Associate Professor Dr. Vu Ngoc Anh and his team have developed a machine that can operate in rice fields to sow seeds, spray pesticides, and fertilize, with an average productivity of 4 hectares per hour, winning the second prize at the 2024 Science Initiative competition.
Dr. Anh is a lecturer in aerospace engineering at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. He has more than 20 years of experience in designing automation products.
Over eight years ago, Dr. Anh and his team began working on unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) used in agriculture for spraying pesticides and caring for crops. However, conventional machines have high energy costs when carrying heavy loads, and strong downward winds can damage rice plants. The team addressed these limitations by transitioning from aerial devices to the AirBoot machine.
Dr. Anh and his team spent two years designing and testing the multifunctional rice care machine, capable of sowing seeds, spraying pesticides, and fertilizing. The machine uses multiple small floats that act like slides to move easily across rice fields. AirBoots can operate without leaving space for irrigation channels, allowing it to move without damaging the rice plants.
When unloaded, the machine weighs about 15 kg and uses an electric motor with a power of approximately 3,000 W, with a battery that operates continuously for about one hour. The energy supplied to the two propeller motors helps the machine move across the field at an average speed of 2 m/s. According to Dr. Anh, the product can carry loads three times greater than drones using the same energy source, while keeping energy costs constant, making AirBoots three times more cost-effective than drones. The machine can also be developed into modules to increase its load capacity based on user needs.
“Farmers expect the same energy costs but increased load capacity from drones,” Dr. Anh explained the problem he and his colleagues needed to address based on the agricultural sector’s demands.
The multifunctional rice care machine designed by the research team. (Photo: Provided by the team).
The machine is designed with a seed-spreading system underneath the container that operates automatically using GPS. The integrated control system allows for autonomous operation in the fields, executing pre-programmed tasks that can be easily managed through a smartphone.
According to Dr. Anh, the product can achieve an average productivity of 4 hectares per hour, equivalent to replacing 10 laborers. AirBoots is priced at around 175 million VND, while the mini version for small-scale fields costs about 100 million VND. In addition to rice, AirBoots can be used for row crops such as wheat, corn, sugarcane, potatoes, soybeans, and vegetables. The machine operates on the ground and does not require flight permissions like drones.
Dr. Anh stated that the product is currently in the testing phase for commercial purposes and needs more practical assessments regarding its feasibility. “The team aims to export and compete with drone products worldwide for agricultural use,” Dr. Anh said. The product has been registered for intellectual property protection in 2023, and the application has been accepted.
Ms. Bui Thanh Van, Editor-in-Chief of VnExpress, and Chairwoman of the 2024 Science Initiative competition, presents the second prize to the research team from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology on May 16th. (Photo: Ngoc Thanh.)
The AirBoots Agricultural Machine developed by Associate Professor Dr. Vu Ngoc Anh and his colleagues won the second prize worth 50 million VND at the 2024 Science Initiative competition organized by VnExpress.
Associate Professor Dr. Mai Anh Tuan, a senior lecturer at the University of Technology, Vietnam National University, and chairman of the judging panel, praised the creativity of the team in developing the machine with a mechanism that uses floats to slide on the field. While similar machines exist in Europe, they typically use wheels and solar energy. Dr. Tuan suggested that the mechanical part of the machine could be adjusted in width to operate on rows of crops spaced differently without affecting the plants. The float sliding mechanism could be developed into various forms such as cage wheels or round wheels to navigate multiple terrains.
