Development and evaluation of drone mounted sprayer for pesticide applications to crops
Application of crop protection materials is one of the crucial operations in agriculture to meet ever demanding food production. The drone mounted sprayer mainly consists of BLDC motors, LiPo (Lithium polymer) batteries, peticide tank, pump, and supporting frame. Six BLDC motors were mounted to hexa-copter frame to lift of 5 kg payload capacity. Two LiPo batteries of 6 cells — 8000mAh were used to supply the necessary current required for the propulsion system. A 5 liter capacity conical-square shaped fluid tank was used to hold the pesticide solution. A 12 V DC motor coupled with pump was used to pressurize spray liquid and then to atomize in to fine spray droplets by means of four nozzles. A suitable aluminium supporting frame was used to mount the spray liquid tank, sprayer motor, spray and supporting legs (landing gears) for safe take-off and landing. The entire drone mounted sprayer operation controlling with the help of transmitter at ground level, HD FPV camera also provide at front down side of drone sprayer unit to monitoring the live spaying operation. 1.08 ha h−1, respectively at a forward speed of 3.6 km h−1 and 1m height of spray. The cost of operation for groundnut and paddy crops using drone mounted sprayer has been worked out 345 and Rs. 367 Rs ha−1 respectively. The spray uniformity was increased with increase in height of spray and operating pressure. A VMD and NMD of spray droplet size were measured and it was found to be 345 and 270 μm, respectively in lab condition. This sprayer is very useful where human interventions are not possible for spraying of chemicals on crops including rice fields and orchard crops as well as crops under terrain lands. This technology greatly helpful for small farming community in reducing cost of pesticide application and environmental pollution but also biological efficacy of application technology.
International Journal of Agriculture and Biological Sciences- ISSN (2522-6584) July & Aug 2020
(1) School of Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Bioresources and Food Industry, University of Sultan Zainal Abidin, Besut Campus, 22200 Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia (2) Department of Mechanical and Materials, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, National University of Malaysia, Bangi Campus 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia (3) Radial Drone Enterprise, PT22007, Jalan Kolej 6, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia Correspondence: saifuliskandar@unisza.edu.my Contact: Noor Atiqah Badaluddin, phone: +60145384110, email: tieqabada@yahoo.com
Volumetric Collection Efficiency and Droplet Sizing Accuracy of Rotary Impactors
Measurements of spray volume and droplet size are critical to evaluating the movement and transport of applied sprays associated with both crop production and protection practices and vector control applications for public health. Any sampling device used for this purpose will have an efficiency of collection that is a function of the sampling device itself, the droplet size of the spray being sampled, and the airspeeds under which the sampling is conducted. This study focuses on two rotary impaction devices, the Hock and the FLB samplers, that were evaluated under two droplet sized sprays and four airspeeds. The collected spray concentrations were compared to standard passive samplers whose theoretical collection efficiency was calculated and used to estimate the actual spray volume sampled. Additionally, droplet sizing information derived from image analysis of droplet deposits on the rotary impactor collection surfaces was compared to actual measurements of droplet size of the sampled spray cloud. Generally, overall collection efficiencies ranged from 2.5% to 20%, with the FLB being more efficient than the Hock and with lower efficiencies at higher airspeeds for both samplers. Comparison of the droplet sizing data showed that the FLB sampler tended to underpredict the DV10 and DV50 data, while the Hock tended to overpredict the DV50 and DV90 data.