09.12.2012 Views

Development of a novel mechatronic system for mechanical weed ...

Development of a novel mechatronic system for mechanical weed ...

Development of a novel mechatronic system for mechanical weed ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Results and discussion<br />

be mostly used <strong>for</strong> hoeing in plant <strong>system</strong> with average intra-row distance<br />

around 200 mm and three cuts <strong>weed</strong>ing strategy between every two following<br />

plants. Shape and dimensions <strong>of</strong> one duckfoot knife are given in Figure 5.15.<br />

Figure 5.15 The shape and dimensions <strong>of</strong> one duckfoot knife<br />

The angle ε between the axis <strong>of</strong> symmetry <strong>of</strong> the duckfoot knife and the plane in<br />

which the arm holder is placed plays an important role concerning the<br />

interaction between the soil and the cutting edge <strong>of</strong> the duckfoot knife. The<br />

cutting edge needs to be correctly oriented to generate as little friction as<br />

possible. The mentioned angle is directly proportional to the ratio between the<br />

angular speed <strong>of</strong> the hoeing tool and the <strong>for</strong>ward speed <strong>of</strong> the carrier, as also to<br />

the number <strong>of</strong> arms implemented. It is obvious that several parameters have<br />

influence on the design <strong>of</strong> the tool directly responsible <strong>for</strong> the <strong>weed</strong> elimination,<br />

so it is impossible to define a universal solution which will be optimal <strong>for</strong><br />

different plant <strong>system</strong>s in the same time. An appropriate combination <strong>of</strong> cutting<br />

tool, number <strong>of</strong> cuts between two following plants and necessary rotational<br />

speed can be suggested, only by using methods <strong>for</strong> multiparameter optimisation<br />

and exact in<strong>for</strong>mation about the crops, <strong>weed</strong>s and soil conditions. The objective<br />

<strong>of</strong> this study was not to develop a database with suggestions <strong>for</strong> different<br />

condition combinations, but to design a tool which can be easily adapted to a<br />

range <strong>of</strong> different conditions.<br />

83

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!