Chen Tiaotiao and his mower [Photo/jschina.com.cn]
Chen Tiaotiao, a recent first prize winner in the national agricultural equipment competition for college students, said his self-invented mower was a gift for his father, who is a fruit farmer.
Growing up in Dangshan, Anhui province, a county best known for fruits such as pears, peaches, plums and watermelons, Chen saw his father battling against weeds for many years.
"Weeds grow wild in April and May," Chen said. "If there's rain, they grow even wilder."
He found it hard seeing his father squatting down in the fields and dealing with messy weeds day after day, and realizing there was no mower on the market that could adapt to local landforms finally inspire him to try to design one himself.
The young man joined Jiangsu University, a school with expertise in agricultural engineering, where he spent his entire extracurricular time designing his mower. His concept was recognized with a national invention patent, and also had a trial edition assembled and put into practice this year.
Chen was grateful for getting solid support from his father who, he said, would help him analyze when the experimental data were not good enough, and also encouraged him all the time.
Chen Tiaotiao experiments with his mower on a lawn in Jiangsu University. [Photo/jschina.com.cn]
"My father has been working in the fields for his entire life, and though he lacks theoretical knowledge he is rich in hands-on experience," Chen said, "With my recorded videos, he could easily figure out problems with the machine."
With gradual improvements, the mower now boasts various advantages, such as the handiness of weighing only 20 kilograms, the energy saving capacity to use direct current motors, and the fact its saw teeth can easily be adapted to different landforms.
The young man has finished designing an upgraded version which, he explained, will be embedded with a remote control system to make the machine more intelligent, efficient and useful.
Chen hopes to start his own business making orchard mowers in the future, putting his machine into mass production and benefiting more fruit farmers.
