The working principle and key components of a chain drive residual film recovery machine were studied. A kinematic analysis of the chain drive soil separation mechanism was completed by applying ADAMS software to obtain the trajectory, displacement, velocity and acceleration of the center of mass of the chain plate link_1 in the x- and y-directions within the effective shaking displacement. A field test of the chain drive separation mechanism was carried out. When the shaking roller was in contact with the chain, the change in speed of the chain in the x- and y-directions was not significant, but the force in the y-direction was conducive to breaking the soil pieces and improving the rate of collecting the residual film. The change in the speed of link_1 in the y-direction speed with x-direction speed explained the action of the separation mechanism on conveying and throwing of the film-soil mixture in the horizontal and vertical directions, which revealed the mechanism of the chain drive film-soil separation equipment. The field test showed that the film collection rate of the chain drive separation mechanism was 68%, and the surface residue was 6%. The test results meet the relevant national and industry standards and design requirements. The results of this study provide guidance for the design and optimization of chain drive film-soil separation equipment.

The extended duration of mulching in Xinjiang cotton fields leads to a significant decline in the tensile strength of plastic film. When recycling is in operation, the soil and the spring teeth of the machinery used can easily cause secondary damage and fracture the residual film. Establishing appropriate working parameters for recycling is essential to enhance the overall quality of collection efforts. By analyzing the motion process of a chain-tooth residual film pickup device, we identified key working parameters that significantly impact the efficiency of recycling. Employing the finite element method (FEM) and a coupled algorithm incorporating smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH), we developed a coupled finite element model representing the interaction among spring teeth, soil, and residual film. Through simulation and analysis of the process of inserting the spring teeth into the soil to collect film, we derived the governing rules for residual film stress and deformation changes. Utilizing forward speed, rotational angular velocity, and angle of entry into the soil of the spring teeth as test factors and selecting the residual film stress and the residual film deformation as test indices, we conducted a multi-factor simulation test. We established a mathematical model correlating test factors with test indices, and the influence of each factor on the test index was analyzed. Subsequently, we optimized the working parameters of the spring teeth. The results indicated that the optimal working parameters are forward speed of 1111.11 mm/s, rotational angular velocity of 25 rad/s, and angle of entry into the soil of 30°. At these values, the average peak stress of residual film was 4.51 MPa and the height of residual film pickup was 84.48 mm. To validate the optimized the spring teeth impact on performance, field experiments were conducted with recovery rate and winding rate as test indices. The results demonstrated a 92.1% recovery rate and a 1.1% winding rate under the optimal combination of working parameters. The finite element model presented in this paper serves as a reference for designing and analyzing key components of residual film recycling machines.

To solve the problem of straw cleaning and drip irrigation belt restoration for no-till seeding in drip irrigation areas, a staggered straw cleaning device was developed for no-till seeding, which is mainly composed of a front two-sided tine discs group, a drip irrigation belt laying mechanism, a middle single inner tine discs group, a rear single outer tine discs group. Different tine disc groups are set in longitudinal, transverse, and radial directions to move and throw the straw on the surface of the seeding strip. The critical parameters of the tine disc were designed and calculated, and the radius was determined to be 160 mm, the number of teeth was 12, and the theoretical working width was obtained. The movement and straw scattering process were analyzed, and the main influencing factors and the maximum straw scattering distances in the horizontal and vertical directions were determined. The interaction model of staggered tine discs group–straw–soil is established using the discrete element method (DEM). The forwarding speed, rotating speed, disc rake angle, and lateral distance of the middle tine discs were used as influencing factors, and the straw cleaning rate and the mass of straw returned in the drip irrigation coverage area were selected as the text indexes to carry out quadratic orthogonal rotation experiments. The quadratic regression model of the three sensitive parameters on the cleaning rate and the mass of straw returned in the drip irrigation coverage area was constructed and optimized. The optimal solutions were obtained: the forwarding speed was 9 km/h, the disc rake angle was 33.7°, and the lateral distance of the middle tine discs was 529 mm. The field validation test was carried out, and the results showed that the straw cleaning was 89.13%, the straw cleaning width of the seed strip was 527.2 mm, and the straw coverage rate of the drip irrigation area was 80.74%. This achievement can provide a reference for straw cleaning of no-till seeding under drip irrigation.

