Development, Fabrication and Testing of Agricultural Hybrid Drone Precision Farming

Application of crop protection materials is one of the crucial operations in agriculture to meet ever-demanding food production manual pesticide spraying causes many harmful side effects to the personnel involved in the spraying process. The Exposure effects can range from mild skin irritation to birth defects, tumors, genetic changes, blood and nerve disorders, endocrine disruption, coma or death. For agriculture applications smart farming solutions are being considered including use of drones. Agriculture UAVs are highly capable and their use has expanded across all areas of agriculture including pesticides and fertilizer spraying. The drone-mounted sprayer mainly consists of BLDC motor, LI-PO battery. Pesticide tank and supporting frame Four BLDC motors were mounted to a quadcopter frame to lift of 5 kg payload capacity. Generator 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 water pump was used to pressurize spray liquid and then spray by means of three nozzles. The entire drone-mounted sprayer operation controlling with the help of transmitter at ground level. The spray uniformity was increased with increase in height of spray and operating pressure. This sprayer is very useful where human involvements are not possible for spraying of chemicals on crops. This technology greatly helpful for small farming community in reducing cost of pesticide application.