Electric drive technology is continually advancing to improve fuel efficiency in the automobile industry. It could improve the fuel efficiency of automobiles by 50% as well as contribute to improving the fuel efficiency of agricultural machinery. The purpose of this study was to measure and analyze the power and current of an electric transplanter based on the planting distances during field operations. The electric transplanter was constructed by mounting the major components of a motor drive system onto a transplanter. The electric transplanter has a 3 kW motor power, and the major components include an inverter, battery, and a battery management system (BMS). The field tests were conducted by travelling at various speeds (300 and 760 mm/s) and by planting at various distances (260, 420 and 630 mm) with the working speed (300 mm/s) during travelling and transplanting as well as during travelling with transplanting operations. The results show that the required power increased when the travelling speed was fast. One-way ANOVA for the planting distance and Duncan’s multiple range test at a significance level of 0.05 were used to analyze the motor power using statistical analysis software (SAS 9.4, Statistical Analysis Institute Inc., 2002). In addition, the required power increased when the planting distances were short at every working condition. The results of this study provide useful information for the development an electric transplanter.

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