The European Project RHEA (Robot fleets for Highly Effective Agriculture and forestry management) aims to create a fleet of autonomous aerial and ground mobile units for general crop protection and the application of physical weed control in particular in maize. This paper describes the characteristics of the automated systems, that are currently being designed and developed for physical weed control in maize in the RHEA Project. The first machine that was designed to apply PWC to maize as part of the RHEA Project (PWC-1) was able to perform mechanical and thermal treatments at the same time so as to remove weeds mechanically from the inter-row space and perform in-row selective and precision flaming. The machine can be modified for broadcast flaming (PWC-2) by replacing the mechanical tools for between-row weed control with burners working at different degrees of intensity, depending on the weed cover. LPG is the fuel source for the burners. This very innovative application of PWC in maize represents a good opportunity for farmers in terms of reducing the use of herbicides and ensuring that their crops are of a superior quality.
Application of mechanical and thermal weed control in maize as part of the RHEA project.
PERUZZI, ANDREA;RAFFAELLI, MICHELE;FONTANELLI, MARCO;FRASCONI, CHRISTIAN;
2011-01-01
Abstract
The European Project RHEA (Robot fleets for Highly Effective Agriculture and forestry management) aims to create a fleet of autonomous aerial and ground mobile units for general crop protection and the application of physical weed control in particular in maize. This paper describes the characteristics of the automated systems, that are currently being designed and developed for physical weed control in maize in the RHEA Project. The first machine that was designed to apply PWC to maize as part of the RHEA Project (PWC-1) was able to perform mechanical and thermal treatments at the same time so as to remove weeds mechanically from the inter-row space and perform in-row selective and precision flaming. The machine can be modified for broadcast flaming (PWC-2) by replacing the mechanical tools for between-row weed control with burners working at different degrees of intensity, depending on the weed cover. LPG is the fuel source for the burners. This very innovative application of PWC in maize represents a good opportunity for farmers in terms of reducing the use of herbicides and ensuring that their crops are of a superior quality.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
