Development of Agricultural Spraying Drones Prototype for Coconut Beetle Weevil Control

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Kanchana Daoden, Thanawat Sornnen, Tanachai Pankasemsuk, Pawerasak Phaphuangwittayakal, Sureeporn Sringam, Supanat Nicrotha

Abstract

Coconut is an important cash crop of the southern provinces and coastal areas of Thailand, with an area of more than 160,000 hectares and an increase of 85% every year. The total annual output is more than 500,000 tons for domestic consumption, and almost half exported. Part a decade, the coconut growers have suffered from quantity and quality yields decrease. Some coconut trees are destroyed and eventually die by insect pests, especially coconut rhinoceros beetle, black-headed caterpillar and hispine weevils. The difficulty of preventing and eliminating is the nature of the tall coconut plants. The level of wind speed in the coastal areas affects high labour costs. The chemical applied quantities and the risk of the chemical hazards that impact health costs. This research develops the agricultural spraying drones’ prototype for coconut beetle weevil control by spraying directly to the coconut shoots, mainly focusing on the development of spraying systems to get closer to the tops of the coconuts and cover the leaves area as much as possible. The methods mentioned above aimed to reduce the wastage of chemicals and nutrients sprayed where conventional manual labour methods cannot reach a critical part of the coconut shoot, the coconut Inflorescence, which will develop into a part of the coconut fruit. The results research developed drone based on the idea the real-time video data in combination with high-quality IP cameras to determine the location of the coconut Inflorescence, installed a 6-arm, 12-propeller, with not over 40 litres load capacity, four high-pressure pumps, 8-nozzles. The research team designed the autopilot system, allowing the drone to learn and recognize its operation in an identical area. The resulting test showed that it can spray 4.5-5.2 litres of water/min, spray radius width 0.5 – 1.2 meters in the case of fixed spraying and 6.5-8 meters wide spray in case of general spraying. An anti-collision system works all the time precisely on a battery 14S size 22,000 mAh. This prototype can spray up to 13-18 rais (2.08-2.88 hectares), fly continuously for 22 minutes in the case of using a single battery, and when compared to spraying using conventional drones. It found that this innovation saved 20-25% of the chemicals applied.


 

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