USING PIEZOELECTRIC IMPACT SENSORS FOR SEED DETECTION IN PRECISION PLANTERS

Abstract

Accurate seed placement plays a crucial role in crop establishment and yield potential in precision agriculture. Real-time seed detection allows for monitoring planter performance, identifying missed or multiple seed drops, and optimizing in-field operations. Conventional sensing technologies, such as optical and photoelectric systems, can provide high accuracy but are often affected by environmental conditions, expensive, and mechanically complex. Piezoelectric impact sensors, which convert mechanical shocks from seed impacts into electrical signals, offer a low-cost, durable, and sensitive alternative suitable for harsh farming environments. This review discusses the principles, benefits, and limitations of piezoelectric impact sensors for monitoring and controlling seed flow in precision planters, rather than directly improving the planter’s metering accuracy. It emphasizes how impact plate materials and signal processing algorithms influence detection accuracy. Recent research shows that choosing proper materials—like fiberglass for consistent signal quality—and using advanced peak detection algorithms, especially adaptive thresholding methods like VTPD-AM, can achieve detection accuracies over 97% for crops such as corn and sunflower. The review also highlights recent developments in flexible and multilayer piezoelectric materials, including PVDF and hybrid composites, which increase integration options in modern planters. Collectively, these findings—based on previous studies and experimental data—support the potential of piezoelectric impact sensors as a scalable solution for real-time seed flow monitoring and control, helping to bridge the gap between laboratory tests and field deployment in precision planting systems.