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This was presented to Pennsylvania tree fruit growers. It is a summary of our preliminary data from one field season of working with the WeedSeeker.
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Preliminary Trial:
The WeedSeeker®
Primary Investigators:
Tom Kon, Alex Leslie, Cody
Musselman, Russell Rohrbaugh
The Product Purpose: Reduction of herbicide use in
locations that have a low to moderate
weed density (spot treatment)
NTech Industries, Inc.
Up to an 80 %
reduction in
herbicide use*
Will pay for itself in 1
year** These are statements that NTech
makes on its website
Controller & Sensors
How it Works
LED light source projects light onto the ground – about 2ft from the ground
Light that is reflected from the target (hopefully some Canadian thistle) is captured by a detector
The sensor determines if the reflected light matches that of green plants
If a green plant is present, a solenoid valve is triggered and the nozzle fires
Objective
To determine the efficiency, and efficacy
of the WeedSeeker®
- Determine the chemical and dollar
savings associated with the WeedSeeker®
technology
- Quantify the efficacy of the system
Location and Plots
Conducted in 07’ high density Fuji and
Honeycrisp Planting at FREC (8 rows)
1 Plot = 42 ft x 2 ft
32 Plots Total 16 low density, 16 moderate
density
The 07' planting was pooled into 2 larger
plots based on weed cover: Low density and
high density (a plot consists of a 10 tree
section from trellis post to trellis post)
Means of Analysis
Compare water usage of the
WeedSeeker® in low weed density
plots in the OFF (Flush) and ON
position
Repeat for the moderate weed density
plots
Calculate % savings and apply costs of
herbicides to the model
Estimated Herbicide Savings
TRTWeed
DensityWeed
SeekerGallons
Used DIFF gal % Savings
1 LOW OFF 3.10
2 LOW ON 0.55 2.55 82.23%
3 MOD OFF 3.10
4 MOD ON 1.55 1.55 50.00%
Cash Savings per Treated Acre
TRTWeed
DensityWeed
Seeker
Gallons per treated Acre
Cost per Treated Acre
1 LOW OFF 50.2 $42.67
2 LOW ON 8.9 $7.57
3 MOD OFF 50.2 $42.67
4 MOD ON 25.1 $21.34
Cost of the WeedSeeker®
Single Hooded 2ft Boom (SB102): $4,200
Single Hooded 3ft Boom (SB103): $5,460
Model 650 Sensor without a valve cartridge:
$850
Valve Cartridge: $200
Notes About Use
Consistency of Speed
Pump & Nozzle Size
Warm-up Time / Soil Calibration
Weed Height
Moss & Fallen Apples
Sensor Durability
Double Boom Savings on Fuel
When will you use a herbicide in
this fancy machine? Preliminary Trials were conducted with
Gramoxone and Prowl, however, the
results were inconclusive
In Summary
Strong possibility for tremendous savings
in weed management – up to 80%
In the offseason, further research will be
conducted to sync the speed of the ATV
and the WeedSeeker
USDA-NRCS EQIP Cost Share
Stay Tuned
Acknowledgements Freeman Showers, Terry Salada
My fellow investigators: Alex, Cody, & Russell
Dr. Jim Schupp, Dr. Tara Baugher, Katie Hess-
Reichard, Edwin Winzeler, Dr. Katie Ellis
Our friends at the Carnegie Mellon University
Robotics Institute: Sanjiv Singh, Marcel Bergeman,
Ben Grocholsky, Reuben Dise
Photographs by Evan Moore, and Tom Kon
Funding provided by USDA CSREES Specialty Crop
Research Initiative for Comprehensive Automation
for Specialty Crops
Questions??