New sharpshooting spray system can cut chemical use by 99%
The system uses advanced machine vision algorithms that can differentiate between healthy and diseased crops, and then apply a droplet only to the crops that need it.
"This targeted dispense technology has the potential to dramatically reduce the amount of pesticides and herbicides that we apply to crops today; potentially by up to 99 percent. It does this by selectively targeting only weeds and infestations in a whole field, so that healthy crop and soil doesn't have pesticide applied to it. Through that we can massively reduce both cost and environmental impact," said Niall Mottram, head of agrifood product development at developers Cambridge Consultants.
Mottram says eventually a larger version of the device could be mounted onto the side of a farm vehicle, with multiple nozzles shooting targeted droplets as it drives through a field of crops.
To demonstrate its potential, a single nozzle system is mounted over a conveyor belt. Cards with pictures of green 'healthy' leaves on one side and 'diseased' orange leaves on the other side are dropped at random onto the conveyor belt, with the laser-guided nozzle adjusting to shoot a droplet onto the orange leaves, while ignoring the green leaves.
The system uses mostly readily-available hardware, including a Playstation camera and dispensing technology from ink-jet printers, but Mottram says it's their programming that gives it the precision to hit an object while moving.
"Being able to hit a moving target is challenging. And hitting a moving target that varies in appearance is even more so. So being able to differentiate from color and shape, and then being able to calculate how quickly you're moving and therefore at what point you should dispense so that you hit your target; that requires some pretty sophisticated algorithms," Mottram told Reuters.
The camera looks ahead at the crop and uses shape, size and color to identify targets. These are tracked as the vehicle approaches, with the data then relayed to the dispensing system which aims the nozzle. The droplet travels at five meters per second, and takes one tenth of a second to hit the target. Cambridge Consultants say the system can successfully hit small targets from a height of 50cm (20 inches), even when the farm vehicle is moving at speeds of more than 25mph (40kph).
Click here for more information and a video of the technique at Reuters.com
Source: Reuters