RU2730640C1 - Method for ultra-small-volume spraying of agricultural plants and device for implementation thereof using unmanned aerial vehicles of helicopter type - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: agriculture.SUBSTANCE: invention relates to agricultural industry. Device for implementation of ultra-low-volume spraying of agricultural plants using helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles, including a ring, in which a spacer with a bushing is installed, in its lower part there is a housing, into which angled nozzle with spray nozzle is installed and solenoid with locking rod and return spring, controlled through relay by operator remotely or control unit connected to unit of land, wherein barrel is fitted to fill working fluid into vessel to allow working pressure in nozzle to feed material therein to create excess air pressure by means of high-pressure reservoir pre-pumped from external compressed air source. At that, constant value of working pressure in reservoir and nozzle at supply of working fluid is provided by pneumatic reducer regardless of residual quantity of liquid in reservoir during the entire operating cycle of spraying. Method of ultra-low-volume spraying of agricultural plants using helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) includes dosed supply of process material, setting coordinates of boundaries of section to be treated, rate of movement of UAV with coordinates of points of introduction of process material. Then UAV is started to perform operation, in points of process material introduction, control signal to relay is supplied from control unit, based on the location information of the aircraft location unit - in the automatic piloting mode or is sent by the operator remotely from the control panel - in the manual piloting mode, the solenoid moves the locking rod, compressing the return spring and opening the channel in the housing, the working fluid is sprayed through the nozzle, wherein the value of movement of the locking rod is matched with the set dose of adding working fluid at a specific point of the UAV route based on the results of preliminary calibration.EFFECT: invention discloses a method for ultra-low-volume spraying of agricultural plants and a device for its implementation using helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles.2 cl, 3 dwg

Description

The invention relates to agriculture, namely to methods of differentiated application of plant protection products (PPP) and technical means for its implementation.

It is known that liquid plant protection products have a higher efficiency in comparison with solid ones, due to the fact that a high uniformity of application and distribution of the active substance on the treated surface is ensured and, as a consequence, its almost complete use due to its rapid penetration to the root system and into plant tissues.

The use of liquid plant protection products makes it possible to combine the chemical treatment of crops by feeding with solutions of liquid complex fertilizers (LCF) - both leaf and root.

In addition, liquid plant protection products are less dependent on dry conditions. To apply granular plant protection products, moisture is required so that the granule can dissolve and be absorbed by plants. But, in the conditions of many agroclimatic zones, such a period when moisture is available and is in the required amount, can be very short. Therefore, the use of liquid plant protection products extends the terms of carrying out chemical plant protection operations. Thanks to this, the load on the fleet of equipment is reduced and the processing of the crop is guaranteed, the risk of "missing the technological terms" is reduced.

Unlike granular forms, liquid plant protection products are quickly absorbed by the soil, seeping into all its layers, which also contributes to an increase in the intensity and effectiveness of their impact.

The use of liquid plant protection products also has economic advantages associated with low cost per unit of active ingredient compared to granular forms, resulting in lower unit operating costs per hectare of material application, as well as the potential for higher and stable yields.

One of the most important advantages of using liquid forms of plant protection products is their higher manufacturability, since the application of solutions of plant protection products is much more uniform than granular fertilizers, it can be combined with the use of liquid fertilizers in one tank mixture and provide a more accurate dosage when distributed over the area. In addition, liquid plant protection products have free fluidity, do not generate dust, do not cake, and moisture has no effect on them.

In this regard, increasing the efficiency of the use of technical means and improving the technology for the introduction of liquid plant protection products is a very promising direction in the development of agricultural technologies.

