Using UAVs in Potato Growing: Diseases Diagnostics, Liquid Spraying

Abstract

The paper considers the options for using agricultural unmanned aerial vehicles in growing potatoes. The most pressing tasks are defined for monitoring soil relief, calculating plant biomass, diagnosing diseases, and applying liquid preparations. When using UAVs, it will be necessary to change the concentration of solutions of active substances used in classic versions of agricultural technologies based on ground sprayers. Also relevant is the development of artificial intelligence technologies for computer processing of data recorded by onboard lidars and video cameras to assess soil relief, the quality of potato tops, and diagnose diseases. The results of 2024 work on the creation of the Novgorod experimental field for testing new digital and robotic agricultural technologies are presented. A plan for conducting experimental work on potatoes has been formulated, which provides for growing potatoes using standard technology using ground-based equipment, as well as options in which the treatment of plantings using UAVs will be tested in operations for treating diseases, pests, and desiccating tops. For the application of liquid substances and field monitoring, our own agricultural unmanned aerial vehicles with a payload weight of 12 kg, a flight range of up to 25 km, a flight time of up to 20 minutes, equipped with quick-release specialized nozzles, video cameras and other attachments for agricultural work are used and improved.