Development of real-time laser-scanning system to detect tree canopy characteristics for variable-rate pesticide application
Keywords:
laser-scanning system, sensor, tree canopy, variable-rate spray, pesticide application efficiency, gridding volumes, calculation algorithmAbstract
Improving pesticide application efficiency is increasingly important in orchard spraying. In this study, a laser-scanning system was designed to acquire gridding volumes of a tree to quantify the geometry characteristics of the tree canopy in real-time. A laser-scanning sensor mounted on a linear guide was utilized to measure the structure of a target tree canopy. A computer was used to receive measurement data from the laser scanner and obtain the movement distance of the laser-scanning sensor from a controller. An algorithm written with VC# program was designed to calculate gridding volumes of trees by recognizing valid measurement data from the laser scanner. Laboratory evaluations were conducted on three kinds of regular objects, and the maximum relative errors of section volumes of the cuboid, triangular prism and cylinder objects were 3.3%, 7.9% and 9.4%, respectively, which illustrated that the algorithm could calculate the section volumes in different parts of the objects with high accuracy. A conifer tree and an apple tree were chosen to verify detecting accuracy of the laser-scanning system at variable speeds and grid sizes. The variation coefficients of total volumes for each kind of the tree were 0.078 and 0.041, respectively, which indicated that the laser-scanning system could be applied to provide the gridding volumes of different canopy densities in real-time with good reliability for guiding a variable-rate sprayer. Keywords: laser-scanning system, sensor, tree canopy, variable-rate spray, pesticide application efficiency, gridding volumes, calculation algorithm DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20171006.3140 Citation: Cai J C, Wang X, Song J, Wang S L, Yang S, Zhao C J. Development of real-time laser-scanning system to detect tree canopy characteristics for variable-rate pesticide application. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2017; 10(6): 155–163.References
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[25] Miranda-Fuentes A, Llorens J, Gamarra-Diezma J L, Gilribes J A, Gil E. Towards an optimized method of olive tree crown volume measurement. Sensors, 2015; 15(2): 3671–3687.
[2] Rosell J R, Sanz R. A review of methods and applications of the geometric characterization of tree crops in agricultural activities. Computers & Electronics in Agriculture, 2012; 81(4): 124–141.
[3] Gil E, Arnó J, Llorens J, Sanz R, Llop J, Rosell J R, et al. Advanced technologies for the improvement of spray application techniques in Spanish viticulture: An overview. Sensors, 2014; 14(1): 691–708.
[4] Song Y, Sun H, Li M, Zhang Q. Technology application of smart spray in agriculture: A review. Intelligent Automation and Soft Computing, 2015; 21(3): 319–333.
[5] Berk P, Hocevar M, Stajnko D, Belsak A. Development of alternative plant protection product application techniques in orchards, based on measurement sensing systems: A review. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2016; 124: 273–288.
[6] Zhai C Y, Zhao C J, Wang X, Liu Y Z, Ge J S, Ma Y B. Design and experiment of young tree target detector. Transactions of the CSAE, 2012; 28(2): 18–22. (in Chinese)
[7] Zhai C Y, Wang X, Zhao C J, Zou W, Liu D Y, Mao Y J. Orchard tree structure digital test system and its application. Mathematical & Computer Modelling, 2011; 54(3-4): 1145–1150.
[8] Zhai C Y, Wang X, Guo J J, Xu S, Ma W. Influence of velocity on ultrasonic probing of orchard tree profile. Sensor Letters, 2013; 11(6): 1062–1068.
[9] Li H Z, Zhai C Y, Weckler P, Wang N, Yang S, Zhang B. A canopy density model for planar orchard target detection based on ultrasonic sensors. Sensors, 2016; 17(1): 31.
[10] Kang F, Pierce F J, Walsh D B, Zhang Q, Wang S. An automated trailer sprayer system for targeted control of cutworm in vineyards. Transactions of the ASABE, 2011; 54(4): 1511–1519.
[11] Kang F, Wang H, Pierce F J, Zhang Q, Wang S. Sucker Detection of grapevines for targeted spray using optical sensors. Transactions of the ASABE, 2012; 55(5): 2007–2014.
