DEVELOPMENT OF NOZZLE POSITIONING SYSTEM FOR PRECISION SPRAYER

摘要

A nozzle positioning system for precision sprayer was developed and tested. We had developed Real time Crop position Detecting System (RCDS), which have robustness for varying field light conditions, using a vision sensor and template-matching method. First, based on crop positions that were detected by RCDS, Crop rows were calculated. Second, Offsets between actual position and optimal position of herbicide spraying nozzles were calculated. Third, The offset data was transmitted to a herbicide applicator that is made up of micro-controller, slide-able arms coupled with spray nozzles, via serial network. At the end, nozzles were drove to optimal positions. The system was tested to evaluate its performance. As a result of the test, R. M. S error of nozzle to desired position was only 17.5mm, it became clear that the system had a high accuracy enough to apply to Japanese rice crop field.