Japan, China, India). In recent years, the domestic radish consumption rate has been steadily increasing. The annual consumption has been increased by 16% from 19.8 kg in 2016 to 23 kg in 2022. However, annual production has been increased by only 4.19% from 467,104 tons in 2016 to 486,698 tons in 2023. On the other hand, the mechanization rate of field crops cultivation was 63.3% in 2021 whereas the mechanization rate harvesting operations was low at 31.6%, and the mechanization rate of radish harvesting operations was particularly low at 10.4%, resulting in significant labor consumption for transportation and storage operations other than harvesting. To meet the increasing demand, it is necessary to increase the production and harvesting process efficiency. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a simulation model of the driving part of a self-propelled two-row radish harvester using AMESim software and evaluated the driving performance under different collector load conditions (0 kg, 250 kg, 500 kg, and 1,000 kg). The results of the study showed that the driving speed varied from 1.58 m/s to 1.55 m/s even as the tonnage increased, indicating the stability of the system to the driving load. However, the torque and power increased with the weight of the tonnage, reaching a maximum of 402.61 Nm and 2.89 kW, respectively. In particular, the torque tended to increase by about 130.61 Nm and the required power increased by 0.91 kW when the load increased from 0 kg to 1,000 kg. These results, including the influence of the weight of the collector load on the driving performance can be used as an important basis for the design and operation of self-propelled radish harvesters in the future. This study provides a useful simulation model that can contribute to the mechanization and efficiency improvement of self-propelled two-row radish harvesters and has practical application in the context of the increasing need for agricultural mechanization, especially for radish cultivation.