AUTOMATIC NOZZLE CONTROL SYSTEM WITH ULTRASONIC SENSOR FOR ORCHARD SPRAYERS

Authors : Zeki ZÜREY, Selami BALCI, Kadir SABANCI

Pages : 264-273

Doi:10.36222/ejt.715015

View : 18 | Download : 10

Publication Date : 2020-12-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Spraying fruit trees with orchard sprayers cause some limitations, as well as problems such as wasting the drugs by spraying spaces among the trees, especially in some cases where the distance among the trees are high. Accordingly, overmuch drugs are used, and harmful substances are added to the soil. Moreover, pesticide ruins that pass from the soil cause health problems. Consequently, production costs increase and correspondingly, efficiency decreases. In this experimental study, ultrasonic sensors are placed on the right and left surfaces of the machine facing the tree. The pesticides are sprayed as long as an object is detected within a certain distance with the help of these sensors. Spraying is automatically stopped when the object is not detected. The developed system consists of an electronic control unit, solenoid valves and ultrasonic sensors, controlled by a microcontroller. High rates of savings are achieved in pesticide consumption and the addition of harmful substances to the soil is prevented thanks to this automatic control system. Solid structure enables practical mounting on existing manually controlled sprayers.
Keywords : orchard sprayer, spraying, automatic control, ultrasonic sensor