Sugar Beet Yield Mapping

Yield Mapping of Sugarbeet

The objective of this project is to determine in field variability of sugarbeet yield and quality.

Project start: 1997
Project due: 2000

In 1997, manual crop samples were taken and a start was made with the development of yield sensors for a sugarbeet harvestor. The manual samples were taken close to crop and soil monitoring points. The yield sensors were based on a mass flow measurement and a volumetric flow measurement of sugarbeets entering the collector bin.

Preliminary results showed both sensor systems produce a similar yield pattern. So, the project extended into 1999 and now consists of the following work items:

Evaluation of 3 different measurement methods on the sugar beet harvester.
Inventarisation of yield and quality differences on a number of fields.
Comparison of yield and quality differences with soil types and management.

A scheme of the yield mapping system mounted on the sugarbeet harvestor.
Yield Map System
The CAN bus (depicted in Red) connects four modules (purple) with the following functions:

1, Acquisition and processing of BeltDriveTorque, BeltSpeed, BeltDrivePressure, RadarSpeed and Lightcells
2, Acquisition and processing of two strain gauge weight sensors
3, Interface to manufacturer mounted board computer providing WheelSpeed, BeltSpeed and WorkSwitch
4, Data logger and User I/O terminal

The Differential GPS system is connected directly to the DataLogger. A future modification would be to have the DGPS unit as a fifth module directly on the CAN-bus. This would for instance enhance automatic calibration of the speed measurement systems in other CAN nodes and it simplifies the implementation of the DataLogger functions.

The sugarbeet harvestor busy in a field in 1997. The data logger was initially mounted in the grey box above the right front wheel. Since 1999, the CAN based system is distributed over the machine and the data logger fits well in the operator's cab. Sugar Beet Harvestor

from the first experiments in 1997, a yield map based on volumetric flow measurement method above and a yield map from the same field based on belt drive pressure mass flow measurement below.
Sugar Beet Yields

A more detailed experiment in 1999 is shown in this yield map. The manually harvested samples on a number of locations in the field are quite similar to the raw yield points determined by the mass flow measurement system based on belt drive torque. The scales are expressed in ton/ha gross mass.
P5Yield

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last modified: 1999-11-04, Jaap van Bergeijk