A conceptual evaluation of a weed control method with post-damage application of herbicides: A composite intelligent intra-row weeding robot

Weed management is an important part of crop production. Efficient weeding can help increase the yield and quality of crops. However, traditional weeding methods often fail to consider weeding quality and environmental protection. To address these shortcomings, a weeding method in which herbicides are applied after injury to weed tissue was developed, and an intelligent intra-row weeding robot was designed to evaluate the performance of this method. In control experiments, the proposed innovative weeding method showed a significantly better weed removal rate than purely mechanical weeding; its greatest contribution was to reduce the number of mechanical weeding operations, thereby reducing energy consumption and damage to the environment. Moreover, compared with chemical weeding approaches, the proposed method achieved a good weed removal rate while minimizing the use of herbicides, thereby reducing crop damage, weed resistance, and environmental pollution. In the final maize (Zea mays L.) test area, the robot traveled at a speed of 2.0 km/h and operated at a transmission efficiency of 60 frames per second. Moreover, the robot achieved a weed removal rate of 90.0% and a crop damage rate of 1.9%. Even better performance was obtained in a test area with Chinese cabbage, with a 94.5% weed removal rate and a 0.8% crop damage rate. Meanwhile, this method used only 15.3% of the herbicide required by traditional chemical weed control methods. Thus, the environmental protection properties of the intelligent intra-row weeding robot are more sustainable than those of conventional weeding methods, and the robot can achieve good performance in small-area fields.