On March 25, experts including Professor Li Hong, the Vice President; Researcher Xu Lizhang, the Director of the Key Laboratory of Intelligent Agricultural Machinery Equipment Theory and Technology; and Professor Wang Ruochen, the Dean of the School of Automotive and Traffic Engineering, conducted a field inspection of the R&D project on intelligent agricultural machinery equipment for specialty economic crops in hilly and mountainous areas at the sprinkler hall. The project leader, Researcher Zhu Xingye, reported on the progress of the project.

In the sprinkler lab, the project team reported on the project background, research progress, and the achievements made in the interim. The experts observed the entire process of omnidirectional travel and leveling of sprinkler equipment in hilly and mountainous areas, and then, around the test site, discussed the development trends and challenges of the future agricultural machinery industry in hilly and mountainous areas, focusing on the current lack of suitable machinery in the agricultural machinery field of these areas and the need for efficient and stable uphill climbing of agricultural machinery equipment.

The experts emphasized that as a modern agricultural research project with distinctive features of Jiangsu University, the results of the hilly and mountainous area agricultural machinery equipment project should embody both the representativeness of Jiangsu University and the advanced nature of the era. The following three points should be achieved in the subsequent R&D process: First, to tackle the 25° uphill climbing index, ensure the stability and reliability of the equipment, while paying attention to the operational efficiency and load capacity of the equipment. Second, to actively develop the versatility of the chassis, overcome hilly terrain, adapt to various working modes, effectively solve the difficult problem of hillside agricultural machinery, and fully build the Jiangsu University brand of agricultural machinery equipment in hilly and mountainous areas. Third, to strengthen cooperation with enterprises, accelerate the implementation of experimental prototype production, strive to develop a batch of advanced and applicable small, lightweight, multi-functional Jiangsu University agricultural machinery equipment, and enhance the enthusiasm and actual benefits of farmers in hilly and mountainous areas to use agricultural machinery equipment.