A Low-Cost Prototype to Automate Agricultural Sprayers

Abstract

The world’s population growth in the last decades demanded a great increase in agricultural production, especially in food. Therefore, in order to reduce possible losses and guarantee productivity, farmers depend more and more on the application of agrochemicals in their crops. This massive use of pesticides represents not only a high cost to the farmers but also a risk to their health, to the environment and even to the safety of the food consumed by the population. In this context, new technologies have been developed to make agricultural spraying more effective, reducing the amount of pesticide applied and dosing its use according to the need of the crop. The recognition of its spatial and temporal variability is treated by Precision Agriculture. In the case of pest management it can be done using variable-rate sprayers or using on/off application with individual nozzle control. Thus, this paper proposes a low-cost prototype in a modular solution to automate existent agricultural sprayers. The solution allows individual nozzle opening, with on/off control, using solenoid valves, pressure and flow sensors, Arduino boards, and smartphone. Additionally, the prototype has a data logger function to store nozzle status and sensor values, allowing future analysis and application reports.