Method and system for high-precision spot spraying of pesticides

Abstract

To distinguish between a spray target and a non-spray target in the vicinity of a spray target during spraying of a chemical or the like in cultivated land. The present invention relates to a method for selectively spraying an area of ​​cultivated land (10) using an agricultural spraying vehicle comprising a spraying equipment (200) having at least one imaging system (210) and at least one trailing spray bar (300) comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310) spaced apart from one another at a fixed pitch distance. The agricultural spraying equipment (200) further comprises a control unit (220) comprising a processing unit for controlling an electromechanical valve (312) of each electromechanical nozzle (310). The method of the present invention comprises the steps of: i) acquiring images of an area of ​​the cultivated land (10) by at least one imaging system (210) and differentiating in the images, by a processing unit, plants to be sprayed (14) from plants not to be sprayed (12); ii) determining at least one nozzle (350) to be positioned substantially vertically above the target plant (14); iii) calculating a spray pattern that is likely to cover the target plants (14) and contact the non-target plants (12) based on a divergence angle of at least one nozzle (350) and a vertical distance between the nozzle (350) and the area to be selectively sprayed; iv) calculating a distance, referred to as a spray shift distance (354), expressing the spray shift distance (354) as a multiple of the pitch between nozzles to laterally shift the spray pattern such that the shifted pattern does not cover non-target plants (12) and covers target plants (14); v) laterally shifting at least one nozzle (350) located above the target plant (14) by a spray shift distance (354) so ​​that the spray pattern from the at least one newly selected nozzle (352) is not sprayed onto the non-target plant (12). Equipped with.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of agricultural plant treatment, and more particularly to a method of selective application using high accuracy and high resolution spot spraying. [Background technology]

[0002] Spot spraying is the function of applying droplets of liquid to specific, predefined locations. This approach has recently emerged as a way to significantly reduce the amount of pesticides in agriculture. In fact, the application of chemicals in agriculture is currently done with nozzles operating continuously. All objects in the nozzle's trajectory are sprayed. Modulation techniques such as nozzle flow control by PWM can contribute to the reduction and optimization of the dose, but they do not fundamentally change the problems of standard sprayers that use non-targeted application. Spraying chemicals everywhere is an inefficient process that leads to higher costs, increased chemical residues in soils and plants, harm to biodiversity, damage to crop yields due to phytotoxicity, and increased amounts of water transported.

[0003] In spot spraying, the nozzles are equipped with electromechanically controlled valves that allow the flow to be switched on and off very quickly. The flow is off by default and only switched on when spraying the target. This allows for a significant reduction in chemicals, which also reduces costs. Chemical residues, water and soil contamination and harmful consequences for biodiversity are significantly reduced. Finally, when crops are sprayed in small doses, phytotoxicity due to limited selectivity is significantly reduced, resulting in healthier crops with better pest resistance and therefore increased crop yields.

[0004] In spray applications, whether continuous or spot sprays, two important variables must be controlled to guarantee the effectiveness of the application. The first variable is the size of the droplets, which fundamentally affects the way in which the liquid interacts with the target. In most applications on plants, the desired effect is the absorption of the liquid by the plant leaves (or, more precisely, the absorption of the active molecules carried by the transport liquid, which is universally water). To obtain good absorption, the droplets must be of a controlled size. If they are too small, they will evaporate in the air or drift on the wind before reaching the target. If they are too large, the droplets will roll over the plant without penetrating it. The second variable is the dose or amount of liquid applied per unit area.

[0005] Two variables affect the droplet size: the pressure of application (the higher the liquid velocity, the more fragmented and smaller the droplets) and the nozzle geometry (divergence angle, shape of the spray pattern, flow rate, nozzle outlet shape, etc.). Nozzles are usually machined and fixed, so these variables cannot be changed in situ. The divergence angle and flow rate are fixed and only affected by pressure. The pressure is usually constant and fixed to a value that produces the ideal droplet size. Nozzles are usually interchangeable on the machine to accommodate different application scenarios of different droplet sizes and application rates. For this, systems with manual or automatic changeover between different nozzles have been developed. However, these changes are usually made from one field to another, from one crop to another, or from one application type to another (herbicide, fungicide, etc.), while the nozzle is fixed during field operations.

[0006] In conventional agricultural spraying applications, multiple nozzles are arranged on a spray bar aligned perpendicular to the displacement direction of the vehicle on which they are mounted and parallel to the surface to be sprayed. The nozzles feature a diverging spray angle to apply the liquid evenly to the surface to be sprayed, typically the ground, but also to vertical plant leaves to be sprayed laterally. The nozzles are usually spaced apart from each other at a uniform pitch distance. Their diverging jets will allow application of the liquid to a given surface, depending on the distance from the nozzle to the target (usually the height distance from the nozzle to the ground or plant).

[0007] Typically, this height is chosen so that the application width corresponds to the nozzle-to-nozzle distance, eliminating any jet overlap or areas of jet leakage. However, the application distance, usually also the height, can be increased, in which case adjacent nozzle jets will overlap. Thus, the applied dose per unit area depends not only on the flow rate of each nozzle, but also on the density of nozzles per unit length, given by the nozzle-to-nozzle pitch distance. Height affects the overlap, but not the dose. Obviously, the dose is also inversely proportional to the vehicle speed.

[0008] The control of the spray solution per unit area is of fundamental importance for the efficiency of application. In a spray configuration with a constant and fixed nozzle flow rate and a fixed nozzle pitch, the only remaining control variable is the vehicle speed. In practice, this is the preferred control variable if the farmer wants to change the applied dose per unit area. In fact, the farmer cannot easily change the nozzle, the density on the spray bar (nozzle pitch distance), the application pressure, or the recommended spray rate of the mixture. The farmer also has a little freedom in diluting the active ingredient, but within the tolerances specified by the chemical preparation and the operating conditions (temperature and humidity).

[0009] A few decades ago, pulse width modulation (PWM) was introduced in sprayers to allow better dose control. In this technology, electromechanically actuated valves are placed in front of each nozzle to rapidly switch their flow on and off. The jet duty cycle (duration of jet opening over the total duration) can be varied from a minimum level to full nozzle opening to change the average applied nozzle flow rate. To obtain a homogeneous application, this process must occur at a relatively high commutation frequency, the limit being the opening and closing speed of the electromechanically controlled valve. This technology allows the disposal of another variable to control the flow rate, and therefore the dose per unit area, independent of the speed of the sprayer. This allowed, for example, to reduce the flow inside the spray bar and increase the flow outside, taking into account the radius of the U-turn with the sprayer, thus maintaining a uniform application rate over the entire ground.

[0010] Contrary to the above mentioned conventional spray application where the liquid is applied everywhere in a uniform way and all the nozzles spray together, in spot spray application the liquid is applied only to some specific targets (part of one plant, whole plant, group of plants, part of ground or other targets). For this, to control with high precision where the product is applied, the system needs to place the nozzle at a precise position and perform very short spraying operations, which are pulses of a given duration. If the jet is divergent, i.e. small droplets are required, the divergence angle, the distance to the target and the shape of the nozzle pattern determine the size of the spray spot and its shape. Placing the nozzle close to the target will result in a small spot but more will be applied per unit area. Placing the nozzle at a greater distance will result in a larger spot but less will be applied per unit area.

[0011] If the machine is moving, its movement will change the dose applied per unit area. For example, consider a 5x5cm square spray pattern and a spray pulse duration of 25ms. If the machine is moving at 2m / s, the spray will move 5cm during the 25ms of the pulse, so the square will no longer be a square. The spot is 5x10cm in size, so the dose per unit area will be divided by 2 on average. Another effect of movement is that the nozzle must be opened before passing vertically over the target, taking into account the time required for the stream to fly from the nozzle to the target. This time is the spray distance divided by the spray velocity. The same time must be used to predict the nozzle opening before the nozzle passes vertically over the target. Vehicle motion converts this time into a predicted distance equal to the time multiplied by the vehicle speed.

