Design and Development of a Side Spray Device for UAVs to Improve Spray Coverage in Obstacle Neighborhoods
Electric multirotor plant protection unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are widely used in China for efficient and precise plant protection at low altitude for low volumes. Unstructured farmland in China has various types of obstacles, and UAVs usually use a detour path to avoid obstacles due to flight...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-09-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/9/2002 |
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| author | Fanrui Kong Baijing Qiu Xiaoya Dong Kechuan Yi Qingqing Wang Chunxia Jiang Xinwei Zhang Xin Huang |
| author_facet | Fanrui Kong Baijing Qiu Xiaoya Dong Kechuan Yi Qingqing Wang Chunxia Jiang Xinwei Zhang Xin Huang |
| author_sort | Fanrui Kong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Electric multirotor plant protection unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are widely used in China for efficient and precise plant protection at low altitude for low volumes. Unstructured farmland in China has various types of obstacles, and UAVs usually use a detour path to avoid obstacles due to flight altitude limitations. However, existing UAV spray systems do not spray when in obstacle neighborhoods during obstacle avoidance, resulting in insufficient droplet coverage and reduced plant protection quality in the area. To improve the droplet coverage in obstacle neighborhoods, this article carries out a study of side spray technology with an electric quadrotor UAV, and proposes the design and development of a side spray device. The relationship between the obstacle avoidance path of the UAV and the spray pattern of the side spray device and their effect on droplet coverage in obstacle neighborhoods was explored. An accurate measurement method of the relative position between the UAV and obstacles was proposed. Spray angle calculations and nozzle selection for the side spray device were carried out in conjunction with the relative position. A rotor wind field simulation model was designed based on the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), and the spatial layout of the side spray device on the UAV was designed based on the simulation results. To explore suitable spray patterns for the side spray device, comparative experiments of droplet coverage in obstacle neighborhoods were carried out under different environments, spray patterns, and flight parameter combinations. The relationship between the flight parameter combinations and the distribution uniformity of droplets and the effective swath width of the side spray device was explored. The experimental results were analyzed by an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a relationship model was obtained. The results showed that the side spray device can effectively improve droplet coverage in obstacle neighborhoods compared to a device without side spray using the same flight parameter combinations. The effective swath width in obstacle neighborhoods can be increased by a minimum of 6.35%, maximum of 35.32%, and average of 15.25% using the side spray device. The error between the predicted values of the relational model and the field experiment results was less than 15%. The results verify the effectiveness and rationality of the method proposed in this article. This study can provide technical and theoretical references for improving the plant protection quality of UAVs in obstacle environments. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e16336539dab44a1b857c67b644ab9cc |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj-art-e16336539dab44a1b857c67b644ab9cc2025-08-20T01:56:02ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952024-09-01149200210.3390/agronomy14092002Design and Development of a Side Spray Device for UAVs to Improve Spray Coverage in Obstacle NeighborhoodsFanrui Kong0Baijing Qiu1Xiaoya Dong2Kechuan Yi3Qingqing Wang4Chunxia Jiang5Xinwei Zhang6Xin Huang7College of Mechanical Engineering, Anhui Science and Technology University, Chuzhou 233100, ChinaKey Laboratory of Plant Protection Engineering, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, ChinaKey Laboratory of Plant Protection Engineering, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, ChinaCollege of Mechanical Engineering, Anhui Science and Technology University, Chuzhou 233100, ChinaCollege of Mechanical Engineering, Anhui Science and Technology University, Chuzhou 233100, ChinaCollege of Mechanical Engineering, Anhui Science and Technology University, Chuzhou 233100, ChinaCollege of Mechanical Engineering, Anhui Science and Technology University, Chuzhou 233100, ChinaCollege of Mechanical Engineering, Anhui Science and Technology University, Chuzhou 233100, ChinaElectric multirotor plant protection unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are widely used in China for efficient and precise plant protection at low altitude for low volumes. Unstructured farmland in China has various types of obstacles, and UAVs usually use a detour path to avoid obstacles due to flight altitude limitations. However, existing UAV spray systems do not spray when in obstacle neighborhoods during obstacle avoidance, resulting in insufficient droplet coverage and reduced plant protection quality in the area. To improve the droplet coverage in obstacle neighborhoods, this article carries out a study of side spray technology with an electric quadrotor UAV, and proposes the design and development of a side spray device. The relationship between the obstacle avoidance path of the UAV and the spray pattern of the side spray device and their effect on droplet coverage in obstacle neighborhoods was explored. An accurate measurement method of the relative position between the UAV and obstacles was proposed. Spray angle calculations and nozzle selection for the side spray device were carried out in conjunction with the relative position. A rotor wind field simulation model was designed based on the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), and the spatial layout of the side spray device on the UAV was designed based on the simulation results. To explore suitable spray patterns for the side spray device, comparative experiments of droplet coverage in obstacle neighborhoods were carried out under different environments, spray patterns, and flight parameter combinations. The relationship between the flight parameter combinations and the distribution uniformity of droplets and the effective swath width of the side spray device was explored. The experimental results were analyzed by an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a relationship model was obtained. The results showed that the side spray device can effectively improve droplet coverage in obstacle neighborhoods compared to a device without side spray using the same flight parameter combinations. The effective swath width in obstacle neighborhoods can be increased by a minimum of 6.35%, maximum of 35.32%, and average of 15.25% using the side spray device. The error between the predicted values of the relational model and the field experiment results was less than 15%. The results verify the effectiveness and rationality of the method proposed in this article. This study can provide technical and theoretical references for improving the plant protection quality of UAVs in obstacle environments.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/9/2002plant protection UAVobstacle neighborhoodsside spray deviceimproved droplet coverage |
| spellingShingle | Fanrui Kong Baijing Qiu Xiaoya Dong Kechuan Yi Qingqing Wang Chunxia Jiang Xinwei Zhang Xin Huang Design and Development of a Side Spray Device for UAVs to Improve Spray Coverage in Obstacle Neighborhoods Agronomy plant protection UAV obstacle neighborhoods side spray device improved droplet coverage |
| title | Design and Development of a Side Spray Device for UAVs to Improve Spray Coverage in Obstacle Neighborhoods |
| title_full | Design and Development of a Side Spray Device for UAVs to Improve Spray Coverage in Obstacle Neighborhoods |
| title_fullStr | Design and Development of a Side Spray Device for UAVs to Improve Spray Coverage in Obstacle Neighborhoods |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design and Development of a Side Spray Device for UAVs to Improve Spray Coverage in Obstacle Neighborhoods |
| title_short | Design and Development of a Side Spray Device for UAVs to Improve Spray Coverage in Obstacle Neighborhoods |
| title_sort | design and development of a side spray device for uavs to improve spray coverage in obstacle neighborhoods |
| topic | plant protection UAV obstacle neighborhoods side spray device improved droplet coverage |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/9/2002 |
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