Design and Test of Closed Hydraulic Transmission System of 4WD High-clearance Wheeled Sprayer

In conjunction with the working characteristics of the high-clearance wheeled sprayer and the benefits of the closed hydraulic system,a series of reasonable working parameters should be established,and a hydraulic system that fulfills the requisite specifications should be designed.The AMESim software model is employed to construct a closed hydraulic transmission system,and the simulation analysis is then performed according to the data of hydraulic components.According to analysis results,the prototype can be optimized and upgraded,and a verification test is further carried out.The test results demonstrate that the designed closed hydraulic transmission system meets the actual working requirements of the high-clearance wheeled sprayer and provides a stable experimental platform for intelligent control of agricultural machinery.

Application of Self-propelled Boom Sprayers for Control of Rice Insects and Diseases

Comparisons were performed between self-propelled boom sprayer and traditional mechanis, such as knapsack sprayer and sprayer-duster, stretcher-type powered sprayer, as well as single rotor unmanned sprayer and multi-rotor un- manned sprayer. The effects on rice injury, lodging, and rehabilitation were conclud- ed and drug uniform distribution, sedimentation and prevention effects were ana- lyzed. The results showed that the self-propelled boom sprayer is characterized by high degree of automation, convenient operation, high adaptability, and high work efficiency. What＇s more, the sprayed fog quality is better, and fog distribution is more uniform. During the work process, fog loss would be diminished substantially, improving work efficiency and cutting down drug and water. It is notable that the underpart of the sprayer can be widely applied to plant protection in large-scale ar- eas in Jiangsu Province, significantly advancing whole-process mechanization of rice production.

Development and Application Prospects of Pneumatic Electrostatic Sprayer in Orchard

We firstly introduce existing situations of development of electrostatic spraying technology both at home and abroad. On the basis of such problems as serious drift, loss and deterioration of environment during orchard spraying in Xinjiang, we design and develop a new electrostatic sprayer which can effectively reduce the pesticide, improve the adhesion rate of pesticide in the target, and reduce pollution on human body and environment. Using electrostatic induction principle, this electrostatic sprayer directly sprays charged droplet onto target in the action of electrostatic force and high speed air flow. Besides, this sprayer has outstanding economic and social benefits. For farmers, it can raise the utilization ratio of pesticide to 60%, reduce the pesticide loss by 50%, and reduce prevention cost for 10% to 20%; for enterprises, this investment project has a trial profit-tax rate up to 21.4%; the entire sprayer only needs one person to operate; it is highly efficient and low pollution, conforming to national environmental protection and policy concerning agriculture, farmers and countryside. Therefore, this new pneumatic electrostatic sprayer in orchard will have bright popularization and application prospect.

Analysis and Simulation of Kinematical Performances of Two Kinds of Parallel Mechanisms Based on the Plane Sprayer

Two kinds of 2-dof parallel mechanisms are proposed in this paper which can be used as the actuator for the plane sprayer. The direct and inverse kinematics solutions of the two kinds of mechanisms are derived on the end operating point and two workspaces are analyzed and compared. The kinematics models of the end operating point of two mechanisms are simulated by Matlab examples obtaining variation of kinematics parameters of these two mechanisms. The research of this paper provides the basis for the selection of mechanism, trajectory planning of the end operating point on the sprayer and often some practical value for trajectory analysis and structure design of the plane sprayer.

Evaluation on Application and Spraying Effect of Air-Assisted Sprayer in Apple Orchard with Dwarfing Rootstocks

The application and spraying effect of 3 WG-1200 A air-assisted sprayer in dwarfing rootstock apple orchard were evaluated by investigating the droplet density, coverage and volume median diameter(VMD) in different canopy layers(2.0, 1.5, 1.0 m) and five directions(east, south, west, north and middle) of apple trees. The results showed that the droplet density was 166.99 per square centimeter, the coverage was 48.23%, and the VMD was 138.63 μm. The droplet density in different canopy layers of the trees had consistent trend with the coverage. The droplet density and coverage in the upper and middle canopy(2.0 m and 1.5 m) had no significant difference, but they were both higher than those in the lower canopy, while the VMD in different canopy layers showed an opposite trend. The change trends of the coverage and VMD in the five directions were consistent, and the values in the middle and east were the highest, followed by the north, south and west, respectively. The results indicated that droplet characteristics of the 3 WG-1200 A air-assisted sprayer met the basic requirements for pest and pathogen control. This study provides a theoretical basis and data support for the application and improvement of orchard application equipments in dwarfing rootstock apple orchard.

