Automatic planter machine for sugarcane row gaps - Kairós

• Grant number: 18/21423-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: December 01, 2019
• End date: May 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agricultural Engineering - Agricultural Machinery and Implements
• Agreement: FINEP - PIPE/PAPPE Grant
• Principal Investigator: José Leonardo Camargo de Campos
• Grantee: José Leonardo Camargo de Campos
• CNAE: Fabricação de máquinas e equipamentos para a agricultura e pecuária, exceto para irrigação
• Principal investigators: Eduardo Antonio Boscardin Pita ; Felipe Martins Silva ; Rafael de Souza Favalli
• Associated researchers: Efraim Albrecht Neto
• Associated scholarship(s): 20/12215-5 - Mechanical design of automatic planter machine for sugarcane row gaps - Kairós, BP.TT; 20/11589-9 - Software development to control the mechanism of the machine - Kairós, BP.TT; 20/09539-3 - Automatic planter machine for sugarcane row gaps - Kairós, BP.TT; 20/03496-0 - Software integration between GPS and network interface, BP.TT

Abstract

The crescent increase of mechanization of sugarcane field operations has been causing a diversity of agronomical problems in this culture that must be solved. One of these problems are the gap discontinuities along rows of sugarcane cultivation. This particular effect is caused by a range of critical factors related to the soil tillage, planting operations, crop treatment operations and harvesting operations, which reduce the growth rate and longevity of sugarcane crops. In that way, the corrective planting of sugarcane in the gap discontinuities of already planted rows will increase land use efficiency and crop yield of sugarcane, therefore delaying the renewal of the area and reducing its frequency. The product intrinsic cost will be reduced making it more competitive on the market. Therefore, the problems generated by soil tillage, planting and harvesting operations relatively to gap discontinuities in sugarcane rows will be corrected by means of the KAIRÓS planter machine which is been developed by Agricef in order to address the necessities of the sugar and ethanol industry sector. So the objective of this project is to accelerate the development of such a planting machine capable to automatically plant inside the gaps along already planted sugarcane rows by means of previously identifying and locating the gaps geographical position through the inputs of a geographical gap discontinuity map which should determine the selective actuation of tools necessary for planting the sugarcane stalks along these gaps. (AU)