RU2808292C1 - Unmanned aerial vehicle for treating garden trees and shrubs with pesticides - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: agriculture.

SUBSTANCE: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used in agriculture for treating trees, shrubs and other plants with pesticides. The UAV contains a body, brackets, engines, propellers, a battery, a chassis, an automatic piloting control system, a payload module including a unit for placing and supplying working fluids, a unit for regulating and distributing the flow of working fluid, and a tree crown spraying module. The spraying module is made in the form of a dome made of a soft thin-walled shell - a paraboloid of rotation expanding downward and attached from above to a horizontal circular support disk. The dome can be folded along the vertical axis into a flat shape. Sprayers are installed inside the dome, which are connected by flexible hydraulic lines to the distribution hydraulic line. Ultrasonic distance sensors are installed on the lower collector, connected by a communication line to the controller.

EFFECT: high quality of pesticide treatment of garden trees and shrubs, reducing pesticide consumption and reducing environmental pollution.

1 cl, 4 dwg

Description

The invention relates to agriculture, in particular to unmanned aerial vehicles for treating fruit trees, berry bushes and other plants with pesticides in industrial horticulture and nursery farming.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for processing plants is known, containing a body, beams connected to the body, a propeller group consisting of brushless motors, speed controllers and screws, a battery, a computing unit made in the form of a processor or microcontroller with the ability to process data from the plant processing zone , constructing maps of the flight route and transmitting data to the processing system control module, the memory unit is made in the form of a flash memory module containing information about the coordinates of the flight route of the aircraft, a navigation system, and means of wireless reception and transmission of information; a plant treatment system connected to the housing, mounted on the housing in the form of a nozzle sprayer or hot or cold fog generators, a container with chemicals for plant treatment mounted on a multi-rotor system with a liquid level sensor connected to the plant treatment system, a plant treatment system control module made with the ability to activate and control the power of spraying plants, a narrow-band multispectral photo recording module capable of obtaining spectral images of plants, a sensor for checking the level of chemicals, configured to generate a signal for the computing unit about the need to return for refueling when a given level of chemicals is reached, a battery charge monitoring sensor, designed to generate a signal for the computing unit about the need to replace the battery (patent RU 179386 U1, 09/08/2017).

The disadvantage of this device is the incomplete treatment of the crowns of fruit trees and shrubs, due to the overhead spray of pesticides by the device, the drift of the working fluid from the treatment area, its excessive consumption, and, as a consequence, environmental pollution with chemicals.

An unmanned aerial vehicle for applying pesticides in precision horticulture is known, containing a body, radial brackets connected to the body, brushless motors, propellers, a battery, a landing gear, an on-board automatic control system for piloting, navigation, payload, a payload technological module, including a unit for placing and supply of working fluids, a unit for regulating and distributing working fluid flows, a module of environmental sensors, a module for measuring flight altitude, non-contact ultrasonic distance sensors with the direction of the axes of ultrasonic flows, respectively, on the crown of treated trees, shrubs and on the soil, spectral sensors for recognizing pests and diseases, connected by communication lines with the controller, a U-shaped sectional rod, made in the form of interconnected horizontal and vertical telescopic sections with extension and retraction mechanisms for the links of the vertical sections, while the extension and retraction mechanisms for the links of the vertical sections are installed at the ends of the last links of the horizontal sections of the rod, and for horizontal sections - in the central part of the aircraft body and connected by a communication line with the controller, the length of the links of each section of the boom is preferably equal to the spacing of the nozzles installed on each of the links of the boom section and connected by a communication line with the controller, while the nozzles are installed with a step that ensures the possibility of overlapping spray torches from adjacent nozzles by at least three quarters of the torch width of one of them (patent RU 2793020C1, 09/07/2023).

The disadvantage of the known device is that during its operation there is evaporation and drift of the working fluid beyond the treated tree crown and, as a consequence, pollution of the environment with pesticides.

The technical objective of the invention is to improve the quality and efficiency of processing fruit trees and shrubs, reduce the consumption of pesticides, and reduce the risk of environmental pollution to maximum permissible concentrations.

The technical problem is achieved by the fact that in an unmanned aerial vehicle for treating garden trees and shrubs with pesticides, containing a body, radial brackets connected to it, engines, propellers, a battery, a landing gear, an on-board automatic control system for piloting, navigation and payload, a useful technological module load, including a block for placing and supplying working fluids, a block for regulating and distributing the flow of working fluid, a module for spraying tree crowns, according to the invention , the spraying module is made in the form of a dome made of a soft thin-walled shell, with a vertical axis passing through the center of gravity of the unmanned aircraft, expanding downward and attached from above to a horizontal circular support disk connected to a telescopic vertical rod mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the dome is made in the form of a truncated paraboloid of revolution with a lower open base and folding along the vertical axis into a flat shape, while inside The domes are equipped with horizontally located annular hydraulic manifolds, each of which is equipped with sprayers installed evenly along each diameter of each manifold, which are connected by flexible hydraulic lines to a distribution hydraulic line; on the lower manifold, non-contact horizontal ultrasonic distance sensors are installed with the lower direction of ultrasonic flows, connected by a communication line to the controller .