Contrast Test of Precision Electric Mist Duster and Electric Sprayer

[Objectives]The paper was to compare and verify the operation performance of precision electric mist duster and electric sprayer,and to select the optimum plant protection equipment suitable for greenhouse application.[Methods]Agents were sprayed by precision electric mist duster and electric sprayer to control tomato downy mildew in greenhouse,and the control effect and pesticide utilization rate were compared.[Results]Compared with electric sprayer,precision electric mist duster improved the pesticide utilization rate by 31.7%,improved the spray efficiency by 20 times,and increased the control effect by 13.2%.[Conclusions]The study provides technical support for the popularization and application of precision electric mist duster in greenhouse and other facilities cultivation.

Operations of Knapsack Sprayer and Its Impacts on Physiological Parameters of Selected Operators

The study was aimed at determining the impacts of operating Manually Operated Hand Lever Knapsack Sprayers (MOHLKS) on physiological responses of the operators as dependent on anthropometric variations and sex. Twenty eight subjects, (4 female, 24 male) Mean ± SD: Age 22.5 ± 1.92, 24.29 ± 2.2 years;Body Mass Index 24.6 ± 4.8, 21.7 ± 2.4 kg/m2 were employed in the study. Selected anthropometric parameters of weight and height were used to determine body mass index (BMI), with these are arm-reach forward, elbow to fingertip, hand length and hand width were measured to establish human variations in diversity. Subjects undertook the operation at 5 replicates each, before and after which information about operators’ body pain locations and body physiological changes of heart rates were obtained. Measured parameters were used in the determination of expended energy (EE), physiological cost (PC), oxygen intake (VO2) and aerobic power (VO2max). Alongside with these were operational parameters of stroke, pace and time taken to get the operation done and environmental factors of temperature and relative humidity. The results revealed on the average that the BMI (24.61 ± 4.78 kg/m2) in female operators was higher, this corresponded to PC and VO2, while the VO2max (34.83 ± 3.30 ml/min/kg) in males is higher. More EE was obtained in female subjects (3.53 ± 3.76 kCal/min) as compared to male subjects (3.42 ± 7.48 kCal/min). The main effects plot of operational factors on EE displayed the stroke made by the subjects during spraying operation as parameter with largest effect on EE. Regression equation for EE and PCI is given as PCI = 1.97 + 25.2 EE, while the P-value at α = 0.05 is 0.000 and R2 = 98.8%. Post operational body pain showed that 19 out of 28 subjects incurred at least one type of body pain, with shoulder pain as most frequent. The results of the study suggest that early incidence of fatigue may occur in female operators as compared to the males, and in addition, cumulative trauma at shoulder, back, and upper and lower arm may result over time. Hence, it is recommended that the tank volume should be reduced and the straps for the shoulders should be supported with additional cushion.

Design and Evaluation of a User Interface for an Autonomous Agricultural Sprayer

This paper describes the design and evaluation of a user interface for a remotely supervised autonomous agricultural sprayer. The interface was designed to help the remote supervisor to instruct the autonomous sprayer to commence operation, monitor the status of the sprayer and its operation in the field, and intervene when needed (i.e., to stop or shut down). Design principles and guidelines were carefully selected to help develop a human-centered automation interface. Evaluation of the interface using a combination of heuristic, cognitive walkthrough, and user testing techniques revealed several strengths of the design as well as areas that needed further improvement. Overall, this paper provides guidelines that will assist other researchers to develop an ergonomic user interface for a fully autonomous agricultural machine.

Packing Container Sprayer

Sprayers produced by the Zhuhai Huaxun Precision Chemicals Co. Ltd. Chinese-foreign joint venture are mainly used as packing containers for perfume, hair sprays, bathing shampoo. different kinds of freshener, deodorant, insecticides, etc. Our products are made with imported equipment, imported model plates, imported raw materials. They are sophisticated in design, and can match the world’s advanced level of the 1990s in integral function. After scientific and technical appraisal by the Light Industry Bureau

Optimization design of the hydro-pneumatic suspension system for high clearance self-propelled sprayer using improved MOPSO algorithm

