Agricultural Spray Drone Wind Sensing for Drift Mitigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Spray drift caused by wind and wind gusts is a significant issue in agricultural production, leading to unintended deposition of chemical sprays on non-target areas, bystanders, water bodies, and neighboring fields, limiting spraying to benign conditions and lacking accountability for responsible operation.
Innovation Solution
An aerial vehicle equipped with a liquid chemical tank, spray units, sensors, a processing unit, and an output unit that measures wind speed and direction relative to the ground, generates a spray record, and adjusts spraying parameters such as height and droplet size to mitigate drift, enabling spraying under a broader range of environmental conditions while maintaining accountability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If spraying is conducted under benign conditions with low wind speed, then spray drift is reduced, but productivity is limited due to restricted operating conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adjustment of spray parameters based on real-time wind conditions. The system continuously monitors wind speed and direction using sensors, and automatically adjusts spray droplet size, spray rate, and flight path in response to changing environmental conditions, enabling safe operation in previously prohibitive conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback loops where sensor data on wind speed and direction is continuously fed to the control system, which then adjusts spray parameters accordingly. This closed-loop control enables the system to maintain drift mitigation while adapting to varying environmental conditions, expanding the operational envelope
2Manufacturing precision
If spray droplet size is reduced to increase coverage, then spray drift increases, but manufacturing precision of spray application is improved
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes spray parameters including droplet size distribution, spray rate, and pressure based on real-time wind conditions. When wind speeds increase, the system adjusts to produce larger droplets or reduce spray rate to compensate, while maintaining precise application when conditions are favorable
3Productivity
If spraying is conducted closer to field edges to increase coverage, then spray drift to non-target areas increases, but productivity is improved
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of wind conditions and field boundaries before spraying. It pre-calculates safe spray parameters and flight paths that account for drift potential, allowing the vehicle to operate closer to boundaries when conditions permit while automatically adjusting to prevent drift to non-target areas
4Object-affected harmful factors
If real-time wind monitoring and spray adjustment systems are implemented to mitigate drift, then spray drift is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system integrates multiple functions into unified components. Sensors serve both navigation and wind monitoring purposes, the control system manages both flight path and spray parameters, and the data processing handles both positional information and environmental conditions, reducing overall system complexity despite the multifunctional requirements
Data Source
AI summary
An aerial vehicle includes a liquid chemical tank, at least one spray unit, a plurality of sensors, a processing unit, and an output unit. The processing unit is configured to generate a spray record for an environment within which the aerial vehicle is operating, the spray record comprising: information over a time period of at least one spray condition relating to one or more of the at least one spray unit for the aerial vehicle operating within the environment over the time period, the determined air movement direction relative to the projection of the fore-aft axis onto the ground over the time period, and the determined air movement speed relative to the ground over the time period. The output unit is configured to output the spray record.