Seed drill depth control system for precision seeding

•A novel seed drill system was developed and verified for on-the-go coulter depth control.•The system improved the overall depth performance even at the high speed of 12 km h−1.•The system minimized the variation in coulter depth across the field. An adequate and uniform seeding depth is crucial for the homogeneous development of a crop, as it affects time of emergence and germination rate. The considerable depth variations observed during seeding operations - even for modern seed drills - are mainly caused by variability in soil resistance acting on the drill coulters, which generates unwanted vibrations and, consequently, a non-uniform seed placement. Therefore, a proof-of-concept dynamic coulter depth control system for a low-cost seed drill was developed and studied in a field experiment. The performance of the active control system was evaluated for the working speeds of 4, 8 and 12 km h−1, by testing uniformity and accuracy of the coulter depth in relation to the target depth of −30 mm. The evaluation was based on coulter depth measurements, obtained by coulter position sensors combined with ultrasonic soil surface sensors. Mean coulter depth offsets of 3.5, 5.3 and 6.3 mm to the target were registered for the depth control system, compared to 8.0, 9.1 and 11.0 mm without the control system for 4, 8 and 12 km h−1, respectively. However, speed did not affect the coulter depth significantly. The control system optimised coulter depth accuracy by 15.2% and at 95% confidence interval it corresponded to an absolute reduction in the coulter depth confidence span of 10.4 mm. The spatial variability, due to variation in soil mechanical properties was found to be ±8 mm, across the blocks for the standard drill and when activating the coulter depth control system this variability was reduced to ±2 mm. The system with the active control system operated more accurately at an operational speed of 12 km h−1 than at 4 km h−1 without the activated control system.