Weeding device using unmanned aerial vehicles

Abstract

To provide a weeder capable of reducing a quantity of work in weeding as much as possible in weeding work using an unmanned air vehicle.SOLUTION: A weeder comprises an unmanned air vehicle 2 flying in the air by remote control. The unmanned air vehicle includes flight control means 3 for controlling the flight, weed species detecting means 4 for detecting weed species in a weeding area, herbicide application means 5 for applying herbicide to weeds, and a control unit 6 for controlling the operation of the flight control means, the weed species detecting means and the herbicide application means. The control unit includes a specific weed species database 12 in which specific weed species Z are recorded. The weeder is characterized in that when specific species is detected by comparison between the specific species database and the weed species detected by the weed species detecting means, location information thereof is transmitted to the control unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a weeding device, and more particularly to a weeding device that uses an unmanned aerial vehicle to weed. [Background technology]

[0002] A typical method for removing weeds from areas of overgrown grass on the sides of roads involves workers spraying the areas with a herbicide.

[0003] When spraying herbicides manually in this manner, even if sufficient warnings are given to drivers on the road, it is currently impossible to completely eliminate dangerous situations, especially on expressways.

[0004] In order to deal with such a situation and to improve the safety of workers, it has been proposed to spray herbicides using a remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicle, as shown in Patent Document 1, for example. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-144811 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] When spraying herbicides using such unmanned aerial vehicles, the following problems remain to be solved.

[0007] That is, the above-mentioned herbicide is sprayed over the entire weeding area regardless of the type of grass.

[0008] However, the grasses to be weeded include a mixture of highly prolific grass species and less prolific grass species, and if weeding is carried out based on the former grass species, the frequency of weeding will increase.

[0009] On the other hand, some grass species serve as food for animals. Furthermore, by having animals eat this type of grass, it is expected that the weeding area will be narrowed and the amount of weeding work will be reduced.

[0010] If certain grass species that animals do not eat are mixed in here, these specific grass species will be left uneaten by the animals. If this phenomenon continues, the weeding area will become dominated by specific grass species, making it impossible to expect weeding by animals, and as a result, it is expected that the effect of reducing the amount of weeding work will decrease.

[0011] The present invention has been made to improve the problems remaining in such conventional technology, and the problem to be solved is to provide a weeding device that can reduce the amount of work required for weeding as much as possible when using an unmanned aerial vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] The weeding device using an unmanned aerial vehicle of the present invention is equipped with an unmanned aerial vehicle that can be flown by remote control, and this unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with a flight control means for controlling its flight, a grass species detection means for detecting the grass species in the weeding area, a herbicide spraying means for spraying herbicide on the grass, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the flight control means, the grass species detection means, and the herbicide spraying means, and this control unit is provided with a specific grass species database in which specific grass species are recorded, and when a specific grass species is detected by comparing this specific grass species database with the grass species detected by the grass species detection means, its location information is sent to the control unit.

[0013] A weeding device using an unmanned aerial vehicle configured in this manner has a power supply means for supplying power to the unmanned aerial vehicle and a herbicide supply means for supplying herbicide to the herbicide spraying means, which are installed on the ground and connected by power cables and hoses to be ready for use.

[0014] The unmanned aerial vehicle is then remotely controlled to move over the area where grass is overgrown, and the type of grass is detected while the herbicide is sprayed over the area to remove the weeds.

[0015] The detected grass species is compared with specific grass species recorded in a specific grass species database, and when a specific grass species is detected, its position information is sent to the control unit.

[0016] This allows the distribution of specific grass species, such as grasses that are highly reproductive or grasses that are not eaten by wild animals, to be detected.

[0017] In this way, when the distribution of a specific grass species is detected, a control signal is sent from the control unit to the flight control means based on the detection result, the herbicide spraying means is faced with the grass of the specific grass species, and a spraying signal is sent to the herbicide spraying means to spray the herbicide toward the grass of the specific grass species, thereby weeding the specific grass species.

[0018] This allows for intensive weeding of specific grass species. Here, if the specific grass species is a highly reproductive grass, the progression of overgrowth of the grass in the weeding area can be suppressed, and the frequency of weeding work can be reduced.

[0019] In addition, when the specific grass species is one that is not eaten by wild animals, the specific grass species can be effectively removed, and only the grass suitable for eating by animals can be left as much as possible.

[0020] The remaining grass species are then eaten by animals, resulting in weeding by animals. By using these animals to remove weeds, the amount of work required for weeding using unmanned aerial vehicles can be reduced. Effect of the Invention

[0021] The weeding device using the unmanned aerial vehicle of the present invention can provide a weeding device that can minimize the amount of work required for weeding when performing weeding work using an unmanned aerial vehicle. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of one embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which grass is overgrown. [Diagram 5] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of one embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a weeding device using an unmanned aerial vehicle according to this embodiment (hereinafter, abbreviated as weeding device).

[0024] The weeding device 1 of this embodiment is equipped with an unmanned aerial vehicle 2 that can be flown by remote control along a thickened area W of grass B on the side of the road (slope A in this embodiment). As shown in Figure 6, this unmanned aerial vehicle 2 is equipped with a flight control means 3 that controls its flight, a grass species detection means 4 that detects the grass species in the thickened area W, a herbicide spraying means 5 that sprays herbicide on the grass B, and a control unit 6 that controls the operation of the flight control means 3, the grass species detection means 4, and the herbicide spraying means 5. This unmanned aerial vehicle 2 is connected to a power supply means 7 installed on the ground and supplying driving power to the unmanned aerial vehicle 2 via a power cable 8, and is also connected to a herbicide supply means 9 installed on the ground and supplying herbicide to the unmanned aerial vehicle 2 via a hose 10.

