Method of calibrating a meter module comprising an auger

A method of calibrating a metering system, the metering system including a controller and a plurality of meter modules, each of the plurality of meter modules comprising:

• an auger in communication with a product supply containing a product, the auger having a discharge end;
• an electric motor in signal communication with the controller, the electric motor configured to drive rotation of the auger;
• a container disposed below the discharge end of the auger, the container instrumented with a load cell, the load cell in signal communication with the controller;
• and
• an actuator coupled to the container, the actuator in signal communication with the controller;
• the method comprising:
• (a) via the controller, for each of the plurality of meter modules:
• (i) actuating the electric motor to drive rotation of the auger until the auger is becomes fully loaded with the product from the product supply;
• (ii) stopping rotation of the fully loaded auger;
• (iii) again actuating the electric motor to drive rotation of the fully loaded auger at a predetermined rotational speed for a predetermined number of auger revolutions to discharge a metered quantity of the product from the discharge end of the fully loaded auger;
• (iv) capturing the metered quantity of the product with the container;
• (v) the load cell generating a signal magnitude in proportion to a mass of the metered quantity of the product captured by the container;
• (vi) the controller receiving the generated signal magnitude and calculating a derived mass value based on the generated signal magnitude;
• (vii) the controller calculating a mass per auger revolution (MPR) value by dividing the derived mass value by the predetermined number of auger revolutions;
• (viii) storing in memory the MPR value;
• (b) via the controller, calculating an MPR sum by summing the stored MPR value of each of the plurality of meter modules;
• (c) via the controller, calculating a derived application rate of the metering bank based on the MPR sum;
• (d) via the controller, determining if the derived application rate is within an acceptable tolerance of a desired application rate;
• (e) via the controller, calculating a derived auger speed based on the MPR sum and the desired application rate if the derived application rate is outside of the acceptable tolerance of the desired application rate;
• (f) via the controller, adjusting the rotational speed of the electric motor of each of the plurality of meter modules based on the derived auger speed.