Large high clearance self-propelled sprayers were widely used in field plant protection due to their high-efficiency operation capabilities.Influenced by the characteristics of field operations such as high power,heavy weight,high ground clearance,and fast operation speed,the comprehensive requirements for the ride comfort,handling stability and road friendliness of the sprayer were increasingly strong.At the present stage,the chassis structure of the high clearance selfpropelled sprayer that attaches great importance to the improvement of comprehensive performance still has the problems of severe bumps,weak handling performance and serious road damage in complex field environments.Therefore,this paper proposes an optimization design method for hydro-pneumatic suspension system of a high clearance self-propelled sprayer based on the improved MOPSO(Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization)algorithm,covering the entire process of configuration design,parameter intelligent optimization,and system verification of the high clearance self-propelled sprayer chassis.Specifically,chassis structure of the hydro-pneumatic suspension suitable for the high clearance self-propelled sprayer was designed,and a design method combining the improved MOPSO algorithm based on time-varying fusion strategy and adaptive update with the parameter optimization of hydro-pneumatic suspension based on this algorithm was proposed,and finally the software simulation and bench performance verification were carried out.The results show that the optimized hydropneumatic suspension has excellent vibration reduction effect,and the body acceleration,suspension dynamic deflection and tire deflection were increased by 16.5%,9.9%and 0.9%respectively,compared with those before optimization.The comprehensive performance of the hydro-pneumatic suspension designed in this study is better than that of the traditional suspension.

Influences of the tank liquid lateral sloshing and mass time-varying on high clearance self-propelled sprayer ride comfort

To explore the influence of the lateral sloshing and the time-varying mass of the liquid in the tank on the ride comfort of the high-clearance sprayer,a spring-mass-damping equivalent mechanics that can describe the lateral sloshing of the liquid under different filling ratios was constructed based on the equivalent criterion.The Fluent was used to simulate the moment acting on the wall of the tank by the lateral sloshing of the liquid,and then the parameters of the equivalent mechanical model are obtained by fitting and solving.Comparative analysis of Fluent simulation and bench test on lateral sloshing of tank liquid under different filling ratios.The results show that the lateral sloshing trend of the tank liquid level obtained from the Fluent simulation and the bench test was consistent,which proved the accuracy of the Fluent fluid simulation process and the correctness of the required equivalent mechanical model parameters.Incorporating a liquid sloshing equivalent model,a four-degree-of-freedom vertical dynamic model of the sprayer half-car was established.Subsequently,the performance of the sprayer was systematically analyzed and compared under the excitation of a bump road and a random E-level road.This investigation took into account varying liquid filling ratios of 10%,50%,and 90%.The focus lay on evaluating the vertical acceleration of the sprayer body,dynamic deflection of the suspension,and dynamic load on the tires in response to these road conditions.This analysis is conducted independently of the liquid sloshing factor.The results show that the lateral sloshing of the liquid medicine significantly reduces the ride smoothness of the machine,and makes the vibration response of the machine produce a certain hysteresis effect.With the reduction of the quality of the liquid medicine in the spray tank,the vibration amplitude of the sprayer body gradually decreases,the hysteresis effect is also gradually weakened.The results presented in this study offer a theoretical foundation for the analysis of ride comfort and the optimization of chassis structure in high-clearance sprayers.

自走式喷杆喷雾机喷雾沉积特性试验研究

为了探究各因素对喷杆喷雾机喷雾沉积的影响规律,进一步提高自走式喷杆喷雾机的作业效率,使用Box-Behnken响应面法,分析并得到前进速度v、工作高度h和喷雾压力p等影响因素与喷雾沉积特性的数学模型,根据回归分析结果得出各影响因素对喷雾沉积特性的影响程度以及喷雾机最佳工作参数.结果表明:前进速度、工作高度和喷雾压力均对喷雾沉积特性有显著影响,影响程度按因素排序由大到小为喷雾压力,工作高度,前进速度.单位面积雾滴沉积量均值与前进速度和喷头工作高度成负相关,与喷雾压力成正相关.沉积量变异系数与喷雾压力成负相关,与前进速度成正相关,与工作高度的增加呈先减小后增大的趋势,这说明在工作高度一定的情况下,增大喷雾压力或者减小前进速度可以有效提高喷雾机的雾滴沉积均匀性.