[0012] To accurately position a nozzle for spraying, its lateral and longitudinal positions must be controlled. In the longitudinal direction (direction with respect to the vehicle's motion), the position of the spraying operation is determined only by the correct timing between image acquisition (where the target is located) and spraying. Knowing the speed of the vehicle, its position is precisely controlled by controlling the exact moment the jet opens. The lateral position can be controlled by moving the nozzle laterally. In practice, this is complicated to achieve and fixed high-density nozzle arrays are preferred. The pitch, i.e. the distance between two adjacent nozzles, is important as it determines the possible discrete positions of the jet. The possible positions of the jet are determined by the arrangement of the nozzles along the spray bar, although their positioning accuracy relative to the ground or vegetation can be much higher than the pitch. Obviously, the smaller the pitch, the better the control of the lateral position of the jet.

[0013] Simply put, dose control, or the amount of fluid applied per unit area, is important for any spray application. In a traditional sprayer, the nozzle lateral density, flow rate and pressure are fixed and the dose can only be controlled by the speed of the nozzle on the ground. By adding PWM control of the nozzle flow rate, the dose can be controlled independent of vehicle speed. For spot spraying, two more variables affect the dose. The first is the duration of the impulse opening and the second is the height of the nozzle above the ground.

[0014] With any sprayer, a common problem is nozzle clogging, which is exacerbated by nozzles with small flow rates. To prevent clogging, the usual method is to use filters to retain particles large enough to block the flow. These filters are used at the nozzle, at the level of the pressure system, or both. Because nozzle clogging is not easily observable by the farmer and can occur at any time, easy and ideally automatic detection of nozzle clogging is critical for a reliable spraying operation.

[0015] Finally, although dose control can be efficiently performed, dose metering, whether direct or indirect, is desirable to provide information to the applicator user and to ensure that the approved dose per unit area is respected. Direct dose metering measures the volume of liquid applied and, knowing the area treated by the machine, calculates the dose per unit area. Indirect dose metering counts the time the nozzle is open and extrapolates the dose based on the known nozzle flow rate.

[0016] US Patent No. 5,399,633 describes a spraying system for controlling the application rate used in conventional spraying systems (continuous spraying) where two nozzles are used together to spray the same area, one with a constant flow rate and one with a variable flow rate, modulated by PWM. The PWM ratio is controlled as a function of the height of the ramp and the pressure of the system, which is also measured, to ensure the desired flow rate.

[0017] Patent Document 2 describes a spraying system in which a plurality of spray bars equipped with a combination of nozzles can be assembled, either overlapping or not.

[0018] US Patent No. 5,399,633 describes a combination of multiple nozzles controlled by electric valves and operating in combination to provide a wide range of spray flow. The system combines continuous and PWM operation of two composite nozzles aligned in the forward direction of spray. It also uses the jet overlap of adjacent nozzles to adjust the spray flow. A mode selection algorithm is implemented to control the deposition rate taking into account the vehicle speed, the desired application speed, the modulation map, and the bar height. By controlling the number of nozzles in operation, the duty cycle, and the nozzle mode (continuous or PWM), the flow rate can be controlled over a wide range and pressure or velocity fluctuations can be compensated for. All these settings operate in continuous flow mode.

[0019] US Patent No. 5,399,633 describes a system for controlling spray flow rates that uses PWM individually for each nozzle and calculates the duty cycle as a function of several variables such as vehicle speed, bar height, turning radius, modulation map, etc.

[0020] These systems have the disadvantage of uniformly distributing chemicals over cultivated land, resulting in high chemical residues in the soil and plants, damaging biodiversity and crop yields. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0021] [Patent Document 1] European Patent Application Publication No. 3539376 [Patent Document 2] U.S. Patent No. 10,390,481 [Patent Document 3] European Patent Application Publication No. 2995382 [Patent Document 4] US Patent Application Publication No. 2010 / 032492 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0022] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for selectively spraying cultivated land using the relationship of plant characteristics, allowing spraying of certain plants while avoiding spraying of other certain plants.

[0023] It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for detecting clogging of a spray nozzle in an agricultural spray system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0024] These objects are in particular achieved by a method for selectively spraying areas of cultivated land with an agricultural spraying vehicle. The vehicle comprises a spraying installation comprising at least one imaging system and at least one trailing spraying bar aligned in operation along a direction perpendicular to the direction of the agricultural spraying vehicle. The trailing spraying bar comprises a plurality of electromechanical nozzles arranged at a pitch distance apart from one another and configured for selectively spraying said areas. The plurality of electromechanical nozzles comprises a corresponding plurality of nozzles and a corresponding plurality of electromechanical valves. The agricultural spraying installation further comprises a control unit comprising a tank and a pressure system and a processing unit for controlling the electromechanical valves of each electromechanical nozzle. The method comprises: i) acquiring an image of an area of ​​cultivated land by at least one imaging system and distinguishing in said image plants to be sprayed from plants that should not be sprayed by said processing unit; ii) determining at least one nozzle disposed substantially vertically above the plant to be sprayed; iii) calculating a spray pattern over the area to be selectively sprayed based on a divergence angle of the at least one nozzle and a vertical distance between the nozzle and the area to be selectively sprayed, the spray pattern covering plants to be sprayed and potentially touching plants that should not be sprayed; iv) calculating a distance, called a jet shift distance, by which the spray pattern is shifted laterally such that the shifted spray pattern covers plants that should be sprayed without covering plants that should not be sprayed, and expressing the jet shift distance as a multiple of the nozzle pitch; v) shifting the spray pattern laterally by the jet shift distance by shifting at least one nozzle positioned vertically above the plants to be sprayed, so that the spray pattern from the at least one newly selected nozzle is not sprayed on plants that should not be sprayed; Equipped with.

[0025] In one embodiment, the mask defining the plants to be sprayed is extended radially in all directions to determine an extended area to be sprayed, ensuring that the corresponding plants are sprayed correctly even in the presence of inaccuracies in the lateral position of the selected nozzle or in the opening and closing moment of the nozzle.

[0026] In one embodiment, the mask defining the plant to be sprayed ensures that the corresponding plant to be sprayed is included within the corresponding plant to be sprayed in order to determine the reduced area to be sprayed, even if there is an inaccuracy in the lateral position of the selected nozzle or in the opening and closing moment of the nozzle.

[0027] In one embodiment, the laterally opposite side of the expansion or contraction area is reduced a distance corresponding to the lateral spray shift distance to determine a laterally contracted spray area to prevent lateral spray divergence from causing the spray pattern to fall outside of the radially expanded or contracted area corresponding to the plants being sprayed.

[0028] In one embodiment, a buffer zone is calculated around plants identified by at least one imaging system as not to be sprayed, the buffer zone being a portion of the reduced spray zone to determine a further reduced spray zone.

[0029] In one embodiment, the control unit controls one or more electromechanical valves of the electromechanical nozzle to: i) the shift patterns as described above; ii) the speed of the agricultural spraying vehicle; and iii) the height of the spray bar above the cultivated land; iv) the pressure of the liquid in the spray bar provided by the pressure system; and v) the volume per unit area that is applied and Select and open using the relationship.

[0030] In one embodiment, electromechanical valves of multiple electromechanical nozzles are controlled to open the spray nozzles to apply a dose volume ranging from 25% to 100% of the total spray volume according to any of the following configurations a to f: a Open all nozzles on the spray bar to spray 100% of the total dose. b Every third adjacent spray nozzle of the spray bar is open, where one spray nozzle is closed for every third adjacent spray nozzle to spray 75% of the total dose. c every two adjacent spray nozzles of the spray bar are open, where one spray nozzle is closed for every two adjacent spray nozzles to spray 66% of the total dose. d. Open every other one of two adjacent nozzles on the spray bar to spray 50% of the total dose. e. Open every third adjacent spray nozzle on the spray bar to spray 33% of the total dose. f Open every fourth adjacent spray nozzle on the spray bar to spray 25% of the total dose.

