Michael Rieke receives inventors’ prize for his Produkt-Design thesis
Michael Rieke – together with Professors Andreas Mühlenberend and Jan Willmann, as well as CEO of GentleRobotics Dr. Andreas Karguth – was awarded a gold medal at the iENA 2018 trade fair for the inventor community in Nuremberg for his Bachelor thesis on the »E-Terry« agricultural vehicle. This three-wheeled robotic platform is particularly light and, as a variable carrier system, it can be equipped with sensors and so-called manipulation units.
E-Terry can, for example, independently analyse soil, tend to plants, spread fertiliser and also harvest crops. »Every type of agriculture depends on healthy individual plants. In order to promote a sustainable and ecological form of plant cultivation, E-Terry has been designed to be as minimally invasive as possible«, says Produkt-Design student Michael Rieke about his invention. »One advantage is its lightness: the consistently lightweight construction protects the soil - a very important resource - against being compacted.«
As E-Terry is permanently supported at three points and has a minimal turning circle, it is suitable for use on a wide variety of soil types. The vehicle can also be used indoors, i.e. in greenhouses, or on rough terrain as found in the forestry industry. The lightweight equipment-carrier can also work in a group arrangement when required. In the future, several E-Terrys linked to each other could collaboratively carry out routine work in plant cultivation and, for example, take over the task of monitoring in the field. They would collect information on the plant population and nutrients available to the plants, autonomously sow seeds and spread fertiliser, and operate mechanical weed regulation. The autonomous carrier system therefore supports farmers at various levels and enables minimally invasive interventions through a maximum level of monitoring.
E-Terry currently exists as a working model and is now to be further developed. In summer 2018, in collaboration with Andreas Mühlenberend, Professor of Industrial Design, Jan Willmann, Junior Professor of History and Theory of Design, and CEO of GentleRobotics, Dr. Andreas Karguth, the vehicle was registered for patent approval. The team of inventors is currently looking for further cooperation partners in order to develop the current working model to series production.
Michael Rieke’s team has been supported in the development and patent registration for the invention by the Research Operations Office and Legal Affairs of Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. External support has been provided by the company Maxon Motor from Switzerland.
The International Trade Fair for Ideas, Inventions and New Products iENA 2018 registered contributions from over 30 countries and some 800 inventions.
e-terry.de
www.uni-weimar.de/patente
If you have any questions, please contact Romy Weinhold, Press and Public Relations, Faculty of Art and Design, by phoning +49 / 36 43 / 58 11 86 or emailing romy.weinhold@uni-weimar.de.