RoboColoBee

Ce qu'il fait

The robot is used for the ecological removal of the Colorado potato beetles and larvaes from potato plants. Solves the problem of growing a potato without the use of chemicals. It saves from the hard and tedious manual collecting of the Colorado potato beetle.

Votre source d'inspiration

The problem of the Colorado potato beetle has existed on our farm as long as I can remember. At first, the insects were picked up by hand, after few years chemical spraying began. When looking for the subject of an engineering thesis, I was guided by the fact that it could be used in practice. The poor effectiveness of biological agents, the fact that the Colorado potato beetle becomes resistant to chemicals and the desire to grow potatoes without the use of chemicals, resulted in the idea of robotization of a time-consuming and burdensome, although ecological, manual method of collecting the Colorado potato beetle.

Comment ça marche

The construction consists of a mobile platform and a device that removes insects. The mobile platform is a steel structure equipped with four road wheels driven by electric motors. It is powered by two batteries. It has the ability to adjust the working width to four standards used in potato agriculture. The shaking device consists of two shaking rotors with heads shaking insects into the basket. It has the ability to adjust the height above ground level. The operator introduces the robot to the farmland using the mobile application. Enter the number of potato rows and the row spacing used. The robot starts to automatically shake off the the Colorado potato beetles and larvaes by hitting the plants with the brushes. Shaken insects fall into the container placed below. After reaching the end of the furrow, the robot turns and enters the next furrow. The robot periodically repeats the Colorado potato beetle removal treatment, e.g. every few days.

Processus de conception

The concept was created while searching for the topic of the engineering diploma thesis in response to the problem of the Colorado potato beetle in our organic farm. First, the scientific literature on the cultivation of the potato, the Colorado potato beetle and the existing devices for collecting the insects was thoroughly analyzed. Based on this analysis, the concept of a mobile platform and an insect shaking device mounted on this mobile platform were developed. When designing, I was guided by the simplicity of the structure and the low price of the elements. The project in the CAD environment was created in parallel with the prototype of the device. Work began with the construction of a road platform. The first version turned out to have too little torque on the road wheels to turn in place. So an additional reduction gear was made. Then the shaking device was designed and manufactured. A number of tests were performed, such as drive tests, encoder tests, battery charging system tests, shaker tests, u-turn repeatability tests, and loss-of-connection tests. The CAD project is different than prototype because of the cost reduction. When designing the device, my family helped me a lot, often doing my duties so that I could spend more time working on the project.

En quoi est-il différent ?

There are currently no devices on the market for mechanically shaking off the Colorado potato beetle land larvaes. The designed robot, after being introduced into the field, automatically and ecologically performs the procedure of shaking the beetles and repeats it every few days without human intervention.

Plans pour l'avenir

A prototype of the machine has now been created. After finding a sufficiently good efficiency of the robot on my own farm, I would like to prepare the structure for work on other farms, i.e. equip it, among others, with security systems and convenient user interface. Working on other farms will allow me to test the robot in various working conditions. Based on the collected conclusions, a draft of the final version of the structure will be created, which will be a product ready for sale. I hope that my work will be to the benefit of people and to God for Glory.

Récompenses

26.05.2022 - First Prize in the Young Innovative competition https://piap.lukasiewicz.gov.pl/en/2022/05/30/2022-young-innovators-competition-has-been-judged/ 05.06.2022 - The main prize in the Student Constructions Competition KoKoS in the Master of Innovation Category https://pl-pl.facebook.com/kokos.nzs/