The invention is illustrated by drawings.

In fig. 1 shows an unmanned aerial vehicle for spraying fruit trees and shrubs with pesticides; in fig. Figure 2 shows a functional block diagram of the on-board automatic control system for piloting, navigation and payload of the UAV; in fig. 3 shows a functional block diagram of the placement, regulation, supply and dispersion of working fluids of pesticides UAV; FIG. Figure 4 shows a stationary UAV with a folded canopy.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 1 for treating fruit trees and shrubs with pesticides contains a body 2, radial brackets 3 connected to it, engines 4, propellers 5, a battery 6, a landing gear 7, an on-board automatic control system 8 for piloting, navigation and payload, technological module 9 of the payload, including a block 10 for placing and supplying working fluids, a block for regulating and distributing 11 flows of working fluid, a module for spraying tree crowns 12, installed at the end of a telescopic vertical rod 13, connected at the other end to the body 2 of the UAV1.

The on-board automatic control system (ACS) 8 contains a flight controller 14 with a processor connected to a UAV flight control software module 15 and a software module 16 for controlling the operation of the payload technological module 9, integrated with the controller processor 14, an integrated navigation system 17, including an inertial navigation system 18, combined with a satellite navigation system module 19 in the form of a GLONASS receiver 20 with an antenna 21. The flight controller 14 is integrated with automatic control units for actuators 22 of engines 4, a unit 23 for controlling the operation of the technological module 9 of the payload, with environmental sensor modules 24 and flight altitude measurements 25.

The block 10 for placing and supplying working fluids contains a tank 26 for the working fluid of pesticides, equipped with an electronic level gauge 27 and a filling neck 28, and a pump 29 with an electric drive is necessary to create pressure and move the working fluid from the tank 26 to the block 11. Between the tank 26 and the pump 29, an electrohydraulic normally closed shut-off valve 30 is installed. Block 10 is connected by a communication line 31 to a block 28 for automatically controlling the operation of the technological module 9 of the payload, which in turn is connected by a communication line 31 to the controller 14, and a communication line 32 to the control and flow distribution block 11 working fluid.

Block 11 includes an electrohydraulic overflow valve 33 with proportional control, a proportional pressure reducing valve 34 that regulates the pressure and flow rate of the working solution in accordance with reference signals received from the controller 14, an electromagnetic flow meter 35 and a liquid pressure sensor 36. Block 11 is connected by hydraulic supply lines 37 and 38 with distribution hydraulic line 39 of module 12.

The tree crown spraying module 12 contains, connected to a telescopic vertical rod 13, a downward expanding dome 40, made in the form of a soft thin-walled shell with a vertical axis aa passing through the center of gravity of the UAV 1. The upper part of the dome 40 is attached to a horizontal circular support disk 41 connected to a telescopic vertical rod 13 mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle 1. The dome 40 has a lower open base 42 and folds along the vertical axis aa into a flat shape. Inside the dome 40 there are horizontally located at equal distances along the axis aa ring hydraulic manifolds 43 with initial d and final D diameters.

The increase in the diameters of the hydraulic manifolds 43 from smaller d to larger D is carried out in such a way that when rotating around the vertical axis aa of the conditional curve 44 passing through each external point m of each manifold 43, a truncated paraboloid of rotation is formed. This shape of the dome 40 allows you to adequately cover the crown of a tree or shrub. Each collector 43 is equipped with sprayers 45, installed evenly along each diameter of each collector 43. The collectors 43 are connected by flexible hydraulic lines 46 to a distribution hydraulic line 39.

The upper circular solid disk 41, with the dome shell 40 folded into a flat shape, is functionally a landing pad for the unmanned aerial vehicle 1, and on the lower collector 42 there are non-contact horizontal ultrasonic distance sensors 47 with the lower direction of the ultrasonic flows, connected by a communication line to the controller 14.

An unmanned aerial vehicle for treating garden trees and shrubs with pesticides works as follows.

A flight task is loaded into the processor of the flight controller 43, which electronically displays the parameters of the flight route and an electronic task map, which is a program for treating garden trees and shrubs with pesticides. For processing, the boundaries, area, length of the rut, coordinates of each tree in each row, application rates of working pesticide fluids, coordinates of the starting point and coordinates of the end point of treatment, operating speed and flight altitude, flight path, coordinates of the landing site for refilling with working fluids and replacement are established. battery 6.

The working liquid of a pesticide, for example an insecticide or fungicide, is poured into the tank 26 through the filling neck 27 with level control using the level gauge 28 in accordance with the electronic task card.

