KR102566841B1 - Furrow weed removal robot - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention enables vision-based autonomous driving and follow-up of a worker when removing weeds in a furrow, thereby reducing labor in an open field environment, and is configured to adjust the distance between the wheel and the weeding unit according to the width of the furrow, so that the furrow or furrow It relates to a furrow weeding robot that prevents damage to the furrow and enables uniform work,
A front frame and a rear frame disposed in the width direction, a pair of side frames disposed on both sides in the width direction, a sliding frame connected to the front and rear of the side frame to be accommodated at both ends of the front frame and the rear frame, respectively, and a longitudinal direction A traveling body portion composed of a center frame arranged to connect the front frame and the rear frame; A pair of traveling parts disposed on both sides of the traveling body part in the width direction so as to move the traveling body part using an endless track and independently operated by a driving motor; Weeding units provided in each driving part to remove weeds in the furrow; A pair of battery boxes equipped with a built-in battery for supplying power to the traveling unit provided on the top of the traveling body and equipped with an openable cover; A runway control cylinder installed in the center frame of the traveling body part to adjust the distance between the traveling parts in response to the width of the ridge; And it is characterized in that it includes; a GPS receiver and a vision camera provided in the traveling body for autonomous driving.

Description

Furrow weeding robot {FURROW WEED REMOVAL ROBOT}

The present invention relates to a furrow weeding robot, and more particularly, when removing weeds in a furrow, vision-based autonomous driving and worker following are possible, thereby reducing labor in an open field environment, as well as providing wheels and weeding robots depending on the width of the furrow. The present invention relates to a furrow weeding robot configured to adjust the interval between parts to prevent damage to furrows or furrows and to enable uniform operation.

In field farming, weeds are one of the important factors that reduce yield along with pests and diseases. When weeds grow beyond a certain amount, weed removal is essential because problems arise in growth and quantity due to competition, such as depriving nutrients of crops planted in the field.

In particular, there are hundreds of types of weeds in the field, and most of the weeds in farmland, in particular, are affected by sunlight and cause light germination or dark germination. It is desirable to remove

Methods of removing such weeds include a method of directly cutting weeds, a method of spraying chemical agents on weeds, a method of removing roots, and the like in the prior art.

However, in recent years, the public's preference for eco-friendliness has been increasing, and efforts to introduce eco-friendly farming techniques are also increasing. Therefore, it is important to minimize the use of pesticides such as herbicides. Accordingly, a method of directly cutting or rooting weeds is preferred, which has the disadvantage of requiring a lot of manpower.

However, in current farmhouses, there are difficulties in solving this problem because there are not only young manpower but also a small number of aging manpower according to the aging phenomenon.

In addition, safety accidents frequently occur because a sharp tool such as a scythe is used to directly cut or root weeds, and when the area requiring weed removal is widened, the work time inevitably increases, which is difficult for aging farmers. it's a lot of pressure,

To solve this problem, various agricultural robots are being developed and applied to the field to remove weeds.

Regarding such an agricultural weeding robot, Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1156477 includes a moving unit providing a moving function; Power supply using a hybrid power source; Weeders who weed daytime or morningtime; and a control unit for controlling functions of the moving unit, the power supply unit, and the weeding unit, wherein the power supply unit generates electricity using a battery for supplying electric power required for the moving unit and the weeding unit, and supplies the battery to the battery. It includes a hydrogen fuel cell for charging power, and includes a control unit for controlling to determine whether or not to generate power from the hydrogen fuel cell according to the amount of power of the battery. A weeding robot using the formed belt-type wheel is proposed and disclosed,

