Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Computer Engineering
Session: 1
Room: Virginia C
Joshua S. Talbott - Virginia State University
Co-Author(s): John Chilaka, Virginia State University, Petersburg,VA; Mohammed Alsharif, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA
Part of the responsibility of farms is to control and manage the plant growth, from planting to harvest, involves handling of plant diseases by applying the appropriate type and dose of fertilizers and pesticides. With the increased knowledge of the various side effects of these chemical compounds, there is an amplified need for less physical contact with these chemicals within the agriculture industry. Thus, this paper describes the design and manufacturing of an autonomous mobile robot featuring a spraying mechanism for herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides throughout trellis and shrub type perennial crops. Through this work we provide a compacted robot with a well-founded platform to work in farm environment that can survey the farmland and automatically applies pesticides and fungicides directly to the targeted plants. A navigation system will allow the vehicle to pilot itself while providing no damage to the specified crop. Thus, it will benefit the agriculture industry through the reduction of exposure to hazardous chemicals and saving chemicals. References: G. Suffi, “Consider All The Factors When Selecting The Proper Inductive Proximity Sensor,” Electronic Design, vol. 48, no. 9, p. 107, May 2000. N. Hoai and N. L. C. Thanh, “Improve Static Performance Identification Of Inductive Proximity Sensor For a Mobile Robot,” MATEC Web of Conferences, vol. 59, p. 05005, 2016. A. Meyer, D. P. Sandler, L. E. B. Freeman, J. N. Hofmann, and C. G. Parks, “Pesticide Exposure and Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis among Licensed Male Pesticide Applicators in the Agricultural Health Study,” Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 125, no. 7, p. 077010, 2017. S. Shrestha, C. G. Parks, W. S. Goldner, F. Kamel, D. M. Umbach, M. H. Ward, C. C. Lerro, S.Koutros, J. N. Hofmann, L. E. B. Freeman, and D. P. Sandler, “Incident thyroid disease in female spouses of private pesticide applicators,” Environment International, vol. 118, pp. 282–292, 2018. A. Braun, “Application and validation of capacitive proximity sensing systems in smart environments,” Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 693–694, Apr. 2015 Funder Acknowledgement: Special thanks to HBC-UP and to Reza Rafie (PhD) for his expert help with the constraints. Faculty Advisor/Mentor: Nasser Ghariban (PhD), NGhariban@vsu.edu
Funder Acknowledgement(s): Special thanks to HBCU-UP HRD1719504 for funding and research assistance, and to Reza Rafie (PhD) for his expert help with the constraints.
Faculty Advisor: Nasser Ghariban, NGhariban@vsu.edu
Role: Currently, research is still being performed on the current topic. We have conducted research in ultrasonic sonar navigation as well as line detection using capacitive senors and optical line detection. Research is also being conducted on nozzle selection and spacing to efficiently distribute chemicals. Pump output and volume flow selection is also in progress,