[0031] In one embodiment, the selection and opening of one or more electromechanical valves of a corresponding nozzle is combined with PWM to further modulate the applied dose to increase the accuracy of the total applied volume per unit area.

[0032] In one embodiment, the selection and opening of one or more electromechanical valves of a corresponding nozzle is varied periodically between successive PWM pulses to obtain an interleaved spot distribution pattern with improved application uniformity.

[0033] In one embodiment, one of two adjacent nozzles is open during a first PWM pulse and one of the two adjacent nozzles is open during a second PWM pulse.

[0034] In one embodiment, the spraying equipment comprises at least two spray bars arranged parallel to each other, each of the spray bars comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles, the plurality of nozzles of each spray bar being spaced apart from each other by a constant pitch distance, one spray bar being laterally shifted from the other spray bar by a distance equal to half the pitch distance.

[0035] In one embodiment, the spraying equipment comprises at least three spray bars arranged parallel to each other. Each spray bar comprises a plurality of electromechanical nozzles. The nozzles of each spray bar are arranged at a pitch distance apart from each other. One spray bar is laterally shifted from one of the two other spray bars by a distance equal to one third of the pitch distance, and one spray bar is laterally shifted from the other of the two other spray bars by a distance equal to two thirds of the pitch distance.

[0036] Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for selectively spraying an area of ​​cultivated land using an agricultural spraying vehicle comprising a spraying equipment, the spraying equipment comprising at least one imaging system and at least two spray bars arranged parallel to one another, each spray bar comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles including a corresponding plurality of nozzles and a corresponding plurality of electromechanical valves, the nozzles of each spray bar being spaced apart from one another by a fixed pitch distance, one spray bar being laterally shifted from the other spray bar by a distance equal to half the pitch distance, the agricultural spraying equipment further comprising a tank and pressure system per spray bar, and a control unit including a processing unit controlling the electromechanical valves of each electromechanical nozzle of each spray bar, the control unit comprising: i) operating one of the two spray bars in a first mode in which both spray bars are independent of each other and each spray bar sprays a different product in a different location; or ii) combining two spray bars together and treating them as a single bar with twice the lateral spatial nozzle density and operating the two spray bars in a second mode spraying the same product; It has either

[0037] In one embodiment, the spraying equipment comprises at least three spray bars arranged parallel to each other, each of the spray bars comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles, the plurality of nozzles of each spray bar being arranged at a pitch distance apart from each other, one spray bar being laterally shifted from one of the two other spray bars by a distance equal to one third of the pitch distance, and one spray bar being laterally shifted from the other of the two other spray bars by a distance equal to two thirds of the pitch distance.

[0038] Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for determining clogging of a spray nozzle of an agricultural spray system, the agricultural spray system comprising a tank and a pressure system, a main electromechanical valve mounted downstream of the tank and the pressure system, and a spray bar comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles, each of the electromechanical nozzles having a nozzle and an electromechanical valve downstream of the main electromechanical valve, the spray bar comprising conduits extending from the main electromechanical valve to each electromechanical valve of the plurality of electromechanical nozzles, a pressure buffer in fluid communication with the conduits of the spray bar, and a pressure sensor arranged to measure pressure in the conduits. The method comprises: a closing an electromechanical valve of any of the plurality of electromechanical nozzles when the electromechanical valve is in an open state; b. closing the main electromechanical valve to isolate the spray bar from the tank and pressure system; c measuring the pressure p1 in the spray bar; d. actuating an electromechanical valve to open a single electromechanical nozzle K for a period of time; e) Step of measuring the pressure p2 in the spray bar It is equipped with. If the difference between the pressure p1 measured in step c and the pressure p2 measured in step e exceeds a given threshold value depending on the absolute pressure p1, the nozzle k is considered not clogged, if said difference is below said given threshold value the nozzle k is considered to be at least partially clogged.

[0039] In one embodiment, steps c to e are repeated for each nozzle (k+1, ..., K+i..., k+n) of the plurality of electromechanical nozzles.

[0040] In one embodiment, if the pressure p2 measured in step e is below a predetermined minimum pressure, the main electromechanical valve opens to fill the pressure buffer before repeating steps c through e.

[0041] In one embodiment, the pressure buffer is an elastic pressure buffer element that has a proportional and known relationship between the pressure in the buffer and the volume of liquid stored in the buffer.

[0042] Another aspect of the invention relates to an agricultural spraying vehicle comprising an agricultural spraying system, the agricultural spraying system comprising a tank and a pressure system, a main electromechanical valve mounted downstream of the tank and the pressure system, and a spray bar comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles, each of which comprises a nozzle and an electromechanical valve downstream of the main electromechanical valve. The spray bar comprises a conduit extending from the main electromechanical valve to each electromechanical valve of the plurality of electromechanical nozzles, a pressure buffer in fluid communication with the conduit of the spray bar, and a pressure sensor arranged to measure the pressure in the conduit. The agricultural spraying vehicle further comprises a control unit comprising a processor configured to execute the method as described above, and a display unit for displaying clogging information for each nozzle.

[0043] Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for controlling the amount of application per unit area to a cultivated land of an agricultural spraying vehicle moving over the cultivated land applying selective spot spraying, the agricultural spraying vehicle comprising a spot spraying equipment, the equipment comprising an imaging system and a trailing spray bar arranged perpendicular to the movement of the equipment, the spray bar comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles arranged at a fixed pitch distance apart from each other, the plurality of electromechanical nozzles each comprising a nozzle and an electromechanical valve, the spraying equipment further comprising a tank and a pressure system with a pressure sensor, a control unit for processing the images and controlling the electromechanical valve of each electromechanical nozzle, and a spray bar height control unit for positioning the nozzles at a desired distance from an object to be sprayed, the method comprising: i) acquiring an image of the field area by said at least one imaging system and distinguishing, on said image, plants that should be sprayed from plants that should not be sprayed, to obtain a segmented image with a spray mask and a non-spray mask by said processing unit; ii) determining the density of active nozzles per unit length based on the desired volume per unit area, vehicle speed and hydraulic pressure to be applied to ensure consistent jet overlap, and determining the vertical distance from the nozzles to the target; iii) adjusting the open nozzle flow with a PWM ratio to obtain the desired volume per unit area of ​​application; iv) selecting the maximum distance between a minimum height of the spray bar as determined by a user and the determined vertical distance from the nozzle to the target; v) moving the spread bar with the spread bar height control unit to position the nozzle at the determined vertical distance from the nozzle to the target; vi) calculating a lateral spray shift distance corresponding to half the spray spot width on the ground based on the nozzle divergence angle, the liquid pressure and the previously selected maximum vertical distance; vii) from the input segmented plant image including a mask of spraying plants and a mask of non-spraying plants, extending the mask of spraying plants by a predetermined distance to obtain an extended spraying mask; viii) laterally reducing the size of the expanded distribution mask by the calculated lateral jet shift distance to obtain a reduced distribution mask; ix) further taking into account the open nozzles and the PWM ratio, defining a nozzle firing map by the intersection of the trajectory of the nozzles of the spray bar with the mask; X) converting the nozzle firing map into a time-varying electromechanical valve state vector and applying a signal to the electromechanical valve based on the time-varying electromechanical valve state vector; Equipped with.

[0044] In one embodiment, the method further comprises applying a buffer area extending radially in all directions around the mask of plants that should not be sprayed to obtain a no-spray mask.

[0045] In one embodiment, the laterally reduced spraying mask is further clipped at a buffer distance by a non-sprayed extended mask resulting from an extension of the mask of non-sprayed plants prior to defining said nozzle actuation map.

