Original Articles
Early Access
Investigation on the design and optimization of a high-speed precision maize metering device with a layered centrifugal mechanical structure
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Published: 10 March 2026
126
Views
89
Downloads
Authors
To meet the requirements of high-speed precision maize seeding, a novel centrifugal mechanical high-speed precision metering device was developed. The device performs seed filling and seed clearing by utilizing the seed pile stratification and the centrifugal force generated during high-speed operation, fundamentally changing the traditional method of seed pile filling to a layered and discrete seed pile arrangement. To identify the optimal performance parameters, an orthogonal rotational combination test was conducted with the rotating speed of the seed metering disc, number of apertures, and aperture diameters as test factors, with quality of feed index, miss index, and multiples index as evaluation indicators, and the relationships between the various factors and evaluation indicators were established. Response surface methodology was used to optimize the results, which were further verified through bench testing. The results indicated that increasing the rotating speed of the metering disc had no significant impact on the quality of feed index, demonstrating the system’s suitability for high-speed operation. Under a plant spacing of 180 mm, with a rotating speed of 1729.01 rad/min (approximately 12 km/h), five apertures, and an aperture diameter of 14 mm, the quality of feed index reached 92.07%. Bench testing confirmed the reliability of the optimization results.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Citations
Anantachar M, Kumar PGV, Guruswamy T, 2010. Neural network prediction of performance parameters of an inclined plate seed metering device and its reverse mapping for the determination of optimum design and operational parameters. Comput Electron Agr 72:87-98. 1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2010.03.001
Bu L, Kou Q, Sugirbay A, Chen J, Chen Y, 2024. An air-assisted mechanical hill-seeding device for foxtail millet (Setaria italica). J Agric Eng 55:1578. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2024.1578
Chen K, Liu X, He X, Wang X, Liu Y, Li W, 2022. Design and experiment of a wheel precision seed-metering device with cells for corn. Tehnički vjesnik 29:1741–1748. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17559/TV-20211126025302
Chen X, Zhang S, Dong J, Liu F, Jia X, Huang Y, 2024. Development of high-speed and precision metering device with gradient-feeding and control seed for soybean planting. J Agric Eng 55:1574. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2024.1574
Ding L, Yang L, Liu S, Yan B, He X, Zhang D, 2018. Design of air suction high speed precision maize seed metering device with assistant seed filling plate. T CSAE 34:1-11.
Ding Y, Li H, Gao J, Yu H, Wang Y, Feng D, 2023. Parameter optimization of finger clip plate garlic seed-metering device. Agriculture 13:2071. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13112071
Dong J, Gao X, Zheng Z, Zhao P, Bi Y, Huang Y, 2025. Design and testing of a posture-adjusting precision metering device for high-speed maize planting. Front Plant Sci 15:1458597. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1458597
Dong J, Zhang S, Zheng Z, Wu J, Huang Y, Gao X, 2024. Development of a novel perforated type precision metering device for efficient and cleaner production of maize. J Clean Prod 443:140928. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.140928
Gao X, Xie G, Li J, Shi G, Lai Q, Huang Y, 2023. Design and validation of a centrifugal variable-diameter pneumatic high-speed precision seed-metering device for maize. Biosyst Eng 227:161-181. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2023.02.004
Gao X, Zhao P, Li J, Xu Y, Huang Y, Wang L, 2022. Design and experiment of quantitative seed feeding wheel of air-assisted high-speed precision seed metering device. Agriculture 12:1951. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12111951
Guo J, Yang Y, Muhammad MS, Tan C, Wang L, Tang P, 2022. Design and simulation for seeding performance of high-speed inclined corn metering device based on discrete element method (DEM). Sci Rep 12:19415. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23993-1
Han D, Zhang D, Jing H, Yang L, Cui T, Ding Y, et al., 2018. DEM-CFD coupling simulation and optimization of an inside-filling air-blowing maize precision seed-metering device. Comput Electron Agr 150:426–438. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2018.05.006
Lei X, Liao Y, Liao Q, 2016. Simulation of seed motion in seed feeding device with DEM-CFD coupling approach for rapeseed and wheat. Comput Electron Agr 131:29–39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2016.11.006
