Automation of Bag Feeding for Enhanced Efficiency in Mushroom Grow Media Filling Systems

Automation of agricultural machines is an essential thing for improving productivity, product quality, and labour efficiency. This study focuses on design, fabrication, and testing an automated bag-feeding unit to enhance the performance of the existing mushroom grow media filling machine. In theindustry, small-scale machines are available for filling mushroom-growing media, but they still require manual labour to load the bags. Throughout this project, we automated that the bag feeding system includes a bag mouth opening system, gripper and moving mechanism, automated bag holder mechanism, PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) control panel, and auxiliary components. A key enhancement is the rack-and-pinion mechanism for bag holder movement and sealing of the mixing chamber for better efficiency. Performance was evaluated by over 50 feeding cycles. The average cycle duration was 73.9 seconds, with a success rate of 84%. Failures were due to conveyor issues (6%), gripper insertion failures (6%), and vacuum bag pickup failures (4%). These results indicate why we need to improve the conveyor and gripper systems in the small-scale mushroom grow media filling machine. PLC-based control and modular automation will improve scalability and adaptability for these kinds of agricultural applications. As future work, we will address failure modes, optimize components, and explore system adaptation for other farming protocols, advancing precision agriculture through cost-effective methods and trying to achieve a fully automated small-scale mushroom-growing media filling machine.