Modeling and Simulation of Reel Motion in a Foxtail Millet Combine Harvester

Due to the high plant height, heavy ear, and easy forward tilt of millet during harvesting, the reel of a traditional combine harvester is often difficult to adapt to the special growth characteristics of millet, resulting in serious grain loss. Therefore, optimizing the design of the reel is important to improve the harvesting efficiency of millet and reduce the grain header loss. In order to determine the optimal reel speed ratio(λ), kinematics simulation experiments and analysis were carried out under different combinations of forward speed and reel revolution speed. The results showed that the supporting effect of the reel is insufficient when λ ≤ 1, and the trochoidal trajectory of the reel can provide a backward driving force when λ > 1, the optimum speed ratio of the reel should be controlled between 1.5 and 1.6. Field experiments results showed that the grain header loss rate was the lowest (0.9%) when λ = 1.6. This study provides key guidance for the adjustment of the combine harvester, effectively reducing the grain header loss rate in harvesting millet, and improving the harvesting efficiency.