[0046] The invention will be better understood with the aid of the description of embodiments given by way of example and illustrated in the figures. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0047] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of an agricultural spraying system according to one embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 shows a schematic front view of a spray bar of a spot spray system according to one embodiment. [Figure 3a] FIG. 3a shows one schematic front view of a portion of the dispersion bar of FIG. 2 between a first dispersion configuration and a second dispersion configuration according to the principle of lateral jet shifting according to one embodiment. [Figure 3b] FIG. 3b shows another schematic front view of a portion of the dispersion bar of FIG. 2 between a first dispersion configuration and a second dispersion configuration according to the principle of lateral jet shifting according to an embodiment. [Figure 4a]FIG. 4a shows a schematic front view of the nozzles of a sparge bar when all nozzles are actuated according to one operational configuration according to one embodiment. [Figure 4b] FIG. 4b shows a schematic front view of the nozzles of the sparge bar when three of the four nozzles are activated according to another operational configuration according to an embodiment. [Figure 4c] FIG. 4c shows a schematic front view of the nozzles of the sparge bar when two of the three nozzles are activated according to another operational configuration according to one embodiment. [Figure 4d] FIG. 4d shows a schematic front view of the nozzles of the sparge bar when one of the two nozzles is activated according to another operating configuration according to one embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 shows a schematic front view of a portion of a spread bar with active and inactive nozzles as a function of nozzle distance from the ground and desired overlap percentage according to one embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 shows a schematic perspective view of a spray bar of a spot spraying system with different spray patterns according to one embodiment. [Figure 7a] FIG. 7a shows a schematic top view of a portion of a cultivated field being sprayed with treated plants (target plants) and non-treated plants (non-target plants) according to one embodiment. [Figure 7b] FIG. 7b shows a schematic top view of adjacent areas surrounding a target plant of an extended spray area according to one embodiment. [Figure 7c] FIG. 7c shows a view similar to FIG. 7b with an extended dispersion area that is laterally reduced in dimension by a distance corresponding to a lateral jet shift according to one embodiment. [Figure 7d] FIG. 7d shows a view similar to FIG. 7c with the expanded spray area further reduced by a buffer distance around plants that are not sprayed according to an embodiment. [Figure 7e] FIG. 7e shows the trajectory of a nozzle with an actuation area defining a dispersion map. [Figure 7f] FIG. 7f shows the resulting scatter pattern after converting the scatter map into nozzle open / close states (state vectors). [Figure 8] FIG. 8 shows a schematic perspective view of a dual mode spot spraying system with two spray bars according to an embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a nozzle array control algorithm with inputs and outputs for controlling a spot spraying system according to an embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 shows a detailed diagram of the nozzle array control algorithm. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 shows a diagram of a clogged nozzle detection algorithm according to one embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 shows a schematic diagram of a clogged nozzle detection algorithm with inputs and outputs for detecting clogged nozzles according to one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0048] 1, an agricultural spraying equipment 200 according to one embodiment includes a plurality of imaging devices 210. The imaging devices 210 have respective observation sites 212 within their imaging ranges for detecting cultivated plants 12 and non-cultivated plants 14, such as weeds, on a cultivated field 10. The spraying equipment 200 further includes a spraying bar 300 followed by the imaging devices 210. The spraying bar includes a plurality of electromechanical nozzles 310, for example between 20 and 50.

[0049] Referring to FIG. 2 showing an agricultural spraying equipment 200 with one unit section of a spray bar, each electromechanical nozzle 310 has a nozzle 314 and an electromechanical valve 312 configured to switch on and off quickly and with high timing precision to control the nozzle 314 jet. These nozzles have diverging jets (mainly laterally) to apply microdroplets to a specific area at a specific distance. Multiple nozzles are assembled in a row, usually uniformly separated by a given distance called the nozzle pitch distance, to form a spray bar 300. The spray bars are arranged in parallel to the area to be sprayed. Multiple spray bars can be assembled to expand the spraying width of the system.

[0050] The sparge bar 300 is in fluid communication with the tank and pressure system 230 and is adapted to supply the sparge bar 300 with the liquid to be sparged at a desired pressure, the output of which forms a common inlet to a number of electromechanical nozzles 310 that are separated from one another by a fixed pitch along the sparge bar. A pressure buffer 332 and a pressure sensor 334 are in fluid communication with the sparge bar 300 downstream of the electromechanical valve 330 at the sparge input.

[0051] The agricultural spraying equipment 200 further includes a control unit 220 that controls the electromechanical valve 314 of the nozzle 310 to timely switch the nozzle on and off using the relationship between the plants 12 and the non-cultivated plants 14 detected by the imaging device 210. The control unit 220 communicates with the spray bar control unit 210. The spray bar control unit 210 senses the distance from the spray bar 300 to the ground to control the actuator to lower or lift the spray bar at a desired distance as a function of the spray range calculated in real time by the control unit 220. The spray range is calculated as a function (using the relationship) between the plants 12 and the non-cultivated plants 14 (e.g., weeds) detected by the imaging device 210.

[0052] The agricultural spraying equipment 200 allows control of the distance between the spray bar 300 and the area on the cultivated land 10 to be sprayed. Typically, the area is cultivated land, but may also be vertical cultivation structures or vertical vegetation with lateral spraying features. The nozzle jet is typically perpendicular to the area to be sprayed, although other angles are possible. The spray bar is mounted on a moving vehicle with the bar direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the vehicle, and spray application occurs as the nozzles are displaced over the area to be sprayed at a speed controllable by the agricultural spraying equipment 200.

[0053] A first aspect of the invention deals with controlling which nozzles are activated to spray portions of a target ground surface but avoid spraying other nearby portions. The invention takes into account knowledge of the distance of the nozzle from the object and the angle of jet divergence to activate the nozzle that is best for avoiding spraying unwanted objects. Typically, the nozzle 350 located directly above the object to be sprayed is selected for spraying. However, due to the angle of divergence, the operation results in spraying of nearby objects, e.g. plants. To avoid such unwanted spraying, the selected nozzle 352 activated for spraying is shifted a distance 354 in the opposite direction, which is referred to as the lateral jet shift distance, equivalent to half the spray width at ground level.

[0054] One embodiment provides a method to independently control the switching of each nozzle to apply a spray spot with high spatial precision and high dose control, independent of nozzle speed, nozzle distance to target, and fluid pressure.

[0055] One embodiment includes a method to control the dosage per unit area using a variable number of nozzles per unit length, which means that the height of the bar above the ground is sufficient to have and achieve a uniform application and overlap rate.

[0056] 3a and 3b, in the case of a non-grown plant 14, where a weed or the like that needs to be sprayed is laterally adjacent to a cultivated plant 12 that should not be sprayed, the distance from the nozzle to the target plant and the divergence of the spray are used to calculate the lateral shift 354 of the spray. The lateral shift 354 is a distance that corresponds to a multiple of the nozzle pitch distance. Instead of activating the nozzle 350 that is perpendicular to the target plant 14, the next nozzle 352 whose distance to the perpendicular nozzle 350 corresponds to the lateral shift distance 354 is selected for spraying. As a result, the spray pattern 320 on the ground is shifted so that it no longer extends over the cultivated plant 12.

[0057] The following table shows the dose that can be obtained as a function of the multiple open and closed pattern of the nozzles. Obviously, the larger the pattern, the higher the spread bar must be above the ground to maintain a homogeneous application. The right-hand column shows the minimum spread bar height, expressed as a multiple of the minimum height that provides optimal overlap when all nozzles are active.

[0058] [Table 1]

[0059] These different pattern configurations are shown diagrammatically in Figures 4a to 4d. Figure 4a shows a dispersion bar or a portion of a dispersion bar when all nozzles are activated (100% of the flow rate per unit length of the dispersion bar), which corresponds to a nozzle density pattern of 1111. The numbers indicate the number of jets in the dispersion. This also corresponds to the jet overlap ratio. A distance of 2h gives an overlap ratio of 2, and a distance of 3h gives an overlap ratio of 3. The uniformity of application is obtained with distances h, 2h, 3h, and 4h for overlap ratios of 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively.