基于视觉导航的设施喷雾机电动底盘设计与试验

喷雾作业在设施农业作物生产中起着关键的作用,针对当前设施喷雾作业多以人工喷洒完成,机械化水平较低、底盘转向不灵活、农药利用率低,且人工喷洒易造成农药残留伤害人体健康等问题,设计了一款基于视觉导航实现自主行走的设施喷雾机底盘,完成了喷雾机底盘的机械结构设计,并对底盘的控制系统、驱动系统和软件流程进行设计。试验结果表明:设计的设施喷雾机底盘可以实现灵活转向和基于视觉导航自主行走,底盘3种标签试验平均成功率为98.67%;直线行驶10 m时,横向偏差平均值为2.1 cm,最大值为6.7 cm,底盘驱动系统和控制系统稳定。提高喷雾机作业的自动化和智能化,降低农民的生产作业强度,对设施农业现代化具有重要意义。

Effects of fan speed on spray deposition and drift for targeting air-assisted sprayer in pear orchard

In order to reduce the application dosage of pesticides,a targeting air-assisted(TAA)sprayer was developed and tested in this study.Fruit trees were assayed by an infrared detection system to determine if the canopy needs to be sprayed.This TAA sprayer was compared with conventional air-assisted(CAA)sprayers,and the impacts of various fan speeds(0,800 r/min,1300 r/min,and 1800 r/min)on spray deposition,coverage,and drift amount were tested.Ponceau 2R was used as tracer to measure spray deposition under each treatment.Droplet coverage and canopy deposition were best when the CAA application fan speed was increased to 1300 r/min,but at higher fan speeds,spray deposition and coverage in canopy did not increase because extra air flow blew droplets from the ground into the air.During TAA spraying,droplet sizes increased at opening and closing moments.Optimal spray effects were achieved when the auxiliary airflow velocity was increased at a fan speed of 1800 r/min.The research provides a useful reference for the design of TAA and parameters optimization method with respect to the relationship between droplets deposition into tree canopy,ground and drift in the air.

Precision orchard sprayer based on automatically infrared target detecting and electrostatic spraying techniques

There is an urgent need for new chemical application techniques and sprayers in Chinese orchard spraying.A new tractor-mounted automatic target detecting electrostatics,and air-assisted orchard sprayer was designed and developed to meet the demand of chemical pest control in orchards.This sprayer light weighted,highly efficient,reduces pesticide use and is friendly to the environment.The techniques of automatic target detecting,electrostatics,and air-assisted spraying were combined in this system.The electrostatically charged droplets are projected toward the target by the assistance of an air stream that increases the droplets penetration within canopy.Experimental results show that the new automatic target detecting orchard sprayer with an infrared sensor can save more than 50%to 75%of pesticides,improve the utilization rate(over 55%),control efficiency,and significantly reduce environmental pollution caused by the pesticide application.At the same time the key technological problems related to air-assisted low volume and electrostatic spraying were solved.

Design and experiment of variable rate orchard sprayer based on laser scanning sensor

During different growth periods,canopy size and density in orchards are variable,which need application conditions(flow rate and air flow)to be adjusted to match the canopy’s characteristics.In order to improve orchard sprayer’s automatic operating performance,an automatic variable-rate orchard sprayer(VARS)fixed with 40 electromagnetic valves and 8 brushless fans was developed based on the canopy’s spatial dimensions.Each solenoid valve and brushless motor can be individually adjusted in real-time through pulse width modulation(PWM)signals emitted by a control system to adjust each nozzle’s spout and fan rotation speed.A high-precision laser scanning sensor(light detecting and ranging,LIDAR)was adopted as the detector to measure the canopy volume using the variable rate algorithm principle.Field experiments were conducted in an apple orchard,and conventional air blast sprayer(CABS)and directed air-jet sprayer(DAJS)were tested as a comparison.Results showed that on average,46%less spraying solution was applied compared to conventional applications,while penetration rate was similar to DAJS.Normalized deposition in the canopy with variable application was higher than that of conventional applications,indicating that electronic sprayers are more efficient than conventional sprayers.It was also observed that VARS could significantly reduce off-target loss.The field experiment showed that the newly developed variable-rate sprayer can greatly reduce pesticide use and protect the environment for the orchard fruit production,and also provide a reference for design and performance optimization for plant protection machinery.

