Open AccessDevelopment of a low-cost electromechanical penetrometer to verify resistance to soil penetration
Author(s) -
Aldir Carpes Marques Filho,
Lucas Rauen,
Kléber Pereira Lanças
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
engenharia na agricultura
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2175-6813
pISSN - 1414-3984
DOI - 10.13083/reveng.v29i1.12462
Subject(s) - penetrometer , penetration (warfare) , penetration test , compaction , environmental science , agricultural engineering , soil water , engineering , soil science , geotechnical engineering , subgrade , operations research
Soil compaction is one of the great obstacles in modern agriculture. With the increase in size, weight and intensity of use of machines in crops in recent decades, the soil has suffered damage to its structure, compromising the productivity of vegetable crops. One of the ways to indirectly obtain the compaction state of the soil is through the resistance to penetration imposed by it on a standardized metal rod. Invariably, commercial equipment for this purpose is expensive. The objective of this study was to develop a low-cost system for evaluating the resistance to soil penetration, using a prototyping platform and specific sensors. The developed equipment, when compared with a calibrated standard equipment, presented a high correlation in the results of resistance to penetration in two soil conditions. The development cost of the proposed equipment was 800% lower than the average value of commercial equipment available on the market, so the measurements met the purpose of the project, showing the possibility of developing low-cost solutions through prototyping platforms, for the assessment of resistance to soil penetration.