Sprayer control by sensing orchard crop characteristics: Orchard architecture and spray liquid savings

The performance of a control system for an orchard air-carrier sprayer was evaluated. The sprayer control system used spray target information obtained from an ultrasonic measurement system. Based on the target measurements, three three-nozzle manifolds on each side of the sprayer were controlled by an on-board computer. Field tests were conducted to investigate the spray volume savings achieved through use of the control system. The relationships between spray volume savings and orchard target architecture were analysed for row sections in peach and apple orchards. Spray volume savings ranged from 28 to 52% and were strongly related to the target architecture.