Communication and control techniques to manage spraying under precision agriculture schemes

Spot application of pesticides is one aspect of precision agriculture technology that may have promising economic, environmental and social benefits. However, the practical application of this technology is faced by several challenges including accurate detection of pests, simultaneous control of multiple nozzles, and formulation of suitable droplets under continuous opening and closure of nozzles. This internship program, which is a part of an ongoing project on real-time spot application, aims to create an opportunity for highly qualified personnel (HQP) to exchange ideas on how to tackle these challenges. As such, the first focus point of this internship will be on nozzle control technology for sprayers of different numbers of nozzles. The goal in studying nozzle control is to understand the requirements associated with scaling up and down the size of the sprayer to fit different cropping systems in India and Canada. The second focus point will be on the efficacy of spraying at on-the-go conditions when deploying the technology at potato fields in Canada. For this, the internship will include actual deployment of a spot spraying system during which the HQPs will evaluate different performance parameters including timing of spraying, the ability to hit targets on-the-go, spray distribution, etc.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ahmad Al-Mallahi

Student:

Partner:

Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Technology; Agriculture and Food

University:

Dalhousie University

Program: