AGRICULTURAL ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION

UNIT1
INTRODUCTION
Mechanized agriculture is the process of using agricultural machinery to mechanize the work
of agriculture. It is the application of engineering and technology in agricultural operations,
to do a better way to improve productivity. This includes development application and
management of all mechanical aids for water control, material, handling, storing and
processing.

AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY

Agricultural equipment is any kind of machinery used on a farm to help with farming. They
are

 Tractor

 Plough

 Cultivator

 Seed driller

 Tiller

 Sprayer

 Harvester

FARMING OPERATIONS AND RELATED MACHINES

CULTIVATION OF CROPS

Cultivation of crop involves several activities. This activities are referred as agricultural
practices. These activities are

 Preparation of soil

 Sowing or planting

 Adding manure and fertilizer

 Irrigation

 Protecting from weeds and pests

 Harvesting

 Storage

PREPARATION OF SOIL

Preparation of the soil is the first step before growing the crop.it helps to turn the soil and
loosen it to allow the roots to penetrate deep into it.

Ploughing, levelling and manuring are the three steps of soil preparation.

PLOUGHING

Ploughing is the process of loosening and upturning of soil to make it soft,looseanf

fit for crops. Done by animals and machines.

Machines used for plouging are

 Rotary tiller or Rotavator

 Power tiller or Rotary plough

 Motorised cultivator

LEVELLING

It is a process for ensuring that the depths and discharge variations over the field are
relatively uniform and as a result that water distributions in the root zone are also uniform. It
is done

 Levellers

 Smoothers

TILLAGE

Tillage is the mechanical manipulation of soil with tools and implements for
obtaining conditions ideal for seed germination, seedling establishment and growth of crops.
It has considerable influence on soil physical properties like pore space, structure, bulk
density, water content and colour. These effects of tillage last for about a month.

Tillage means the preparation of the growth zone in the soil (about 10 to 90 cm of
the top layer of soil) for plant development. As large areas of the surface of the earth are
subject to tillage, man has tried to ease the cumbersome and time-critical work of tillage and
developed machines which allow in most places of the world to perform this task with ease
and efficiency
OBJECTIVES OF TILLAGE

 Suitable seed bed preparation

 Weed control

 Soil and water conservation

 Improvement of sol structure

 Soil permeability

 Soil aeration

 Root penetration

 Destruction of pest

PRIMARY TILLAGE OR PLOUGHING

 Primary tillage is the first soil tillage after the last harvest. It is normally conducted when
the soil is wet enough to allow ploughing and strong enoughto give reasonable levels of
traction.

Ploughing is the process of breaking and loosening of the soil beforesowing seeds or
planting.

A plough may have a wooden, iron or steel frame with a blade attached to ut and
loosen the soil. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but in nowdays lands
are ploughed by tractors. Different types of ploughs that used for ploughing the land. They
are

 Country plough

 Rotary plough

 Disc plough

 Chisel plough

 Mounted disc plough

 Mould board plough

 Tractor and power tiller

TYPES OF PRIMARY TILLAGE

Depending upon the purpose or necessity, different type of tillage are carried out.
They are

 Deep ploughing

 Sub - soiling

 Year round tillage

DEEP PLOUGHING

Deep ploughing when done in summer turns out large sized clods, baked by the hot
sun. These clods crumble due its alternate heating and cooling due to occasional summer
showers. This process of gradual disintegration of clods improves soil srtucture. The
rhizmoes and tubers of problematic weeds like cynodondactylon, cyprus die due to exposure
to the sun. It also kills insect and pests.

A deep tillage of 25-30cm depth is necessary for deep rooted crop like pigeon
pea,moderate tillage of 15-20cm is required for maize.
 Deep tillage also improves soil moisture content. However, the advantage of deep
tillage in dry farming condition depends on rainfall pattern and crop. It is advisable to go for
dep ploughing only for long duration and deep rooted crops.

SUB - SOILING

Hard pans may be present in the soil which restricts root growth of crops. There msybr
still pans, iron, or aluminum pans, clay pans or man made pans. Root growth of crops is
coafined to few centimeters of soil where deep penetration of roots is inhibited by hard pans.

