In view of the lack of accurate contact parameters and the difficulty of measuring contact parameters in the discrete element simulation of mechanized harvesting of highland barley, this study took the wax-ripening highland barley as the object, carried out the discrete element simulation of highland barley stem based on EDEM, and calibrated the discrete element simulation parameters of highland barley stem by response surface optimization. In this paper, Plackett-Burman test was used to screen 8 initial parameters. It was found that the static friction coefficient between highland barley stems, the rolling friction coefficient between highland barley stems, and the rolling friction coefficient between highland barley stems and steel plates have significant effects on the particle angle of repose. Based on the optimal value range of significant factors determined by the steepest ascent test, a second-order regression model of the angle of repose and significant parameters was established and optimized based on the results of Box-Behnken test. The optimal parameter combination of significant parameters was obtained as follows: static friction coefficient between highland barley stems is 0.27, rolling friction coefficient between highland barley stems is 0.07, and rolling friction coefficient between highland barley stems and steel is 0.26. Finally, the simulation results under the optimal parameter combination are compared with the actual test angle of repose. The relative error is 0.52 %. That indicates that the parameters of the simulation calibration are credible, which can provide a reference for the future research on the cleaning device in the mechanized harvesting of highland barley.

In view of the complex agronomic technology of highland barley production and the lack of special machinery for harvesting and bundling highland barley, the harvesting of highland barley is basically done manually. There is a seriously reduced degree of mechanization of highland barley harvesting. Therefore, this paper designs a self-propelled highland barley harvesting and bundling machine, which realizes a single operation process to complete mechanized complex operations such as harvesting, bundling and laying highland barley. By designing the highland barley harvesting method and cutting platform, the height of the cutting platform can be adjusted stepless, and the highland barley bundle knotter is designed to realize the regulation and control of the baling diameter of the highland barley. According to the design of the rope feeding mechanism, the gathering mechanism and the baling mechanism, the main parameters of the baling device are determined. The stubble cutting height of the machine is 325 mm, the average diameter of the highland barley bundles is 195 mm, the average weight per bundle is 5.08 kg, bale formation rate is 97.8%, the qualification rate of the straw bundle reaches 95.6%, drop resistance rate is 92.6%, operating efficiency is 0.82 ha/h. The harvest baler runs in low speed 1 gear, the machine has high operation efficiency, high bundling rate of highland barley, good paving effect, reduced labor intensity, provides the mechanized efficiency of highland barley harvesting. Fuel consumption per hectare is 8.05 kg.hm-2, and the three shifts are without fault, to sum up, it can meet the requirements of highland barley harvesting and baling. The above research can provide a reference basis for the design of the highland barley harvesting baler.

In view of the complex agronomic technology of highland barley production and the lack of special machinery for harvesting and bundling highland barley, the harvesting of highland barley is basically done manually. There is a seriously reduced degree of mechanization of highland barley harvesting. Therefore, this paper designs a self-propelled highland barley harvesting and bundling machine, which realizes a single operation process to complete mechanized complex operations such as harvesting, bundling and laying highland barley. By designing the highland barley harvesting method and cutting platform, the height of the cutting platform can be adjusted stepless, and the highland barley bundle knotter is designed to realize the regulation and control of the baling diameter of the highland barley. According to the design of the rope feeding mechanism, the gathering mechanism and the baling mechanism, the main parameters of the baling device are determined. The stubble cutting height of the machine is 325 mm, the average diameter of the highland barley bundles is 195 mm, the average weight per bundle is 5.08 kg, bale formation rate is 97.8%, the qualification rate of the straw bundle reaches 95.6%, drop resistance rate is 92.6%, operating efficiency is 0.82 ha/h. The harvest baler runs in low speed 1 gear, the machine has high operation efficiency, high bundling rate of highland barley, good paving effect, reduced labor intensity, provides the mechanized efficiency of highland barley harvesting. Fuel consumption per hectare is 8.05 kg.hm-2, and the three shifts are without fault, to sum up, it can meet the requirements of highland barley harvesting and baling. The above research can provide a reference basis for the design of the highland barley harvesting baler.

Most of the small-arch-shed-recycling machines in China use manual disassembly and manual recycling, with low recycling efficiency and low mechanization. Therefore, this paper designs a small recovery machine for arch sheds, greatly improving the efficiency of the recycling of arch sheds, which can realize the lifting and collection of the arch shed rod and orderly recycling of the shed film. By performing univariate experimental studies in the field, on the basis of field experiments, we carried out an experimental analysis with machine speed and different soil moisture contents as the influencing factors and took the removal rate of the shed rod, the removal rate of the shed film, and the damage rate of seedlings as the test indexes. The test results show that the optimal parameter combination is a travel speed of 1.1 m/s, at which the operation effect is the best. The results show that under the optimal operation effect, the removal rate of the shed rod was 95.72%, the removal rate of the shed film was 98.63%, the seedling injury rate was only 2.11%, and the removal rate of the shed rod was only 4.01%, which met the requirements of the recovery operation of the arch shed and means that this approach is conducive to the recycling of the arch shed materials and the realization of sustainable development. In actual operation, the parameters should be adjusted according to the actual situation in the field to meet the different recovery needs of arch sheds.

The increasing automation of mechanized forage production has improved operational efficiency, but achieving consistent product quality remains challenging because material conditions evolve continuously across sequential operations. Current control strategies primarily focus on machine-level objectives, such as load regulation, throughput stabilization, and actuator response, while the linkage between operational decisions and final forage quality is still insufficiently established. Machinery-, sensor-, and stage-centered reviews chiefly catalog technologies and prediction performance, without consistently testing whether observations are representative, transferable, timely, and assigned to actionable material. This critical narrative review integrates recent evidence identified through Web of Science Core Collection and CNKI searches, supplemented by citation tracing of foundational studies. It presents a state-centered framework for smart sensing and sensing-to-control pathways throughout the mechanized forage production chain. Key intermediate states, including moisture distribution, leaf integrity, windrow geometry and linear density, mass flow, particle characteristics, bale density, and pore structure, are analyzed as the links between mechanical actions and downstream outcomes, such as drying performance, material loss, fermentation, heating risk, and storage stability. Sensing technologies based on electrical, mechanical, optical, microwave, weighing, and spectroscopic principles are evaluated from the perspectives of measurement representativeness, transferability, latency, uncertainty, and operational validity rather than prediction accuracy alone. Prediction accuracy describes agreement with a reference, whereas decision utility reflects whether a valid, representative, and timely estimate can change an operational decision and reduce downstream quality risk. The reviewed evidence indicates that practical quality-oriented automation requires rapid proxy-state feedback for immediate machine regulation combined with batch-linked quality measurements for delayed verification and model updating. Future progress depends on establishing causal machine–quality relationships, transferable sensing models, cross-stage data continuity, and production-scale validation.