Utko-robot muddies the water in the rice fields

A Nissan engineer made a robot that mixes layers of water on rice plantations, reducing its transparency so that the weeds growing there receive less sunlight.

Problem

Vast areas of fields with grain crops need to be constantly protected from weeds and pests, as well as to create unsuitable conditions for the growth of health facilities, trying to minimally influence the crop itself.

What they do in the standard case, if there is already a sowed field, simply treat its parts with herbicides.
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But if we have a rice field that is flooded with water, then to control weeds, you can try to reduce the transparency of water in different parts of the field so that less light reaches the bottom, thus you can reduce the growth rate of weeds.





For these purposes, even special dyes are used, but their concentration and spraying need to be monitored, measured and varied all the time, according to weather conditions.

And when there are a lot of such areas with a crop, and they are small in size, it is very difficult to implement such a solution with chemical spraying and dyes throughout the entire planting area.

Engineering solution

It was necessary to find a simpler and easier way to solve the problem of weed control with a small level of water on the field.

Especially when you need to monitor the condition of more than a hundred small fields with rice sprouts. And at hand there is only the sun, wireless communications and one house for the staff.

And one Japanese engineer Tatsuya Nakamura solved this problem very elegantly!



After sprouting, rice fields are poured and a not very large layer of water is left during tillering - about 5 cm. Then a little water layer is increased to 15 cm, and at this level the water is up to the wax ripeness of plants.

It turns out that in Asia, farmers have used ducks for weed control in the rice fields for centuries. Also waterfowl ate insects, and their droppings served as natural fertilizer. Now this practice is already not widespread.

And what if you use the mechanical method (using a small waterfowl robot) to mix the water layers in the field, that is, just mix it up like geese with your paws, for example, but more gentle for the delicate shoots of the crop itself.

After all, to implement such a device, it is not necessary to invent something complicated - everything is at hand.

This is how the idea of ​​refining the concept of a robot vacuum cleaner in a duck robot named Aigamo, which will help fight weeds, was born.

The appearance of the Utko-robot in the field:



Moreover, the body of the weft-robot is made so as not to damage the rice sprouts:







Characteristics of Utko-robot:

• plastic case with protection against ingress of water, white for identification from afar;
• weight 1500 grams with battery;
• size: square 60x60 cm (as a standard raised floor tile);
• built-in control system with GPS receiver, Wi-Fi;
• on-board video camera (in one of the eyes on the body);
• two 12-volt servo with gear motors;
• two screws are used as screws for controlling the movement of the robot through the water, with the help of which water layers are also mixed (in addition, such movements of the robot also saturate the water with oxygen);
• separate charging station (solar panels are used).

Utko-robot components:


















Charger and its assembly:









At the moment , several prototypes of the UT-robot are being tested in rice fields in Yamagata Prefecture.



















If they are still there, flying drones into this system will be connected to carry weft robots to neighboring fields and services, minimizing the work of the operator (the weft-robot is stranded stranded - no need for a person to go there, for example), then it will be very interesting, useful and tasty.