Spray Target Sensing and Agricultural Sprayer Control: Biological and Physical Basis

Application of liquid pest control materials to living plants represents an engineering problem within the biological task of agricultural pest control. Agricultural spray targets, due to their complex and rapidly changing morphologies, present a unique problem for efficient spray application. Methods of spray target description and the implications for development of spray target sensing and control systems were reviewed. Field measurements of orchard and row crop spray target development and architecture indicated substantial potential for improvement of pesticide application efficiency.