[0025] In addition, the unmanned aerial vehicle 2 is equipped with an imaging means 11 for imaging the overgrown state of the grass B, and the control unit 6 incorporates a specific grass species database 12 in which specific grass species are recorded, and a specific grass species position identification means 13 for recording the position information where the specific grass species is detected.

[0026] In FIG. 1, the symbol R indicates a road such as an expressway, with a slope A provided along the side of the road, and a guardrail G erected on the side edge of the road R to separate it from the slope A.

[0027] In this embodiment, the power cable 8 and the hose 10 are set to be shorter than the distance between the installation positions of the power supply means 7 and the herbicide supply means 9 and the side edge of the road R (guardrail G).

[0028] The weeding device 1 of this embodiment configured as described above has the power supply means 7 and herbicide supply means 9 installed on the side of the road R at a predetermined distance from the road R, and these power supply means 7 and herbicide supply means 9 are connected to the unmanned aerial vehicle 2 by a power cable 8 or a hose 10 to be in a usable state.

[0029] Thus, the unmanned aerial vehicle 2 can be remotely controlled to move over an area W of overgrown grass B beside a road while spraying herbicide onto the overgrown area W, thereby weeding the overgrown area W.

[0030] In this embodiment, if flight control of the unmanned aerial vehicle 2 becomes impossible during such weeding work due to incorrect operation or equipment malfunction, the flight area of ​​the unmanned aerial vehicle 2 is restricted by the power cables 8 and hoses 10, as the unmanned aerial vehicle 2 is connected to a power supply means 7 and a herbicide supply means 9 installed on the ground via power cables 8 and hoses 10.

[0031] Here, the power cable 8 and the hose 10 are set to be shorter than the distance between the installation positions of the power supply means 7 and the herbicide supply means 9 and the side edge of the road R, thereby preventing the unmanned aerial vehicle 2 from flying onto the road R.

[0032] Therefore, weeding work can be performed by remote control, and inadvertent movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle 2 onto the road R can be prevented, allowing weeding work to be carried out safely.

[0033] Here, in particular, an electrical contact is provided at the connection point between the power cable 8 and the unmanned aerial vehicle 2, for example, connected using magnetic force, and when an external force of a predetermined value or greater acts on the power cable 8 and exceeds the adhesive force of the electrical contact due to the magnetic force, the power cable 8 is disconnected from the unmanned aerial vehicle 2, as shown in Figure 3, thereby stopping the supply of power to the unmanned aerial vehicle 2. This forces the unmanned aerial vehicle 2 to fall to the side of road R.

[0034] On the other hand, the grass B in the overgrown area W includes a mixture of grass species Z that are highly reproductive and that are not eaten by wild animals, as shown in FIG.

[0035] In the former case, the rapid growth of grass B requires more frequent weeding, whereas in the latter case, only the surrounding grass suitable for food is removed by wild animals, etc., so that only the specific grass species Z with high reproductive power remains, as shown in Figure 4(c), and the weeding effect of animals is lost, resulting in an increase in the amount of weeding work.

[0036] Therefore, in this embodiment, a specific grass species database 12 provided in the control unit 6 is used, and a comparison is made between the specific grass species recorded in this specific grass species database 12 and the grass species detected by the grass species detection means 4, and if a specific grass species Z is detected, its location information is stored, as shown in Figure 5.

[0037] Then, when the position information of the specific grass type Z is stored, a control signal is sent to the flight control means 3, the herbicide spraying means 5 is made to face the specific grass type Z, and the herbicide is sprayed from the herbicide spraying means 5 toward the specific grass type Z, thereby performing intensive weeding of the specific grass type Z.

[0038] As a result, if the specific grass species Z is a grass with high reproductive power, it can be weeded while leaving behind grass with low reproductive power. As a result, the weeding interval can be extended.

[0039] Furthermore, if the specific grass species Z is grass that animals do not eat, weeding can be carried out while leaving the grass that animals eat. As a result, it is expected that after the weeding work, the animals can be used to weed, thereby reducing the amount of manual weeding work or lengthening the interval between weeding.

[0040] The shapes and combinations of the components shown in the above embodiment are merely examples and can be modified in various ways based on design requirements, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 1. Weeding device (using unmanned aerial vehicles) 2 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles 3 Flight Control Means 4. Grass species detection method 5. Method of spraying herbicides 6. Control Unit 7 Power supply means 8 Power Cable 9. Herbicide delivery means 10 Hose 11 Imaging Method 12 Specific Grass Species Database 13 Specific grass species location identification means A Slope B Grass G. Guardrail R road Z Specific grass species

Claims

[Claim 1] Equipped with an unmanned aerial vehicle that can be flown by remote control, The unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with a flight control means for controlling its flight, a grass species detection means for detecting the grass species in the weeding area, a herbicide spraying means for spraying herbicide on the grass, a control unit for controlling the operation of the flight control means, the grass species detection means, and the herbicide spraying means, and a power cable for supplying driving power to the unmanned aerial vehicle by a power supply means installed movably along the direction of the road on the side of the road close to the overgrown grass area, the control unit is provided with a specific grass species database in which specific grass species are recorded, and when a specific grass species is detected by comparing this specific grass species database with the grass species detected by the grass species detection means, a control signal is sent to the flight control means to cause the herbicide spraying means to face the grass of the specific grass species, and then a spraying signal is sent to the herbicide spraying means to spray herbicide toward the grass of the specific grass species, and when tension equal to or greater than a predetermined value is applied to the power cable, the supply of drive power through the power cable is stopped, A weeding device using an unmanned aerial vehicle, characterized in that the length of the power cable is shorter than the distance between the installation position of the power supply means, which is installed close to the overgrown area, and the side edge of the road.

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