Design and Testing of an Elastic Comb Reciprocating a Soybean Plant-to-Plant Seedling Avoidance and Weeding Device

Shenghao Ye, Xinyu Xue, Shuning Si, Yang Xu, Feixiang Le, Longfei Cui () and Yongkui Jin ()
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Shenghao Ye: Nanjing Institute of Agricultural Mechanization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing 210014, China
Xinyu Xue: Nanjing Institute of Agricultural Mechanization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing 210014, China
Shuning Si: Nanjing Institute of Agricultural Mechanization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing 210014, China
Yang Xu: Nanjing Institute of Agricultural Mechanization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing 210014, China
Feixiang Le: Nanjing Institute of Agricultural Mechanization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing 210014, China
Longfei Cui: Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing 210014, China
Yongkui Jin: Nanjing Institute of Agricultural Mechanization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing 210014, China

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-23

Abstract: Although there are existing interplant weed control devices for soybeans, they mostly rely on image recognition and intelligent navigation platforms. Simultaneously, automated weed control devices are not yet fully mature, resulting in issues such as high seedling injury rates and low weeding rates. This paper proposed a reciprocating interplant weed control device for soybeans based on the idea of intermittent reciprocating opening and closing of weeding execution components. The device consists of a laser ranging sensor, servo motor, Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), and weeding mechanism. Firstly, this paper explained the overall structure and working principle of the weed control device, and discussed the theoretical analysis and structural design of the critical component, elastic comb teeth. This paper also analyzed the working principle of the elastic comb teeth movement trajectory and seedling avoidance action according to soybean agronomic planting requirements. Then, field experiments were conducted, and the experiment was designed by the quadratic regression general rotation combination experimental method. The number of combs, the speed of the field management robot, and the stabbing depth were taken as the test factors to investigate their effects on the test indexes of weeding rate and seedling injury rate. The experiment utilized a response surface analysis method and designed a three-factor, three-level quadratic regression general rotation combination experimental method. The results demonstrate that the number of comb teeth has the most significant impact on the weeding rate, while the forward speed has the most significant impact on the seedling injury rate. The optimal combination of 29.06 mm stabbing depth, five comb teeth, and a forward speed of 0.31 m/s achieves an optimal operational weeding rate of 98.2% and a seedling injury rate of 1.69%. Under the optimal parameter combination conditions, the machine’s performance can meet the requirements of intra-row weeding operations in soybean fields, and the research results can provide a reference for the design and optimization of mechanical weed control devices for soybean fields.

Keywords: soybean; automation control; interplant weeding; imitation elastic comb teeth; field test (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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