Abstract
The control parameters of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) should be carefully designed to improve UAV spraying performance on citrus trees. The present study investigated the optimal droplet distribution control parameters in citrus trees using a UAV and the Taguchi method, of which optimal results were observed with an inverted triangle citrus tree canopy shape, a spraying height of 1.40 m, and a flight speed of 1.0 m/s. Among the discussed control parameters, the flight speed presented the most significant effect with a contribution percentage of 74.0%. The established multiple regression model predicted an optimal spraying height of 1.27 m and a maximum droplet density of 35.39 droplets/cm2. In addition, the effects of individual control parameter on the droplet density of the lower layer of citrus trees were systematically analyzed, of which inverted triangle shape more significantly affected the droplet density of the lower layer and presented an 82.0% increase in droplet density as compared to the triangle shape. An improvement of 59.6% in the lower layer droplet density was observed at a spraying height of 1.40 m. In addition, the other spraying heights did not present significant differences in their coefficient of variation (CV) values. Keywords: droplet density, citrus, Taguchi method, aerial spraying, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), plant protection DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20191204.4139 Citation: Hou C J, Tang Y, Luo S M, Lin J T, He Y, Zhuang J J, et al. Optimization of control parameters of droplet density in citrus trees using UAVs and the Taguchi method. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2019; 12(4): 1–9.
Highlights
Citrus trees are susceptible to a wide variety of pests, such as leaf miner, citrus thrips, citrus bud mite, aphids, and citrus red mite
The droplet density of each tree is defined as the average of 81 Water-sensitive paper (WSP) pieces for all three layers of a citrus tree
The present study investigated the various control parameters for optimal droplet density using the Taguchi method and systematically analyzed the effect of each control parameter on the droplet density of the citrus tree lower layers
Summary
Citrus trees are susceptible to a wide variety of pests, such as leaf miner, citrus thrips, citrus bud mite, aphids, and citrus red mite. Crop production methods require the manual or mechanical spraying of insecticides to inhibit or control insects and diseases to reduce or eliminate yield losses and maintain high product quality[1]. Citrus is widely planted on the hillside orchards of South China. The undulating terrace fields, irregular spacing, scatter and fragmented land holdings of its traditional orchard locations limit the use of traditional spraying machinery[2]. The recent increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have enhanced plant protection during cultivation due to their spraying speed and effectiveness[3,4]. UAVs can interact in very small or hard to reach spaces because of their ability to start and land absolutely vertically[5]
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