Autonomous Mowing Vehicle with Intermediary Harvest Container
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autonomous harvesting machines for mowing plants, such as grass, are slow due to limited power supply capacity and small storage capacity for harvested plants, leading to a prolonged time between harvesting and storage, which can affect the quality of the feed plants for animals.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising an autonomous, self-propelled mowing vehicle equipped with a mowing device, a holder for mowed plants, and a control system that allows for direct transportation of freshly mowed plants from the field to a feeding area in an animal shed, ensuring minimal storage time and maintaining optimal plant quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If an autonomous harvesting machine with limited battery capacity and small machine container is used, then the machine can operate autonomously, but the harvesting speed is slow and the time between harvesting and storage is prolonged
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the harvesting function into two separate components: a small autonomous mowing vehicle that only performs cutting and a separate harvest container that provides large storage capacity. The mowing vehicle has minimal container capacity and can operate continuously without waiting for storage, while the harvest container receives plants periodically. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by allowing the autonomous vehicle to maintain small size for maneuverability while the system achieves high productivity through the separate large-capacity container.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary harvest container that acts as a buffer between the autonomous mowing vehicle and the final storage location. This intermediary container with large storage capacity receives plants from the small mowing vehicle container and transports them to storage, decoupling the harvesting speed from the storage capacity constraints and enabling continuous autonomous operation at high productivity.
2Volume of moving object
If the machine container has small storage capacity, then the autonomous vehicle can be more maneuverable, but it takes longer to remove all plants from the agricultural plot
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the storage function from the moving vehicle. The autonomous mowing vehicle maintains a small container for immediate harvesting, while a separate harvest container with large storage capacity handles the bulk storage. This allows the vehicle to remain maneuverable with small container volume while the system achieves fast plant removal through the separate large-capacity container that can accumulate plants quickly.
Solution Approach 2:
The harvest container is prepared in advance with large storage capacity before the harvesting operation begins. This preliminary preparation of storage space allows the autonomous mowing vehicle to continuously deposit plants without waiting for container emptying or transfer operations, significantly reducing the total time to remove all plants from the agricultural plot.
3Productivity
If conventional machines with large storage capacity are used, then harvesting is faster, but the plants require intermediate storage which degrades quality
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a harvest container as an intermediary that enables fast harvesting while minimizing quality degradation. The container is designed to allow quick loading from the mowing vehicle and rapid transfer to final storage or direct feeding. This intermediary approach maintains high productivity by enabling bulk harvesting while preserving quality through minimized intermediate storage time and efficient transfer mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system rushes through the intermediate storage phase by designing the harvest container and transfer mechanism to minimize the time plants spend in storage. The large-capacity container enables fast harvesting, and the system immediately transitions plants to final storage or feeding, skipping the prolonged intermediate storage that would degrade quality, thus achieving both high productivity and quality preservation.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for mowing plants includes a piece of land on which the plants grow, and an autonomous, self-propelled mowing vehicle. The system includes a dwelling space for keeping animals including a feeding area for feeding mowed plants to the animals. A control system for controlling the mowing device is configured to (i) mow plants on the piece of land by means of the mowing device while the mowing vehicle drives across the piece of land, (ii) displace the mowing vehicle with mowed plants accommodated in the holder from the piece of land to the feeding area in the dwelling space, and (iii) dispense mowed plants to said feeding area by means of the dispensing device to feed the mowed plants to the animals.