CN115697844A

CN115697844A - Unmanned aerial vehicle with drip spray head and method for applying pesticide by using unmanned aerial vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN115697844A
Application number: CN202180040090.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 齐枫; 郑伟; 朱军; 刘铁男; 王旭
Original assignee: Bayer CropScience China Co Ltd
Current assignee: Bayer CropScience China Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-06-11
Filing date: 2021-06-09
Publication date: 2023-02-03
Also published as: WO2021249429A1

Abstract

An unmanned aerial vehicle having a drip emitter and a method of applying a pesticide to crop plants in a paddy field by the unmanned aerial vehicle, the method comprising: providing an unmanned aircraft, wherein the unmanned aircraft is provided with at least one spray head (4); maneuvering or setting the drone to fly over the paddy field along a predetermined path; applying the pesticide via at least one spray head (4) during the flight over the paddy field; wherein applying the pesticide via the at least one spray head (4) comprises spraying the pesticide via the at least one spray head (4) in the form of a liquid column towards at least one spraying direction.

Description

Unmanned aerial vehicle with drip spray nozzle and method for applying pesticide by adopting unmanned aerial vehicle

The present application claims priority from chinese patent application No. 202010528611.9, filed on 11/06/2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as part of the present application.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle having a drip spray head, and a method of applying a pesticide using such an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Background

Precision agriculture puts higher demands on the spraying precision of pesticide operation, especially agriculture and forestry operation. In recent years, unmanned aircrafts for agricultural and forestry plant protection work (also called as "plant protection unmanned aircrafts") have been widely used due to their advantages of high efficiency, labor saving, excellent work effect, and the like.

Plant protection unmanned aerial vehicle flies and sprays the operation with the regulation route and through the shower nozzle, though can accomplish accurate spraying and quantitative spraying, in the actual operation in-process because the influence of factors such as shower nozzle model, droplet size, geographical position, geographical environment, wind speed, temperature, spray thing (pesticide) production drifts or uneven distribution to bring negative effects for spraying the operation, lead to the heavy blow, leak and spout the scheduling problem, spray the thing and can drift to unexpected region even, arouse environmental pollution risk or produce adverse effect to the growth of crops.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above-mentioned problems and needs, the present invention provides an unmanned aerial vehicle having a drip spray head and a method for applying pesticide using the same, which solves the above-mentioned problems and brings other technical effects due to the following technical features.

At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a method of applying a pesticide to crop plants in a paddy field by an unmanned aerial vehicle, the method comprising: providing an unmanned aircraft provided with at least one spray head; maneuvering or setting the drone to fly over the paddy field along a predetermined route; applying pesticide via at least one spray head during the flight over the paddy field; wherein said applying pesticide via at least one spray head comprises spraying pesticide via said at least one spray head in a liquid column towards at least one spray direction.

In some examples, the applying the pesticide via the at least one spray head further comprises dispersedly atomizing the liquid column into droplets.

In some examples, the atomizing the liquid column into the mist includes atomizing the liquid column into the mist with a wind field generated by a rotor of the drone.

In some examples, the droplets have a particle size of greater than 100 microns, preferably greater than 200 microns, preferably greater than 400 microns, preferably greater than 600 microns, preferably greater than 800 microns, preferably greater than 1000 microns.

In some examples, the particle size of the droplets satisfies the following condition: both DV10 and DV50 are greater than 100 micrometers, preferably greater than 200 micrometers, preferably greater than 400 micrometers, preferably greater than 600 micrometers, preferably greater than 800 micrometers, preferably greater than 1000 micrometers, at a working pressure of 3 bar.

In some examples, the method further comprises: calibrating the spray head includes calibrating at least one of an orientation of the spray head, an operating flow rate of the spray head, or a size of a discharge orifice of the spray head.

In some examples, the parameters of the predetermined route are derived by user input or experimental methods.

In some examples, the pesticide is a pesticide suitable for aqueous layer application.

In some examples, the pesticide includes any one or combination of the following groups: the herbicide composition comprises triafamone, penoxsulam, mesotrione, metazosulfuron, benzobicyclon, fluroxypyr, pretilachlor, butachlor, bensulfuron, pyrazosulfuron, oxadiazon, oxadiargyl, oxyfluorfen, simetryn, prometryn, pyraclonil or oxadiargyl.

At least one embodiment of the present invention provides an unmanned aerial vehicle for applying a pesticide to crop plants in a paddy field, the unmanned aerial vehicle comprising: a body; the box body is fixedly arranged on the body and used for containing pesticide; at least one spray head arranged on the body to spray pesticide; a delivery member for delivering pesticide from the tank toward the at least one spray head; and a control unit configured to maneuver or set the drone to fly over the paddy field along a predetermined route and to control the conveyance component to apply pesticide to the paddy field via the at least one spray head as the drone flies over the paddy field; wherein the control unit is configured to spray the pesticide in the form of a liquid column via the at least one spray head towards at least one spray direction.

