• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.406-413
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• 1996

A control system for a self-propelled boom sprayer to spray at uniform application rate was developed and evaluated. The ground speed of the sprayer was converted into voltage. The voltage was used as an input signal. Output signal was current of a servo motor, that controlled application pressure of the sprayer with a feedback control system. Spraying was executed at the pressure of 20~55 psi and the speed of 0.640~0.696 km/hr and 1.040-1.131 km/hr. Although the pressure and the speed of sprayer were changed continuously, application rate was tried to keep a nearly constant amount of 666.67 L/ha. This result showed that the developed control system for uniform application rate was adoptable for the self-propelled sprayer.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.137-150
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• 1997

To investigate the feasibility of a boom sprayer in the paddy field, an experimental boom sprayer for both broadcast and directed spraying to the lower part of rice plants was developed. The droplet deposition characteristics of the boom sprayers were experimentally compared to those of power sprayer. Water sensitive papers(WSP) and a machine vision system were used to evaluate the coverage rate and droplet density. It was shown that the broadcast application by the boom sprayer was the best coverage among the tested sprayers. Coverage tate and droplet density were affected by the distance between nozzles and the sprayer ground speed, The best result was obtained when the distance of 30cm and the speed of 1.7km/hr. The directed application showed inconsistency in overall droplet distribution. The inconsistency was judged to be caused by conflict between plants and boom extenders. The power sprayer showed a very wide range of droplet size distribution, relatively larger droplets and inconsistency in cove The power sprayer was judged to be inadequate for the low-volume precision application because of inconsistency in performance and difficulty in adjusting the spraying rate. Based on the droplet coverage characteristics, it was concluded that the self-propelled boom sprayer for the broadcast application was feasible for an alternative to the power sprayer in case of low volume, precision application in paddy condition.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.211-218
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• 1998

A variable flow-controlled boom sprayer was developed and evaluated. Field tests were conducted to evaluate the adoptability of the sprayerr with optimal conditions. Negative response time was obtained from the field test because pump and PTO were interlocked with the speed of sprayer. Another reason for the negative value was due to the definition of the response time. With constant on-time control, the system was unstable at the conditions of small tolerance and long control interval. The performances of the spray system were stable and accurate. The stable and synchronous responses were achieved with a variable on-time control. The flow control system with an optimal condition (1.0 sec of control interval, 2 of damping ratio, 1% of tolerance) provided the proper performance for uniform spraying. A standard operating procedure of the flow compensating boom sprayer for the ground speed variation was presented and recommended.

• IEMEK Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.269-279
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• 2020

This paper presents the design and implementation of embedded systems and autonomous path generation for autonomous speed sprayer. Autonomous Orchard Systems can be divided into embedded controller and path generation module. Embedded controller receives analog sensor data, on/off switch data and control linear actuator, break, clutch and steering module. In path generation part, we get 3D cloud point using Velodyne VLP16 LIDAR sensor and process the point cloud to generate maps, do localization, generate driving path. Then, it finally generates velocity and rotation angle in real time, and sends the data to embedded controller. Embedded controller controls steering wheel based on the received data. The developed autonomous speed sprayer is verified in test-bed with apple tree-shaped artworks.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.226-235
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• 1995

An unmanned speed sprayer was developed using a remote control and an inductive cable guidance systems to protect operators and environment from hazardous pesticides. The sprayer consists of a remote control system, an induction system, obstacle detectors, control actuators and an one-chip microcomputer. The sprayer can be operated by the induction guidance and/or remote control. The following summarize characteristics of the developed speed sprayer. 1) Both the remote control and the induction guidance operation were possible with the developed speed sprayer. 2) Sixteen functions of the forwarding, backing, halting, steering, 3-way valve for nozzles and fan operating etc. were utilized on the remote control system. 3) It was concluded that the DTMF method, having less transmitting error, performed better than the FSK method for an agricultural remote controller. A radio station may be necessary. 4) The digital inductive guidance system, consisting of five low-impedance detection coils and a window comparator circuit, performed better than the analog detecting system, guiding route using inductive voltage differential from tow detection coils.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.479-491
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• 2023

