Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Of A Machine-Plant Interface For Extracting Rooted Invasive Aquatic Plants, Brad Baas

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The current solutions for managing rooted aquatic invasive plants are time consuming, have negative environmental impacts, or are cost-limiting for management organizations. The most effective treatment method is hand pulling, but hand pulling is not a feasible solution for a whole lake. A new device, the invasive aquatic plant extractor, aims to replace human divers who hand pull plants with a mechanical system. The device implements a machine-plant interface that resembles the tines of a fork. These tines will be pushed linearly through the substrate, and then raised from the substrate with the plant caught in the tines. The primary …