In some examples, the drone includes a thrust unit that generates a down-draft wind field that drives the drone, the down-draft wind field scattering the liquid column into a mist of droplets.

In some examples, the particle size of the droplets satisfies the following condition: both DV10 and DV50 are greater than 100 micrometers, preferably greater than 200 micrometers, preferably greater than 400 micrometers, preferably greater than 600 micrometers, preferably greater than 800 micrometers, preferably greater than 1000 micrometers at a working pressure of 3 bar.

In some examples, the spray head is a drop spray head.

In some examples, the drone is a multi-rotor plant protection drone.

Drawings

To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is apparent that the drawings in the following description relate only to some embodiments of the present disclosure and are not limiting to the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 shows a flow diagram of a method of applying pesticide to crop plants in a paddy field by a drone according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2A shows a schematic view of a spray head of an embodiment of the present disclosure spraying a liquid column in situ;

FIG. 2B shows a schematic view of a spray head of an embodiment of the present disclosure spraying a liquid column in flight of an unmanned aircraft;

FIG. 3 shows a comparison of drift distances for different droplet sizes;

FIG. 4 shows a comparison of droplet sizes from different models of spray heads;

figure 5 illustrates a perspective view of an unmanned aircraft according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an operational schematic diagram of an unmanned aircraft, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a showerhead according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic spray diagram of the spray head of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the results of a control experiment of applying pesticides to paddy fields planted with soybeans at the periphery;

FIG. 10 is a graph showing the results of a control experiment for applying agricultural chemicals to paddy fields planted with sesame on the periphery;

figure 11 shows a graph of the results of another field control experiment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 shows a schematic diagram of a wind tunnel system used in laboratory test two.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure more clear, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings of specific embodiments of the present disclosure. Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements. It should be noted that the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the described embodiments of the disclosure without any inventive step, are within the scope of protection of the disclosure.

Unless defined otherwise, technical or scientific terms used herein shall have the ordinary meaning as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. The use of "first," "second," and similar terms in the description and claims of the present disclosure are not intended to indicate any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another. Also, the use of the terms "a" or "an" and the like do not necessarily denote a limitation of quantity. The word "comprising" or "comprises", and the like, means that the element or item preceding the word comprises the element or item listed after the word and its equivalent, but does not exclude other elements or items. The terms "connected" or "coupled" and the like are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. "upper", "lower", "left", "right", and the like are used merely to indicate relative positional relationships, and when the absolute position of the object being described is changed, the relative positional relationships may also be changed accordingly.

The unmanned aircraft proposed in the present disclosure is preferably used for agricultural and forestry crop plant protection operations, more particularly, paddy field crop plant protection operations, but is not limited to other uses.

The term "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" (UAV) is to be understood as an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle which is operated by means of a radio remote control and a self-contained program control device and which may also be referred to as drone, autonomous Vehicle, etc.

Preferably, the unmanned aircraft described in the present disclosure is a multi-rotor unmanned aircraft, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and various other types of unmanned aircraft or remote control kites, etc. may be employed as long as the device can fly according to a predetermined route to perform the proposed method according to the present invention.

The term "paddy field" is understood to mean a field that is normally irrigated and impounded for growing aquatic crop plants, such as rice. The paddy field can be evenly distributed on the ground in a leveling way or can also be unevenly distributed on the ground. Crop plants of a single variety can be grown in a single paddy field; however, it is also contemplated that the paddy field may include a plurality of different regions, each growing a different variety of crop plants or a variety of varieties of a single variety of crop plants.

The term "crop plant" is understood to mean a plant which, as a result of human intervention, grows in a targeted manner as a crop or ornamental plant.

The term "pesticide" is understood to mean a product whose purpose is to protect plants or plant products from pests or to prevent their effects, to destroy undesired plants or plant parts, to inhibit undesired plant growth or to prevent such growth, and/or to influence the life processes of plants in ways other than as nutrients (e.g. growth regulators).

Examples of pesticides are herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and/or growth regulators. Pesticides typically comprise an active substance or substances. "active substance" means a substance that has a specific action on an organism and causes a specific reaction. Typically, pesticides comprise a carrier, such as water, for diluting one or more active substances. Furthermore, additives such as preservatives, buffers, colorants, and the like are contemplated. The pesticide may be in solid, liquid or gaseous form. In the following description of the present disclosure, the pesticide is considered to be used in liquid form.

