Enhancing UAV Spraying Efficiency through Payload Sensor Integration

• Celso O. Barcelos UFV
• Leonardo A. Fagundes-Júnior UFV
• Daniel C. Gandolfo National University of San Juan
• Martin Saska Czech Technical University in Prague
• Alexandre S. Brandão UFV

Abstract

The use of UAVs has grown in recent years, leading to the prominence of various applications such as monitoring and inspection, search and rescue operations, dam and civil structure inspection, military applications, among others. One of the most relevant applications today is related to Precision Agriculture, which is the subject of this work. Our study analyzes the behavior of an Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle (UAV) used for spraying tasks. The variation of the payload is measured through a load sensor. This information indicates to the UAV the right time to return to the base for refueling or completion of the application. Experimental validation is carried out to assess the functionality of the payload sensor during flight operations. In addition, the dynamic compensation controller improves the navigation of the UAV, even in the presence of payload variations during the entire mission duration.

Keywords: Precision agriculture, Navigation, Spraying, Inspection, Robot sensing systems, Autonomous aerial vehicles, Vehicle dynamics, Monitoring, Payloads, Diseases, Precision Agriculture, Pest and Disease Control, Pesticide Spraying, Load Sensor