Agritechnica 2019

••• 10••• Messewelten Additive manufacturing for agriculture 3D printing enables lighter, more durable components in mobile machines M odern agricultural and con- struction machines are con- stantly in use day and night. The requirements regarding reliability, flexibility and ease of operation are extremely demanding. What options does additive manufac- turing open up for developers and designers? From 10 to 16 No- vember, Systems & Components in Hanover, Germany focuses on the opportunities for off-highway markets through the use of 3D printing. An individual tractor joy- stick can be realised just as easily as bionically formed lightweight components in tedders – or the virtually unlimited supply of spare parts. Industry experts agree: addi- tive manufacturing will greatly benefit agriculture, forestry and construction within the next ten years. While up until now the fo- cus of 3D printing was on rapid prototyping, i. e. the manufac- turing of prototypes, the focus of this year’s Systems & Compo- nents is increasingly on manu- facturing “real” components in series production. A look at the range of products and services offered by the approximately 800 exhibiting companies shows that the potential of additive manufac- turing is opening up in-house for an increasing number of OEMs. Using 3D printing and bionic de- sign, geometries and complicated structures can now be realised in hollow bodies which could not be produced in the past. This re- sults in weight and performance- optimised joint assemblies made of plastic, e.g. for tedders. They not only have a different appear- ance than their predecessors produced in cast metal but their weight is just one-tenth of that of their metal counterparts with the same loadability. This enables in- dividualisation through the close intermeshing of modern CAD and simulation tools integrated in the workflow of agricultural and con- struction machine manufacturers and their suppliers. As a result, designers are sure to not draft any idealised component parts, but instead components that will withstand the tough conditions of the off-highway sector dirt, dust, heat and jolts. Due to these spe- cial requirements, the choice of high-performance plastics for 3D printing in agricultural technolo- gy was limited for a long time. But these times may soon be a thing of the past. The diversity of mod- ern materials which companies will present for various 3D print- ing methods at Systems & Com- ponents is well worth looking at. The growing range of materials in additive manufacturing process- es also inspires the ideas of which components can be produced with them. Bionics is becoming important here as it applies suc- cessful solution strategies from nature to technical applications. The remarkable thing is that both plastic and metal production are rapidly growing in importance. 3D printing for agriculture Photo: ZMorph Multitool, Unsplash Hydroponics and Greenhouse “Acre of Knowledge” with various FAO projects The International DLG-Show Special “Acre of Knowledge” takes place at Hall 21, stand C13. The Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO) presents with its partners various projects to show visitors how to improve farming systems. FAO’s low-tech, hydroponic system helps livestock farmers to produce high nutrition- al value fodder for feed. Since grasslands depend completely on rainfall, they are not available yearlong. In many extreme loca- tions with limited access to resources, this system can be set up under soilless condi- tions in small spaces, using local, low-cost technologies, reducing reliance on rainfall as well as saving up to 90 per cent of water when compared to open field or grassland irrigation, while avoiding shortening the production period and increasing fodder availability year round. FAO’s low-cost, wooden greenhouses al- low farmers to produce vegetables (i.e. to- matoes, bell peppers and cucumbers) year round by using natural resources efficiently, optimizing fertilizer use and introducing bi- ological control agents. Netting is used on the walls to keep away virus-transmitting insects, plastic on the roof to avoid bacte- ria and fungi caused by high humidity, and coconut fiber instead of soil to prevent soil diseases. Greenhouses can produce twelve tons of tomatoes in six months, generating about USD 8 400. FAO and ECAF/GkB promote Conservation Agriculture, which aims to prevent soil ero- sion while regenerating degraded land. Its principles are limiting soil disturbance, us- ing soil cover and diversifying crops. A rain- fall simulator demonstrates the effect of heavy rains on bare, unprotected soil; soil under conservation tillage but with straw cover; and untilled soil with cover crops and/or straw cover. Low-cost greenhouse for farmers Photo: M. Spiske Unsplash Print spareparts with 3D Manage international challenges together The Agritechnica Acre of Knowl- edge is a meeting place to share working principles and project ide- as for the improvement of cultiva- tion systems or to increasing liveli- hood and efficient management cross-border. The International Show Special disseminates infor- mation around preventing soil losses, improving crop protection sustainably, managing scarce wa- ter sources in agriculture and re- ducing post-harvest losses, just to mention some topics. Those chal- lenges at international scale are addressing different target groups (large-scale farmers to subsist- ence smallholders); consequently, technical solutions and manage- ment approaches as commercial business cases, cooperative mod- els and examples of development cooperation projects are part of suitable responses. The Cornell University is one of the exhibiting companies that presents its pro- jects together with The Food and Agriculture Organization of Unit- ed Nations (FAO) 3D printer: Together with Earth- Links they present a 3D printer that may serve smallholder farm- ers to locally print spare or modi- fied parts for agricultural equip- ment. The 3D printing technology can provide an affordable solution, for example, to produce seed me- tering plates for manual planters/ seeders when discs fail or when seed discs are not locally available. Another potential use can be to print discs locally, thus adapting to multiple variations in the spacing, number of seeds delivered. Hand weeder: FAO and Cornell University with EarthLinks are presenting a hand weeder mod- el used for rice production (Rice Dragon), which has been “de- signed by women for women” and produced by Oxfam. This weeder is being used for the Sys- tem of Rice Intensification (SRI) methodology to increase yields in Cambodia. SRI reduces water use by as much as 50 per cent, seed use up to 90 per cent, and agrochemical use, while at the same time significantly increas- ing yields. The weeder body is approximately 67 cm long, 25 cm high and 9.6 cm in width. This tool was a milestone in gender-friendly tool design.