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1573027 discloses a main body portion equipped with driving wheels; a weeding unit equipped with a weeding blade capable of adjusting the height up and down and installed in the main body; a driving unit which transmits power to the wheel and the weeding blade so that the main body drives and the weeding blade rotates; a geographic information loading unit in which geographic information data required for driving of the main body is stored; a self-location recognition unit for driving the main body using the geographic information data and recognizing current location information of the main body; a sensor unit equipped with a vision sensor for recognizing an image and an obstacle detection sensor for detecting an obstacle while the main body unit is driving; A map building unit that recognizes an external environment using an image captured by the vision sensor and then calculates a driving path necessary for movement of the main body unit, and the main body unit and the weeding unit so that the main body unit autonomously travels along the driving path. a control unit for controlling the unit and the driving unit; It can be adjusted by unmanned remote control method, as well as a certain range set by the user through an intelligent unmanned weeding robot that can drive autonomously by creating an optimal path for avoiding obstacles through mounted geographic information and image recognition. As unmanned automatic weeding is possible, the safety of workers is guaranteed in adverse weather conditions, convenient weeding is possible, and workers are prevented from being exposed to danger from dust, noise, debris, etc. generated during weeding. In addition, an intelligent unmanned weeding robot capable of solving a worker's fatigue caused by high-intensity physical labor by being able to complete a wide range of weeding work very conveniently and quickly compared to conventional manned weeding work has been proposed and disclosed,

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-2089299 discloses a truck unit traveling on the ground; A suspension unit including a plurality of suspension devices installed on the lower side of the bogie unit and independently operating to reduce impact transmitted from the ground and respond to curves for grounding ability for driving of the bogie unit and ability to overcome rough terrain; a plurality of driving force generators that generate driving force by rotating a wheel coupled to each of the plurality of suspension devices constituting the suspension unit to provide driving force to the bogie unit; a weed recognition unit installed at the front of the carriage unit, recognizing weeds located in front of the carriage unit while driving, and measuring the distance and direction between the recognized weeds and the weed removal robot and providing the measured distance and direction to the control unit when the weeds are recognized; a weed removal unit installed on one side of the bogie unit and pulling out weeds in a hoe method according to a control signal from the control unit; an attitude detection unit for detecting an equilibrium state of the carriage unit with the ground in order to adjust the balance of the carriage unit with the ground; When the weed recognition unit provides measurement information on the distance and direction between the recognized weed and the weed removal robot, a control signal for the weed removal unit to remove weeds in the corresponding distance and direction is provided to the weed removal unit, and the posture sensor balances It includes a control unit that provides a control signal to the suspension unit and the driving force generating unit to keep the vehicle in equilibrium with the ground when detection information is provided, and automatically removes weeds even in irregular terrain such as an orchard rather than a rice field. Recognizes it, thins out the roots of weeds with a hoe method to prevent weeds from growing again, applies a variable platform to adjust the axis of the wheel appropriately according to the slope of the ground, and is equipped with various types of weed weeding tools and through a tool module A weed removal robot capable of effectively performing weeding work by appropriately replacing weeding tools according to the condition and type of weeds has been proposed and disclosed.

In Patent Publication No. 10-2022-0052763, the body; A power transmission unit provided in the body and connected to an external power source and composed of a first drive shaft penetrating both sides of the body, a first drive gear rotating according to the rotation of the first drive shaft, and a second drive gear; A weeding blade assembly portion provided at the rear of the lower side of the body and composed of at least three weeding means that rotate by receiving power through the power transmission unit; As it includes blades and is configured so that rotation is interlocked by combining through gears, more effective weeding through three weeding blades corresponding to the slopes on both sides and the valleys in the terrain where slopes are formed on both sides centered on narrow valleys such as furrows It is possible to work, and the power provided from the power source is supplied to the weeding blade assembly to perform weeding, as well as to the front wheels and used to move the weeder, so the user's separate manpower is not required for movement. This convenient furrow weeder with improved work efficiency is proposed and disclosed.

However, in the conventional weeding robot described above, the weeding unit is fixed to the body, and the distance between the moving parts of the body must be adjusted in response to the distance of the furrow, which varies according to the width of the furrow, and the position of the weeding unit must be adjusted. In addition, there is a problem that the position of the weeding unit is inaccurate, so that the ridge or furrow may be damaged or the weeding operation may not be performed correctly.

In addition, as the weeding unit is fixedly installed, there is another problem in that a weeding blade and a hydraulic motor constituting the weeding unit may be damaged due to an impact caused by a stone or the like on the ground.

