The development of a Crop Identification System (CIS) able to adjust the spray application to the target characteristics

In the ambit of the VI Framework European Project ISAFRUIT (Increasing fruit consumption through a trans-disciplinary approach leading to high quality produce from environmentally safe sustainable methods), a prototype of air-assisted sprayer able to automatically adapt the application according to the characteristics of the canopy target (size and density), to the level of disease present in the canopy and to the environmental conditions at the time of spraying is under development. For the identification and the characterisation of the target, a new ultrasonic sensor has been developed by DEIAFA and 3B6 company to realise the Crop Identification System (CIS) for the sprayer prototype. Thanks to the analysis of the echo signals returning from the vegetation target, it is possible to assess the size of the plant (canopy thickness) and the vegetation density (mainly
depending by the number of leaf layers). A first set of tests has been carried out in an apple orchard (cv. Golden Delicious), featured by a layout of 4.5 x 1.5 m and with maximum tree height of 4.0 m. The aim was to assess the ability of the sensor to detect the target size and density and to compare the responses of the sensor working at different forward speeds.