A complex of aircraft for the introduction of liquid chemicals in precision agriculture is known ( RF patent No. 2617163, publ. 04.21.2017 ), containing a basic helicopter-type aircraft equipped with flight and navigation equipment, a signal receiver for a global satellite navigation system, an on-board computer with an integrated system distributed communication control and control of unmanned aerial vehicles and software module for differentiated processing of agricultural fields. Blocks for automatic control of consumption, distribution and supply of liquid chemicals. A tank for liquid chemical agents, flexible connections with unmanned aerial vehicles, with electric cables and pipelines attached to them, connected to the base helicopter. A group of n-th number of helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles, each of which is equipped with a signal receiver for the global navigation satellite system, an on-board computer, an automatic flight control system in preset modes, a software module for the differentiated application of liquid chemical agents and a dispersion module in the form of a rod with nozzles , moreover, in the group there is an odd number of them, at least at least 3, unmanned aerial vehicles, the center of mass of each of which is aligned with the tops of the corners of one or more isosceles triangles, forming one or more interconnected triangular links from unmanned aerial vehicles in flight located in the same horizontal plane parallel to the cultivated field, spaced from the cultivated surface of the field at a distance equal to the working height of the cultivation of crops, the distance between adjacent unmanned aerial vehicles is the length of the boom with nozzles of each unmanned aerial vehicle. In this case, all rods with nozzles are made of the same length, each rod with nozzles is connected to the corresponding dosing modules equipped with an interface connection with the on-board computer of each unmanned aerial vehicle, the dosing modules are connected by flexible piping to the corresponding control valve of the automatic flow control unit, distribution and supply of liquid means of chemicalization of the base aircraft, containing a frontal bar with a length not exceeding the diameter of the main rotor of the base aircraft, and automatic winches, the number of which is equal to the number of flexible connections with unmanned aerial vehicles, each software module for the differentiated application of liquid chemicals for each unmanned aerial vehicle is functionally linked with software module for the differentiated cultivation of the entire agricultural field, both modules are integrated in the distributed control system the role, communication and control of unmanned aerial vehicles, and each module for dispersing liquid chemicals on each unmanned aerial vehicle is associated with a dispensing module.

The disadvantages of this invention are the low efficiency of use due to the possible drift of the drug to neighboring crops, the need for a large area for take-off and maneuvering of this group of aircraft.

Known flying sowing device ( RF patent No. 174507, publ. 1965 ), including an unmanned aerial vehicle vertical take-off and landing, a seed chamber, a seeding rate setter, a working body for moving seeds, an additional seed chamber, at the entrance and exit of the additional seed chamber there are protrusions of a curved shape for moving seeds, at a distance from each other commensurate with the average doubled seed size, opposite the protrusion at the outlet there is a notch at a distance from the protrusion commensurate with the average seed size, characterized in that the seed chamber is made of removable sections located between each other with a gap, and the vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle is equipped with a frame located in the horizontal plane, with its central part pivotally connected and with the possibility of fixation with the lower part of the vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle, while the removable sections are connected to the frame.

In the considered flying sowing device, the concept of placing a removable technological module for the targeted introduction of technological material (seeds) on an unmanned aerial vehicle with vertical take-off and landing, and movement of this device, during the implementation of the technological process, in accordance with the motion trajectory laid down in the control unit, deserves attention.

Known UAV design, designed for automated spraying of plants. This solution is a UAV with a plant spraying system installed on board, connected to a container with a liquid chemical and controlled by a liquid supply through a pump. The UAV is controlled by a computing module (processor), receiving commands from the user controlling the UAV using a wireless control panel ( US patent 20130068892, published 03/21/2013 ).

In the described UAV design, the very principle of implementing the technology for spraying agricultural crops deserves attention, however, as a disadvantage of this design, it can be called its limited functionality, due to the fact that the UAV cannot carry out the necessary work independently without the participation of the user, as well as the use of a pump in the design of the sprayer for supply of technological material, which complicates it and increases the energy consumption for the working process.

The closest in terms of the achieved effect to the claimed method and device for ultra- low-volume spraying of agricultural plants is a method of introducing bulk plant protection products and a complex for its implementation ( RF patent No. 2694502, publ. 15.07.2019 ). The method of introducing bulk plant protection products provides for determining the boundaries of the field, points of discharge of bulk plant protection products, filling the container with bulk plant protection products and launching an unmanned aerial vehicle. Based on the information of the GPS-complex about the location of the aircraft, at the points of dumping of bulk plant protection products, the control unit starts the dispenser motor, into which plant protection products enter through a corrugated pipe under its own weight and fall onto the dispensing wheel. The variable resistor determines the number of revolutions of the metering wheel, lying in the range of 40-60 rpm, the trimmer resistor sets the mixture flow rate in g / km. Further, the dose of bulk plant protection products is reset, and the proportional-integral-differentiating regulator, in accordance with the Hall sensor readings, controls the mixture discharge process, decreasing or increasing their dosage. The complex for the introduction of bulk plant protection products contains a container for bulk plant protection products, a dispenser connected by means of a flexible corrugated pipe with a container for bulk plant protection products. The dispenser is made in the form of a drum with an opening for discharging plant protection products. Inside the drum are an electric motor, a gearbox, a gearbox shaft, a metering wheel with neodymium magnets and a sensor located on it, and made in the form of an impeller, in which the volume between the blades is 0.2 grams. A soft gasket is installed between the dispenser body and the metering wheel, which protects against excessive flow of bulk plant protection products. The electric motor is connected by cables to the control unit, on the outside of which there is an LED display, a variable resistor and a trimming resistor. The control unit has a proportional-integral-derivative regulator connected to the Hall sensor by means of cables, which makes it possible to control the mixture discharge process. The complex is designed for installation on an unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a GPS compass associated with a control unit. EFFECT: increased efficiency of use of bulk fertilizers, biological or chemical protection means, provision of differentiated and ultra-precise application of them to the vegetation cover.

