PONE-D-24-12311Advanced Design and Engineering Economical Evaluation of a Low-Cost Automatic Sugarcane Seed Cutting Machine Based RGB Color Sensor and IoT TechnologyPLOS ONE

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Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Partly

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The manuscript titled “Advanced Design and Engineering Economical Evaluation of a Low-Cost Automatic Sugarcane Seed Cutting Machine Based RGB Color Sensor and IoT Technology” is adequately structured, with an introduction that highlights the importance and the problem of study very well justified, although, the theoretical framework could be updated. The objectives are clear, demonstrated in the development of the study and in the results and conclusions obtained. The figures and tables presented are sufficient to characterize the experimental development, as well as to demonstrate the results obtained.

Some important points:

Justify the experimental choices and variables evaluated in the experiments (methodology). Although the economic analysis is important, it is limited to the region where the study was developed. Could this study be replicated to other sugarcane producing regions? In addition to the technology evaluated, the other evaluations seem to me to be more of a case study, applied to the region. Check the importance and meaning of the economic evaluation in the manuscript.

Expand the discussion with recent studies. The discussion is succinct and vague in relation to the good results obtained.

The conclusions are very extensive and vague. Present the conclusions punctually and on the proposed objectives, on the other hand, include part of the conclusions made in the discussion of the results.

Reviewer #2: Dear Editor,

After evaluating the manuscript titled "Advanced Design and Engineering Economical Evaluation of a Low-Cost Automatic Sugar-cane Seed Cutting Machine Based RGB Color Sensor and IoT Technology" my decision is: Major revision.

Overview: I acknowledge the importance of the topic covered in the manuscript and the development of intelligent mechanisms for sugar-cane seed cutting using sensors and IoT technology. However, the scientific contribution is limited. Therefore, if accepted for publication after the review process, I suggest it be considered as a technical article.

Title: The title is lengthy and confusing. It needs modification.

Abstract: The abstract should present results in a way that allows first-time readers to grasp the content easily. Some abbreviations used are not explained for readers unfamiliar with them. Furthermore, the abstract should include a discussion of the results and conclude with findings and recommendations.

Keywords: Avoid using terms already in the title.

Introduction: The introduction is inadequate and does not contribute effectively to understanding the work. The justification lacks depth in convincing the reader of the research's relevance. The problem is not clearly presented, making it difficult to understand the significance of this work. Specifically emphasize how developing an automatic sugar-cane seed cutting machine using color sensors and IoT can address identified challenges like improving efficiency and reducing operational costs. Additionally, the study's hypothesis is missing, hindering a comprehensive analysis of the manuscript's objectives. The manuscript's objectives need refinement, including specific aims. Furthermore, replace "[1]–[3]" and "[7]–[11]" with "[1–3]" and "[7–11]" throughout the manuscript. Update the citation "(Statista, 2018)" to [4] in line 55 with current data on sugar-cane production. Update reference [5] for the same reason in line 56.

Materials and Methods: The methodology is incomplete and needs detailed explanations of proposed procedures. More information is required for readers to replicate the experiment. Could the authors provide more details on specific procedures used for sensor calibration? For instance, what criteria were used to select reference colors, and what were the lighting conditions during calibration? Was there a validation process for sensor accuracy? How was sensor reliability in detecting and counting sugar-cane characteristics determined? A more detailed description of performance tests evaluating the machine's effectiveness would be beneficial. For example, how were cutting tests conducted for different stem diameters and working conditions? Were tests repeated for result consistency? Was reproducibility analyzed to ensure data consistency? What statistical methods were used to analyze test data? Statistical metrics evaluating accuracy and precision are necessary. Could the authors elaborate on these metrics?

Have specific considerations been made for operational risk assessment during machine development? How were quality controls implemented to ensure safe and consistent technology performance? Detailed documentation of research procedures, such as machine operation manuals, sensor calibration records, and test reports, should be provided as supplementary materials. Additional diagrams or illustrations clarifying methodological aspects, like detailed machine feeding, scanning, and cutting systems, would be helpful.

Results and Discussion: Results are well-presented but lack discussion and scientific justification. Weaknesses in the research are not addressed. For instance, manual procedures are still required despite machine use. Comparisons with relevant prior studies should also be included. This can contextualize results within the broader field and highlight unique research contributions. How do the economic analysis results demonstrate the proposed system's feasibility and potential benefits? Future research suggestions based on current findings should also be included.

Conclusions: Authors should address study objectives in this section.

Given the above, there are inconsistencies, and I recommend a "Major revision."

I encourage the authors to submit a revised version of the manuscript. If agreeable, I request responses addressing all points of disagreement or non-compliance.

Good luck.

Ad hoc Reviewer

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Advanced Design and Engi-Economical Evaluation of an Automatic Sugarcane Seed Cutting Machine Based RGB Color Sensor

PONE-D-24-12311R1

Dear Dr. .,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Paulo Eduardo Teodoro, Dr.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Partly

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: I Don't Know

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The authors revised the manuscript according to the comments submitted. The article has been adequately reviewed and is ready for acceptance in this form.

Reviewer #2: An improved version of the manuscript was presented. In it, the authors met all my considerations and I believe that the manuscript can now be accepted for publication.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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