Segmented Nozzle Array for High-Speed Plant Spot Treatment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for selective treatment of plants in rows are limited by slow operation speed and malfunction risks, leading to reduced productivity and quality due to restricted nozzle movement and herbicide spread, as well as wind-induced deviations.
Innovation Solution
The system employs multiple individually controllable treatment means positioned along the row, allowing each spot to be framed by multiple nozzles, distributing the treatment across multiple units for faster delivery and reducing the impact of malfunctions, enabling higher speeds and improved accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single nozzle is used for treatment, then the system structure is simple, but the operation speed is slow and productivity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The treatment system is divided into multiple individually controllable nozzles (first nozzle, second nozzle, etc.) positioned at different locations. Each nozzle can independently treat plants passing through its target area, allowing parallel treatment operations that increase productivity while maintaining manageable system complexity through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
The nozzles are arranged in a spatial distribution along the direction of plant movement, creating multiple treatment zones in the longitudinal dimension. This dimensional arrangement allows simultaneous treatment of multiple plants at different positions, transforming a single-point treatment into a distributed multi-point treatment system
2Reliability
If a single nozzle treats a spot, then the treatment is concentrated, but malfunctions have significant impact and reliability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The treatment function is segmented across multiple nozzles, so that if one nozzle malfunctions, the other nozzles can continue to provide treatment. This segmentation creates redundancy in the system, improving reliability without requiring complete system failure tolerance
Solution Approach 2:
The system is designed with multiple nozzles as a preventive measure against potential malfunctions. This prior cushioning approach ensures that even if one nozzle fails, the treatment coverage is maintained by other nozzles, cushioning the impact of the malfunction on overall system reliability
3Manufacturing precision
If herbicide is sprayed from a single position, then the application is simple, but wind causes deviation and treatment accuracy is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The spray application is segmented into multiple nozzles positioned at different longitudinal locations. This segmentation allows the treatment to be distributed across multiple points, reducing the impact of wind-induced deviation at any single position and improving overall treatment accuracy through spatial distribution
Solution Approach 2:
Each nozzle is positioned to treat specific plants or plant regions passing through its target area. This local quality approach ensures that each nozzle delivers treatment precisely to its designated target zone, with the collective effect of multiple localized treatments achieving high overall accuracy while resisting wind interference
4Productivity
If the system moves slowly for precise treatment, then treatment accuracy is maintained, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The treatment task is segmented across multiple nozzles that operate in parallel as the system moves forward. This segmentation allows the system to maintain higher speeds while each nozzle still has sufficient time to treat plants passing through its target area, achieving both productivity and precision through distributed parallel processing
Solution Approach 2:
The multiple nozzles are positioned to create continuous treatment coverage along the direction of movement. As the system moves forward, plants continuously pass through different nozzle target areas, ensuring that treatment action is continuous and uninterrupted, maintaining precision even at higher operational speeds
Data Source
AI summary
A system for selective treatment of plants arranged in rows extending along a first direction includes a camera arranged along the first direction over a row of plants and a set of treatment units arranged at a first distance behind the camera along the first direction and over the row of plants. The camera is configured to move along the first direction while obtaining images of a target area that includes one or more plants that are to be treated. The set of treatment units is also configured to move along the first direction behind the camera while maintaining the first distance. The system generates a map of digitized unitary spots covering the target area based on the obtained images, and then sends the generated map to a computing unit, where a plant treatment application adds spot-specific plant treatment instructions to the generated map. The system synchronizes the set of treatment units to treat each of the unitary spots in the target area according to the spot-specific plant treatment instructions at the time when the set of treatment units is positioned over each of the unitary spots. The set of treatment units includes a plurality of individually controllable treatment units arranged consecutively along the first direction. Each individually controllable treatment unit consecutively applies a fraction of the entire spot-specific plant treatment instructions to each unitary spot in the target area until the entire spot-specific plant treatment instructions for each unitary spot are fulfilled.