The term "weeds" is understood to mean plants of accompanying vegetation which occur spontaneously in the field of crop plants, on grasslands or in gardens, which plants are not deliberately grown in these settings and develop, for example, from possible soil seeds or from air transmission. The term is not limited to herbaceous plants in the strict sense, but also includes grasses, ferns, mosses or woody plants.

Weeds for purposes of this disclosure are plants that accompany the desired crop plant when grown. They are undesirable because they compete with crop plants for resources and should inhibit weed growth. For example, it is conceivable that weeds in a paddy field must be removed before sowing crop plant seeds. It is also conceivable that after sowing, weeds have developed in the paddy field and have to be removed.

The term "drift" is understood to mean the displacement of a solid or liquid in the horizontal direction when it is spread in the air. There are many factors that determine the amount of drift of a solid or liquid, including but not limited to: particle size of the object, horizontal initial velocity, ambient wind speed, sowing height and the like.

At present, the main herbicide products for paddy field crop plants are mostly in contact type, liquid medicine is required to contact weed blades, the medicine carrying capacity of the unmanned aircraft is small, more small fog drops are required to achieve better liquid medicine coverage under low water quantity, but the smaller the size of the liquid fog drops, the higher the risk of drift is, the smaller the liquid fog drops are, the larger the liquid fog drops are, the more the liquid fog drops are easily sowed to undesired areas by mistake, such as sensitive crop plant areas around weeds, so that the crop plants are phytotoxicity is generated, and the normal growth is influenced and even the crop plants die.

Unlike contact-type application, aqueous layer application applies the pesticide uniformly to the surface of the aqueous layer of the rice field rather than to the weed leaves. The method can be divided into a manual throwing method and a medicine soil method:

a throwing application method: preparing the liquid medicine into mother liquor, diluting the mother liquor with 2-7 liters of water, and then uniformly throwing and applying the diluted mother liquor to the surface of a water layer of the paddy field;

a medicine soil method: the mother liquor is firstly mixed with a small amount of sandy soil, then is mixed with 3-7 kg of sandy soil uniformly, and is then uniformly spread on the surface of the water layer of the paddy field.

However, the two methods need manual operation, which not only results in high labor cost and slow operation efficiency, but also sometimes results in insufficient drug effect or risk of drug injury due to uneven manual application.

The prior unmanned aircraft for protecting agriculture and forestry crop plants mostly uses a hydraulic fan-shaped spray head or a centrifugal spray head, and the spray drops sprayed by the spray heads are very small, so that the drifting problem exists.

Furthermore, the operating altitude of an unmanned aircraft is typically 1.5 to 2.5 meters above the crop plants, and thus the risk of drift due to ambient wind velocity is much greater than with ground-based spray machines or artificial sprays.

In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a method of applying pesticides to crop plants in paddy fields by unmanned aircraft that simultaneously has the advantages of uniform application and prevention of drift.

Preferred embodiments of the unmanned aerial vehicle for applying pesticides to crop plants in paddy fields according to the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Possible embodiments within the scope of the disclosure may have fewer components, have other components not shown in the figures, different components, differently arranged components or differently connected components, etc. than the embodiments shown in the figures. Further, two or more of the elements in the drawings may be implemented in a single element or a single element shown in the drawings may be implemented as multiple separate elements without departing from the concepts of the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 shows a flow diagram of a method of applying pesticide to crop plants in a paddy field by an unmanned aircraft according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

A method of applying a pesticide to crop plants in a paddy field by an unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes the steps of:

s101, providing an unmanned aircraft, wherein the unmanned aircraft is provided with at least one spray head;

s102, operating or setting the unmanned aircraft to fly over the paddy field along a preset route;

s103, applying pesticide through at least one spray head during flying above the paddy field;

applying the pesticide via the at least one spray head includes spraying the pesticide via the at least one spray head in a liquid column towards the at least one spray direction. Preferably, applying the pesticide via the at least one spray head further comprises dispersedly atomizing the liquid column into droplets. Preferably, the liquid column can be broken up into large particle droplets with a particle size of more than 100 microns, preferably more than 200 microns, preferably more than 400 microns, preferably more than 600 microns, preferably more than 800 microns, preferably more than 1000 microns using a down-wind field created by the rotors of the drone. However, the invention is not limited thereto, and in the case of other types of unmanned aircraft, a device for generating a down-draft field may be provided on the unmanned aircraft to achieve the effect of breaking up the liquid column into large-particle droplets.