From the controller 14, the signal is transmitted to the automatic flight control system unit, the engines 4 are started, the main rotors 5 are spun up, and the engines 4 are switched to takeoff mode. The controller 14 transmits control signals to block 22, and the UAV 1 takes off vertically. The UAV 1 rises into the air. The telescopic sections of the vertical rod 13 are extended and installed in the working position. As the UAV 1 rises, the dome 40 opens and is brought into working position. The UAV 1, in accordance with the flight program, flies up to the starting coordinates of the start of processing, while the coordinates determined by the integrated navigation system 17 are compared with the specified coordinates entered into the trajectory flight program.

The environmental sensor module 24 transmits information to the processor of the controller 14 about the parameters of the external environment (wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, temperature and humidity). The flight altitude measurement module 25 transmits the current value of the flight altitude of the UAV 1 to the processor of the controller 14.

When the UAV 1 approaches the tree or shrub being processed, the UAV hovers above the crown of the tree or shrub and decreases to a predetermined height, correlated with the height of the crown of the tree or shrub, controlled by sensors 42. The dome 40 completely covers the crown.

The on-board controller 14 transmits through block 28 via communication lines 31 and 32 control signals, respectively, to blocks 10 and 11. Valve 30 opens, pump 29 is switched on and valves 33, 34 are set to a given pressure drop of the working fluid. Ultrasonic distance sensors 47 determine the height of the position of the dome 40 above the processed trees or shrubs and then transmit information via communication lines (not shown) to the controller 14, which compares the current distance values with a given distance and, if necessary, transmits a control action to the mechanism for changing the flight altitude of the UAV.

The working fluid is supplied by pump 29 to valve 33, which maintains a given pressure at the inlet of working fluid to valve 34 by bypassing part of the fluid flow into tank 26. Valve 34 maintains the output value of the operating pressure differential at a given level or changes the outlet pressure differential in accordance with electronic card - task of applying pesticides. From valve 34, the working fluid enters flow meter 35, which determines the current flow rate and transmits it via communication line 32 to block 28 and then via communication line 31 to controller 14. Pressure sensor 36 measures the current pressure value of the fluid flow, which is transmitted via communication line 32 is transmitted to block 28 and then to controller 14. Controller 14 compares the current values of flow rate and pressure of the fluid flow with the specified ones and, if necessary, adjusts the value of the flow parameters by supplying control signals to block 11 via communication line 31 through block 28. From block 11 the working fluid enters through hydraulic line 37 into distribution hydraulic line 39, from which fluid flows are distributed through flexible hydraulic lines 46 into hydraulic manifolds 43 and then into sprayers 45, which disperse the working fluid onto the crown of a tree or shrub. Treatment of the crown with the working liquid of the pesticide occurs inside the dome 40.

When the working fluid is produced in the tank, controlled by level gauge 27, the signal from block 28 is sent to controller 14, which, through receiver 20, records the coordinates of the position point of the UAV 1 on a given trajectory for processing trees and shrubs. Controller 14 transmits control signals through block 28 via communication line 31 to turn off pump 26 and close valve 30. ACS 8 directs UAV1 to the place of filling with working fluid. During the landing of the UAV1, the dome 40 is compressed and turns from a volumetric to a flat state, while the horizontal circular solid disk 41 acts as a landing platform for the UAV1.

After filling the tank 26 with the working liquid of the pesticide, the UAV 1 takes off, the canopy 40 opens, the self-propelled gun 8 returns the UAV 1 to the point of the interrupted flight, and the process of applying pesticides continues.

The inventive device will ensure high quality of pesticide treatment of garden trees and shrubs, will reduce the consumption of pesticides and reduce environmental pollution to maximum permissible concentrations, will eliminate the drift of pesticides in the air and, as a result, their removal from the treatment area.

Claims (1)

An unmanned aerial vehicle for treating fruit trees and shrubs with pesticides, containing a body, radial brackets connected to it, engines, propellers, a battery, a landing gear, an on-board automatic control system for piloting, navigation and payload, a payload technological module, including a unit for accommodating and supply of working fluids, a unit for regulating and distributing the flow of working fluid, a module for spraying tree crowns, characterized in that the spraying module is made in the form of a dome made of a soft thin-walled shell, with a vertical axis passing through the center of gravity of the unmanned aerial vehicle, expanding downwards and attached from above to a horizontal circular support disk connected to a telescopic vertical rod mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the dome is made in the form of a truncated paraboloid of rotation with a lower open base and folds along the vertical axis into a flat shape, while horizontally located annular hydraulic manifolds are installed inside the dome , each of which is equipped with sprayers installed evenly along each diameter of each collector, which are connected by flexible hydraulic lines to a distribution hydraulic line; non-contact horizontal ultrasonic distance sensors with the lower direction of ultrasonic flows are installed on the lower collector, connected by a communication line to the controller.