Weeding
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      2. Troubleshooting
      3. Weeding

      Troubleshooting: Weeding error IN-OUT%

      Parameters involved - What triggers the error - Causes and solutions

      Correct weeding setup - Webcamera shot - France 2022



      The weeding arm of the FD20 moves inside and outside of the row, in order to remove the weeds present in between the single crop plants.  

      A correct weed set-up takes into consideration a few interconnected parameters:

      • POSITION OF THE PLANT: this is saved by the robot when seeding
      • DISTANCE BETWEEN THE PLANTS: is determined by the user prior to seeding and cannot be changed afterwards. The longer the distance, the more time the weeding arm has to get inside and outside of the row, and vice versa. The minimum distance between the plants for in-row weeding is 10 cm
      • BUFFER ZONE: a protection zone around the original seed coordinates, where the weeding knife must not be. This parameter is set by the farmer in page 4.1.2.1 and normally should be increased during the course of the season, as the crop plants expand in diameter
      • MINIMUM EXTENSION OF THE WEEDING ARM: how much the weeding arm should be extended, when it is in "closed" position. This parameter is set by the farmer in page 4.1.2.1 and may be reduced during the course of the season, as the crop plants expand in diameter
      • MAXIMUM EXTENSION OF THE WEEDING ARM: how much the weeding arm should be extended, when it is in "open" position. This parameter is set by the farmer in page 4.1.2.1 and may be reduced during the course of the season, as the crop plants expand in diameter
      • SPEED OF THE WEEDING KNIFE: it determines the energy and speed of the weeding arm, when extending from the close position to the open position. A low speed normally works best when the crop has been recently sown and the plants are small, while a high speed is more efficient in removing stronger weeds, to work in harder soils, as well as with faster driving speeds. This parameter is set by the farmer in page 4.1.2.1
      • PROPULSION SPEED: the faster the driving, the lesser the time for the weeding knife to extend and retract without being detected in the buffer zone. The driving speed is set in page 4.2.6

      TIPS AND TRICKS 😉👍

      When setting up the seeding distance, remember to keep in consideration how wide the plant will grow, and therefore the size of the buffer zone, in order to leave enough space and time for the weeding arm to extend and retract safely

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      WHAT TRIGGERS THE ERROR

      The robot stops and displays "WEEDING ERROR" when the weeding arm error for either "Out %" (weeding arm extending) or "In %" (weeding arm retracting) reaches the threshold defined by the user in page 2.1.

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      The threshold can be set as low as 0 (zero) and as high as 100. However, we recommend to use a number between 5 and 25, depending on your experience with the robot.

       

      CAUTION! 👇
      The "Out %" and "In %" increase by 1 each time the weeding knife is detected inside the buffer zone.

      However, this DOES NOT mean that a plant has been removed. In fact, since the robot has a very high accuracy, if the weeding arm has been detected also by only 0.5 cm inside the buffer zone, this would increase the weeding error by 1.

      As you can see, in this case, this would not cause any harm to the plant.

       

      CAUSES AND SOLUTION

      Ideally, if the robot has been set up correctly, the error should be zero for both "Out%" and "In%". However, a low percentage of error can be tolerated.

      Generally, this error is caused by not letting enough time for the weeding arm to safely extend and retract before hitting the buffer zone.

      You must find the correct recipe for your field setup, until the error disappears or reaches an acceptable level by tuning the following settings:

      1. Increase the speed of the weeding arm: to allow the weeding arm to extend and retract in a less amount of time
      2. Reduce the propulsion speed of the robot: to give more time the weeding arm to extend and retract
      3. Reduce the extension range of the weeding arm: by either increasing the minimum extension or decreasing the maximum extension, so that the weeding arm can reach its target in a shorter amount of time
      4. Decrease the buffer zone:
        1. Before the plant, if the threshold has been reached for the "Out%" column
        2. After the plant, if the threshold has been reached for the "In%" column

       

      TIPS AND TRICKS 😉👍

      In some cases, the weeding error is not caused by a wrong setup of the HMI settings.

      It may be due to environmental factors, such as:

      • Hard soil
      • Weeding knife working too deep
      • Weeds or material tangled around the weeding arm

      To check if you set up the weeding arm too deep for that particular soil type, you must look at the "Consump [A]" colum in page 2.1.

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      Whenever the current consumption is approximately 6.000 A, then it means you must raise the working depth of the weeding knife or that something has tangled around the weeding arm and prevents it from moving freely