Autonomous Inter-Row Fertilizer Platform for In-Season Crop Feeding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current agricultural practices face challenges in efficiently applying fertilizers to crops, particularly in large fields, due to issues like nutrient loss, equipment limitations, and the need for precise application based on soil heterogeneity.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous vehicle platform system capable of navigating between planted rows and beneath the canopy of mature plants, equipped with a self-direction program for fertilization, refilling stations, and user interfaces for remote control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If conventional fertilizer application methods are used, then fertilizer can be applied to fields, but nutrient loss occurs through runoff and volatilization
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous vehicle navigates and applies fertilizer independently using onboard navigation and control systems, enabling precise in-season application that minimizes nutrient loss while maintaining high application efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies fertilizer locally between crop rows at specific locations within the field based on navigation data, enabling targeted application that reduces overall fertilizer loss while maintaining productivity
2Productivity
If large equipment is used for fertilizer application, then coverage is faster, but equipment cannot navigate between planted rows
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the field into multiple rows and navigates between them using a compact autonomous vehicle design, enabling access to areas that large equipment cannot reach while maintaining efficient coverage through systematic row-by-row progression
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle transitions from traditional large-scale field coverage to a dimension of precise inter-row navigation, using autonomous guidance systems to operate in the narrow spaces between planted rows that are inaccessible to conventional equipment
3Reliability
If fertilizer is applied early in the season, then crops have adequate nutrients, but nutrient loss increases before crop establishment
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary navigation planning and positioning before fertilizer application, enabling delayed in-season application timing that ensures crops are established and ready to uptake nutrients, thereby reducing pre-establishment loss while maintaining reliable nutrient supply
Solution Approach 2:
The autonomous system uses onboard navigation and field monitoring to determine optimal application timing based on crop establishment status, providing feedback-driven decision making that balances nutrient supply reliability with minimization of fertilizer loss
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous vehicle platform system and method configured to perform various in-season management tasks, including selectively applying fertilizer, mapping growth zones and seeding cover crop within an agricultural field, while self-navigating between rows of planted crops and beneath the canopy of the planted crops on the uneven terrain of an agricultural field, allowing for an ideal in-season application of fertilizer to occur once the planted crop is well established and growing rapidly, in an effort to limit the loss of fertilizer.