In order to solve the problem of high efficient cotton harvesting in China, a horizontal ingot picking head with highefficiency was developed. A parametric design mathematical model was established for the slot cam, which was the key working part of the picking head. The GUI module in Matlab was used to design humancomputer interaction visualization, generate groove cam curve, and imported it into UG to get threedimensional model and engineering drawings for manufacturing. By using ADAMS virtual prototype simulation software, the influence of the ratio of linear speed to working speed K on the trajectory of ingot picking was analyzed, and the reasonable range of K and working speed was obtained. Vector equation graphic method was used to analyze the matching relationship between the rotational speed of cottonremoval disc and the rotational speed of drum and ingot, and the corresponding range of rotational speed of cottonremoval disc was obtained. In order to verify the theoretical analysis and optimize the motion parameters of the highefficiency cotton picking head, the indoor comprehensive test bench for the cotton picking head was set up, and the forward speed, the spindle speed and the speed of the cotton disc were selected as the test factors, and the rate of inclusion and the rate of falling cotton were selected. The recovery rate and production efficiency were the test indicators. The second rotation orthogonal test method was used. Regression analysis and response surface analysis of the test results were carried out by using DesignExpert software, and the optimum parameters were obtained as follows: operation speed was 6.17km/h, spindle picking speed was 4272r/min, cotton disc speed was 2109r/min. Under the optimum combination of parameters, the impurity content was 8.78%, the knockdown cotton rate was 1.59%, the net recovery rate was 97.17%, and the production efficiency was 0.467hm2/h. Experiments were carried out under the same conditions. The average impurity content was 8.81%, the knockdown rate was 166%, the net recovery rate was 97.21%, and the production efficiency was 0.467hm2/h. The experimental results were basically consistent with the theoretical results.