In view of the problems of the difficulties faced in horizontal planting; high labor intensity, poor operation quality and low economy in the existing sweet potato bare seedling transplanting technology and equipment, combined with the agronomic requirements of sweet potato planting and transplanting, a sweet potato bare seedling horizontal transplanter is designed, which can realize multiple processes such as rotary tillage and ridging, ditching and transplanting, covering soil and standing seedlings. The main parameters affecting the working performance and operation effect of the whole machine are analyzed, determining the relevant position and motion parameters, taking the forward speed of machines and tools, spacing of the ribbons and spiral speed as the influencing factors of the performance test, selecting the qualified rate of plant spacing as the evaluation index, and designing a three-factor and three-level orthogonal test. The test results show that the primary and secondary order of the significance of the qualified rate $Z$ of plant spacing is $B$, $A$ and $C$. The better horizontal combination of influencing factors is that the forward speed of machines and tools is 0.17 m·s⁻¹, the spacing of the ribbons is 110 mm, and the spiral speed is 170 rpm. The field test results showed that the average $Z$-value of plant spacing qualification rate under the optimal factor level combination was 91.87%, which met the relevant technical standards and agronomic requirements.

The operation of the semi-automatic pepper pot seedling transplanter has the problem of a low frequency of manual operation. We designed a new automatic transplanting mechanism based on a clamping stem. Through the movement law of a double-crank connecting rod mechanism, the static trajectory of beak shape and the dynamic trajectory of N shape were designed to meet the requirements of backward transplanting. The kinematics equation of the seedling picking mechanism was established and the mechanism parameter optimization program was developed based on MATLAB. The effect of the mechanism parameter changes on the seedling movement trajectory was analyzed. A group of parameter combinations that met the requirements of seedling picking and planting were optimized. After optimization, the trajectory height was 220.8 mm, the picking angle was 21.03° and the planting angle was 64.15°. The plant spacing was 260 mm, which meets the agronomic requirements of pepper transplanting. Through the combination of theoretical analysis and prototype tests, the test results showed that the theoretical trajectory was basically consistent with the actual trajectory, verifying the feasibility of the mechanism design. In this study, pepper pot seedlings in the suitable planting period of 60 days were selected and planted at the rotation speed of 60, 70 and 80 r/min, respectively. The success rate of seedling selection was more than 91.1%, the success rate of planting was more than 78.5%, the qualified rate of erect degree was 94.9%, and the coefficient of variation of plant spacing was stable below 14.1%. The results show that the integrated automatic transplanting mechanism for pepper pot seedlings was effective.

During the working process of a conventional press roller in the rice–wheat rotation area, the phenomenon of soil adhesion and a large slip rate, which are directly related to the growth and the output of the wheat, occurred widely. It was found that the geometric structure of the back surface was one of the key reasons for Carabus formosus nili exhibiting low adhesion against the soil. In this paper, lessons are drawn from the non-smooth morphology theory and bionics principle. The bionic press rollers with bionically convex hull structures were designed after learning from the geometric structure of Carabus formosus nili, which modifies the geometric structure of the conventional press roller. The three-dimensional simulation model of a bionic press roller and soil was constructed in the ANSYS/LS-DYNA software(ANSYS, Canonsburg, PA, USA) to simulate the dynamic process of the interaction between the bionic roller and soil and to verify the rationality of the design of the bionic press roller. Based on the simulation of the interaction between the bionic press roller and the soil, the main factors affecting the bionic roller were determined: forward speed, load, and structural parameters. The field tests were carried out, and the orthogonal test was used to investigate the effects of forward speed, load, and structural parameters on the operation performance of the bionic press roller. Through the orthogonal test, the primary and secondary order of forward speed, load, and axial spacing were obtained. The optimal combination was: forward speed 7 km/h, load 400 N, and axial spacing 40 mm. This study provides a new idea and reference for the design of a press roller for wheat sowing in the rice–wheat rotation area.

To address the issues of high labor intensity, excessive manpower requirements, low planting spacing qualification rates, low planting depth qualification rates, and low operational efficiency associated with sweet potato transplanting, a sweet potato seedling belt transplanter has been designed. This machine can perform multiple processes: precision tillage and ridge shaping, orderly seedling feeding from rolls, the efficient separation of seedlings from the belt, flexible gripping and shaping, precise soil covering and the mechanism of exposing seedling tips. A three-factor, three-level orthogonal test was carried out using the forward speed of the machine, the pitch of the screw belt and the rotational speed of the screw as the influencing factors of the performance test, and the qualified rate of planting spacing and the qualified rate of planting depth as the evaluation indexes. The test results indicated that the significance order of the factors affecting the qualification rate for planting spacing with the optimal combination of factors was as follows: a forward speed of 0.3 m·s⁻¹, a ribbon spacing of 60 mm, and a screw speed of 160 rpm. Field trials confirmed that under optimal conditions, the average qualification rate for planting spacing was 90.37%, meeting relevant technical standards and agronomic requirements.

Sweet potato is essential for food security, but its transplanting efficiency is currently low. To improve this, we developed a belt-type transplanter that uses seedling belt technology for automated feeding, increasing efficiency by over 25%. The use of the seedling belt is key to significantly enhancing the transplanter’s efficiency. Building on seedling belt feeding, we designed a “trumpet-shaped” staggered detachable seedling belt using LDPE film. Seedlings are fixed at intervals between two film layers via thermal bonding points. Mechanical analysis showed the optimal peeling strength is 13.2 N, ensuring smooth seedling transport during transplanting. Peeling strength depends on the heat sealing temperature, time, and pressure. To optimize these parameters, we designed an experimental device and conducted single-factor experiments to determine their effects on the peeling strength and establish reasonable ranges. Results show that, at a peeling strength of 13.2 N, the thermal bonds separate smoothly without tearing the film. A three-factor, three-level orthogonal experiment further optimized the heat sealing parameters, concluding that, at 140 °C, 1.2 s, and 0.4 MPa, the average peel force of the seedling tapes obtained from the experiments was 14.31 N, at which point the peeling effect was optimal.