Abstract
An automatic tillage system for inter- and intra-row weed control based on real-time kinematic GPS navigation and control has been used to address the problem of mechanically removing weeds within rows of precision seeded crops. The system comprised a side-shifting frame with an attached tine-rotor (cycloid hoe) with eight sigmoid-shaped, vertically directed tines. The individual tines can be released for individual rotation in order to avoid collision with geo-referenced crop plants. The system navigated with reference to pre-defined waypoints for tillage parallel to crop rows and around individual crop plants. The system evaluation was based on quantification of treated areas for uprooting and burial and the corresponding prediction of weed control efficiencies. A single pass of an 80 mm wide row band provided tillage of 30–49% of the intra-row area, with highest coverage at a speed of 0.32 m s−1 and at even plant spacing. A double pass, once on each side of the row in opposite directions, provided higher soil disturbance intensity and resulted in tillage of 31–58% of the intra-row area with highest coverage at a speed of 0.32 m s−1. The intra-row weed control effect was predicted to be up to 20% for a single pass and up to 29% for a 2-way pass treatment both at the white thread to the two-leaf stage of weeds. The result of the prediction is of crucial importance for the considerations of tool designs at the current conceptual stage of the system.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge financial support from the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries through work package 4 of the project ‘Robotic Weeding’. Thanks are also due to A. Ruckelshausen and D. Trautz of the University of Applied Sciences, Osnabrück, Germany, for loan of the cycloid hoe tine-rotor, Jaime Soriano for supporting the testing of the side-shift system, ECO-DAN A/S, Denmark, for providing the hydraulic components for the side-shift, and O. Heinemann from HAKO Werke, Germany, for providing the tractor platform. Simon Blackmore, Unibots, UK and S. Christensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, gave helpful technical and agronomic advice. Thanks are also due to the staff at the University of Copenhagen Research Farm for providing assistance in connection with the field experiments, and finally thanks to A.E. Hansen and J. Resting-Jeppesen for building and assembling the mechanical and electronic components.
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Nørremark, M., Griepentrog, H.W., Nielsen, J. et al. Evaluation of an autonomous GPS-based system for intra-row weed control by assessing the tilled area. Precision Agric 13, 149–162 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-011-9234-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-011-9234-5