Solar-Powered Rover with a Three-Axis Robotic Arm for Image-based Targeted Pesticide Spraying

Abstract

Population and the demand for agricultural production always go hand in hand, and significant steps are being taken across the globe to increase the overall crop yield. Pests and Insects play a significant role in reducing crop yield and agricultural production. Despite many natural pest control techniques, chemical control of pests has been proven effective as it has shown a significant increase in yield. The use of pesticides, insecticides, and other chemical control techniques can be improved by introducing precession targeting and application of pesticides and insecticides, as it can reduce the area of contact of the chemical reagent with the plant. This is where the solar-powered rover with a three-axis robotic arm for image-based targeted pesticide spraying comes into the picture. The entire system is solar-powered, which is eco-friendly as the source of energy is a renewable form of energy. The Rover has an onboard three-axis robotic arm and a pesticide storage tank. The manipulator of the robotic arm is integrated with a pesticide sprayer connected to the onboard pesticide tank, along with a high-resolution camera. The camera is used to analyze and identify pests or insect infestations, as the camera feed can be transmitted long-range with the help of an onboard video transmitter. The rover and the onboard robotic arm are controlled by a long-range radio transmitter which makes it easier to analyze and perform the necessary operations in identifying the pests and spraying the pesticides in targeted areas, which in turn improves precession in the application of pesticides to the affected areas. The proposed method is deemed to be effective and contributes significantly to reducing environmental and financial losses that are caused by excessive pesticide application.