Sub - soiling is the process of breaking the hard pans without inversion and with less
disturbance of top soil. Chisel ploughs are used for breaking hard pans even at 60-7-cm
depth. The effect of sub-soiling does not last very long.

YEAR ROUND TILLAGE

Tillage operations carried out throughout the years are known as year round tillage. In
dry farming regions, field preparation is initiated with the help of summer showers. Repeated
tillage operations are carried out until sowing of the crop. Even after the harvest of the crop
the field is repeatedly ploughed or harrowed to avoid weed growth in the off-season.

SECONDARY TILLAGE

Lighter or finer operations, performed on the soil after primary tillage are known as
secondary tillage. After ploughing, the fields are left with large clods with some weeds and
stubbles partially uprooted. Harrowing is done to a shallow dwpth to crush the clods and to
uproot the remaining weeds and stubbles.

Disc harrows, blade harrows, plank & roller and cultivators are used for this purpose.

Planking is done to crush the hard clods to smoothen the soil surface and to compactthe soil
lightly. Thus, the soil is ready for sowing after ploughing by harrowing and planking.
Generally, sowing operations are also included in secondary tillage.

Secondary tillage also includes layout of seed bed and sowing. The field has to be laid
out for irrigaation and planting. These operations are crop specific.

AFTER CULTIVATION TILLAGE

Tillage operation carried out in the standing crop is called after tillage. It includes
drilling or side dressing of fertilizers, earthing up and inter cultivation.

Types of Tillage:

Apart from these major primary and secondary tillage operations we often do tillage in
some other ways. These different types of tillage are discussed as follows:

 Minimum Tillage: Minimum soil manipulation necessary to meet tillage requirements

for crop production. The major objectives are:
 (a) To reduce mechanical energy and labour requirement

(b) To conserve moisture and reduce soil erosion.

(c) To perform only the operations necessary to optimize the soil conditions

(d) To minimize the number of trips over field

(e) Disadvantages: When surface plants residues are involved insects are increased and
effective chemical weed control is essential

 No- Tillage: In a single operation, sowing is done without tilling it at all. This is applied
where moisture conservation is required. These are suitable in the areas where heavy
rainfall is there.

 Strip Tillage: Tillage system in which only isolated bands of soil are tilled.

 Rotary Tillage: Tillage operations employing rotary action to cut, break and mix the
soil, rotary tillers are used. These tillers have low or negative draft requirements, but total
power requirements are high and pulverization may be excessive.

 Stubble-Mulch Tillage: It involves cutting the roots of weeds and other plants and
leaving the crop residue on the surface or mixed into the top few centimetres of soil. This
is done to reduce wind and water erosion and conserve water by reducing run-off. Mostly
used in semiarid and arid zones. Special blade type sub-surface tillers, v-shaped sweeps
having cutting widths 0.6 to 2.4 m, straight blades, vertical disc plough, disc harrows,
rotary hoes, chisel ploughs, cultivators.

 Combined Tillage: Operations simultaneously utilizing two or more different types of

tillage tools or implements to simplify, control or reduce the number of operations over a
field are called combined tillage.

SOWING (OR) PLANTING

It is a process of planting seeds or seedlings into the soil. Methods of sowing are

 BROADCASTING : scattering of seeds all over the field.

 DRILLING or LINE SOWING : dropping of seeds by seed drillers.

 TRANSPLANTING : raising the seeds at nursery and finally planting them on the
cultivation land.

 SOWING BEHIND THE PLOUGH : it is dropping the seeds behind the plough in the
furrows.

Mechanic used for seed sowing : SEED DRILLER

Seed driller is a modern method of sowing seeds in which the seed drill is attached
with tractor.Seed drill is a machine for placing seeds in a continuous flow in the furrows at
uniform rate and at controlled depth with or without the arrangement of covering them with
soil.

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS

Since most of the soils do not provide the requisite nutrients necessary for
the growth and health of plants , they have to be fed with manures and fertilizers to
overcome the deficiency.