[0060] Figure 4b is a diagram similar to Figure 4a, but using 3 nozzles for 4 applications (75% of flow rate, pattern 1110). Uniformity of application is obtained with an overlap rate of 3 and a distance of 4h.

[0061] Figure 4c is a similar view to Figure 4b, but using 2 nozzles for 3 applications (66% of flow rate, pattern 110). Uniformity of application is obtained with a distance of 3h for an overlap rate of 2.

[0062] Figure 4d shows a similar view to Figure 4c, but using one nozzle and one nozzle for two applications (50% of the flow rate, pattern 10). The uniformity of application is obtained at distances of 2h and 4h for overlap rates of 1 and 2, respectively.

[0063] Another aspect of the invention is the use of height to control dosage. Height is not typically used to control dosage with standard spray bars because it affects overlap, but the dosage per unit length is given by nozzle density and flow rate. However, with spot spraying, the dosage per unit area is more directly controlled by height, which affects the area of ​​the spray.

[0064] With reference to Figure 5, the relationship between the pattern of active nozzles and their respective distance from the ground is shown from left to right. First, two adjacent nozzles are active (distance p between active nozzles). To spray the entire ground without overlapping of the jets, the distance from the nozzles to the ground should be h. Second, two nozzles are active with a separation distance of 2p. In this case, to get complete coverage of the ground with the jets without overlapping of the jets, the distance from the vertical nozzles to the ground should be 2h. Third, the nozzle distance is 3p, so the ideal height should be 3h. Finally, on the right side, the nozzle distance is 4p and to get complete ground coverage without overlapping, the distance from the nozzles to the ground should be 4h.

[0065] Another aspect of the invention is to combine PWM with spray overlap and use speed and height information to adjust the PWM ratio. One common way to regulate the dosage of a spray system is to employ rapid switch on and off operation of the nozzles. By playing with the ratio of on and off states (pulse width modulation), the flow rate can be varied. One aspect of the invention is to use PWM in combination with the spray overlap rate to control the dosage per unit area. This allows more granularity in the dosage control for a given speed, a given height, and a given spray overlap pattern.

[0066] The following table shows possible combinations of spray overlap patterns and PWM ratios to ensure continuous dose control between 33% and 100% of the dose at a given speed. The height should be a minimum of 3 times the height required to avoid overlapping all active nozzles.

[0067] [Table 2]

[0068] In the embodiment as shown in FIG. 6, the vertical distance between the distal end of the nozzles connected to the spray bar 300 and the ground makes the lateral spot spray dimension twice the inter-nozzle pitch. Spray pattern A shows the case where spot spraying is performed using a spatial combination of several successive spray operations, avoiding jet overlap and with a total width corresponding to the width of the object to be sprayed. Spray pattern B shows the case where a jet overlap of a factor of 2 is desired and spot spraying is obtained in the center of the spot. Spray pattern C is obtained by adjacent PWM jets, all aligned laterally, showing no lateral overlap between them. Between successive PWM pulses, the active nozzles are shifted laterally by one unit (interleaved spot spraying), providing better spray homogeneity. Spray pattern D is obtained by interleaved PWM pulses with a jet overlap of a factor of 2. The PWM duty cycle is selected to be shorter than in example C. Spray pattern E is obtained when all nozzles are turned on simultaneously, creating a spray line. Leaving the nozzle on provides a continuous spray operation like a traditional sprayer (no spot spraying).

[0069] Another aspect of the invention is to use interleaving (or lateral shifting of selected nozzles) between two successive PWM pulses to better homogenize the dose. One problem with PWM is that it interrupts the flow and causes loss of uniformity in the applied dose. To help reduce this effect, one aspect of the invention is to laterally shift the dispersion pattern by one nozzle pitch between two PWM pulses to obtain an interleaved (or mosaic) position of the spot center, resulting in better homogeneity. This method can be used without PWM, and the increment of one nozzle pitch helps to properly position the dispersion shape laterally. This method can be used with different PWM ratios between two successive commutations, further enhancing the dynamics of the dose control.

[0070] Another aspect of the invention is the use of interleaved PWM with longitudinal jet overlap to better homogenize the dose. The above tool can actually be combined with jet overlap to control the dose. This is obtained by longitudinally overlapping two successive (and therefore interleaved) spray patterns. This allows a wider range of dose control. The distance between the nozzle and the ground inevitably creates some drift of the droplets, which helps to homogenize the dose per unit area.

[0071] Another aspect of the invention is to control and manage the extension of the spray around a given target in spot spray applications. The target of the spray, e.g. a plant, must sometimes be completely covered by the spray spot. To ensure this is true despite possible positioning errors, the system must spray in a defined radial extension of the spray area around and outside the target. This allows the entire range of the target to be sprayed despite errors in nozzle opening and closing timing and lateral nozzle positioning.

[0072] The same can be applied with a radial reduction of the target area, resulting in an application that is strictly contained within the target area. This is necessary, for example, when application is to ensure that the applied product reaches one target and one target only, and to avoid applying the applied product behind or outside the target area. When the target boundary is radially reduced, the applied spot falls entirely within a plant feature (e.g. a leaf).

[0073] Yet another aspect of the invention is to apply a buffer (exclusion) area around a target that should not be sprayed, ensuring that even with some spraying inaccuracy, the spot spray will not touch plants located within the buffer area. A buffer area can be defined around a target using the exclusion function. This means that you want to avoid spraying the target at all costs. Thus, the spraying system can define a geometry that surrounds the geometry of a given target of any shape, with a certain overlap distance. This "buffer" geometry is then used as the exclusion area for the spraying system.

[0074] Figures 7a to 7f show different spraying methods according to this aspect. For example, Figure 7a shows a schematic top view of a part of a field with plants 14 to be sprayed and plants 12 not to be sprayed. Figure 7b shows the shape of the target to be sprayed extended radially by a distance 52 to present an extended area 50 of the target. Figure 7c shows the extended area contracting laterally by a lateral distance 54 and a distance 55, which correspond to the lateral jet shift distance. Figure 7d shows the resulting shape further cropped by a safety buffer distance created around the non-target object to prevent the jet from touching it. Figure 7e shows the intersection of the nozzle trajectory on the field with the shape to be sprayed, forming a zone 62 in which the nozzle is active between the intersections. Figure 7f shows the spray pattern 64 obtained with two nozzle activation zones.

[0075] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, a combination of two spray bars with the same nozzle pitch distance is used in parallel close to each other. The second bar 304 is laterally shifted by half the nozzle pitch distance 306 from the first bar 302. This implementation allows the spray system to be operated in so-called dual mode spraying. In the first mode, the two spray bars operate independently of each other and spray different products in different locations. They can operate both in continuous spray mode, or both in spot spray mode, or the first in spot spray mode and the second in continuous mode, or vice versa. In this mode, both bars can be independently adjusted in terms of dose per unit area, bar height, bar pressure, since each bar has its own pressure system. In the second mode, the two spray bars are operated together and spray the same liquid with the same pressure. The lateral shift of half the nozzle pitch between the two bars allows the lateral distance between the two nozzles to be reduced by a factor of two, improving the lateral spray spatial resolution by a factor of two. The fact that the nozzles are not arranged in a single line must be compensated for by a suitable timing decay between the openings of the first and second bar nozzles. Examples of multiple distributions obtained with dual mode distribution are illustrated. To obtain distribution patterns A and B, the two bars are combined to perform spot distributions with different PWM duty cycles. To obtain distribution patterns C and D, they are used to perform spot distributions on separate targets. To obtain distribution pattern E, they are used together to perform spot distributions with maximum overlap rate.

