TOKYO, March 12 — A research team led by Kyoto University has developed a self-driving speed sprayer to reduce the burden of applying pesticides on fruit trees.
The vehicle runs on a pre-set route utilizing the GPS and sprays pesticides while circling around.
It can spray agricultural chemicals in a way just like workers with professional skills, and it is estimated that it can help cut their working hours by more than 60%.
Fruit growing regions are grappling with aging and shortage of operators, and reducing the burden of pesticide application has been a challenge.
The team worked to make the machine driverless also because handling speed sprayers poses a risk of accidents, including the vehicle toppling or colliding with branches.
The new vehicle was developed to be used in dwarf apple orchards on flat lands.
It can be operated by a tablet computer containing a dedicated app and a remote controller. A system to record its operating history is also installed so that data can be used for agricultural production management processes, or GAP (Good Agricultural Practice).
Kyoto University developed the machinery jointly with the University of Tsukuba, Tokyo-based machinery maker Maruyama MFG. Co., Inc. and Aomori Prefectural Industrial Research Center’s Apple Research Institute under the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization’s Agricultural Machinery Technology Cluster Project.