Registered Patent Publication No. 10-1156477 Registered Patent Publication No. 10-1573027 Registered Patent Publication No. 10-2089299 Publication No. 10-2022-0052763

Therefore, the present invention has been devised by solving the above-mentioned conventional problems and considering them, and when removing weeds in furrows, vision-based autonomous driving and worker follow-up are possible, which can reduce labor in an open field environment, as well as reduce the width of furrows. It is an object of the present invention to provide a furrow weeding robot configured to adjust the distance between the wheel and the weeding unit according to the above, to prevent damage to the furrow or furrow and to enable uniform operation.

A furrow weeding robot according to the present invention for achieving the above object includes a traveling body unit provided with a frame structure in which a plurality of frames are connected; A pair of traveling parts disposed on both sides of the traveling body part in the width direction so as to move the traveling body part using an endless track and independently operated by a driving motor; Weeding units provided in each driving part to remove weeds in the furrow; A pair of battery boxes provided on the top of the traveling body unit and having a built-in battery supplying power to the traveling unit; A runway control cylinder installed in the center frame of the traveling body part to adjust the distance between the traveling parts in response to the width of the ridge; And a sensor unit provided in the body part for autonomous driving; Including, but the weeding unit rotates a weeding blade that is rotated by a hydraulic motor to remove weeds, a weeding bracket rotatably connected to the driving unit and installed with a hydraulic motor and a weeding blade, and a weeding bracket by rotating the weeding bracket. It includes a height-adjusting cylinder provided in the driving part to adjust the height, and a shock absorber that absorbs shock generated during the weeding process by using the elastic force of the spring. It consists of a second buffer provided in the middle of the weeding bracket, the upper and lower brackets are connected by a spring in the middle of the weeding bracket consisting of an upper and a lower bracket, and one end of the first buffer is A support bar rotatably connected to the upper end of the weeding bracket, a support bracket installed on a fixing plate provided in a driving part and rotatably supporting the support bar, a buffer spring installed outside the support bar, and a support bar are inserted and supported together with the support bar. It is coupled to the bracket and characterized in that it comprises a spring support for supporting the shock absorber spring.

Here, the traveling body unit is connected to the front and rear of the side frame to be accommodated at both ends of the front frame and the rear frame disposed in the width direction, a pair of side frames disposed on both sides in the width direction, and the front frame and the rear frame, respectively It consists of a sliding frame and a center frame that is arranged in the longitudinal direction and connects the front frame and the rear frame. A driving frame equipped with a plurality of guide rollers on the lower part, a main frame disposed at a certain distance from the track on the upper part of the track, and a pair connecting the sliding frame and the main frame at the front and rear sides of the traveling body, respectively. It may include a connection frame and a pair of connection brackets connecting the main frame and the driving frame at the front and rear sides of the main frame.

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Here, the support bar may have a plurality of pin coupling holes formed at regular intervals so that the support pins of the support bracket are coupled to adjust the elastic force of the shock absorber spring.

The furrow weeding robot according to the present invention is capable of vision-based autonomous driving and follow-up of workers when removing weeds in furrows in an open field environment, thereby reducing labor force, and a weeding unit is installed on the driving part, so that the driving part and weeding robot are installed according to the width of the furrow. The spacing of the parts can be adjusted, and even if the spacing between the weeding parts is not separately adjusted, it is possible to achieve a useful effect of preventing the ridges or furrows from being damaged by the weeding parts and ensuring uniform operation as a whole.

According to the present invention, as both driving parts are operated independently, rotation and turning are possible, and the main frame of the driving part is connected to the side frame of the traveling body part, so that the distance between the driving parts can be easily adjusted through the track adjustment cylinder. can be achieved.

According to the present invention, as the weeding bracket in which the weeding blade and the hydraulic motor are installed is connected to the driving unit, there is no need to separately adjust the interval of the weeding unit, and the shock absorber is provided to absorb the shock caused by foreign substances such as stones, so that the weeding blade and the hydraulic motor It is possible to achieve a useful effect in which the damage of is prevented.

According to the present invention, the buffer part is formed in a double structure to improve the buffer effect, and it is possible to achieve a useful effect of absorbing the impact caused by relatively small foreign substances by connecting the upper and lower weeding brackets with a spring.