[0076] The above combination of two dispersion bars for increased lateral accuracy can be further extended to three or more dispersion bars offset from each other by one third or one quarter of the nozzle pitch distance, in which case the lateral accuracy increases in a proportion corresponding to the number of dispersion bars.

[0077] Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for consistently controlling the dose applied per unit area. The method can operate in both continuous or spot spraying operations. The method can be operated with a single spray bar, or with a combination of two spray bars shifted laterally by half the nozzle pitch, operating independently or together to form a double lateral resolution spray system.

[0078] As shown in FIG. 9, the method receives as input a segmented plant image, containing plant species, with basic spraying rules applied for each plant. The basic spraying rules mean which plant species to spray or not spray, and which liquid to use if the system has two or more different spray bars with different products in each bar. Next, a safety buffer and an expansion or contraction value for each plant species and each product to be sprayed are also received as inputs. The desired dose per unit area to be applied for each product to be sprayed is also received as input (this can follow multiple local variations provided by a so-called spray modulation map). Finally, a certain number of variables that affect the dose to be applied per unit area are received as inputs, such as the minimum desired distance or height of each spray bar from the ground or target, the movement and speed of the vehicle, the pressure of each spray bar liquid.

[0079] The method generates multiple output results for controlling the applied dose. A primary output result is a nozzle electromechanical valve state vector, which is a vector of on and off states for each nozzle electromechanical valve of the controlled spray bar. A second output result is the spray bar height, which is provided to the spray bar height control unit. A third output result is a spray rate map, which indicates the amount of liquid sprayed per unit area.

[0080] The method comprises four main operations, which are detailed below with reference to FIG.

[0081] The first action is to calculate the nozzle density pattern and PWM ratio to apply the desired dose per unit area. This calculation uses the vehicle speed, spray bar pressure, and the desired dose to apply (which may vary according to the field map). The calculation starts by setting the PWM to 60% and selecting a nozzle density pattern that provides the highest flow rate but is smaller than desired (such as all nozzles open, or 3 nozzles over 4 open, or 2 nozzles over 3 open) to obtain the expected dose at the user's required operating speed and pressure, and minimum spray bar height. Then, increase the height as needed to the recommended height to provide a uniform application with the selected nozzle density pattern. The corresponding dose is calculated and finally the PWM is calculated (increased) to obtain the final required dose.

[0082] The second step of the method calculates the lateral jet shift distance to be used in the third step by selecting which of the following is the maximum: the minimum height of the sparge bar (required by the user) or the height of the nozzle density pattern resulting from the sparge bar. This height value is used to calculate the lateral jet shift distance based on the nozzle jet angle, which is slightly dependent on the sparge bar pressure.

[0083] The third step of the method takes an input segmented image of multiple plants and generates a spray map from it. First, the specified radial scaling value is applied to the shape of the target objects. Then, the extension mask is laterally scaled by the pre-calculated lateral spray shift distance. Next, a safety buffer distance is applied around non-target objects to avoid touching them, and overlap masks are clipped if they fall within this buffer area. This resulting, cropped shape is then intersected with the nozzle trajectory (with double the density in case of dual mode scatter bar operation where two bars are used together to increase spatial resolution) to obtain the intervals over which the nozzles are actuated, and the PWM and nozzle density pattern rules are applied to obtain the nozzle actuation map. This latter is finally translated into the on and off sequence of the nozzle electromechanical valve (state vector).

[0084] The fourth and final operation of this automatic dosing method is to calculate the volume of fluid to be applied for a given unit area of ​​ground based on the final nozzle electromechanical valve opening time duration and pressure.