Preferably, the unmanned aerial vehicle adopts a multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle for plant protection operation, which is also called a multi-rotor plant protection unmanned aerial vehicle, and the spray head adopts a dripping spray head for liquid fertilizer. The following description will take the MG-1P series of the macro-ARUM unmanned plant-protection aircraft as an example, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and other unmanned aircraft equipped with a hydraulic spray nozzle, such as an Anyang full-abundance electric multi-rotor unmanned plant-protection aircraft, may also be used.

Different from the traditional plant protection unmanned aerial vehicle sprayer, the sprayer adopted by the embodiment of the disclosure can spray pesticide in a liquid column form instead of a small-particle-size fog drop form, the liquid column in the descending process is preferably scattered into large-particle-size fog drops through a downward wind-pressing field of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the liquid column or the large-particle-size fog drops can effectively avoid the drifting problem, so that the effect of directional pesticide application is achieved.

FIG. 2A shows a schematic view of a spray head of an embodiment of the present disclosure spraying a liquid column in situ; fig. 2B shows a schematic view of a spray head of an embodiment of the disclosure spraying a liquid column in flight of an unmanned aircraft.

As shown in fig. 2A and 2B, when spraying in situ, at least one spray head sprays pesticide in the form of a liquid column toward at least one spraying direction, and when the unmanned aircraft flies, the rotor of the unmanned aircraft rotates to form a downward pressing wind field to break up the liquid column emitted from the spray head into large granular fog drops.

Fig. 3 shows a comparison of drift distances for different droplet sizes, and fig. 4 shows a comparison of droplet sizes for different types of nozzles.

As can be seen from fig. 3, under the room temperature condition that the ambient wind speed is 1.4m/s and the flying height is 30 cm, the dispersion distance of the droplets is inversely related to the size of the droplets, i.e., the smaller the particle size of the droplets, the longer the dispersion distance of the droplets. Specifically, when the particle size of the fog drops is 20 micrometers, the maximum drift distance can reach 330 meters; when the particle size of the fog drops is 50 micrometers, the maximum drifting distance is 50 meters; when the particle size of the fog drops is 100 micrometers, the drift distance is 15 meters farthest, and when the particle size of the fog drops is 150 micrometers, the drift distance is 7 meters farthest. And when the particle size of the fog drops is 400 micrometers, the drift distance is only 2.5 meters. It follows that there is a higher risk of drift when the droplet size is less than 100 microns. Thus, the present embodiment selects a droplet size of at least greater than 100 microns. Preferably, the droplet size may be greater than 200 microns, greater than 400 microns, greater than 600 microns, greater than 800 microns, or greater than 1000 microns. Alternatively, the droplet size needs to satisfy the following condition: both DV10 and DV50 are greater than 100 micrometers, preferably greater than 200 micrometers, preferably greater than 400 micrometers, preferably greater than 600 micrometers, preferably greater than 800 micrometers, preferably greater than 1000 micrometers, at a working pressure of 3 bar.

Spray head model selection

For this reason, it is necessary to select an appropriate head to meet the requirement of the droplet size. A comparison of fig. 4 shows the droplet size at 3bar pressure for different types of spray heads. It should be noted that both DV10 and DV50 are expressed in a standard granularity. In one-time spraying, the volumes of all the fog drops are accumulated from small to large, and when the accumulated value is equal to 50% of the volume of all the fog drops, the corresponding diameter of the fog drops is the volume median diameter, which is called the volume median diameter DV50 for short. Similarly, in one spray, the volumes of all the droplets are accumulated from small to large, and when the accumulated value is equal to 10% of the volume of all the droplets, the diameter of the corresponding droplet is DV10.

It can be seen that the DV10 of the drone-equipped spray head is less than 100 microns under the experimental conditions, which means that a certain proportion of the droplets ejected by the spray head are small, and a greater risk of drift is caused. Other commercially available spray heads, such as spray heads with model numbers TT11001, AIXR110015 and TTI110015, cannot simultaneously have a DV10 and a DV50 larger than 400 microns. There may also be a certain risk of drift of these jets.

Preferably, the invention uses a Tejett SJ7-015-VP showerhead with a DV50 of greater than 1500 microns under experimental conditions, which is capable of significantly avoiding droplet drift. The disclosure is not limited thereto, and other spray heads of jie corporation SJ7 series and SJ3 series may be used. For example, spray heads meeting the requirements of the selected versions of the invention include spray heads having operating pressures in the range of 1.5bar to 4bar and single spray head flow rates of 0.39 to 7 liters/minute or 0.44 to 9.31 liters/minute.

