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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Sustainable and Intelligent Phytoprotection
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1469098
This article is part of the Research Topic Autonomous Weed Control for Crop Plants, Volume II View all articles

A novel mechanical-laser collaborative intra-row weeding prototype: structural design and optimization, weeding knife simulation and laser weeding experiment

Provisionally accepted
Rui Hu Rui Hu Wen-Hao Su Wen-Hao Su *Long-Tao Niu Long-Tao Niu
  • China Agricultural University, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Competition for nutrients between intra-row weeds and cultivated vegetables is a major contributor to reduced crop yields. Compared with manual weeding, intelligent robots can improve the efficiency of weeding operations. This study proposed a novel mechanical-laser collaborative intra-row weeding device structure. A slider-crank mechanism size optimization algorithm was proposed, and the correctness of the algorithm was verified by ADMAS software. Finally, the crank and link lengths were determined to be 87 mm and 135 mm, respectively. The EDEM software was used to simulate and analyze the resistance of triangular weeding knives with different entrypenetration angles and edge angles in the soil. The simulation results show that the triangular weeding knife with a soil entry penetration angle of 0 ° and an edge angle of 30 ° encountered the least resistance. In addition, weed removal control experiments with different powers and lasers were conducted using a 200 W NIR and 200 W blue laser. The experimental results show that the time it took for a 50 W blue laser and a 100 W NIR laser to remove small weeds was approximately between 0.3 and 0.4 s, and the time it took for a 50 W blue laser to remove larger weeds was approximately between 0.5 and 0.6 s. The time it took for 75 W and 50 W NIR lasers to remove weeds was more than 1 s. Based on the above research results, a prototype of a mechanical-laser collaborative intra-row weeding device was built. This study provides a new idea for the field of intelligent weeding. The simulation and experimental results can provide a reference for the research and development of mechanical weeding and laser weeding equipment.

    Keywords: Mechanical weeding, laser weeding, Structure design, EDEM, Weeding device, Slider-crank mechanism

    Received: 23 Jul 2024; Accepted: 08 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Hu, Su and Niu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wen-Hao Su, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.