| 摘要 |
This invention relates to a system and method for automatically selecting viable seedlings or plants from a nursery tray for transplant into a field by an automatic transplant device. An automatic plant selector according to the present invention functions as an attachment to an automatic transplant device such as a rotary cup transplant machine. The plant selector eliminates the requirement of human labor while significantly reducing the percentage of non-viable or "blank" transplants when using an automatic transplant device to plant seedlings. This reduction is accomplished through use of primary and secondary nursery trays that are addressed by primary and secondary plant removal devices, or "plant pullers," respectively, which automatically provide viable seedlings to the automatic transplant device. The plant selector moves these nursery trays in horizontal and vertical increments that allow each cell in each tray to become available in turn to either the primary or secondary plant puller. The secondary plant puller is used to provide a viable seedling from the secondary nursery tray when a plant sensor indicates that the primary plant puller is unable to provide a viable seedling from the primary nursery tray.
|