For example, tejett SJ7-015-VP showerhead includes the following features: generating seven liquid column flows with the same flow speed and flow; excellent spray distribution quality; all are acetal structures, and have excellent chemical resistance; the working pressure is in the range of 1.5bar to 4 bar; the flow rate of a single nozzle is 0.46-0.57 l/min under the usual spraying pressure (2-3 bar) of an unmanned aircraft.

Optionally, the spray head according to an alternative form of the invention may have a spray liquid column diameter of greater than 1000 microns, for example 1000 to 1500 microns, 1500 to 2500 microns, 2500 to 4000 microns or 4000 to 8000 microns, at an operating pressure in the range 1.5bar to 4 bar.

Optionally, the spray head according to the selected type of the invention may form a spray column at an operating pressure in the range of 1.5bar to 4bar, and the spray column is broken up by a compressed air field of the drone to form a mist having a particle size of greater than 1000 microns, such as 1000 to 1500 microns, 1500 to 2500 microns, 2500 to 4000 microns, or 4000 to 8000 microns.

Optionally, the particle size of the mist formed after the spray liquid column of the spray head meeting the type selection requirement of the invention under the working pressure ranging from 1.5bar to 4bar is broken by the lower-pressure wind field of the unmanned aircraft meets the following conditions: DV10 is greater than 1000 micrometers and DV50 is greater than 1000 micrometers, for example DV10 is 1000 to 1500 micrometers, 1500 to 2500 micrometers, 2500 to 4000 micrometers, or 4000 micrometers to 8000 micrometers, DV50 is 1000 to 1500 micrometers, 1500 to 2500 micrometers, 2500 to 4000 micrometers, or 4000 micrometers to 8000 micrometers.

Unmanned aerial vehicle structure

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of an unmanned aircraft according to an embodiment of the disclosure; FIG. 6 illustrates an operational schematic of an unmanned aircraft according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; fig. 7 illustrates a spray head according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 8 illustrates a spray pattern of the spray head illustrated in fig. 7.

As shown in fig. 5 to 7, an unmanned aerial vehicle for applying pesticide to crop plants in a paddy field according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a body 1, a plurality of lift units 2, a tank 3, at least one spray head 4, transport means and a control unit (not shown).

A plurality of lift units 2 are disposed on the body 1, and configured to form a down-draft wind field to generate lift thrust for driving the unmanned aircraft.

The box 3 is fixedly arranged on the body 1, and the box 3 is used for containing pesticide. For example, the case 3 may be provided at the bottom of the center of the body 1.

At least one spray head 4 is provided on the body to spray the pesticide. Optionally, at least one spray head 4 is arranged at the bottom of at least one of the plurality of lift units 2.

The delivery member is used to deliver pesticide from the tank 3 towards at least one spray head 4.

The control unit is configured to operate the drone to fly over the paddy field in a predetermined path and to control the delivery member to apply the pesticide to the paddy field via the at least one spray head 4 as the drone flies over the paddy field. At least one spray head 4 sprays the pesticide in the form of a liquid column towards at least one spray direction and preferably a compressed air field breaks up the liquid column and atomizes it into large droplets having a particle size of more than 100 micrometers, preferably more than 200 micrometers, preferably more than 400 micrometers, preferably more than 600 micrometers, preferably more than 800 micrometers, preferably more than 1000 micrometers.

As shown in fig. 7, the spray head 4 may include an inlet 41 and a plurality of discharge holes 42, the tank 3, the delivery member, and the spray head 4 are in fluid communication, and when it is desired to spray the pesticide, the pesticide is delivered from the tank 3 toward the inlet 41 of the spray head 4 through the delivery member and is sprayed in a liquid column form from the plurality of discharge holes 42 (e.g., 7 discharge holes), as shown in fig. 8. The conveying component may be one commonly used in the art, such as a pump for conveying fluid through a hollow wing arm of an unmanned aircraft, but the invention is not limited thereto.

In the present embodiment, the number of the spray heads 4 is four, and the spray heads are arranged at the bottoms of four push-up units 2 of the unmanned aircraft. As shown in fig. 6, the discharge holes 42 of the head 4 are oriented substantially parallel to the flight direction. One skilled in the art can select a greater or lesser number of spray heads, other suitable spray head positions, and spray head orientations according to actual needs.

Alternatively, each of the thrust-lift units 2 comprises a rotor and a drive seat on which a drive motor is preferably arranged to output power to the rotor.

The control unit steers the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly in a predetermined route. The route may be recorded in a memory of the control unit; however, it is also conceivable that the drone is remotely controlled, i.e. it is connected to a fixed control unit which monitors the respective position of the drone and indicates the direction in which the drone should be moved.

The control unit may also record the position of the drone above the paddy field and control the delivery member to deliver a corresponding amount of pesticide toward the spray head as the drone flies over the paddy field according to the route of the drone. The pesticide leaves the drone through the spray head and is applied to the paddy field.

