Development of an Autonomous Electric Robot Implement for Intra-Row Weeding in Vineyards

David Reiser, El-Sayed Sehsah (), Oliver Bumann, Jörg Morhard and Hans W. Griepentrog
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David Reiser: Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Hohenheim University, Stuttgart 70599, Germany
Oliver Bumann: Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Hohenheim University, Stuttgart 70599, Germany
Jörg Morhard: Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Hohenheim University, Stuttgart 70599, Germany
Hans W. Griepentrog: Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Hohenheim University, Stuttgart 70599, Germany

Agriculture, 2019, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: autonomous robot; agriculture; viticulture; electric weeder; sonar; intra-row; under-vine; row following (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: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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