According to the present invention, it is possible to achieve a useful effect of being able to adjust the elastic force of the buffer spring by adjusting the coupling position of the support bar while absorbing the impact caused by relatively large foreign substances by using the buffer spring provided in the first buffer unit. .

1 is a perspective view showing a furrow weeding robot according to the present invention.
2 is a side view showing the furrow weeding robot according to the present invention.
3 is a perspective view showing a traveling part and a track control part provided in the traveling body part in the furrow weeding robot according to the present invention.
4 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a weeding unit in the furrow weeding robot according to the present invention.
5 is a reference diagram for explaining a buffer unit in the furrow weeding robot according to the present invention.
6 is a reference diagram for explaining how a runway is adjusted using a runway control cylinder in the furrow weeding robot according to the present invention.
7 is a reference view showing a weeding operation performed using the furrow weeding robot according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The terms used in the present invention are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, which may vary according to the intention or custom of the user or operator, so the definitions of these terms are meanings consistent with the technical details of the present invention. and should be interpreted as a concept.

1 to 7 of the accompanying drawings are views for explaining the furrow weeding robot according to the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the furrow weeding robot according to the embodiment of the present invention travels to move the traveling body unit 10 using the traveling body unit 10 disposed in the center and the endless track. A pair of driving parts 20 disposed on both sides of the body part 10 in the width direction, a weeding unit 30 provided on each driving part 20, a battery box 40 with a built-in battery, Correspondingly, it includes a track control cylinder 50 for adjusting the distance between the traveling parts 20, a GPS receiver 60, a sensor unit including a vision camera, and a control unit.

The traveling body part 10 forms the base of the furrow weeding robot, and includes a driving part 20, a battery box 40, a track control cylinder 50, a GPS receiver 60, and a sensor part including a vision camera, This is the part where the main components such as the control unit are installed.

As shown in FIG. 3, the traveling body part 10 is a frame structure in which a plurality of frames are connected, and is disposed on both sides of the front frame 11 and the rear frame 12 disposed in the width direction to drive. A sliding frame 14 connected to the front and rear of the side frame 13 so as to be accommodated in both ends of the pair of side frames 13, the front frame 11 and the rear frame 12 to which the unit 20 is connected ), and a center frame 15 that is disposed in the longitudinal direction and connects the front frame 11 and the rear frame 12.

For reference, in the present invention, in order to explain that the driving body 10 of the furrow weeding robot moves along the furrow and then removes weeds in the furrow through the weeding unit 30, the weeding unit 30 is not installed The front portion and the rear portion where the weeding unit 30 is installed are set to the rear, but are not limited thereto.

The driving unit 20 is operated by the driving motor 25 to move in the forward and backward directions, and moves the traveling body unit 10 in the front and rear directions using an endless track operated by the driving motor 25 .

At this time, the traveling body part 10 can be rotated or turned by differentiating the speeds of the two traveling parts 20 or stopping the one-side traveling part 20 .

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the driving unit 20 is rotated by the drive motor 25 and is in close contact with the road surface to move forward and backward in the form of an endless track 21 and a drive motor ( 25) is seated and a driving frame 22 having a plurality of guide rollers 23 on the lower part, a main frame 24 disposed at a certain distance from the track 21 on the upper part of the track 21, and traveling A pair of connecting frames 26 connecting the sliding frame 13 and the main frame 24 at the front and rear sides of the body unit 10, respectively, and running at the front and rear sides of the main frame 24 It includes a connection bracket 27 connecting the frame 22 and the main frame 24.

The weeding unit 30 is for removing weeds in the furrow, and is provided on each traveling unit 20 disposed on both sides of the traveling body unit 10.

Therefore, when the weeding unit 30 adjusts the distance between the driving units 20 using the runway adjusting cylinder 50 to correspond to the width of the furrow, it is moved together with the driving unit 20 and does not need to be operated separately. .

