A robotic system design and optimization for the application of entomopathogenic nematode products

Depending on the increase in the world population, precision agriculture practices are increasing day by day to meet the food need and to produce the best quality product at the most affordable cost, as a requirement of sustainable agriculture. Robotic systems are used at every stage of agricultural activities to apply the right input in the right amount to the right place at the right time and in the right way as a requirement of precision agriculture. With robotic systems, it is desired to minimize the damage to the environment while obtaining the maximum crop from the unit area. Chemical applications according to needs are at the forefront so that necessary places are sprayed, not all parts of the land. In this study, a robotic system was designed for the precision application of entomopathogenic nematodes, which is an alternative to chemical control. All sheet metal parts of the robotic system are made of 2 mm aluminum, and plastic parts 20 mm Delrin material. All fasteners are detachable, so they can be easily transported. Thanks to the Gcodes loaded on the CNC control card; the stepper motors are activated. In contrast to traditional agitating systems such as mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic, a new agitation method, the swing method, was used. Dosing is provided with a peristaltic pump. The compatibility of the stepper motors with the peristaltic pump has been optimized by using Arduino software that allows dosing the same to each point or different to each point. The robotic system tested two different entomopathogenic nematode species (Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora) with different doses (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 g and 60 000, 120 000, 240 000 IJs) and volumes (25, 50, 100 ml and 5, 15, 45 ml). Although there is a statistical difference between some combinations due to the trials, it is possible to say that the robotic system performs sensitive applications due to the application of 50 nematodes per cm2, which is the commercial dose value. Key words: Precision agriculture, robot, biological control, entomopathogenic nematode