Campbell, Edward (2018) Wi-Fi weather alarm for notification of optimal crop spraying conditions in agriculture. [USQ Project]
Abstract
With herbicide resistance becoming an increasing issue in Australian agriculture in recent times, there has been a push to explore alternative weed control methods or increase the efficiency of current herbicide application methods in an effort to reduce the increasing cost of weed control. Camera spray technology is one area of research that has seen a lot of development in the last couple of years, with the aim of reducing the amount of chemical applied annually by spraying targeted areas instead of blanket spraying. These systems are still being perfected and are quite expensive. One fundamental concept that is often overlooked are the factors affecting the chemical droplets during their journey from the spray nozzle to the plant, and their ability to reach or miss their intended target as a result of these atmospheric conditions.
The Bureau of Meteorology Australia has determined that the main factors affecting the efficient application of chemical through a boom spray are; Delta-T (an indicator of droplet lifetime), Wind, and atmospheric stability. The project aim is to develop a Wi-Fi weather station that can connect to a network access point and transmit data from sensors that monitor these parameters. It is hoped that this system will then be able to be paired with a software/hardware-based alarm that can notify the user when parameters are in the desired range set by the user.
The successful development of the system will assist management decisions on when the user of the system is best to spray, by automating the process of monitoring key weather parameters. There are plenty of commercial wireless weather stations on the market at this point in time, but there are few with integrated alarm functionality and almost none that monitor Delta-T specifically. Ideally this project will meet all these requirements in a cost-effective manner.
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| Item Type: | USQ Project |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (1 Jul 2013 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Kist; Alexander |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Electrical and Electronic) |
| Date Deposited: | 31 Aug 2022 04:27 |
| Last Modified: | 27 Jun 2023 04:52 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | herbicide application methods; cost; weed control; camera spray technology |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/40721 |
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