The disadvantages of this invention are the impossibility of using the complex for the introduction of liquid plant protection products and complex fertilizers, which reduces its versatility and limits the scope of application.

The technical result of the invention is to increase the efficiency of the use of biological or chemical plant protection, liquid complex fertilizers with their ultra-low-volume application, to ensure differentiated and accurate application of them to a localized problem area or object based on geolocation data using an unmanned aerial vehicle of a helicopter type (hereinafter referred to as UAS, multicopter) with a low take-off weight, by reducing the energy consumption of the process of feeding and dosing process material.

In the claimed device, consisting of a ring in which a spacer with a sleeve is installed, and in its lower part there is a housing in which an angle fitting with a nozzle is installed and a solenoid with a locking rod and a return spring is located, controlled via a relay remotely by an operator or based on signals from a control the unit connected to the UAS geo-positioning unit, while a glass is installed in the ring for filling the working fluid into the container, the claimed technical result is achieved by the fact that in order to ensure the working pressure in the nozzle when the material is fed, excessive air pressure is created in the container using a high-pressure reservoir, pre-pumped from an external source of compressed air, a constant value of the working pressure in the nozzle is provided by a pneumatic reducer, regardless of the residual pressure in the tank, during the entire working cycle of spraying.

These distinctive features are essential and sufficient to achieve the specified technical result, since the use in the claimed device, as a source of operating pressure, a reservoir with preliminary pumping from an external source of compressed air and a pneumatic reducer, makes it possible to abandon the use of the pump in the construction of the sprayer, thereby reducing specific energy consumption for the process of feeding and dispensing technological material and allowing the use of a BAS spray module with a low take-off weight and a low capacity of the onboard power source as a carrier.

The invention is illustrated by drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of the device.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the device.

FIG. 3 is a general view of the BAS with the installed device for spraying agricultural plants.

The device consists of a ring 1, in which a spacer 2 with a sleeve 3 is installed. In the lower part of the module there is a housing 4, in which an angle fitting 5 with a nozzle 6 is installed, and also a solenoid 7 with a locking rod 8 and a return spring 9, controlled through a relay 10 remotely by the operator or signals from the control unit 22 associated with the UAS geolocation unit. The opening of the channel occurs when the rod 8 is moved to the extreme position by applying voltage to the solenoid 7. When the power is turned off, the locking rod 8 under the action of the spring 9 returns to its original position, locking the channel.

On top of the ring 1, a glass 11 is installed for filling the working fluid into the container 12. On the glass 11 with the help of the holder 13, a high-pressure tank 14 is fixed, connected by means of the lower branch pipe 15 (not shown in Fig. 1) to the pneumatic reducer 16, which is through the upper branch pipe 17 creates an excess pressure (10-20 atm) of air in the tank 12.

The device is attached to the UAS using brackets 18. To power solenoid 7 and supply a control signal to it, its contacts are connected to the corresponding terminals of the power supply to the UAS.

FIG. 3 schematically shows a UAS 19 with a video camera 20 and an installed spray module 21.

The UAS with the installed device 21 has the ability to control the course and trajectory of movement, both in manual mode - remotely by the operator based on the image of the pendant video camera 20, and in automatic mode - in accordance with the control unit 22, which is connected to the UAS geolocation unit, the trajectory of movement and control points for the introduction of technological material.

The device works as follows.

