Empirical Trials on Unmanned Agriculture in Open-Field Farming: Ridge Forming

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

1- The abstract must be extended. It does not have enough information about previous work.

2-Table 1 is not easy to follow. Please change the structure of the table. 

3- Same for table 2 is not easy to follow. Please change the structure of the table.

 This paper examined the potential of replacing a key step, ridge forming, by comparing operational data and costs between conventional methods and autonomous driving robots, as well as assessing the driving linearity of the autonomous system.

The paper is well-written and can be published after minor revisions.

 

Author Response

Comments 1: The abstract must be extended. It does not have enough information about previous work.

Response 1: I totally agree with your comments, the introduction has to be extended. As an enhancement of the section, more information was added with additional references in Line 35-87.

 

Comments 2: Table 1 is not easy to follow. Please change the structure of the table.

Response 2: Thank you for the comment, the structure of Table 1 has been changed as recommended.

 

Comments 3: Same for table 2 is not easy to follow. Please change the structure of the table.

Response 3: As follows, the structure of Table 2 also has been changed.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper proposed that this ridge forming can reduce less torque damage and cost when using this robot compared to conventional method, while maintaining the PTO revolution speed. However, this paper did not include more complicated conditions and did not reveal the scientific aspects of this study. I suggest that the authors should include more complicated real conditions, like the slope, the soil moisture conditions.  . So, I think this paper could not be accepted in this format.

t1.The lines between 71 ~ 72, this transition is abrupt and this explanation could emphasize the importance of this study.

22.    Table format should be modified to clearly present the data.

33.   Lines 92~93, why do not you use Rasberry  Pi 4 to store the data instead of using laptop? This will make system simpler.

44.  In line 103, the author explains that the robot loaded the waypoint data, does the author mean all of the path has been determined? If so, is it autonomous driving ?

55. In line 123, the author explains K_d and K_P, how did you determine and optimize the constant?

66. In eq(5), where is the available “T”?

Author Response

Comments 1: The lines between 71 ~ 72, this transition is abrupt and this explanation could emphasize the importance of this study.

Response 1: Thank you for the comment, there was a misexpressed on ‘the automated agriculture’ and ‘replacing the human labor’ in lines 71-72. They are revised with proper expression in line 82-85.

 

Comments 2: Table format should be modified to clearly present the data

Response 2: I agree with your comment. The structure of Tables 1 and 2 was changed for the clearer present.

 

Comments 3: Lines 92~93, why do not you use Rasberry Pi 4 to store the data instead of using laptop? This will make system simpler

Response 3: Thank you for the comment, I was expected to have the question on this section. As the entire experiment was prepared and performed with different affiliations, we need to store the data separately and each affiliation has a different preferred method to store them. We found there was no error in integrating the systems and the data was shared after the field test.

 

Comments 4: In line 103, the author explains that the robot loaded the waypoint data, does the author mean all of the path has been determined? If so, is it autonomous driving?

Response 4: Thank you for the comment, I am glad to explain more details of my work. The definition of a waypoint in Line 117 is that lets the machine know the start and end location. Also, the path driving of the robot is automatically created with a straight line.

 

Comments 5: In line 123, the author explains Kd and KP, how did you determine and optimize the constant?

Response 5: The factors, K_d and K_p, are controlled by the electro-hydraulic cylinder attached under the main body frame, and the explanation was revised in Line 135-136.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript conducted a Ridge Forming unmanned driving experiment. Although the manuscript has some shortcomings in the theoretical part, it has a strong practical impact. I really appreciate this work. Suggest minor revisions before publishing. The specific suggestions are as follows:

1. The author should provide more description in the autonomous driving module. For example, if the model used is an integrated module, it is even more important to specify which manufacturer to use.

2. Formula (1-4) is actually a universal formula, and it needs to be reconsidered whether it is necessary to include it in the article. Of course, there can also be more description of the autonomous driving part, such as Figure 2. This will increase the significance of the formula in the manuscript.

3. This is a very practical manuscript, and I once again commend the author for their contributions. Especially in terms of cost analysis, it is very exciting.

Author Response

Comments 1: The author should provide more description in the autonomous driving module. For example, if the model used is an integrated module, it is even more important to specify which manufacturer to use.

Response 1: Thank you for the comments. To provide more information, Table 1 was revised in the content and also in construction.

 

Comments 2: Formula (1-4) is actually a universal formula, and it needs to be reconsidered whether it is necessary to include it in the article. Of course, there can also be more description of the autonomous driving part, such as Figure 2. This will increase the significance of the formula in the manuscript.

Response 2: I totally agree with your comments and I appreciate that. While concluding the manuscript, I found the trend of providing basic, general, and universal information in this journal, Applied Science, through reviewing the recently published paper. After long terms of consideration, I would like to provide them for readers to help understand the overall sequences of my works. Also, if such a universal formula is provided to the reader, including the non-expertise and the public, I believe the preference of this journal to people will be gained in return.

 

Comments 3: This is a very practical manuscript, and I once again commend the author for their contributions. Especially in terms of cost analysis, it is very exciting.

Response 3: I am glad to have your comments, they are so meaningful to me and I appreciate you giving me a chance to share my work

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Although this revision has fixed the issue that I have proposed, I still do not think this paper has any interesting research point.

Author Response

Comments 1: Although this revision has fixed the issue that I have proposed, I still do not think this paper has any interesting research point.

Response 1: 

I examined the possibility of replacing one of the major steps for outdoor agriculture, ridge foaming, with a robot system. Considering that the rural population is decreasing, aging problems, labor costs, and unexpected health problems caused by long-term outdoor work, achieving autonomous agriculture is necessary. When we achieve it, the impact can be different based on the technical level and policies of nations, but I believe we eventually need to replace manpower. Also, the discoveries in this paper may be underestimated in the year 2024, but I also believe that their value will be re-estimated with rising labor costs and loss of manpower in rural areas.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf