Highly automated vine cutting transplanter based on DGNSS-RTK technology integrated with hydraulic devices

The aim of this paper is to propose an innovative system for a commercial transplanter that allows the automatic point-laying location of each vine cutting without any kind of preliminary field squaring. We modified a semi-mounted disk planting unit transplanter (Wagner Company) in order to realize the integral automation of the setting phase of a vineyard. The transplanter machine was originally equipped with a built-in laser (to maintain equal distance among the rows) and a continuous wire system (as a synchronization set). In the proposed system, the vine cutting location is calculated by a DGNSS-RTK system according to the project values, and the transplant operation was completely automated and carried out by electro-hydraulic components. The system was designed, developed, tested and patented by the Authors with the collaboration of Universita degli Studi di Milano and of a private company (Arvatec s.r.l., Rescaldina - MI, Italy). In particular, the wire synchronization system was replaced by a hydraulic motor fixed to the frame and connected to the disk planting unit through the chain transmission. A specific software application, installed on an on-board automotive PC located in the tractor cabin, enables quick field-squaring and calculates the target setting point for each vine cutting (prescription map). The proposed system was tested in different topographic conditions with respect to the field slope, and the results were satisfying, both in terms of the precision and the orthogonality of the planting. From an operational point of view, the proposed system reduces labour requirements, as the ground worker responsible for managing the laser and the wire at the beginning of the row is no longer needed. Thus, the transplanting work rate is increased by 15% when compared with conventional solutions, whose controlling systems are based on a combination of laser tools and wire synchronisation systems. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.