{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,19]],"date-time":"2026-04-19T15:44:53Z","timestamp":1776613493842,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":14,"publisher":"Fuji Technology Press Ltd.","issue":"2","funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["JP20K06331"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JP20K06331"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JRM","J. Robot. Mechatron."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Recently, consumers have shown a high level of interest in food safety and security, as well as in reducing environmental impacts. Therefore, for rice, which is the staple food of the Japanese people, its cultivation without the use of herbicides or chemical fertilizers is desired. This paper proposes a two-wheeled weeding robot that floats on a water surface and is equipped with a movable mechanism in which large-diameter wheels contact the soil under their own weight in response to water level height and soil unevenness. The robot body was designed to float on water by placing floats on both sides and spanning the rice row, enabling it to continue moving even as the rice grows. The movable system utilizes a simple yet robust four-bar linkage, which is designed to accommodate soil adhesion. This study first clarified the design method for a four-bar linkage mechanism. Next, it experimentally investigated the effect of the angle of paddles attached to the wheels on the propulsive force. Finally, it experimentally confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed weeding robot.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.20965\/jrm.2026.p0404","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,19]],"date-time":"2026-04-19T15:02:06Z","timestamp":1776610926000},"page":"404-412","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Design and Evaluation of a Two-Wheeled Weeding Robot for Paddy Fields"],"prefix":"10.20965","volume":"38","author":[{"given":"Hiroyuki","family":"Inoue","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Technology, Tsuyama College, 624-1 Numa, Tsuyama, Okayama 708-8509, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hitoshi","family":"Sori","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Technology, Tsuyama College, 624-1 Numa, Tsuyama, Okayama 708-8509, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6201-1475","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Masashi","family":"Sugimoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Technology, Tomakomai College, 443 Nishikioka, Tomakomai, Hokkaido 059-1275, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hiroyuki","family":"Hatta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IKOMA Robotech Corporation, 634-28 Toshima, Tsuyama, Okayama 708-0016, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yasuhiro","family":"Ando","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IKOMA Robotech Corporation, 634-28 Toshima, Tsuyama, Okayama 708-0016, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"8550","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"key-10.20965\/jrm.2026.p0404-1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"T. Mitsui, T. Kobayashi, T. Kagiya, A. Inaba, and S. Ooba, \u201cVerification of a weeding robot \u2018AIGAMO-ROBOT\u2019 for paddy fields,\u201d J. Robot. Mechatron., Vol.20, No.2, pp. 228-233, 2008. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.20965\/jrm.2008.p0228","DOI":"10.20965\/jrm.2008.p0228"},{"key":"key-10.20965\/jrm.2026.p0404-2","unstructured":"S. Nakai and Y. Yamada, \u201cDevelopment of a weed suppression robot for rice cultivation: Weed suppression and posture control,\u201d Int. J. of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Vol.8, No.12, pp. 1886-1890, 2014."},{"key":"key-10.20965\/jrm.2026.p0404-3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Q. Zhang, M. E. S. J. Chen, and B. Li, \u201cA visual navigation algorithm for paddy field weeding robot based on image understanding,\u201d Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Vol.143, pp. 66-78, 2017. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.compag.2017.09.008","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compag.2017.09.008"},{"key":"key-10.20965\/jrm.2026.p0404-4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"H. Madokoro et al., \u201cPrototype development of small mobile robots for mallard navigation in paddy fields: Toward realizing remote farming,\u201d Robotics, Vol.10, No.2, Article No.63, 2021. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/robotics10020063","DOI":"10.3390\/robotics10020063"},{"key":"key-10.20965\/jrm.2026.p0404-5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"K. H. Choi, S. K. Han, K.-H. Park, K.-S. Kim, and S. Kim, \u201cVision based guidance line extraction for autonomous weed control robot in paddy field,\u201d 2015 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Biomimetics, pp. 831-836, 2015. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/ROBIO.2015.7418873","DOI":"10.1109\/ROBIO.2015.7418873"},{"key":"key-10.20965\/jrm.2026.p0404-6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"D. Fujioka, H. Inoue, H. Sori, Y. Ando, and H. Hatta, \u201cDevelopment of turning algorithm for autonomous weeding robot,\u201d Mechanical Engineering Congress 2013, Session No.G151036, 2013 (in Japanese).","DOI":"10.1299\/jsmemecj.2013._G151036-1"},{"key":"key-10.20965\/jrm.2026.p0404-7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"H. Hatta, Y. Ando, K. Iizuka, H. Inoue, and H. Sori, \u201cDevelopment of weeding robot for paddy field,\u201d Mechanical Engineering Congress 2013, Session No.S151013, 2013 (in Japanese).","DOI":"10.1299\/jsmemecj.2013._S151013-1"},{"key":"key-10.20965\/jrm.2026.p0404-8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"S, Akihira, H. Inoue, H. Sori, H. Hatta, and Y. Ando, \u201cWeeding robot control for rice plant line following,\u201d Proc. of the 2015 JSME Conf. on Robotics and Mechatronics, Session No.2P1-B09, 2015 (in Japanese). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1299\/jsmermd.2015._2P1-B09_1","DOI":"10.1299\/jsmermd.2015._2P1-B09_1"},{"key":"key-10.20965\/jrm.2026.p0404-9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"K. Namba, H. Inoue, H. Sori, H. Hatta, and Y. Ando, \u201cRice plant line detection using capacitive touch sensor for weeding robot,\u201d Proc. of the 2015 JSME Conf. on Robotics and Mechatronics, Session No.2P1-B10, 2015 (in Japanese). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1299\/jsmermd.2015._2P1-B10_1","DOI":"10.1299\/jsmermd.2015._2P1-B10_1"},{"key":"key-10.20965\/jrm.2026.p0404-10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"H. Sori, H. Inoue, H. Hatta, and Y. Ando, \u201cEffect for a paddy weeding robot in wet rice culture,\u201d J. Robot. 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Rezaei, \u201cPuddling effects on the shear parameters of paddy field soil,\u201d Agricultural J., Vol.8, No.5, pp. 217-221, 2013."},{"key":"key-10.20965\/jrm.2026.p0404-14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"B. Chen, S. Tojo, and K. 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