[0085] Another aspect of the invention is the provision of a method for automatically controlling nozzle clogging as shown in Figures 11 and 12. This method requires the use of an electromechanical valve 330 at the sparge bar inlet that allows the bar 300 to be isolated from the input from the pressure system 230, it also requires the presence of a pressure buffer 332 attached to the sparge bar with a relatively linear relationship between pressure and volume, and it requires an accurate and linear pressure sensor 334 for measuring the pressure in the sparge bar. The method operates as follows during a clogging control procedure: First, all nozzles 310 are closed, a nominal pressure is established in the bar, and the input electromechanical valve 330 is closed. Second, the fluid pressure is measured before and after the opening time of the first nozzle. Knowing the expected nozzle flow rate, the opening time, and the pressure-volume relationship of the pressure buffer, the theoretical pressure loss is calculated and compared to the actual pressure loss. If it is significantly smaller, the corresponding nozzle is considered to be clogged and is recorded as such. The procedure is repeated for all nozzles in the bar and the bar pressure is periodically recharged with electromechanical valve opening pulses input to the spray bar. At the end of operation, the method provides clogging information for all nozzles in the entire spray system. The present application may provide, for example, the following aspects: [Point 1] 1. A method for selectively spraying an area of ​​cultivated land (10) using an agricultural spraying vehicle, comprising: A spraying device (200) having at least one imaging system (210); At least one trailing spray bar (300) aligned along a direction perpendicular to the direction of the agricultural spray vehicle when in operation, at least one subsequent spray bar (300) including a plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310) spaced apart at a fixed pitch distance from one another and configured to selectively spray the area, the plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310) including a corresponding plurality of nozzles (314) and a corresponding plurality of electromechanical valves (312); Equipped with The agricultural spraying equipment (200) A tank and pressure system (230); a control unit (220) having a processing unit for controlling the electromechanical valves (312) of each electromechanical nozzle (310); Further equipped with The method further comprising: acquiring an image of an area of ​​the cultivated land (10) by at least one of the imaging systems (210) and distinguishing in the image by the processing unit plants (12) that should not be sprayed from plants (14) that should be sprayed; determining at least one nozzle (350) to be positioned substantially vertically above the plant (14) to be sprayed; calculating a spray pattern over the area to be selectively sprayed based on a divergence angle of the at least one nozzle (350) and a vertical distance between the nozzle (350) and the area to be selectively sprayed, the spray pattern covering the plants (14) to be sprayed and potentially touching the plants (12) that should not be sprayed; calculating a distance, called a spray shift distance (354), by which the spray pattern is laterally shifted such that the shifted spray pattern covers the plants (14) to be sprayed without covering the plants (12) that should not be sprayed, and expressing the spray shift distance (354) as a multiple of the nozzle pitch; shifting the spray pattern laterally by the jet shift distance by shifting at least one nozzle (350) positioned vertically above the plants (14) to be sprayed, so that the spray pattern from at least one newly selected nozzle (352) does not spray the plants (12) that should not be sprayed; 1. A method for selectively spraying an area of ​​cultivated land (10) using an agricultural spraying vehicle, comprising: [Point 2] The method according to aspect 1, wherein a mask defining the plant (14) to be sprayed is extended in all directions radially for a distance (52) that determines an extended area (50) to be sprayed, ensuring that the corresponding plant (14) is sprayed correctly even if there is an inaccuracy in the lateral position of the selected nozzle or in the opening and closing moment of the nozzle. [Point 3] The method according to aspect 1, wherein the mask defining the plant (14) to be sprayed is radially reduced in all directions by a distance that determines the reduced area to be sprayed, ensuring that the mask is contained inside the corresponding plant (14) to be sprayed even if there is an inaccuracy in the lateral position of the selected nozzle or in the opening and closing moment of the nozzle. [Point 4] 4. The method of claim 3, wherein laterally opposed sides of the expansion area (50) or contraction area are contracted by a distance (54, 55) corresponding to the lateral jet shift distance to determine a laterally contracted spray area (56) and ensure that lateral spray divergence does not fall outside the radial expansion area (50) or contraction area corresponding to the plants (14) being sprayed. [Point 5] The method of claim 4, wherein a buffer area (57) is calculated around the plants (12) identified by at least one of the imaging systems (210) as plants that should not be sprayed, and the buffer area (57) is a cutout of a portion of the reduced spraying area (56) to determine a further reduced spraying area (58). [Point 6] The control unit (220) controls one or more electromechanical valves (312) of the electromechanical nozzle (310) to: the offset pattern; a speed of the agricultural spraying vehicle; and the height of the spray bar (300) above the cultivated land (10); the pressure of the liquid in the spreader bar (300) provided by the pressure system (230); Applied, volume per unit area and The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 5, further comprising selecting and opening the relationship. [Point 7] a) all nozzles of the spray bar (300) are opened to spray 100% of the total dose; b) three adjacent spray nozzles of the spray bar (300) are opened, where one spray nozzle is closed for every three adjacent spray nozzles, spraying 75% of the total dose; c) two adjacent nozzles of the spray bar (300) are opened, where one nozzle is closed for every two adjacent nozzles, spraying 66% of the total dose; d) every two adjacent nozzles of the spray bar (300) are opened to spray 50% of the total dose; e) every three adjacent nozzles of the spray bar (300) are opened to spray 33% of the total dose; f. every one of four adjacent spray nozzles of the spray bar (300) is opened to spray 25% of the total dose; 7. The method of any one of aspects 1 to 6, wherein the electromechanical valves (312) of the plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310) are controlled to open the spray nozzles to apply a dose volume in the range of 25% to 100% of the total dose, according to any one of the preceding claims. [Point 8] 8. The method of any one of aspects 1 to 7, wherein the selection and opening of one or more electromechanical valves (312) of corresponding nozzles is combined with PWM to further modulate the application dose to increase accuracy of the total application volume per unit area. [Point 9] The method of claim 8, wherein the selection and opening of the one or more electromechanical valves (312) of corresponding nozzles is varied periodically between successive PWM pulses to obtain an interleaved spot spray pattern with improved application uniformity. [Point 10] 10. The method of claim 9, wherein one of two adjacent nozzles is open during a first PWM pulse and the other of the two adjacent nozzles is open during a second PWM pulse. [Point 11] 11. The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 10, wherein the spraying equipment (200) comprises at least two spraying bars (302, 304) arranged parallel to each other, each spraying bar (302, 304) comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310), the plurality of nozzles (314) of each spraying bar being arranged at a constant pitch distance from each other, and one spraying bar (302) being laterally offset from the other spraying bar (304) by a distance equal to half the pitch distance. [Point 12] The spraying equipment (200) comprises at least three spray bars arranged parallel to each other, each spray bar comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310); The nozzles (314) of each spray bar are spaced apart from one another at a fixed pitch distance; one dispersion bar is laterally offset from one of the two other dispersion bars by a distance equal to one-third of the pitch distance, and said one dispersion bar is laterally offset from the other of said two other dispersion bars by a distance equal to two-thirds of the pitch distance; 11. The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 10. [Point 13] 1. A method for selectively spraying an area of ​​a cultivated field (10) using an agricultural spraying vehicle, the agricultural spraying vehicle comprising: A spraying device (200) having at least one imaging system (210); at least two spray bars (302, 304) arranged parallel to each other, each spray bar (302, 304) comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310) each having a corresponding plurality of nozzles (314) and a corresponding plurality of electromechanical valves (312); In the agricultural spraying vehicle, The plurality of nozzles (314) are spaced apart from one another at a fixed pitch distance; one of the distribution bars (302) is laterally offset from the other distribution bar (304) by a distance equal to half the pitch distance; The agricultural spraying equipment (200), a tank and pressure system (230) for each spray bar; a control unit (220) comprising a processing unit for controlling the electromechanical valves (312) of each electromechanical nozzle (310) of each spray bar; The method further comprising: operating one of the two spray bars (302, 304) in a first mode, in which both spray bars are independent of each other and each sprays a different product at a different location; operating the two spray bars in a second mode, in which the two spray bars are combined together to spray the same product as a single bar with twice the lateral spatial nozzle density; A method for selectively spraying an area of ​​cultivated land (10) using an agricultural spraying vehicle, comprising: [Point 14] The spraying equipment (200) comprises at least three spray bars arranged parallel to each other, each spray bar comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310); The nozzles (314) of each spray bar are spaced apart from one another at a fixed pitch distance; 14. The method of claim 13, wherein one dispersion bar is laterally offset from one of the two other dispersion bars by a distance equal to one-third of the pitch distance, and the one dispersion bar is laterally offset from the other of the two other dispersion bars by a distance equal to two-thirds of the pitch distance. [Point 15] A tank and pressure system (230); a main electromechanical valve (330) mounted downstream of the tank and pressure system (230); a sparge bar (300) comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310) each having a nozzle (314) and an electromechanical valve (312) downstream of the main electromechanical valve (330), the sparge bar (300) comprising a conduit extending from the main electromechanical valve (330) to each electromechanical valve (312) of the plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310); a pressure buffer (332) in fluid communication with the conduit of the spreader bar (300); a pressure sensor (334) positioned to measure pressure within the conduit; 1. A method for determining clogging of a spray nozzle of an agricultural spray system, comprising: a if an electromechanical valve (312) of the plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310) is in an open state, closing the open electromechanical valve (312); b. isolating the sparge bar (300) from the tank and pressure system (230) by closing the main electromechanical valve (330); c) measuring the pressure p1 inside the spray bar (300); d. actuating one electromechanical valve (312) to open a single electromechanical nozzle k for one fixed period of time; e) measuring the pressure p2 inside the spray bar (300), If the difference between the pressure p1 measured in step c and the pressure p2 measured in step e exceeds a given threshold value that depends on the absolute value of pressure p1, then the nozzle k is deemed not clogged; measuring the pressure p2, if the difference is below the given threshold, then the nozzle k is considered to be at least partially clogged; A method for determining clogging of a spray nozzle of an agricultural spray system, comprising: [Point 16] 16. The method of claim 15, wherein steps c to e are repeated for each nozzle (k+1, ..., k+i ..., k+n) of the plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310). [Point 17] 17. The method of claim 16, wherein if the pressure p2 measured in step e is below a predetermined minimum pressure, the main electromechanical valve (330) opens to fill the pressure buffer (332) before repeating steps c to e. [Point 18] 18. The method of any one of aspects 15 to 17, wherein the pressure buffer (332) is an elastic pressure buffer element having a proportional, known relationship between the pressure in the buffer and a volume of liquid stored in the buffer. [Point 19] An agricultural spraying vehicle having an agricultural spraying system, the agricultural spraying system comprising: A tank and pressure system (230); a main electromechanical valve (330) mounted downstream of the tank and pressure system (230); a sparge bar (300) comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310) each having a nozzle (314) and an electromechanical valve (312) downstream of the main electromechanical valve (330), the sparge bar (300) comprising a conduit extending from the main electromechanical valve (330) to each electromechanical valve (312) of the plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310); a pressure buffer (332) in fluid communication with the conduit of the spreader bar (300); a pressure sensor (334) positioned to measure pressure within the conduit; In an agricultural spraying vehicle equipped with The agricultural spraying vehicle, a control unit having a processing unit configured to carry out the method according to any one of aspects 15 to 18; A display unit that displays clogging information for each nozzle An agricultural spraying vehicle further comprising: [Point 20] 1. A method for controlling an application amount per unit area of ​​an agricultural spraying vehicle moving over a cultivated field (10) that applies selective spot spraying, comprising: The agricultural spraying vehicle is equipped with a spot spraying device (200), The spot spraying equipment (200) comprises an imaging system (210) and a trailing spray bar (300) arranged perpendicular to the movement of the equipment; The spray bar (300) includes a plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310), the electromechanical nozzles (310) being spaced apart from one another at a fixed pitch distance, each electromechanical nozzle including a nozzle (314) and an electromechanical valve (312); The spraying equipment (200) further comprises a tank and pressure system (230) equipped with a pressure sensor, a control unit (220) for processing images and controlling the electromechanical valves (312) of each electromechanical nozzle (310), and a spray bar height control unit (240) for positioning the nozzles at a desired distance from an object to be sprayed, The method further comprising: acquiring an image of an area (212) of the cultivated land (10) by said at least one imaging system (210) and distinguishing in said image by a processing unit plants (14) that should be sprayed from plants (12) that should not be sprayed to obtain a segmented image having a spray mask and a non-spray mask; determining the density of active nozzles per unit length based on the desired volume per unit area, vehicle speed and liquid pressure to be applied, and determining the vertical distance from nozzles to target to ensure consistent jet overlap; modulating the open nozzle flow with a PWM ratio to obtain a desired volume per unit area of ​​application; selecting a maximum distance between a user-defined minimum height of the spread bar and the determined vertical distance from the nozzle to the target; moving the sparge bar using the sparge bar height control unit (240) to position the nozzle at the determined vertical distance from the nozzle to the target; calculating a lateral spray shift distance corresponding to half the spray spot width on the ground based on the nozzle divergence angle, the liquid pressure and a previously selected maximum vertical distance; extending the dispersal mask of plants from the input segmented plant image, the segmented plant image including the mask of plants to be sprayed (14) and the mask of plants that should not be sprayed (12), by a distance (52) to obtain an extended dispersal mask (50); reducing the size of the expanded distribution mask (50) laterally by the calculated lateral jet shift distance (54, 55) to obtain a reduced distribution mask (56); further defining a nozzle firing map (62) by the intersection of the nozzle trajectories (60) of the spray bar with the spray mask, taking into account the open nozzles and the PWM ratio; converting the nozzle firing map into a time-varying electromechanical valve state vector and applying a signal to the electromechanical valve (312) based on the time-varying electromechanical valve state vector; The method comprises: [Point 21] 21. The method according to aspect 20, further comprising applying a buffer area (57) extending radially in all directions around the mask of plants (12) that must not be sprayed to obtain a no-spray mask. [Point 22] The method of claim 20 or 21, wherein the laterally reduced spray mask (56) is further clipped by an extended non-spray mask resulting from an extension of the mask of plants (12) that should not be sprayed by the buffer distance (57) before defining the nozzle activation map.

