Sprayer Boom Deflection Sensing for Uniform Field Application
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Solution Overview
Problem
Boom arm deflection during agricultural application operations leads to inconsistent application of agricultural products due to misalignment and deflection of boom assemblies, resulting in overapplication or underapplication of substances on the field.
Innovation Solution
An agricultural system with a boom assembly that includes a frame section and a pivotably coupled boom section, equipped with a boom movement sensor and a computing system to generate and modify image data, determining the deflection magnitude by estimating boom positions and modifying image data to improve target identification and uniformity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If boom assembly is used for agricultural product application, then application coverage is improved, but boom arm deflection causes inconsistent application quality
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses sensors to detect boom arm position and deflection in real-time, feeding this information back to the control system which then adjusts nozzle operation or boom positioning to maintain consistent application rates across the entire field coverage area
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces purely mechanical boom arm support structures with an integrated system combining sensors, computing systems, and active control mechanisms that use electronic feedback to compensate for deflection and maintain application precision
2Measurement precision
If boom movement sensor and computing system are added to monitor deflection, then application accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The computing system performs multiple functions including processing sensor data, calculating deflection magnitudes, determining corrected positions, and controlling nozzle operation, thereby consolidating what could be multiple separate systems into a single multi-functional unit that reduces overall complexity
3Measurement precision
If image data modification is performed to improve target identification, then deflection measurement accuracy is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-processes and modifies image data as it is captured from the boom movement sensor, applying corrections for perspective and distortion before the data is fully processed for deflection calculation, thereby reducing the computational burden and processing time for the critical measurement operations
Data Source
AI summary
An agricultural system can include a boom assembly including a frame section and a boom section pivotably coupled to the frame section. One or more nozzle assemblies may be operably coupled with the boom assembly. A boom movement sensor may be configured to generate image data and a machine sensor may be configured to generate machine data. A computing system may be communicatively coupled to the sensor. The computing system may be configured to determine an estimated boom position of the boom section based at least in part on the machine data, determine a position of a target within the image data based at least in part on the estimated boom position of the boom section, modify the image data based on the position of the target to create modified image data, and determine a magnitude of deflection based on the modified image data.