Design of automatic spraying system for liquid pesticide application on cabbage cultivation

Abstract

This research was conducted to analyze the performance of Knapsack Electric Sprayer (KES) compared with KES that controlled by an Automatic Control System (ACS). KES that is modified with ACS using Arduino Mega as the main controller equipped with a pressure sensor, solenoid valve, and PID control on the control system is able to produce almost constant flow pressure. The ACS was applied using a one-by-one spraying method toward cabbage plants. The performance test was conducted in Sprayer Test Laboratory to analyze two types of nozzles and determine Effective Spraying Debit (ESD), Effective Spraying Width (ESW), and droplet diameters. The results of the research showed that the performance of a 3-hole solid cone nozzle is better than a 4-hole solid cone nozzle at 4 bar pressure. Spraying with ACS using the 3-hole nozzle can produce 95% accuracy of spraying output volume. Using ACS, spray duration on each cabbage was controlled by the system based on input. The ACS type can be applied with high Forward Spraying Speed (FSS) than the sprayer without ACS. The FSS did not affect the output Application Dosage using ACS on the sprayer. The implementation of ACS for spraying cabbage can overcome inappropriate output application dosage.