Lei X, Liao Y, Zhang Q, Wang L, Liao Q, 2018. Numerical simulation of seed motion characteristics of distribution head for rapeseed and wheat. Comput Electron Agr 150:98-109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2018.04.009
Li C, Zhang D, Yang L, Cui T, He X, Li Z, et al., 2024a. Research on high-speed and clean production with a high-speed centrifugal maize precision seed metering device featuring variable hole insert numbers. Comput Electron Agr 227:109620. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2024.109620
Li C, Zhang D, Yang L, Cui T, He X, Li Z, et al., 2024b. Research on a centrifugal high-speed precision seed metering device for maize with airflow-assisted seed filling and cleaning. Comput Electron Agr 226:109434. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2024.109434
Li Y, Xing S, Li S, Liu L, Zhang X, et al., 2020. Seeding performance simulations and xperiments for a spoon-wheel type precision cottonseed-metering device based on edem. Mechanical Engineering Science 2:2615. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33142/mes.v2i1.2615
Li Z, Ren D, Huang J, Wu J, Duan D, Zhang T, Chen Y, 2025. Analysis of the seed filling performance influenced by maize seed shape, posture, and suction force. Biosyst Eng 256:104186. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2025.104186
Liao C, Chen J, Geng F, Tang X, 2022. Airflow basin structure numerical optimisation analysis and suction nozzle characteristics experimental study of vacuum-vibration tray precision seeder. J Agric Eng 53:1294. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2022.1294
Liu H, Guo L, Fu L, Tang S, 2015. Study on multi-size seed-metering device for vertical plate soybean precision planter. Int J Agr Biol Eng 8:1-8.
Ma C, Yi S, Tao G, Li Y, Liu H, 2024. Theoretical analysis and experiment of seed-picking mechanism of belt high-speed seed-guiding device for corn. J Agric Eng 55:1543. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2023.1543
Nikolay Z, Nikolay K, Gao X, Li W, Mi G, Huang Y, 2022. Design and testing of novel seed miss prevention system for single seed precision metering devices. Comput Electron Agr 198:107048. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2022.107048
Ospanova S, Aduov M, Kapov S, Orlyansky A, Volodya K, 2024. The results of experimental research of a rotor seed-metering unit for sowing non-free-flowing seeds. J Agric Eng 55:1556. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2024.1556
Shang Y, Zhou B, Yang J, Zhang S, 2024. Design and experiment of impeller seed guide device for rice internal suction hole direct seeding device. Sci Rep 14:13300. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-64002-x
Tang H, Xu C, Wang Z, Wang Q, Wang J, 2022. Optimized design, monitoring system development and experiment for a long-belt finger-clip precision corn seed metering device. Front Plant Sci 13:814747. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.814747
Tang H, Xu F, Guan T, Xu C, Wang J, 2023. Design and test of a pneumatic type of high-speed maize precision seed metering device. Comput Electron Agr 211:107997. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2023.107997
Wang J, Tang H, Guan R, Li X, Bai H, Tian L, 2017. Optimization design and experiment on clamping static and dynamic finger-spoon maize precision seed metering device. Nongye Jixie Xuebaoy 48:48–57.
Xie C, Yang L, He X, Cui T, Zhang D, Li H, et al., 2025. Maize precision seeding scheme based on multi-sensor information fusion. J Ind Inf Integr 43:100758. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jii.2024.100758
Xiong D, Wu M, Xie W, Liu R, Luo H, 2021. Design and experimental study of the general mechanical pneumatic combined seed metering device. Appl Sci 11:7223. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/app11167223
Xu H, Liu W, Liu H, Liu Z, Zhang G, 2025. Design and performance test of a combined and adjustable precise rice seed metering device. Int J Agr Biol Eng 18:101–114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25165/j.ijabe.20251801.8193
Zhao P, Gao X, Su Y, Xu Y, Huang Y, 2024. Investigation of seeding performance of a novel high-speed precision seed metering device based on numerical simulation and high-speed camera. Comput Electron Agr 217:108563. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2023.108563
Supporting Agencies
Jiangsu Province Modern Agricultural Machinery Equipment and Technology Demonstration Promotion Project, Basic Research Program of Jiangsu, China Postdoctoral Science FoundationData Availability Statement
The data used in this study were self-tested and self-collected. As the control method designed in this paper is still being further improved, data cannot be shared at present.
How to Cite
“Investigation on the design and optimization of a high-speed precision maize metering device with a layered centrifugal mechanical structure” (2026) Journal of Agricultural Engineering [Preprint]. doi:10.4081/jae.2026.1864.
Copyright (c) 2026 the Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