Mechanics used for fertilizer application

 DRILLING

In this method , the fertilizer is applied at the time of sowing by means of a

seed-cum-fertilizer drill. This places fertilizer and the seed in the same row but at
different depths. It refers to the application of water soluble fertilizers through
irrigation water.

 FERTIGATION

It refers to the application of water soluble fertilizers through irrigation water.

The nutrients are thus carried into the soil in solution. Generally nitrogenous fertilizers
are applied through irrigation water.

 INJECTION INTO SOIL

Liquid fertilizers for injection into the soil may be of either pressure or non-pressure
types.

IRRIGATION

It is the process of using artificial methods to provide water to crops. Pumps and
tubes are used for irrigation.

Mechanical methods of irrigation

 Drip irrigation

 Sprinkler irrigation

 Center pivot irrigation

 Rain gun irrigation

DRIP IRRIGATION

It is a latest advancement over other methods. In this method of irrigation water is

conveyed on the surface in 12 to 16mm diameter tubings fed from large feeder pipes. The
water is allowed to drip or tickle slowly through the nozzle at practically zero pressure. In
this way the soil in the root zone of crops is constanlly kept wet.

In drip system,water supply is done by drop by drop exactly at roots using a hose or
pipe.this method can also be used in regions where waer availability is less.

SPRINKLER IRRIGATION

In this method an attempt is made to simulate natural rainfall, irrigation water is applied to
the land in the from of a spray.

Sprinklers can be used on all soil types of any topography.

CENTER - PIVOT IRRIGATION

It is also known as water wheel and ircleirrigation. It is a method of irrigation in

whchequipmnt rotates around a pivot and crops are watered with sprinklers. A circular area
centered on the pivot is irrigated, often creating a circular pattern in crops when viewed from
above. Most center pivots were intially water - powered .

RAIN GUN IRRIGATION

It is a high performance micro irrigation device and its is designed for a variety of uses
and applications where relatively high flows and extened radius of the water throw are
desired.

WEED AND PEST CONTROL

MECHANICAL WEED CONTROL METHODS

 Weed pulling

 Mowing

 Mulching

 Tillage

MECHANICAL PEST CONTROL METHODS

 Entoleter

 Hopper dozer

 Tillage implements

 Mechanical traps

 TNAU insect egg remover

ENTOLETER

Centrifugal force is applied to kill insect stages of stored grain pests.

HOPPER DOZER

Kill nymphs of locusts by hording into trench and filling with soil.

TNAU INSECT EGG REMOVER

The seeds with eggs are packed in the perforated container and the rod is rotated.Due
to the splashing action of the brush in rotating rod, the eggs get crushed and thus the
damage is prevented.This does not affect the germination of seeds.

PLANT PROTECTION EQUIPMENT

Chemical Control of Weeds:

 Due to advancement of agricultural science, most fields remain covered under crops
for longer duration of time due to multiple cropping, intensive farming and better irrigation
facilities. Due to this there is increase in plant pests and diseases also. So it has now become
necessary to use pesticide and fungicide for controlling pests and diseases. Sprayers and
dusters are used for this.

TYPES OF EQUIPMENT

a) Boom-type field sprayers

b) High-pressure orchard and general purpose sprayers

c) Air-blast sprayers which utilize an air stream as a carrier for sprays

d) Air-craft sprayers

e) Granular applicators

f) Ground- rig dusters

g) Air – craft dusters

h) Aerosol generators, which atomize liquids by thermal or mechanical means and are widely
used for control of mosquitoes and other diseases – transmitting vectors and have limited
application for agricultural pest control.

Sprayers are used for various purposes:

1. Application of insecticides to control insects on plants

2. Application of fungicides to control plant diseases

3. Application of herbicides to kill weeds, either indiscriminately or selectively

4. Application of pre-harvest sprayers to defoliate or condition crops for mechanical

harvesting

5. Application of hormone (growth regulating) sprays to increase fruit set or prevents early
dropping of fruit

6. Application of sprays to thin fruit blossoms

7. Application of plant nutrients (sprays) directly to the plant foliage

8. Application of biological materials such as viruses and bacteria, in spray to control

pests - Because dusts have much greater drift hazard and lower deposition efficiency than
sprays, most pesticides application other than granular soil treatments are now in the form of
sprays, usually water emulsions, solutions or suspensions of wet table powders.
The main function of sprayers are:

1) To break the liquid into droplets of effective size

2) To distribute them uniformly over the plants

3) To regular the amount of liquid to avoid excessive application

Desirable quality of sprayer:

1) The sprayer should produce a steady stream of spray materials in the desired fineness of
particle so that plants to be treated may be covered uniformly.