Claims

1. 1. A method for selectively spraying an area of ​​cultivated land (10) using an agricultural spraying vehicle, comprising: A spraying installation (200) having at least one imaging system (210); At least one trailing spray bar (300) aligned along a direction perpendicular to the direction of the agricultural spray vehicle when in operation, at least one subsequent spray bar (300) including a plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310) spaced apart at a fixed pitch distance from one another and configured to selectively spray the area, the plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310) including a corresponding plurality of nozzles (314) and a corresponding plurality of electromechanical valves (312); Equipped with The agricultural spraying equipment (200) A tank and pressure system (230); a control unit (220) comprising a processing unit for controlling the electromechanical valves (312) of each electromechanical nozzle (310); Further equipped with The method further comprising: acquiring an image of an area of ​​the cultivated land (10) by at least one of the imaging systems (210) and distinguishing in the image by the processing unit plants (12) that should not be sprayed from plants (14) that should be sprayed; determining at least one nozzle (350) to be positioned substantially vertically above the plant (14) to be sprayed; calculating a spray pattern on the area, the spray pattern covering the plants (14) to be sprayed and potentially touching the plants (12) that should not be sprayed; Equipped with the calculated spray pattern is based on a divergence angle of at least one of the nozzles (350) and a vertical distance between the nozzle (350) and the area to be selectively sprayed; The method further comprising: calculating a distance, called a jet shift distance (354), by which the spray pattern is shifted laterally such that the shifted spray pattern covers the plants (14) to be sprayed without covering the plants (12) that should not be sprayed, and expressing the jet shift distance (354) as a multiple of the nozzle pitch; shifting the spray pattern laterally by the jet shift distance by actuating at least one newly selected nozzle (352) that is spaced from at least one nozzle (350) that is positioned vertically above the plants (14) to be sprayed, so that the spray pattern from the at least one newly selected nozzle (352) is not sprayed on the plants (12) that should not be sprayed; The method of selectively spraying an area of ​​cultivated land (10) using an agricultural spraying vehicle further comprises:

2. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a mask defining the plants (14) to be sprayed is extended in all directions radially for a distance (52) that determines an extended area (50) to be sprayed, ensuring that the corresponding plants (14) are sprayed correctly even if there is an inaccuracy in the lateral position of the selected nozzle or in the opening and closing moment of the nozzle.

3. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mask defining the plant (14) to be sprayed is radially reduced by a distance determining the reduced area to be sprayed, ensuring that the mask is contained inside the corresponding plant (14) to be sprayed even if there is an inaccuracy in the lateral position of the selected nozzle or in the opening and closing moment of the nozzle.

4. 4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein laterally opposite sides of the expansion area (50) or contraction area are contracted by a distance (54, 55) corresponding to the lateral jet shift distance to determine a laterally contracted spray area (56) and ensure that lateral spray divergence does not fall outside the radial expansion area (50) or contraction area corresponding to the plants (14) being sprayed.

5. 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising calculating a buffer area (57) around the plants (12) identified by at least one of the imaging systems (210) as plants that should not be sprayed, the buffer area (57) cutting out a portion of the reduced spraying area (56) to determine a further reduced spraying area (58).

6. The control unit (220) controls one or more electromechanical valves (312) of the electromechanical nozzle (310) to: the offset pattern; a speed of the agricultural spraying vehicle; and the height of the spray bar (300) above the cultivated land (10); the pressure of the liquid in the spreader bar (300) provided by the pressure system (230); Applied, volume per unit area and The method according to claim 1 , wherein the selection is made based on the relationship:

7. a) all nozzles of the spray bar (300) are open to spray 100% of the total dose; b) three adjacent spray nozzles of the spray bar (300) are opened, where one spray nozzle is closed for every three adjacent spray nozzles, spraying 75% of the total dose; c) two adjacent nozzles of the spray bar (300) are opened, where one nozzle is closed for every two adjacent nozzles, spraying 66% of the total dose; d) every two adjacent nozzles of the spray bar (300) are opened to spray 50% of the total dose; e) a configuration in which every third adjacent spray nozzle of the spray bar (300) is opened to spray 33% of the total dose; f. a spray nozzle is opened for every four adjacent spray nozzles of the spray bar (300) to spray 25% of the total dose; 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the electromechanical valves (312) of the plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310) are controlled to open the spray nozzles to apply a dose volume ranging from 25% to 100% of the total dose according to any one of the following:

8. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the selection and opening of one or more electromechanical valves (312) of corresponding nozzles is combined with PWM to further modulate the application dose to increase accuracy of total applied volume per unit area.

9. the selection and opening of said one or more electromechanical valves (312) of corresponding nozzles is varied periodically between successive PWM pulses to obtain an interleaved spot spray pattern with improved application uniformity; 9. The method of claim 8, wherein one of two adjacent nozzles is open during a first PWM pulse and the other of the two adjacent nozzles is open during a second PWM pulse.

10. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the spraying equipment (200) comprises at least two spray bars (302, 304) arranged parallel to each other, each spray bar (302, 304) comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310), the plurality of nozzles (314) of each spray bar being spaced apart from each other by a constant pitch distance, and one spray bar (302) being laterally offset from the other spray bar (304) by a distance equal to half the pitch distance.

11. The spraying equipment (200) comprises at least three spray bars arranged parallel to each other, each spray bar comprising a plurality of electromechanical nozzles (310); The nozzles (314) of each spray bar are spaced apart from one another at a fixed pitch distance; one sparge bar is laterally offset from one of the two other sparge bars by a distance equal to one-third of the pitch distance, and said one sparge bar is laterally offset from the other of said two other sparge bars by a distance equal to two-thirds of the pitch distance; The method of claim 1.

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