Modelling environment for an electrical driven selective sprayer robot in orchards

Abstract

Precise applying of PPP (Plant Protection Products) in orchards and vineyards requires new kinds of sprayer technologies and new methods of sensor data evaluation. In this paper a selective electrical driven sprayer, carried by the autonomous robotic platform elWObot, is introduced. A 3D-Simulation environment and the framework ROS (Robot Operating System) helps developing and testing the interaction between the sprayer and the robot. The calculated leaf wall area (LWA) and the distance from the sprayer to the leaves in the spray region, control the flow-rate and the air-assist of eight adjustable sprayers individually. First field trials showed that the adaption of the software from the simulation to the hardware worked as expected.