Design and evaluation of a self-propelled field sprayer to be operated and controlled remotely

Abstract

Nowadays, agricultural sprayers are the most widely used equipment to carry out pesticide applications. Several kinds of sprayers have been developed from hand-operated, hydraulic sprayers to boom/speed sprayers or aircraft sprayers with the development of agricultural engineering. The objectives of this study were to design a self-propelled field sprayer to be operated and controlled remotely and evaluate the performance of the purposed machine at different forward speeds of 9.33, 8.39, 7.46, 6.48, and 6.22 km/hr and different pump pressure of 9.5, 8.5, 8, 7 and 6 bar under laboratory conditions. Also, evaluate and calibrate the performance of the spraying system. The results showed that the maximum actual field capacity was 8.66 fedd/hr at 9.33 km/hr, and the total operation cost was 60.44 EGP/hr (6.98 EGP/fedd) at 9.5 bar.