'Plant-INK' (Intelligent Nozzle Kinematics) - A Proof of Concept 'InkJet' type applicator for ultra-precise liquid application to plants to control problems in agriculture, horticulture, amenity and domestic markets

Agriculture, practised for thousands of years, produces food for human consumption and products for industrial use, by growing crops in fields or indoor controlled environments. Crop plants face nutrient deficiencies, weed competition, and pest and disease attacks. These are typically managed by applying liquid treatments of fertilizers and pesticides. To move away from treating entire fields and large areas, we must pursue the ultimate goal of Precision Agriculture by treating individual plants or leaves. Two technologies are necessary for such 'ultra-precision. ' First, a vision system must detect problems within the crop, e.g. leaf parts, disease lesions, insect clusters, or weeds. Second, small amounts of liquid must be applied to target areas without touching the surrounding crop or environment. AgriSynth has developed a vision system that can identify objects in crops at a millimetre scale. Most farms still apply liquid chemical sprays to entire fields or sections of fields. Only the most advanced machinery can target areas as small as one square meter. With agricultural robots, this precision can be increased to 200-300 square centimetres. However, for targets millimetres in size, this level of precision is insufficient, leading to the treatment of unaffected areas, wasted chemicals, and unnecessary environmental impact. Imagine placing a football in a wheat crop (similar to a domestic lawn) so it touches a weed but not the crop, then a tennis ball, then a golf ball. In most situations, only when we get to the size of a pea can we touch a weed, not the crop. This is the treatment resolution we need to apply a liquid to a 5mm-diameter target area at a range of approximately 200mm for most Use Cases. We can't achieve this in agriculture, but this project aims to change that. The concept will be like how inkjet printers revolutionized printing on paper. Developing an inkjet-like applicator for crops will achieve ultra-precision. If designed modularly, the system could be mounted on existing machinery, robots, and even handheld devices providing benefits in agricultural, horticultural, domestic and a range of other markets. This innovation aims to enable extremely low-dose applications, eliminating soil contact and water contamination. By targeting specific weeds, we could use liquid treatments not traditionally approved for crops, by avoiding touching the crop plants. This project could revolutionize crop productivity, enabling farmers to manage crops at the plant and leaf level, significantly improving yields and almost eliminating environmental impact.