[12] Wang Y X, Xu S S, Li W B, Kang F, Zheng Y J. Identification and location of grapevine sucker based on information fusion of 2D laser scanner and machine vision. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2017; 10(2): 84–93.
[13] Palleja T, Tresanchez M, Teixido M, Sanz R, Rosell J R, Palacin J. Sensitivity of tree volume measurement to trajectory errors from a terrestrial LIDAR scanner. Agricultural & Forest Meteorology, 2010; 150(11): 1420–1427.
[14] Sanz R, Rosell J R, Llorens J, Gil E, Planas S. Relationship between tree row LIDAR-volume and leaf area density for fruit orchards and vineyards obtained with a LIDAR 3D Dynamic Measurement System. Agricultural & Forest Meteorology, 2013; s171-172(3): 153–162.
[15] Méndez V, Rosell J R, Sanz R, Escolà A, Catalán H. Deciduous tree reconstruction algorithm based on cylinder fitting from mobile terrestrial laser scanned point clouds. Biosystems Engineering, 2014; 124(4): 78–88.
[16] Zhang L, Zhao Z X, Yu L, Zhang Z G, Huang J. Positioning algorithm for ultrasonic scanning of fruit tree canopy and its tests. Transactions of the CSAE, 2010; 26(9): 192–197. (in Chinese)
[17] Long Y, Jian H, Zhao Z X, Zhang L, Sun D Z. Laser measurement and experiment of hilly fruit tree canopy volume. Transactions of the CSAM, 2013; 44(8): 224–228. (in Chinese)
[18] Fernández-Sarría A, Martínez L, Velázquez-Martí B, Sajdak M, Estornell J, Recio J A. Different methodologies for calculating crown volumes of Platanus hispanica trees using terrestrial laser scanner and a comparison with classical dendrometric measurements. Computers & Electronics in Agriculture, 2013; 90: 176–185.
[19] Xu W H, Feng Z K, Su Z F, Xu H, Jiao Y Q, Deng O. An automatic extraction algorithm for individual tree crown projection area and volume based on 3D point cloud data, Spectroscopy and Spectral Analysis, 2014; (2): 465–471.
[20] Chen Y. Development of an intelligent sprayer to optimize pesticide applications in nurseries and orchards. PhD thesis, Ohio State University, USA 2010.
[21] Chen Y, Zhu H, Ozkan H E. Development of a variable-rate sprayer with laser scanning sensor to synchronize spray outputs to tree structures. Transactions of the ASABE, 2012; 55(3): 773–781.
[22] Osterman A, Godeša T, Hočevar M, Sirok B, Stopar M. Real-time positioning algorithm for variable-geometry air-assisted orchard sprayer. Computers & Electronics in Agriculture, 2013; 98(7): 175–182.
[23] Llorens J, Gil E, Llop J, Escolà A. Ultrasonic and LIDAR sensors for electronic canopy characterization in vineyards: Advances to improve pesticide application methods. Sensors, 2011; 11(2): 2177.
[24] Gamarra-Diezma J L, Miranda-Fuentes A, Llorens J, Cuenca A, Blanco-Roldán G L, Rodríguez-Lizana A. Testing accuracy of long-range ultrasonic sensors for olive tree canopy measurements. Sensors, 2015; 15(2): 2902–2919.4
[25] Miranda-Fuentes A, Llorens J, Gamarra-Diezma J L, Gilribes J A, Gil E. Towards an optimized method of olive tree crown volume measurement. Sensors, 2015; 15(2): 3671–3687.
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Published
2017-11-30
How to Cite
Jichen, C., Xiu, W., Jian, S., Songlin, W., Shuo, Y., & Chunjiang, Z. (2017). Development of real-time laser-scanning system to detect tree canopy characteristics for variable-rate pesticide application. International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 10(6), 155–163. Retrieved from https://ijabe.migration.pkpps03.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/ijabe/article/view/3140
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Information Technology, Sensors and Control Systems
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