High-Precision Spray Control System For Robotic And Autonomous Agricultural Vehicles

Resilient and high-yield agriculture requires judicious, efficient use of energy-intensive inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. These biologically active inputs also present potential adverse environmental risks. Tightly targeted, precise application can achieve significant reductions in use rates and misapplication of agricultural chemicals. Rapid advancements in sensing, robotics and autonomous vehicles are facilitating precise targeting; yet these systems still rely upon, and are limited by, the existing, legacy-design spray nozzles and control systems. This project will directly address this limitation with an advanced nozzle and control system providing superior temporal and spatial resolution of precision dosing.This project will develop a dynamically-controllable nozzle system, with manipulation of the exit orifice and liquid pressure with rapid-response actuators of low cost, mass and power consumption. The nozzle system will provide greatly expanded 3-D dynamic control space (flow rate, droplet size and spray pattern/velocity) for precision dosing. The novel aspects are a) A deformable nozzle shape and actuator, allowing orifice shape deformations to alter spray formation; b) Integrated, individual nozzle pressure control; c) A low-power actuator and control system interface with mapped performance parameters; and d) A wireless network controller for integration into autonomous ground and aerial vehicles and conventional agricultural vehicles.The envisioned commercial product will address the unique needs of modern precision agriculture spray systems integral to autonomous aerial and ground vehicles while providing a new range of control to legacy agricultural vehicles and systems.