Here at 3D Rapid Print, one of the fastest growing 3D Printing companies in the Thames Valley, we like to keep abreast of the latest innovations in 3D printing.
On May 16th 2022, the University of Maine (UMaine) spoke of undergraduate Sonora Ortiz using 3D printing to optimise weed pulling to reduce the use of pesticides. Before coming to UMaine, Ortiz worked on farms throughout Europe and their native southern California. This made them develop a passion for sustainable agriculture and soil remediation, which attracted them to UMaine’s undergraduate programs. When they arrived in Orono, Ortiz decided to study physics, but their passion for agriculture remained. After taking a weed science class with weed ecology professor Eric Gallandt, they took the opportunity to work with him on his research on physical weed control.
UMaine argued that 3D printing is a useful tool for studying weeds, as individual plants in nature are so variable that it is hard to test them in a controlled way, as well as physical models eliminating the time and labour necessary for test weeds to be repeatedly regrown. Past studies have used golf tees or wooden dowels, but Ortiz argued that these are not good enough to properly replicate physical weed control. Galladnt’s lab tested some of the most common weeds in Maine, measuring the force that it would take to pull the plant out of the ground with all its branching roots clinging to the soil, using this to design replica 3D printed model roots that would behave similarly.
With a recently awarded grant for their research, Ortiz intends to expand on their work by collaborating with mechanical engineering professor Bashir Khoda; together they plan on developing nanocoatings that control the orientation of molecules on the 3D printed roots’ surface to mimic the force of tiny root hairs. Ortiz is on track to complete their undergraduate degree in December 2022, though they hope to continue their research at UMaine to pursue a graduate degree focusing on soil science. In the long term, Ortiz hopes to develop a similar 3D printing process for various crops, so methods of physical weed control can be tested so that they do not damage crops while pulling up weeds.
3D printing is an amazing tool. It can grow your small business or start a mini revolution in an industry. Explore what it can do for you when you contact us today.
Disclaimer: Featured image of “Jules Breton – ‘The Weeders’, oil on canvas, 1868, Metropolitan Museum of Art” is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The author of the work of art itself died in 1906, ergo it is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.
Recent Comments