Pesticidal active substances

The pesticide of the embodiments of the present disclosure is a pesticide suitable for aqueous layer application. Examples of pesticides are herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and/or growth regulators. Specifically, a herbicide suitable for application to the aqueous layer of paddy field, the active ingredient of which includes triafamone, can be used. Among others, the paddy field herbicide-effective active substances suitable for use in the unmanned aerial vehicle application method of the embodiments of the present disclosure may further include penoxsulam, mesotrione, metazosulfuron, benzobicyclon, fluroxypyr, pretilachlor, butachlor, bensulfuron-methyl, pyrazosulfuron-ethyl, oxadiazon, oxadiargyl, oxyfluorfen, simetryn, prometryn, pyraclonil, oxaziclomefone.

The common application method of the triafamone is 'aqueous layer application method'. By adopting the unmanned aerial vehicle pesticide application method disclosed by the embodiment of the disclosure, the pesticide liquid formed into large-particle fog drops can be effectively prevented from drifting, the unmanned aerial vehicle can fly autonomously, the spraying uniformity can be better than that of manual pesticide application, the risk of pesticide damage is further reduced, and the pesticide effect is ensured.

Pesticide application operation

The steps and flow of the pesticide application operation will be described below. The present example will be taken as an example of the MG-1P series of the Dajiang plant protection unmanned aircraft, and is intended to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the disclosure.

An unmanned aircraft, such as the Dajiang plant protection unmanned aircraft MG-1P series, is provided and a spray head is mounted to the bottom of the boost unit. The discharge orifice of the spray head is oriented substantially parallel to the direction of flight, that is, it is oriented away from the drone body and/or the tank containing the pesticide.

And calibrating the spray head, and calibrating parameters such as the orientation of the spray head, the working flow of the spray head, the size of the discharge hole and the like. One skilled in the art may calibrate the showerhead using conventional calibration methods, and the disclosure is not limited thereto.

Preparing pesticide liquid by adopting a secondary dilution method, and adding the pesticide liquid into a tank body of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The air in the transport element and the spray head can be evacuated prior to flight operations.

And starting the unmanned aircraft, and controlling the unmanned aircraft to fly autonomously by the control unit according to preset parameters and routes. For example, the flying height is 2 meters, the line changing distance is 3-4 meters, the flying speed is 3-5 meters/second, the water consumption per mu is 1-1.5 liters, the proper high flow rate is selected, and all the spray heads are completely opened in the flying process. The line change distance refers to a distance between lines or columns of a predetermined flight route, and may be preset according to actual requirements or obtained through an experimental method, and common line change distance experiments include: coated paper methods, snow test methods, and the like. The line feed distance can also be adjusted according to the ambient wind speed, i.e. the larger the wind speed, the smaller the line feed distance.

Field test

The feasibility, the safety and the weed control effect of the pesticide application method (hereinafter referred to as the method) of the unmanned aerial vehicle are verified by field experiments.

The first field test:

the experimental group adopts Bayer reclamation (the effective component is the fluoroketosulam) with the dose of 12 ml/mu and the Tejiert company SJ7-015-VP spray heads, and the control group adopts the Bayer reclamation (the effective component is the fluoroketosulam), the dose of 12 ml/mu, the Dajiang XR11001 spray head, the pentafluorochloramine (a broad-spectrum herbicide) with the dose of 12 ml/mu and the Dajiang XR11001 spray head respectively.

The method for applying the pesticide to the paddy field planted with the crop plants of the soybeans and the sesame at the periphery is adopted by the unmanned aerial vehicle of the embodiment of the disclosure to carry out application operation. Fig. 9 is a graph showing the results of a control experiment for applying pesticides in paddy fields with soybeans planted therearound, and fig. 10 is a graph showing the results of a control experiment for applying pesticides in paddy fields with sesame planted therearound.

As can be seen from fig. 9 and 10, 200SC of triafamone can effectively remove weeds, and the use of the nozzle and the application method selected in the embodiments of the present disclosure can effectively avoid phytotoxicity of small-particle-size fog drops on sensitive crop plants around the paddy field.

And (2) field test II:

the test conditions are as follows:

and (3) processing: 1. blank control; 2. 200SC of triafamone, the dosage of which is 12 ml/mu-artificial sand spraying (soil and drug method); 3. 200SC of triafamone, with the dosage of 12 ml/mu-by adopting the pesticide application method of the unmanned aircraft disclosed by the invention.

Flight parameters: the flying height is 2 meters, the flying speed is 4.8 meters per second, the spraying amplitude is 3 meters, and the water consumption per mu is 1 liter.

