Soil sampling device

To obtain a good harvest in the agricultural sector, highquality agrochemical soil analysis is necessary. Soil sampling devices are used to obtain the best results when analyzing soil composition. The aim of this research was to develop a universal, semiautomatic device for sampling soil up to 2 m deep, thereby minimizing the labor and time required for sampling. Analysis of patent search materials showed that the main disadvantages of existing soil sampling methods and devices are their low efficiency, which is due to high labor costs and complex designs. The analysis of designs of previously developed soil sampling devices, as well as research conducted at the Mechanization Department of V. S. Pustovoit AllRussian Research Institute of Oil Crops, enabled the development of a portable batterypowered device for taking soil samples of a circular crosssection (core) from a depth of 2 m without mixing soil layers from different depths. An experimental prototype of a portable batterypowered soil sampling device has been built which can be operated using a motor vehicle and is powered by a standard battery. The experimental device effectively takes soil samples from a depth of 2 m without requiring manual labor from the operator to insert and extract the sampler. The results showed the device's high reliability, the short time taken to take and process a soil sample (about 20–25 minutes per sample), with each sample divided into 10 parts and loaded into boxes; the ease with which the device can be transitioned from the working to the transport position and back again when moving across the field to the specified soil sampling sites; the minimal physical labor required; and the unique method of extracting soil samples from the sampler, with the sample divided into a specified number of parts. However, during preliminary tests, a number of shortcomings were identified that require a more detailed study of the soil sampling process due to the heterogeneity of the physical and mechanical properties of the soil in different layers.