SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY SETTING THE SET POINT OF A PLANTER AUTOMATIC DOWN PRESSURE CONTROL SYSTEM WITH A SEED FURROW SIDEWALL COMPACTION MEASUREMENT DEVICE
An agricultural row unit (10) for planting seeds in a furrow (14) includes an opening tool that cuts a furrow (14) in the soil to be planted, and a gauge wheel (15) that engages the soil to control elevation. A depth control actuator applies a controllable down force to the gauge wheel (15), and a sidewall compaction sensor extends into sidewalls of the furrow (14) and produces a signal representing the compaction of the soil. A controller (20, 50) supplies the depth control actuator with a control signal representing a down pressure set point to form a furrow (14) having a desired depth. The controller (20, 50) uses the signal representing the compaction of the soil in the sidewalls to determine whether the down pressure set point should be increased or decreased, and supplies the depth control actuator with a control signal when it is determined that the down pressure set point should be increased or decreased.
