Design and Experiment of Self-Propelled High-Stem Chrysanthemum coronarium Orderly Harvester

To address the issues of low efficiency, high cost of manual harvesting, and the lack of mechanized harvesting technology and equipment for high-stem Chrysanthemum coronarium, a self-propelled orderly harvester was designed to perform key harvesting operations such as row alignment, clamping and cutting, orderly conveying, and collection. Based on the analysis of agronomic requirements for cultivation and mechanized harvesting needs, the overall structure and working principle of the machine were described. Meanwhile, the key components such as the reciprocating cutting mechanism and orderly conveying mechanism were structurally designed and theoretically analyzed. The main structural and operating parameters of the harvester were determined based on the geometric and kinematic conditions of high-stem Chrysanthemum coronarium during its movement along the conveying path, as well as the mechanical model of the conveying process. In addition, a three-factor, three-level Box-Behnken field experiment was also conducted with the experimental factors including the machine’s forward, cutting, and conveying speed, and evaluation indicators like harvesting loss rate and orderliness. A second-order polynomial regression model was established to analyze the relationship between the evaluation indicators and the factors using the Design-Expert 13 software, which revealed the influence patterns of the machine’s forward speed, reciprocating cutter cutting speed, conveying device speed, and their interaction influence on the evaluation indicators. Moreover, the optimal parameter combination, obtained by solving the optimization model for harvesting loss rate and orderliness, was forward speed of 260 mm/s, cutting speed of 250 mm/s, and conveying speed of 300 mm/s. Field test results showed that the average harvesting loss rate of the prototype was 4.45% and the orderliness was 92.57%, with a relative error of less than 5% compared to the predicted values. The key components of the harvester operated stably, and the machine was capable of performing cutting, orderly conveying, and collection in a single pass. All performance indicators met the mechanized orderly harvesting requirements of high-stem Chrysanthemum coronarium.