Systems, methods, and apparatuses for applying specially formulated spray materials. The feedstock for the spray materials includes one or more immiscible materials. To mix immiscible materials at low pressure, the materials are applied from separate inputs of a fixture to separate channels where they are permitted to flow to and spread over surfaces or edges at selected thicknesses. On the surfaces or edges the materials are each subject to flowing air that forms small particles or drops even though the materials may be viscous. The particles or drops are mixed together and may be applied to a combustion device or spray device or any other device utilizing the mixture.

The handheld data-logging spray apparatus incorporates a global positioning system (GPS) receiver and microcontroller into a conventional handheld spray unit. As an operator dispenses a chemical using the handheld data-logging spray apparatus, the microcontroller records (among other things) the volume of chemical dispensed and the GPS location of the sprayer. The recorded data is processed and stored on a removable USB thumb drive. The operator can download the data from the thumb drive and manipulate the data using a conventional spreadsheet program or a commercially-available geographic information system program.

A system for nozzle control includes an overall system pressure valve, configured to adjust the pressure of an agricultural product within a boom. A master node is configured to receive an overall system flow rate measurement, an overall target flow rate, and an overall system pressure measurement, the master node configured to adjust the overall system pressure valve to control the pressure of the agricultural product. A plurality of smart nozzles are configured to dispense the agricultural product, the plurality of smart nozzles each having an electronic control unit (ECU) and one or more individual nozzles, the smart nozzle is configured to control a nozzle flow rate of the associated one or more individual nozzles.

A monitoring system is presented for monitoring plants' conditions in one or more plant growing areas. The system comprises: a data collection system configured and operable to provide characterization data about plants in said one or more plant growing areas, the data collection system comprising data collection modules of at least first and second different types, the first type data collection module comprising a first imaging device of predetermined first optical properties and the second type data collection module comprising a second imaging device of predetermined second optical properties different from the first optical properties, the characterization data provided by at least one of the first and second imaging devices being indicative of various parameters of the plants being imaged; and a control system configured and operable to be in data communication with an analyzer to be responsive to operational data received from the analyzer and being based on analysis of the image data indicative of one or more plants being imaged by the first type imaging device, to selectively activate the second type imaging device to apply the second type imaging to at least a part of said one or more plants.

A farming machine identifies and treats a plant as the farming machine travels through a field. The farming machine includes a pair of image sensors for capturing images of a plant. The image sensors are different, and their output images are used to generate a depth map to improve the plant identification process. A control system identifies a plant using the depth map. The control system captures images, identifies a plant, and actuates a treatment mechanism in real time.

Systems and methods for adjusting or providing instructions to spraying systems are provided. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of adjusting a spraying system is provided. The method comprising: electronically determining a current location of a spraying system; electronically determining a proximity to one or more sensitive areas relative to the current location; and adjusting the spraying system in response to a first one of the one or more sensitive areas being within a first distance from the current location.

An agricultural sprayer includes at least one nozzle configure to receive a fluid and direct atomized fluid to an agricultural surface in a dispersal area. A radio-frequency (RF) transmitter is disposed to generate an RF signal that passes through the dispersal area. The RF signal is detectably changed when interacting with droplets of the atomized fluid. A first RF receiver is disposed to receive the RF signal after the RF signal passes through the dispersal area and provides an output indicative of the RF signal. A controller is coupled to the first RF receiver and is configured to detect plugging of the at least one nozzle based on the output of the first RF receiver.

A drive circuit is provided for controlling a solenoid valve having a solenoid coil. The drive circuit includes a first semiconductor device, a flyback circuit, and a processor. The first semiconductor is coupled in series with the coil and is controlled by a gate signal to energize the coil. The flyback circuit is in parallel with the coil and includes a series-coupled second semiconductor device and a diode. The second semiconductor is controlled by a flyback control signal to enable the flyback circuit when the first semiconductor is controlled by the gate signal to hold the valve open. The diode has a low forward voltage to slow decay of a current conducted through the coil. The processor generates the gate signal to control the first semiconductor and to reduce a duty cycle of the gate signal when the flyback circuit is enabled to reduce power consumption by the coil.

The present invention relates to spray application device(s) for application of an active ingredient(s) to agricultural crops, to vehicle(s) comprising spray application device(s), to method(s) of spray application by the spray application device(s), to computer program element(s) for controlling the spray application device(s), and for computer program element(s) for controlling vehicle(s) comprising spray application device(s).

Disclosed are a method, apparatus and system for presenting a spraying operation, wherein the method comprises: acquiring a spray coefficient of an operating device at an operation position corresponding to a sampling point, wherein the spray coefficient is used for representing a spray quantity of the operating device at the operation position (S102); acquiring color information corresponding to the spray coefficient of the operation position (S104); and presenting the operation position and the color information corresponding to the operation position (S106). The method solves the technical problems that a spray quantity at a specific position in a target region cannot be determined, and spray efficiency is low.