As shown in FIG. 4 , the weeding unit 30 is rotatably connected to a weeding blade 31 that is rotated by a hydraulic motor 32 to remove weeds and a driving unit 20, and is rotatably connected to a hydraulic motor 32 ) And a weeding bracket 33 in which the weeding blade 31 is installed, and a height adjustment cylinder 34 provided in the traveling part 20 to rotate the weeding bracket 33 so as to adjust the height of the weeding blade 31 and a shock absorber 35 that absorbs shock generated during the weeding process by using the elastic force of the spring.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the buffer part 35 is provided at the upper end of the weeding bracket 33 and absorbs a relatively large shock, and the first buffer part 35a and the middle of the weeding bracket 33 It is preferably made of a second buffer part (35b) provided in the portion to absorb a relatively small impact.

At this time, the second shock absorber 35b is formed by the spring 36 provided in the middle of the weeding bracket 33 composed of the upper bracket 33a and the lower bracket 33b to form the upper bracket 33a and the lower bracket 33b. ) may be made in the form of being connected to each other.

In addition, the first buffer part 35a is installed on a support bar 351, one end of which is rotatably connected to the upper end of the weeding bracket 33, and a fixing plate 353 provided in the running part 20 to support the support bar 351 A support bracket 352 for rotatably supporting the ), a buffer spring 354 installed outside the support bar 351, and a support bar 351 are inserted, and the support bracket 352 together with the support bar 351 It may be coupled to the spring support 355 for supporting the buffer spring 354.

At this time, the support bar 351 is formed with a plurality of pin coupling holes 351' at regular intervals, to which the support pins of the support bracket 352 are coupled, thereby changing the coupling position of the support bar 351 to create a buffer spring 354. ) It is desirable to be able to adjust the elastic force of.

The battery box 40 is provided on the upper part of the traveling body part 10, and has a built-in battery for supplying power to the driving motor 25 of the traveling part 20 and has an openable cover to protect the battery. do.

In addition, a support 61 for supporting the GPS receiver 60 may be installed in the battery box 40 .

The track control cylinder 50 adjusts the distance between the running parts 20 in response to the width of the furrow, and as shown in FIG. 6, it is installed in the center frame 15 of the running body part 10 to drive The side frame 13 to which the unit 20 is connected is pushed or pulled.

At this time, since the weeding unit 30 is installed in the driving unit 20, when the distance between the driving units 20 is changed by the runway control cylinder 50, the interval between the weeding units 30 is also changed at the same time. .

The sensor unit including the GPS receiver 60 and the vision camera is for autonomous driving of the furrow weeding robot. The GPS receiver 60 is disposed on the upper surface of the support 61 installed on the top of the battery box 40, and the vision camera may be installed in the traveling body unit 10 so as to obtain front and rear image information of the traveling body unit 10 and follow the operator. At this time, it is more preferable that the vision cameras are provided at the front and rear of the traveling body unit 10 to follow the operator regardless of whether the weeding unit 30 precedes or follows.

The control unit moves the traveling body part 10 by controlling the driving motor 25 and the like according to the position information received by the GPS sensor 60 and the position information of the operator photographed by the vision camera.

In addition, a remote controller for remote control, a self-drive for use in mapping the surrounding environment of the traveling body part 10, obtaining driving environment information of the traveling body part 10, and inducing entry into the work space LiDAR sensor for following the work path in the work area, checking whether the path has deviated, and collecting signal information for driving control, and the autonomous weeding robot according to each input information sensed by various sensors. A driving controller for automatically controlling driving by an algorithm may be further included.

Accordingly, the removal of weeds in a furrow using the furrow weeding robot of the present invention having the above configuration will be described as follows.

The furrow weeding robot removes weeds in the furrow while moving in a way that moves according to an autonomous driving algorithm using the location information of the aircraft acquired through the GPS sensor or follows the worker using the location information of the worker obtained through the vision camera. perform weeding work.

When the driving motor 25 is operated, the traveling body part 10 is moved by the traveling part 20, and as shown in FIG. 7, the hydraulic motor of the weeding unit 30 provided in the traveling part 20 As the weeding blade 31 rotates by (32), weeds in the furrow are removed.

At this time, the height of the weeding blade 31 can be adjusted through the height adjusting cylinder 34 in consideration of the size of the weeds and the depth of the furrow. By absorbing the shock applied to the weeding blade 31, the weeding blade 31 and the hydraulic motor 32 are not damaged.