Optimization and test for spraying parameters of cotton defoliant sprayer

Boom sprayer is widely used in large farm crops because of its high working efficiency and favorable spraying effect.But there are still some problems in cotton defoliant spraying in Xinjiang,China.Cotton is planted in a high density in Xinjiang,the row space is(10+66)cm,leaves in two adjacent rows are seriously overlapped,the lower leavers are poorly sprayed,so the defoliation effect is poor,and the cotton quality is degraded.To solve this problem and improve the defoliant droplets coverage on the cotton canopy,the original boom spraying was modified,and the spraying pardameters was optimized by the central combination test and design concept of Box-Behnken based on a single-factor test.A quadratic polynomial model of droplets coverage was created by using working parameters including horizontal spraying boom height,hang boom height and nozzles angle as the influential factors and the mean droplets coverage on cotton canopy as the target function,and the effectiveness of mode and interaction of factors were analyzed.The model was optimized and analyzed using the regression analysis method and response surface analysis method of software Design-Expert 7.0.0,and the optimal combination of spraying parameters was obtained.The results showed that the droplets coverage on cotton canopy were influenced by boom height,sprayer height and angled nozzles sequentially from large to small,and the optimal combination of spraying parameters was under horizontal spraying boom height of 134 cm,hang spraying boom height of 27.5 cm and nozzles angle of 21°.The mean droplets coverage of experimental value and predicted value on cotton canopy were 19.6%and 20.43%respectively in such conditions,and the relative error to the estimated value on the model was–4.25%.The research result can provide a reference for further optimizing the spraying parameters of cotton defoliant sprayer.

Detection system of smart sprayers: Status, challenges, and perspectives

A smart sprayer comprises a detection system and a chemical spraying system.In this study,the development status and challenges of the detection systems of smart sprayers are discussed along with perspectives on these technologies.The detection system of a smart sprayer is used to collect information on target areas and make spraying decisions.The spraying system controls sprayer operation.Various sensing technologies,such as machine vision,spectral analysis,and remote sensing,are used in target detection.In image processing,morphological features are employed to segment characteristics such as shape,structure,color,and pattern.In spectral analysis,the characteristics of reflectance and multispectral images are applied in crop detection.For the remote sensing application,vegetation indices and hyperspectral images are used to provide information on crop management.Other sensors,such as thermography,ultrasonic,laser,and X-ray sensors,are also used in the detection system and mentioned in the review.On the basis of this review,challenges and perspectives are suggested.The findings of this study may aid the understanding of smart sprayer systems and provide feasible methods for improving efficiency in chemical applications.

Design and performance evaluation of a variable-rate orchard sprayer based on a laser-scanning sensor

To improve the precision spraying strategy and reduce excessive pesticide application in orchards,an air-assisted sprayer integrated with a laser-scanning system was developed to realize the toward-target variable-rate spraying.In the spray control system,a method of calculating canopy gridding volumes was designed to ensure that the canopy was divided into a uniform grid size,a variable-rate spray model was used in the flow rate decision software to control the spray output according to the canopy gridding volumes and travel speed,and a method of saving and accessing spray data was used to control the spray delay.The effects of different grid sizes and travel speeds on the spray performance were evaluated by quantifying spray coverage uniformity inside tree canopies.The results showed that spray coverage uniformity declined with increasing grid width from 0.14 to 0.28 m although the mean spray coverage on each target location showed no significant differences.Additionally,there were no significant variations in mean spray coverage at speeds of 1.0,1.2 and 1.4 m/s for a tested tree of 1.6 m width and at any experimental speeds for a tested tree of 1.3 m width,which indicated that the variable-rate sprayer could provide good spray coverage uniformity under various travel speeds with a canopy size limitation.Compared with the same sprayer without the variable-rate spray function,the intelligent sprayer prototype realized effective toward-target spraying and avoided overspraying while providing sufficient spray coverage.

3WSH-500型喷雾机喷杆高度调控系统设计与试验

针对地面起伏造成喷雾机喷杆高度波动的问题,以永佳3WSH-500型喷雾机为试验平台,电动推杆为喷杆高度调节驱动部件,采用滞环控制原理,设计了基于超声探测的喷杆高度调控系统。首先,对3种路面(水泥地路面、田间未耕路面和田间翻耕路面)下超声波传感器反馈电流信号与喷杆高度的探测曲线进行标定试验,获得3种路面喷杆高度监测曲线。其次,开展喷杆高度调节静态试验,通过改变喷杆高度,获得了静态调节下喷杆高度调节响应曲线,确定静态最优滞环值为10 mm。开展了3种路面下不同车速对喷杆高度调节的性能试验及性能对照试验,根据喷杆高度趋于稳态时的振颤范围,确定动态最优滞环值为50 mm,喷杆高度设定为1 000 mm,车速为2.5、5.0、6.0、8.0 km/h。试验结果表明:车速对系统喷杆高度的调控性能影响较小,而地面起伏对系统喷杆高度调控稳定性具有显著影响,以动态性能对照试验作为对照组,田间未耕地路面的控制合格率由83%~95%提升至93%~97%,在地形波动较大的田间翻耕路面,喷杆高度控制合格率由2%~16%提升至72%~87%。该研究可为喷杆高度调控性能提升提供技术参考。