Desarrollo de una máquina sembradora lineal en bandejas de germinación para la fundación Cambugán.

Abstract

In most of Ecuador, including the CAMBUGÁN Foundation, the seeding process in germination trays is done in an handmade way, since this slow process affects the final cost of the product, therefore the possibilities of competing in the market are seen reduced and because the production of seedlings is the main source of income in the foundation is sufficient reason to implement the automation of planting, in order to make the process efficient and increase production. Under these circumstances, a linear seeding machine was developed in germination trays, which automates the stages of pricking the substrate, placing the seed and coating the tray. These subprocesses are performed simultaneously, although it depends on the position of the seedbed and in the project there is a microcontroller that is responsible for collecting data from the sensors, making decisions based on a programming logic and signaling the actuators present in the machine in order to fill each of the tanks in the tray with at least one seed in the shortest possible time, in order to fulfill the requirements set forth in the design stage of this project. In order to evaluate the effectiveness and functionality of the prototype, tests were carried out where they showed data, which indicate that automated planting increases productivity and reduces the costs of this process.