Model of the unmanned aircraft: da Jiang MG-1P.

The types of the spray heads are as follows: tejett SJ7-015-VP.

The test results are as follows:

TABLE 1 safety

TABLE 2 herbicidal Effect

Fig. 11 shows photographs of the results 45 days after the field trial was applied. As can be seen from fig. 11, compared with manual pesticide application, the pesticide effect can be significantly improved by using the unmanned aerial vehicle pesticide application method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

In summary, the unmanned aerial vehicle with the drip spray nozzle and the method for applying the pesticide by using the unmanned aerial vehicle according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can generate the fog drops with large particle size, and effectively prevent the fog drops from drifting. In addition, compared with manual pesticide application, spraying by adopting the unmanned plane can ensure the uniformity of spraying, and the risk of phytotoxicity to peripheral sensitive crop plants is reduced while pesticide effect is ensured.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present disclosure, but the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes, substitutions or combinations within the technical scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure or under the concept of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and all of them should be covered by the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Laboratory tests

Laboratory tests were used to verify that the pesticide application method of some embodiments of the present disclosure can prevent or reduce drift of liquid medicine droplets.

Laboratory experiment one:

the droplet sizes of different nozzles and liquid systems were measured by a laser particle sizer (Bettersize 2000S). In the test, the water inlet valve and the air outlet valve of the spraying system are adjusted, the spraying pressure is adjusted to be 3bar, and different nozzles are used for spraying liquid medicine, so that the test results shown in the table 3 are obtained:

TABLE 3

As can be seen from table 3, the particle size of the droplets obtained by spraying the liquid medicine using the jetter XR110015 spray head satisfies: DV50 is about 120 μm at a working pressure of 3 bar; the particle size of the fogdrop obtained by spraying the liquid medicine by using the Tegert SJ7-015-VP spray head and the Tegert SJ3-015-VP spray head meets the following requirements: the DV50 is greater than 500 microns at an operating pressure of 3 bar. It is noted that in the above test, the range of the laser particle sizer was 500 microns, and therefore, test results were obtained with a DV50 greater than 500 microns.

Experiment two:

fig. 12 shows a schematic representation of a wind tunnel system 5 used in laboratory test two. As shown in fig. 12, the wind tunnel system 5 includes a fan 51, a first wind deflector 52, a grill 53, a second wind deflector 54, a fairing 55, an ejection liquid container 57, a mist collection device 58, and a mist collection container 59.

In the wind tunnel system 5 shown in fig. 12, a test was conducted in which the spray head 56 was disposed between the rectifying member 55 and the mist collecting device 58 such that the fan 51, the first wind baffle 52, the grill member 53, the second wind baffle 54 and the rectifying member 55 were disposed in the upwind direction of the spray head, and the mist collecting device 58 was disposed in the downwind direction of the spray head. In the experiment, different heads 56 were used to eject simulated water as the liquid medicine to measure the total amount of liquid medicine ejected from the different types of heads 56 and the amount of liquid medicine collected by the mist collection device 58, and the drift rate of mist ejected from the corresponding head 56 = the amount of liquid medicine collected/the total amount of liquid medicine ejected. In the case where the distance between the liquid collecting device 58 and the spray heads 56 was 1.4m, the spray pressure was 3bar, the test time was 5min, the temperature of water was 20 ℃, and the wind speed was 1.5m/s or 3m/s, the experiment was repeated 5 times to obtain the average drift rate of the mist droplets sprayed from each spray head 56 as shown in table 4 below:

TABLE 4

Serial number	Wind speed (m/s)	Spray head	Drift rate (%)
1	3	Tejette XR110015	32.9
2	1.5	Tejette XR110015	18.2
3	3	Tejett SJ3-015-VP	0
4	1.5	Tejett SJ3-015-VP	0
5	3	Tegert SJ7-015-VP	0
6	1.5	Tegert SJ7-015-VP	0

The experiment was repeated 5 times with a distance of 1.4m between the liquid collecting device 58 and the spray head 56, a spray pressure of 1.5bar, a test time of 5min, a water temperature of 20 c, and a wind speed of 1.5m/s or 3m/s, and the average drift rate of the mist droplets sprayed by each spray head was obtained as shown in table 5 below:

TABLE 5

Serial number	Wind speed (m/s)	Spray head	Drift rate (%)
1	3	Tex XR110015	26.0
2	1.5	Tejette XR110015	13.0
3	3	Tejett SJ3-015-VP	0
4	1.5	Tejett SJ3-015-VP	0
5	3	Tejett SJ7-015-VP	0
6	1.5	Tegert SJ7-015-VP	0

As can be seen from tables 4 and 5, there was very little drift in the droplets ejected from both the Jett SJ7-015-VP and the Jett SJ3-015-VP jets as compared to the Jett XR110015 jets.

