Sensor Data Fusion for the Measurement of Horizontal Sprayer Boom Displacement

The measurement of horizontal sprayer boom movements is an important parameter for the simulation of repartition generated by a sprayer in the dynamic environment of agricultural fields. The existing methods were unsatisfactory for diverse reasons as limited measurement length or insufficient accuracy. Two different sensor data fusion methods were evaluated as input for a model aimed at predicting longitudinal spray deposit. A combination of radar and two accelerometers measurements was found more suited than laser and radar measurements combined in predicting spray repartition.