In a specialized software application for mobile devices serving to control the flight of unmanned aerial vehicles, the coordinates of the boundaries of the area to be processed are set, the course of movement of the UAS with the coordinates of the points of application of the technological material.

The device is installed on the BAS. The container 12 is filled with a working fluid (volume of about 0.5 l), the filler hole is closed with a stopper 11. On the high-pressure reservoir 14, a valve is opened and air flows through the pneumatic reducer 16 into the upper part of the container 12, creating an overpressure there.

A test spray of the working solution is carried out through the outlet of the nozzle 6. If the required quality of the test spray is confirmed, then the BAS is started to perform the technological operation.

In the automatic piloting mode, the control unit 22, based on the information of the geolocation unit about the location of the aircraft, at the points of introduction of the technological material, sends a control signal to the relay 10. In the manual piloting mode, the control signal is sent to the relay 10 by the operator remotely from the control panel. The opening of the channel occurs when the locking rod 8 of the solenoid 7 is moved by an amount corresponding to the set dose of material application at a given point of the UAS route, and adjusted according to the results of preliminary calibration. When the power is turned off, the locking rod 8, under the action of the spring 9, returns to its original position, locking the channel.

When the working solution in the container runs out, the UAS is returned to refill it, and then the spraying process is repeated. When the pressure in the tank 14 drops below the permissible level, it is replaced with a filled one.

The use of the device within the framework of the method of ultra-low-volume application of plant protection products and HCS will allow avoiding damage to crops, spot processing of those objects and areas where access to traditional agricultural equipment is closed due to inaccessibility (for example, due to high soil moisture, small area and complex configuration), eliminate local foci of infection of crops with diseases or pests, spending a minimum amount of drugs and plant protection products, and also used in the processing of fruit and berry plantations (including shrubs, detached trees). The possibility of using a UAS device with a low take-off weight as a carrier makes it possible to reduce the specific operating costs for processing agricultural crops and plantings.

Claims (2)

1. A device for the implementation of ultra-low-volume spraying of agricultural plants using unmanned aerial vehicles of a helicopter type, including a ring in which a spacer with a sleeve is installed, in its lower part there is a housing in which an angle fitting with a nozzle and a solenoid with a locking rod and a return a spring, controlled via a relay by an operator remotely or by a control unit connected to the geo-positioning unit, while a glass is installed in the ring for filling the working fluid into its container, to ensure the working pressure in the nozzle when the material is fed into the container, excessive air pressure is created using a high-pressure reservoir pre-pumped from an external source of compressed air, characterized in that a constant value of the working pressure in the container and the nozzle when supplying the working fluid is provided by a pneumatic reducer, regardless of the residual amount of fluid stays in the container during the entire spraying cycle. 2. A method of ultra-low-volume spraying of agricultural plants using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAS) of a helicopter type, including a metered supply of technological material, characterized in that the coordinates of the boundaries of the area to be processed are set, the course of movement of the UAS with the coordinates of the points of application of the technological material, the UAS is equipped with a device for implementation of ultra-low-volume spraying of agricultural plants, including a ring in which a spacer with a sleeve is installed, in its lower part there is a housing in which an angle fitting with a nozzle and a solenoid with a locking rod and a return spring are installed, controlled via a relay by an operator remotely or a control unit, associated with the geolocation unit, while a glass is installed in the ring for filling the working fluid into its container, to ensure the working pressure in the nozzle when the material is fed into the container, an excess p working air pressure using a high-pressure reservoir, while the constant value of this pressure in the container and the nozzle when supplying the working fluid is provided by a pneumatic reducer, regardless of the residual amount of liquid in the container during the entire working cycle of spraying, the container is filled with working fluid, in the high-pressure reservoir pressure, the valve opens and an excessive working pressure is created in the tank through the pneumatic reducer, the UAS is launched to perform the operation, at the points of introduction of the technological material, the control signal to the relay comes from the control unit, based on the information of the geolocation unit about the location of the aircraft - in automatic piloting mode or supplied by the operator remotely from the control panel - in manual piloting mode, the solenoid moves the locking rod, compressing the return spring and opening the channel in the body, the working fluid is sprayed through the nozzle, while in The amount of movement of the locking rod is coordinated with the set dose of the working fluid at a specific point on the UAS route based on the results of preliminary calibration.

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