Bector, VishalVinay Kumar2023-12-112023-12-112022Vinay Kumar (2022). Development of sensor based integrated system for measuring soil compaction and electrical conductivity of soil. (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation). Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810202530The tractor mounted and hydraulically operated real time sensor based integrated system for measuring soil compaction was successfully developed and evaluated in the field. The preliminary computer aided design version developed in the department was further modified and upgraded by using NX software considering its both direct modelling and parametric capabilities. The design parameters of the developed soil sensor were similar to ASAE Standard S313.3 with incorporation of soil electrical conductivity measuring sensors at the tip of the cone of the cone penetrometer. The major components of the developed cone penetrometer were frame, hydraulic cylinder, probe, ultrasonic depth sensor, global position system (GPS), control panel and data acquisition system. The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the critical parts as well as the whole assembly with different types of materials was done by using ANSYs software. The Structural steel was selected for construction of frame of the soil sensor due to easy availability and cost efficiency. The En8 was selected for fabrication of probe of the assembly and low carbon-based steel (EN 8 BS970 080M40) material was selected for hydraulic cylinder. The developed soil sensor was evaluated in two different types of soil at two different locations after the harvesting of wheat crop, where the paddy crop was the previous crop in rice wheat rotation and paddy residue was managed as per the treatments. The three treatments for both the location were treatment T1 (rice residue retained on the soil), treatment T2 (rice residue removed manually) and treatment T3 (rice residue incorporated). The developed soil sensor showed sensing accuracy of 95.38 and 95.06% for soil compaction measurement in comparison with manual cone-penetrometer and, 73.42 and 74.45% for soil electrical conductivity measurement in comparison with standard laboratory method in sandy loam soil (S1) and loamy soil (S2), respectively. The coefficient of correlation between the developed soil sensor and hand cone penetrometer was R2= 0.88 and R2= 0.83 for site one and two respectively. The coefficient of correlation between the developed soil sensor and laboratory was R2= 0.93 and R2= 0.89 for sandy loam soil (S1) and loamy soil (S2) respectively for electrical conductivity. The overall results of the machined concluded that it was feasible to adopt the developed soil sensor to establish the reliable, faster and cost-effective soil compaction monitoring system with EC measurements.EnglishThesis