An integrated OEM and retrofit Spray quality monitor system for agricultural Sprayers

摘要

Increasing demand for effective Spray application due to cost and environmental concerns pose pressure on optimization of spray application. Spray quality is to be understood as the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of the spray fulfils requirements. Previously real-time automated in-process spray quality monitoring of sprayers with a multitude of nozzles has practically not been possible. A new system solution for measurement and assessment of spray quality is being presented. The sensor technology assessing spray quality is based on continous wave Doppler Radar measuring movement related spray characteristics. The integral information is aggregated in a Radar signature in the frequency domain - the Power Spectral Density PSD. The Spray quality assessment is based on evaluating the deviation of the actual Radar signature of the spray of one nozzle from a reference Radar signature - the actual average signature of all nozzles of the respective subset of nozzles of a sprayer.