article · Agriculture
Intra-row weeding in vineyards and orchards is labour intensive and difficult to manage. To address this, an autonomous electric robot implement equipped with a rotary weeder was developed. By replacing conventional hydraulic motors with electric equivalents and redesigning mechanical components, the overall weight of the implement was reduced. Adjustments for side shift, height, and tilt were managed through linear electric motors. The robot navigated along rows autonomously using two-dimensional laser scanner data, operating at a forward speed of 0.16 metres per second and a working depth of 40 millimetres. To protect crop plants, trunk positions were monitored using either a conventional electromechanical feeler or a sonar sensor. Tests showed that the sonar sensor outperformed the feeler in overall quality and energy management, confirming that automated electric weeding presents a viable alternative to existing machinery.
Managing weeds close to crop stems is challenging without damaging valuable plants or relying on intensive manual labour and chemical inputs. Electrifying and automating this process can reduce energy demands and operational costs for growers. Demonstrating that lightweight electric implements guided by sonar can reliably navigate crops marks a practical step towards cleaner, automated vineyard management.
This technology is aimed at vineyard and orchard managers looking for automated, lower-emission alternatives to traditional mechanical weeders. Having been tested in prototype form at a set forward speed and working depth, the technology sits at an applied testing stage. Future commercial products could combine autonomous laser navigation and sonar trunk detection to offer commercial growers improved weeding quality alongside reduced power consumption.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Intra-row weeding is a time consuming and challenging task. Therefore, a rotary weeder implement for an autonomous electrical robot was developed. It can be used to remove the weeds of the intra-row area of orchards and vineyards. The hydraulic motor of the conventional tool was replaced by an electric motor and some mechanical parts were refabricated to reduce the overall weight. The side shift, the height and the tilt adjustment were performed by linear electric motors. For detecting the trunk positions, two different methods were evaluated: A conventional electromechanical sensor (feeler) and a sonar sensor. The robot performed autonomous row following based on two dimensional laser scanner data. The robot prototype was evaluated at a forward speed of 0.16 ms−1 and a working depth of 40 mm. The overall performance of the two different trunk detection methods was tested and evaluated for quality and power consumption. The results indicated that an automated intra-row weeding robot could be an alternative solution to actual machinery. The overall performance of the sonar was better than the adjusted feeler in the performed tests. The combination of autonomous navigation and weeding could increase the weeding quality and decrease power consumption in future.
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DOI: 10.3390/agriculture9010018
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