Projeto preliminar de uma máquina para capina térmica movida por tração humana

Abstract

Family farming is characterized by producing various foods that make up the nutrition of the Brazilian population. Among the main crops produced are cassava, beans, corn, potatoes, coffee and rice. A portion of family farmers produce food without the addition of chemical products, being considered organic food producers. These producers encounter difficulties in the cultural management of weed because they carry out the control manually, associated with the lack of technology and available labor. The objective of this work is to develop the functional prototype of a machine for thermal weeding of weed powered by human traction, aimed at meeting the needs of family farmers, based on the concept obtained by Rosa (2018). The design methodology called Model of Phases was used, successfully employed in the design of agricultural machinery, which is divided into four stages: informational design, conceptual design, preliminary design and detailed design. The informational and conceptual design phases were used in previous work (ROSA, 2018) and served as the basis for the sequel to this one. Only the preliminary design steps were applied and generated the development of the first prototype for the determination and technical specification of some components that helped in the development of the second functional prototype. The functional prototype was tested regarding its functionality in the application of heat, in the ergonomic aspects related to the human-machine interaction and in the simulations to obtain the tipping angles. Through the tests, some necessary improvements for the prototype were evidenced. However, it was verified that it presents conditions to carry out the thermal treatment, causing significant damage to weed in flat land and with irregular soil surface, it was also verified that a spark generator system is indispensable for maintaining the flames, making the equipment safe and effective in terms of heat treatment.