2) They should deliver the liquid at sufficient pressure so that it reaches all the foliage and
spreads entirely over the sprayed surface.

3) It should be light yet sufficiently strong, easily workable and repairable.

BASIC COMPONENTS OF A SPRAYER:

 Nozzle body

 Pressure regulator

 Nozzle disc

 Swirl plate

 Cut-off value

 Nozzle cap

 Filter

 Spray boom

 Nozzle tip

 Over-flow pipe

 Drop legs

 Spray lance

 Relief- value

 Nozzle boss

 Spray gun
Nozzle Body: Main component on which other components of nozzle fit.

Swirl Plate: It is a part of cone nozzle which imparts rotation to liquid passing through it.

Nozzle Disc: Component containing the final orifice of nozzle usually in cone nozzle.

Nozzle Cap: Component which retains the assembled parts in or on a nozzle body. The
nozzle disc or tip may be integral with the cap.

Spray Gun: It is a lance from which the spray is readily adjustable during the operation.

Spray Boom: It is spray lance with spray nozzles fitted to a head mounted at right angle to
the lance.

Filter: Component to remove suspended matter larger than a pre-determined size from fluid.

Over-flow Pipe: It is a conduit through which excess fluid from a pump is by-passed by the
action of relief value or pressure regulator.

Relief-value: It is an automatic device which opens when the pressure of fluid or gas reaches
a pre-determined value.

Pressure regulator: It is an automatic device to control the pressure of fluid or gas within a
range of settings.

Cut-off value: It is mechanism between pump and nozzle to control the flow of liquid from
sprayer. It is operated by hand.

Nozzle boss: It is a lug on spray boom or spray lance to which a nozzle body or cap is
screwed.

Nozzle tip: It is the component containing final orifice of nozzle usually a fan nozzle.

Spray lance: A hand-held pipe through which liquid reaches the nozzle mounted at free end.

HARVESTING

Harvesting and threshing is an important operation in the farming. This can be

done either manually or with the help of power operated machinery. It is the operation of
gathering the useful part of the plant and is carried out at the time when all the nutrients have
developed and the edible parts have reached the appropriate degree of maturity. In, general
the harvest takes place 10 or 15 days after the gain has reached physiological maturity.

STEPS OF HARVESTING

 Reaping

 Threshing
 Cleaning

 Transporting

Types of harvesting

 Hand harvesting

 Harvesting with hand tools

 Harvesting with machinery

HAND HARVESTING TOOLS

 hand sickle

 Small axe

 Shears & scissors

HARVESTING MACHINES

 Combine harvester

 Mower

 Wind rower

Mower

The mower is a machine mainly used for harvesting grasses and forage crops. It cuts the
stems of standing vegetation to make hay out of them. The mower cutter bar is capable of
cutting the stems at 3-10 cm above the ground.

Windrowers

In some areas, farmers find that cutting and windrowing the top portion of the plants
with the grain attached permit earlier harvesting and protect the grain under the following
conditions.

 When the grain is unevenly ripened.

 When fields are weedy.

 When the straw is green but the crop is ripe.

 When the grain is high in moisture.

 When crop conditions are such that legume crops tend to shatter if left until ripe,

 When weather conditions delay direct combining. The windrowing machine consists of a
power-takeoff-driven knife, platform canvas, and reel.

The heads of grain are clipped off and fall upon the travelling platform canvas, which
delivers the grain over one end onto the stubble. Most windrowing machines deliver the grain
over the end farthest away from the standing grain. Center-delivery machines are availablle.

COMBINE HARVESTER

It is a machine designed to harvest a variety of grain crops. the name derives from its
combining four separate harvesting operations - reaping, threshing, gathering and winnowing
to a single process.