Agricultural Distribution Machine with Position-Accurate Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing agricultural distribution machines often require excessive amounts of crop protection products due to continuous application regardless of plant presence, leading to inefficiencies and material waste.
Innovation Solution
Agricultural distribution machine equipped with a determination device to identify crop and weed positions, and a control device to activate or deactivate distribution elements, allowing for continuous or discontinuous distribution based on plant presence, enabling targeted application along rows and in gaps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If continuous distribution of agricultural material is performed along plant rows, then complete coverage is achieved, but excessive material is used
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating distribution behavior between two locations: continuous distribution along crop rows and discontinuous spot-spraying in inter-row spaces. The control device activates specific distribution elements based on detected plant positions, ensuring material is applied continuously where crops are present and discontinuously where only weeds exist, thereby optimizing material usage efficiency while maintaining coverage completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The distribution boom is segmented into multiple independently controllable distribution elements arranged along its longitudinal extension. Each distribution element can be individually activated or deactivated by the control device based on real-time plant position data, enabling selective continuous or discontinuous distribution in different spatial zones without affecting the entire system.
2Reliability
If row-dependent continuous distribution is performed, then complete row coverage is achieved, but material is wasted in areas without cultivated plants
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback control by using a determination device to detect plant positions and providing this information to the control device, which then adjusts the activation state of distribution elements in real-time. This closed-loop system ensures that material is distributed continuously only in areas where cultivated plants are detected and discontinuously in areas with weeds or no plants, eliminating material waste while maintaining complete row coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The distribution system transitions from static continuous distribution to dynamic adaptive distribution. The control device continuously adjusts the operational state of distribution elements based on real-time plant detection data, switching between continuous and discontinuous distribution modes according to the actual presence of cultivated plants versus weeds, thereby optimizing material consumption.
3Device complexity
If a single distribution system is used for both row and gap distribution, then device complexity is reduced, but distribution precision is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The distribution boom is divided into multiple independently controllable distribution elements that can be selectively activated. This segmentation allows the single distribution system to achieve high precision by activating only the specific elements needed for row distribution or gap distribution based on real-time plant position data, without requiring separate physical distribution systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The single distribution system achieves high precision through dynamic control of individual distribution elements. The control device adjusts the operational state of each element in real-time based on detected plant positions, enabling the same physical infrastructure to adapt its distribution pattern for either row treatment or gap treatment with high spatial precision.
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
The invention relates to an agricultural distribution machine (10) for spreading agricultural material, preferably a field sprayer or pneumatic fertilizer spreader, with a plurality of distribution elements (22), and with a determining device (60) which is configured to determine the positions of crop plants (54), preferably positions of crop rows (54a-54l) on the agricultural land (50), and to determine the positions of individual or groups of weed plants (56) which are preferably located in spaces between two crop rows (54a-54l) adjacent to and running in the direction of travel (FR), and furthermore with a control device which is configured to control the distribution of the material.According to the invention, the control device is configured for the combined distribution of the material during a single pass. The distribution elements (22), which are moved in the direction of travel (FR) along the crop plants (54), preferably along the crop rows (54a-54l), are controlled in such a way that the material is distributed continuously or discontinuously along these rows, depending on the positions of the crop plants (54). Furthermore, the distribution elements (22) in the spaces between the crop plants are controlled individually or in groups, depending on the positions of the weed plants (56), in such a way that the material is distributed discontinuously. The invention also relates to a method for applying agricultural material.