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| International Agrophysics |
| publisher: | Institute of Agrophysics
Polish Academy of Sciences
Lublin, Poland |
| ISSN: |
0236-8722 |
vol. 23, nr. 1 (2009)
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Economical hand-pushed digital cone penetrometer
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M. Naderi-Boldaji1, R. Alimardani1, A. Sharifi2, A. Tabatabaeefar1
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1 Department of Agricultural Machinery, Faculty of Biosystems Engineering, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran |
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2 Faculty Member of Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (AERI), Ministry of Jahad-e-Keshavarzi, Karaj, Iran |
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vol. 23 (2009), nr. 1,
pp. 55-60
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abstract
The cone penetrometer is widely used in tillage and off-road mobility researches as an indicator of soil strength and density characteristics. Light-weight, manually operated units are especially useful in recording cone index determination at remote field locations. An electronic hand-pushed soil penetrometer with a microcontroller-based data logging system was designed and fabricated to provide a portable penetrometer for determining soil resistance to penetration in tillage studies. The device consists of three main components: a cantilever beam strain-gauge load cell held by housing to measure penetration force, depth measurement mechanism with a photodiode sensor, and a data logging system for amplifying, digitizing, and acquiring data. Data from the data logging system can be downloaded into a personal computer by an RS-232 cable and a software program. In evaluation stage, the performance of the developed penetrometer was compared with an Eijkelkamp hand-pushed digital penetrometer in controlled soil bin conditions. No significant difference was found (p <0.05) between the two penetrometers. The penetrometer performance was reliable and the mechanical and electrical parts worked without any mal- function. The device is very light, easy to use and more economical compared to the conventional types.
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keywords
hand-pushed penetrometer, penetration resistance, load cell, data logging system
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