Development of Autonomous Air-Blast Sprayer

Abstract

　We developed an autonomous air-blast sprayer that can perform pest-control operations in orchards using high-precision satellite positioning technology. The accuracy of autonomous driving was evaluated in an apple orchard. The results revealed a lateral deviation of 0.06 m RMS from the target path and an azimuth deviation of 3.6°, which were sufficiently accurate for autonomous pest control operations in orchards. The autonomous spraying performance by the developed machine was equivalent to that in conventional pest control operations using an air blast sprayer. The work efficiency was estimated to be 3.4 min/10 a when the autonomous operation of the machine was not included in the autonomous spraying time. The results indicate the possibility of reducing work time by 68 %.