Agricultural Sprayer Residue Detection System
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Agricultural sprayers face challenges in accurately detecting and removing residual substances after cleaning cycles, which can lead to unintended spraying of residues onto undesired areas of the field, potentially harming crops or other areas.
Innovation Solution
A mobile agricultural sprayer equipped with a residue detection system that includes sensors to monitor the concentration of residue within the fluidic pathway, generating signals to determine the presence and concentration of residue, and automatically or semi-automatically initiate additional rinse cycles if necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If manual clean-out-cycles are performed to remove excess substance from the boom, then the sprayer can change substances between spraying operations, but residue may remain within the boom and be sprayed onto undesired areas of the field
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs sensors (optical, electrical, or other types) to detect residue concentration in real-time within the fluidic pathway and provides feedback to the control system. This feedback mechanism enables the system to monitor cleaning effectiveness and determine when residue levels are acceptable, preventing harmful residue spraying while allowing flexible substance changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The sprayer system performs self-monitoring and self-regulation of the cleaning process through integrated sensors and automated control. The system automatically determines when the boom is sufficiently clean based on sensor readings, eliminating the need for manual judgment and ensuring consistent cleaning standards without operator intervention.
2Measurement precision
If multiple sensors are integrated into the fluidic pathway to detect residue concentration, then accurate detection of residue is achieved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor system is designed to detect multiple types of residues and contaminants using universal detection principles (optical absorption, electrical conductivity, or other physical-chemical properties). The control system processes sensor signals to determine both presence and concentration of various substances, allowing a single multi-functional detection system to handle different spraying scenarios without requiring separate specialized sensors for each substance type.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A mobile agricultural sprayer (100) is disclosed. The mobile agricultural sprayer (100) is configured to spray a substance at a worksite, and comprises: a chemical tank (268) that holds a chemical fluid (270) to be sprayed at the worksite; a rinse fluid tank (264) that holds rinse fluid (266); a first sensor (140) coupled to the rinse fluid tank (264) configured to detect a characteristic of the rinse fluid (266) within the rinse fluid tank (264), and, generate a first sensor signal indicative of the characteristic of the rinse fluid (266); a distribution system (130), including a fluidic pathway (254) and a nozzle (126), configured to pump the rinse fluid (266) from the rinse fluid tank (264) along the fluidic pathway (254) through the nozzle (126) of the sprayer (100); a second sensor (128) coupled to the fluidic pathway (254) configured to detect a characteristic of the fluid within the fluidic pathway (254), and generate a second sensor signal indicative of the characteristic; and a residue detection system (124) configured to receive the first and second sensor signals and, based on the received sensor signals, determine a concentration of residue within the fluidic pathway (254). Furthermore, a method of determining a concentration of chemical residue is disclosed.