The automation of agricultural machines is an irreversible trend considering the demand for improved productivity and lack of labor in handling agricultural tasks. Unstructured working environments and weather often inhibit a seemingly simple task from being fully autonomously performed. In this context, we propose a remote driving system (RDS) to aid agricultural machines designed to operate autonomously. Particularly, we modify a commercial speed sprayer for orchard environments into a robotic speed sprayer to evaluate the proposed RDS's usability and test three sensor configurations in terms of human performance. Furthermore, we propose a confidence error ellipsebased task performance measure to evaluate human performance. In addition, we present field experimental results describing how the sensor configurations affect human performance. We find that a combination of a semiautonomous line tracking device and a wide-angle camera is the most effective for spraying. Finally, we discuss how to improve the proposed RDS in terms of usability and obtain a more accurate measure of human performance.

• Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.50-58
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• 2001

Chemical application is very hazardous in confined spaces under the canopy ceiling in Korean vineyard. For a small orchard sprayer adaptable to such a working condition, a low-cost autonomous steering control system was developed using two ultrasonic sensors, two electrically-operated cylinders and 80196kc microprocessor. A distance ranging system timed the round-trip for each ultrasonic wave to travel against parallel targets, placed every 1.5m spacing along both sides of a desired path. A steering control algorithm of the autonomous operation began with ranging left and right targets and the heading was decided using difference between the distances. Electrically-operated cylinders actuated steering clutches to guide the sprayer. Evaluation tests showed that the orchard sprayer could travel within RMS value of 5cm along the desired path. Ground speed did not affect the performance of the autonomous guidance system at the speed ranges of 0.29~0.52m/sec.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1996.06c
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• pp.500-510
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• 1996

A Direct injection -mixing total -flow -control sprayer was developed and evaluated . The system provided precise application rates and minimized operator exposure to chemicals as well as providing a possibility for recycling container so f unused chemicals that can causes environmental contamination. Chemicals were metered and injected proportionally to the diluent flow rate to provide constant concentrations. The main diluent flow was varied in response to changes in travel speed. Experimental variables of the sprayer were the control interval, the sensitivity of flow regulating valve, the tolerance of control object and the sensitivity of the injection pump system. The optimal performance of the flow control system was with an average response time of 8.5 sec at an absolute steady state of error of 0.067 L/min (0.8% of flow rate). The average response time of the injection rate was -0.53 sec and the coefficient of variation (CV) of concentration was 3.2%.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 2000.11c
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• pp.707-714
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• 2000

For self-guiding track-type orchard sprayer, a low-cost steering controller was developed using two ultrasonic sensors, two DC motors and 80196kc microprocessor. The operating principle of controller was to travel the sprayer between artificial targets such as wood stick placed every 1 m along both sides of the demanded path of speed sprayer. Measuring distances to both targets ahead with the ultrasonic sensors mounted on the front end of sprayer, the controller could determine how much offset the position of sprayer was laterally. Then the steering angle was calculated to actuate DC motors connected to the steering clutches, where the fuzzy control algorithm was used. Equipped with the controller developed in this research, the sprayer could be traveled along demanded path, the centerline between targets, at speeds of up to 0.4m/sec with an accuracy of ${\pm}$20cm.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.145-152
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• 2007

Uniformity of spray deposit is one of the important factors in spray performance affecting efficacy of pest management. Distributions of spray deposit on artificial targets were measured and analyzed to enhance the efficiency of spray application. The research was studied to understand the deposition characteristics of spray droplets and to determine the optimum conditions of chemical application. The deposit and its pattern by the lower fan speed was more uniform and higher than that by the higher fan speed. The upward blasting distance was limited within 3 m, but the limit to the ground level was expanded the distance more than 3.5 m because of the accumulated droplets. When the fan speed was higher at the distance of 2.5 m, deposit reached to maximum. When the distance increased, deposit was getting lower. At the both fan speeds, the deposit was concentrated below $30^{\circ}$ because of the gravitation and the resistance of wind. This research can be useful in designing an orchard sprayer and its operation for various tree canopies. To achieve a uniform distribution of deposit using the air-blast type orchard sprayer, the application rate from the middle boom should be increased as the air velocity to the upward increased. The spray rate to the side boom should be limited in a minimal level.