An automatic machine able to perform variable rate application of flame weeding: design and assembly

摘要

This paper describes the design and development of an automatic machine able to perform Variable Rate
\nApplication of cross flaming in maize fields. The VRA flaming machine was designed to remove weeds
\nmechanically from the inter-row area and perform selective and targeted cross flaming along the crop rows.
\nThe mechanical treatment will be performed in a continuous way, even without weed presence. On the
\ncontrary, cross flaming on the maize rows is applied selective and automatically only if weeds are presence.
\nFlame weeding is applied by means of prismatic burners fed by Liquefied Petroleum Gas, able to treat 25 cm
\nwide strips of soil surface including crop rows. Flaming can be used selectively in maize, which can tolerate
\nthe heat released from the burners. Mechanism of morphological tolerance is the presence of many layers of
\nthe outer leaf tissue protecting the inner growing point. A low or a high LPG dose can be chosen automatically
\naccording to the weed cover percentage detected by a weed detection system. The ignition system of the VRA
\nflaming machine is almost instantaneous and the complete flame in the burner is obtained in 0.4 s. The
\nmachine is provided with an automatic steering system in order to avoid damaging the maize plants with the
\nrigid tools used for mechanical weed removal. The VRA flaming machine is a new technology for precision
\nagriculture and was designed and built within the “Robot fleets for Highly Effective Agriculture and forestry
\nmanagement” (RHEA) Project, funded by EU, aimed to develop a fleet of heterogeneous autonomous robot
\nunits in order to perform site-specific treatments related to crop protection in different agricultural scenarios.