At this time, when the size of the foreign matter is small, as shown in FIG. In the large case, as shown in (b) of FIG. 5, the weeding bracket 33 is rotated to absorb the impact through the buffer spring 354 of the first buffer part 35a.

In addition, when the width of the ridge is changed, as shown in FIG. 6, the distance between the running parts 20 may be adjusted using the runway adjusting cylinder 50.

At this time, since the weeding unit 30 is installed in the driving unit 20, it is possible to prevent damage to the furrows or furrows by the weeding unit 30 even if the distance between the weeding units 30 is not separately adjusted. .

The embodiments described above are merely those of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not extremely limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and variations, etc. It will be said that this can be done, and it will be said that it belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

10: traveling body part 11: front frame
12: rear frame 13: side frame
14: sliding frame 15: center frame
20: driving part 21: track
22: driving frame 23: guide roller
24: main frame 25: drive motor
26: connection frame 27: connection bracket
30: weeding part 31: weeding blade
32: hydraulic motor 33: weeding bracket
33a: upper bracket 33b: lower bracket
34: height adjustment cylinder 35: buffer
35a: first buffer unit 351: support bar
351 ': pin coupling hole 352: support bracket
353: fixed plate 354: buffer spring
355: spring support 35b: second buffer
36: spring 40: battery box
50: track control cylinder 60: GPS receiver

Claims (6)

A traveling body part provided as a frame structure connecting a plurality of frames;
A pair of traveling parts disposed on both sides of the traveling body part in the width direction so as to move the traveling body part using an endless track and independently operated by a driving motor;
Weeding units provided in each driving part to remove weeds in the furrow;
A pair of battery boxes provided on the top of the traveling body unit and having a built-in battery supplying power to the traveling unit;
A runway control cylinder installed in the center frame of the traveling body part to adjust the distance between the traveling parts in response to the width of the ridge;
And a sensor unit provided in the body part for autonomous driving; Including,
The weeding part can adjust the height of the weeding blade by rotating the weeding blade which is rotated by the hydraulic motor to remove weeds, the weeding bracket which is rotatably connected to the driving part and has the hydraulic motor and the weeding blade installed, and the weeding bracket. On the other hand, it includes a height-adjusting cylinder and a shock absorber that absorbs shock generated during the weeding process by using the elastic force of the spring.
The buffer unit is composed of a first buffer unit provided at the upper end of the weeding bracket and a second buffer unit provided at the middle portion of the weeding bracket,
The second buffer unit is connected to the upper bracket and the lower bracket by a spring in the middle of the weeding bracket composed of the upper bracket and the lower bracket,
The first buffer unit includes a support bar, one end of which is rotatably connected to the upper end of the weeding bracket, a support bracket installed on a fixing plate provided in a driving part and rotatably supporting the support bar, and a buffer spring and support installed outside the support bar. A furrow weeding robot comprising a spring support into which a bar is inserted and coupled to a support bracket together with the support bar to support a buffer spring.
The method of claim 1,
The traveling body unit includes a front frame and a rear frame disposed in the width direction, a pair of side frames disposed on both sides in the width direction, a sliding frame connected to the front and rear of the side frame to be accommodated at both ends of the front frame and the rear frame, respectively, And it is made of a center frame that is arranged in the longitudinal direction and connects the front frame and the rear frame,
The traveling part is rotated by a driving motor and is spaced apart from the track by a certain distance from the track in the form of an endless track that moves forward and backward in close contact with the road surface, a traveling frame with a plurality of guide rollers on the lower part on which the driving motor is seated, and a plurality of guide rollers on the upper part of the track. A main frame arranged so as to be arranged, a pair of connecting frames connecting the sliding frame and the main frame at the front and rear sides of the traveling body part, and connecting the traveling frame and the main frame at the front and rear sides of the main frame. A furrow weeding robot comprising a pair of connection brackets.
The method of claim 1,
The furrow weeding robot, characterized in that the support bar has a plurality of pin coupling holes formed at regular intervals so that the support pins of the support bracket can be coupled to adjust the elastic force of the buffer spring. delete delete delete

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