Name: MARIA EDUARDA AUDIZIO RIBEIRO
Publication date: 28/02/2024
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| EDNEY LEANDRO DA VITORIA | Advisor |
Summary: The introduction of new technologies in agriculture, such as Remotely Piloted Aircraft, has enabled enhanced precision in spraying, resulting in reduced use of chemicals and, consequently, minimizing environmental contamination and risks to human health. With the aim of exploring the application of RPAs, this work was divided into two stages, each resulting in a dissertation chapter. The first stage involved investigating the state of the art through bibliometric analysis. In the second stage, the performance of a spraying RPA was studied by analyzing the droplet spectrum and deposition pattern as a function of operational parameters, aiming to identify greater droplet uniformity and, consequently, increased efficiency in application. In the first chapter, the Scopus platform was used to conduct a quantitative survey of all scientific literature produced on the subject. The analysis of these data was conducted using VOSviewer software. In the second chapter, the application efficiency was assessed through the distribution of droplets and droplet spectrum, using a remotely piloted aircraft. Water-sensitive paper labels and artificial targets were employed to evaluate process efficiency. Additionally, a study of the deposition pattern was conducted, employing bright blue food dye and adjuvant in the spray solution. The effective spray
pattern was determined by collecting the sprayed solution on passive collectors (8,0 x 16,0 cm), positioned perpendicular to the spray line, distributed along a line of approximately 18,0 m in length. The passive collectors were collected, taken to the
laboratory, and the volume was determined by spectrophotometry. The experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design (DBC), in a split-split plot scheme with three factors: application heights (2,0, 3,0, and 4,0 m), operational flight speeds (4,0, 5,0, and 6,0 m s-1 ), and two spray nozzles (XR110015 and MGA60015). Treatments were replicated four times, using an application rate of 12 L ha-1 . Experimental data were analyzed using the coefficient of variation and subsequently subjected to analysis of variance and mean test in SISVAR. The results of the bibliometric analysis revealed leadership in the academic field by China and the USA in academic scientific publications, highlighting the growth in article and research production by Brazil in recent years. As for the experimental results, a lower coefficient of variation, 20,62%, was observed with a flight speed of 5,0 m s -1 and a height of 4,0 m, using the hollow cone nozzle. On the other hand, a height of 2,0 m and a flight speed of 6,0 m s -1 , using the XR110015 nozzle, resulted in higher values of droplet
density, coverage, and deposition, while the MGA60015 nozzle showed a greater drift potential.
