Parameters optimization of crop protection UAS based on the first industry standard of China

Songchao Zhang,Bin Peng,Tao Sun,Baijing Qiu,Xinyu Xue

doi:10.25165/j.ijabe.20201303.5439

Abstract

The effective swath width (ESW) and the droplet penetration rate (DPR) directly affect the spraying quality, the spraying efficiency and the control effect of pests and diseases during the crop protection unmanned aircraft system (CPUAS) application. However, the ESW and DPR are not constant with the changes of the flight speed (FS) and the flight height (FH). In order to investigate the ESW and DPR of the CPUAS P20, four levels of FS (3 m/s, 4 m/s, 5 m/s and 6 m/s) and three levels of FH (1.5 m, 2.0 m and 2.5 m) experiments were carried out according to the first industry standard of China for the CPUAS in the wheat field. The results demonstrated that the ESWs were negatively correlated with the FS and the FH. Most of the ESWs were over 2 m in the 12 treatments, in which the maximum one was 3.25 m (3 m/s, 1.5 m). The DPRs were negatively correlated with the FH under the same FS, the average value of the DPRs was 48.37%, in which the maximum one was 78.34% (4 m/s, 1.5 m) and the minimum one was 25.5% (6.0 m/s, 2.5 m). The statistical analyses showed that the FS had significant impacts on the ESWs (0.01 0.05). The impacts of both FS and FH on the DPRs were extremely significant (p-value<0.01), and the interactive impacts were significant (0.01<p-value<0.05). Therefore, it is concluded that reducing the FS could increase the ESWs, and reducing the FH could increase the DRPs at the same FS. In conclusion, the maximum spraying efficiency of P20 was 4.342 ha/h with 6 m/s FS and 1.5 m FH in case of satisfying the requirement of DPRs. This study provided scientific references for guiding the CPUAS spraying. Keywords: crop protection unmanned aircraft system, standard, effective swath width, penetration, parameter optimization DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20201303.5439 Citation: Zhang S C, Qiu B J, Xue X Y, Sun T, Peng B. Parameters optimization of crop protection UAS based on the first industry standard of China. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2020; 13(3): 29–35.

Highlights

The crop protection unmanned aircraft system (CPUAS) has the advantages of superior mobility, wide adaptability and high efficiency without the restrictions of the crop types or growth periods, especially suits for the paddy fields and the mountainous areas[1,2,3]
The coefficient variation (CV) of coverage rates and the penetration rate were calculated according to Equations (1)-(3)
Note: CV represents coefficient variation calculated by Equations (1) and (2), represents the droplet penetration rate calculated by Equation (3)

Summary

Introduction

The CPUAS has the advantages of superior mobility, wide adaptability and high efficiency without the restrictions of the crop types or growth periods, especially suits for the paddy fields and the mountainous areas[1,2,3]. Huang et al.[11] used a simulation-based approach to study the aerially applied crop protection drift, and set a near-optimal offset of the flight trajectory to reduce the drift and increase the near deposition. Xue et al.[13] carried out trails to measure the aerial spray deposition and drift in the paddy field, the results showed with the assistant of the downwash of the rotors, the under layer deposition could take up of 92.8% of the upper one and 90% drift droplets were located within a range of 8 m. Hou et al.[16] designed the parameter controller of the CPUAS for improving the droplet density on citrus trees, and the experimental results showed that the FS presented the most significant effect, the established model predicted an optimal spraying height of 1.27 m and maximum droplet density of 35.39 droplets/cm. Wang et al.[17] used three measurement methods(sampling frame, Petri dishes, rotary

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Discussion

Conclusion