It can be seen from tables 3 and 4 above that drift can be effectively prevented or reduced when the droplet size is such that the DV50 is greater than 500 microns at a working pressure of 3 bar. Further, it can be seen that the droplet size is large and the drift of the droplets is small.

From the above-described laboratory test one and laboratory test two, the pesticide application method for the unmanned aerial vehicle according to some embodiments of the present disclosure can spray mist droplets having a large particle diameter, and thus, can prevent or reduce drift of the mist droplets.

Claims

A method of applying a pesticide to crop plants in a paddy field by an unmanned aircraft, comprising:

providing an unmanned aircraft provided with at least one spray head;

maneuvering or setting the drone to fly over the paddy field along a predetermined route;

applying pesticide via at least one spray head during the flight over the paddy field;

wherein said applying the pesticide via the at least one spray head comprises spraying the pesticide via the at least one spray head in the form of a liquid column towards the at least one spray direction.
The method of claim 1, wherein the applying a pesticide via at least one spray head further comprises dispersedly atomizing the liquid column into a mist of droplets.
The method of claim 2, wherein the atomizing the liquid column into mist droplets comprises atomizing the liquid column into mist droplets using a downward wind field generated by a rotor of the drone.
A process according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the droplets have a particle size of more than 100 microns, preferably more than 200 microns, preferably more than 400 microns, preferably more than 600 microns, preferably more than 800 microns, preferably more than 1000 microns.
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the particle size of the mist droplets satisfies the following condition: both DV10 and DV50 are greater than 100 micrometers, preferably greater than 200 micrometers, preferably greater than 400 micrometers, preferably greater than 600 micrometers, preferably greater than 800 micrometers, preferably greater than 1000 micrometers at a working pressure of 3 bar.
The method of any of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

calibrating the spray head includes calibrating at least one of an orientation of the spray head, an operating flow rate of the spray head, or a size of a discharge orifice of the spray head.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the parameters of the predetermined route are derived by user input or experimentally.
The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the pesticide is a pesticide suitable for aqueous layer application.
The method of claim 8, wherein the pesticide comprises any one or combination of the following group: the herbicide composition comprises triafamone, penoxsulam, mesotrione, metazosulfuron, benzobicyclon, fluroxypyr, pretilachlor, butachlor, bensulfuron, pyrazosulfuron, oxadiazon, oxadiargyl, oxyfluorfen, simetryn, prometryn, pyraclonil or oxadiargyl.
An unmanned aerial vehicle for applying pesticides to crop plants in a paddy field, comprising:

a body;

the box body is fixedly arranged on the body and used for containing pesticide;

at least one spray head arranged on the body to spray pesticide;

a delivery member for delivering pesticide from the tank toward the at least one spray head; and

a control unit configured to maneuver or set the drone to fly over the paddy field along a predetermined route and to control the conveyance component to apply pesticide to the paddy field via the at least one spray head as the drone flies over the paddy field;

wherein the control unit is configured to spray the pesticide in the form of a liquid column via the at least one spray head towards at least one spray direction.
The drone of claim 10, wherein the drone includes a thrust lift unit that generates a down-draft wind field that drives the drone, the down-draft wind field dispersively atomizing the liquid column into a mist.
The drone of claim 11, wherein the droplets have a particle size of greater than 100 microns, preferably greater than 200 microns, preferably greater than 400 microns, preferably greater than 600 microns, preferably greater than 800 microns, preferably greater than 1000 microns.
The unmanned aerial vehicle of any of claims 11 to 12, wherein a particle size of the droplets satisfies the following condition: both DV10 and DV50 are greater than 100 micrometers, preferably greater than 200 micrometers, preferably greater than 400 micrometers, preferably greater than 600 micrometers, preferably greater than 800 micrometers, preferably greater than 1000 micrometers at a working pressure of 3 bar.
The drone of any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the spray head is a drip spray head.
The drone of any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the drone is a multi-rotor plant protection drone.
The drone of any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein the pesticide is a pesticide suitable for aqueous layer application.
The drone of claim 16, wherein the pesticide comprises any one or combination of the group of: triafamone, penoxsulam, mesotrione, metazosulfuron, benzobicyclon, fluroxypyr, pretilachlor, butachlor, bensulfuron-methyl, pyrazosulfuron-ethyl, oxadiazon, oxadiargyl, oxyfluorfen, simetryn, prometryn, pyraclonil or oxaziclomefone.