In the cotton fields in Xinjiang, residual film is present in the soil for a long period of time, leading to a decrease in the tensile strength of the residual film and increasing the difficulty of recycling. Existing technologies for residual film recovery focus on mechanical properties and ignore the dragging and tearing of residual film by cotton stubble. The effect of cotton straw–root stubble on residual film recovery can only be better determined by appropriate machine operating parameters, which are essential to improving residual film recovery. Through analyses of the pickup device, key parameters were identified, and a model was built by combining the FEM and SPH algorithms to simulate the interaction of nail teeth, residual film, soil and root stubble. The simulation revealed the force change law of residual film in root stubble-containing soil and the influence of root stubble. By simulating the changes in the characteristics of the residual film during the process, the optimum operating parameters for the nail teeth were determined: a forward speed of 1849.57 mm/s, a rotational speed of 5.5 r/s and a soil penetration angle of 30°. Under these optimized conditions, the maximum shear strain, pickup height (maximum deformation) and average peak stress of the residual film were 1293, 363.81 mm and 3.42 MPa, respectively. Subsequently, field trials were conducted to verify the change in the impact of the nail teeth at the optimized speed on the recovery of residual film in plots containing root stubble. The results demonstrated that when the root stubble height was 5–8 cm, the residual film averaged a recovery rate of 89.59%, with a dragging rate of only 4.10% at crossings. In contrast, 8–14 cm stubble plots showed an 82.86% average recovery and an 11.91% dragging rate. In plots with a root stubble height of 5–8 cm, compared with plots with a root stubble height of 8–14 cm, the recovery rate increased by 6.73%, and the dragging rate of residual film on root stubble decreased by 7.81%. The percentage of entangled residual film out of the total unrecovered film was 30.10% lower in the 5–8 cm stubble plots than in the 8–14 cm stubble plots. It was confirmed that the effect of cotton root stubble on residual film recovery could be reduced under appropriate machine operating parameters. This provides strong support and a theoretical and practical basis for future research on the correlation between root stubble and residual film and how to improve the residual film recovery rate.

In precision cotton seeding, the toothed-disk precision seeder often experiences issues with missed seeding and multiple seeding. To promptly detect and address these abnormal seeding conditions, this study develops a modular photoelectric sensing monitoring system. Initially, the monitoring time window is divided using the capacitance sensing signal between two seed drop ports. Concurrently, a photoelectric monitoring circuit is designed to convert the time when seeds block the sensor into a level signal. Subsequently, threshold segmentation is performed on the time when seeds block the photoelectric path under different seeding states. The proposed spatiotemporal joint counting algorithm identifies, in real time, the threshold type of the photoelectric sensor’s output signal within the current monitoring time window, enabling the differentiation of seeding states and the recording of data. Additionally, an STM32 micro-controller serves as the core of the signal acquisition circuit, sending collected data to the PC terminal via serial port communication. The graphical display interface, designed with LVGL (Light and Versatile Graphics Library), updates the seeding monitoring information in real time. Compared to photoelectric monitoring algorithms that detect seed pickup at the seed metering disc, the monitoring node in this study is positioned posteriorly within the seed guide chamber. Consequently, the differentiation between single seeding and multiple seeding is achieved with greater accuracy by the spatiotemporal joint counting algorithm, thereby enhancing the monitoring precision of the system. Field test results indicate that the system’s average accuracy for single-seeding monitoring is 97.30%, for missed-seeding monitoring is 96.48%, and for multiple-seeding monitoring is 96.47%. The average probability of system misjudgment is 3.25%. These outcomes suggest that the proposed modular photoelectric sensing monitoring system can meet the monitoring requirements of precision cotton seeding at various seeding speeds.

To address the restricted operating space in reserved maize sowing strips, surface soil compaction, the poor trafficability of conventional tillage machinery, and the risk of disturbing adjacent wheat rows under wheat–maize relay intercropping in Xinjiang, a front-mounted narrow-strip tillage device for a maize interseeder was designed. The device comprises a rotary tillage assembly and a soil-lifting device. An IT225 rotary blade was selected, and the structures of the rotary tillage assembly and the pointed-shovel soil-lifting device were designed. Kinematic and force analyses established operating ranges of 3–5 km·h⁻¹ for forward speed, 240–360 r·min⁻¹ for blade-shaft rotational speed, and 80–120 mm for rotary tillage depth. A discrete element model of the soil–tillage device interaction was developed in EDEM. A three-factor, three-level Box–Behnken experiment was conducted with forward speed, blade-shaft rotational speed, and rotary tillage depth as factors and soil fragmentation rate and soil bulk density as responses. Quadratic regression models were developed using Design-Expert and subjected to constrained numerical optimization. Both regression models were highly significant, whereas their lack-of-fit terms were nonsignificant, indicating good predictive performance. The optimum combination comprised a forward speed of 3.88 km·h⁻¹, a blade-shaft rotational speed of 348 r·min⁻¹, and a rotary tillage depth of 120 mm; the corresponding predicted soil fragmentation rate and soil bulk density were 92.40% and 1.38 g·cm⁻³, respectively. Field validation produced a soil fragmentation rate of 93.64% and a soil bulk density of 1.35 g·cm⁻³; the corresponding relative errors were 1.34% and 2.17%, respectively, both below 5%. These findings provide a basis for the design and operating-parameter matching of tillage components for maize interseeders used in wheat–maize relay intercropping in Xinjiang.