A Comprehensive Design and Analysis Study of Agricultural Hybrid Drones

The current project is the theoretical and analytical study of an unmanned aerial vehicle that can beat the conventional flight time at most 20 min averaging 5–6 min. This project adopts an IC engine as a hybrid power system that acts as a generator to improve endurance. It also identifies a material with a high strength-to-weight ratio to withstand high structural loading. Spraying equipment is designed in such a way that it maintains the center of gravity during the procedure of spraying. CATIA V5 and Ansys, a standard software used, to design the frame and to perform structural analysis. The drone-mounted sprayer mainly consists of a BLDC motor, LI-PO battery, a pesticide tank, and a supporting frame. Four BLDC motors were mounted to a quadcopter frame to lift a 5 kg payload capacity. Generators were used to supply the necessary current required for the propulsion system. A fluid tank was used to hold the pesticide solution. A 12 V DC motor-driven water pump pressurizes the liquid for spraying through nozzles. The entire drone-mounted sprayer operation is controlled with the help of a ground-level transmitter. The spray uniformity was increased with the height of the spray and operating pressure.