A Development of Pesticide Spray Robot

Abstract

The agriculture industry has identified pest management in fertigation-based farms as a challenging task. Innovations in pesticide spraying technologies are crucial, as manual methods are laborious, inefficient, and hazardous due to chemical exposure. Therefore, this research introduces a pesticide spray robot. The design focuses primarily on flat surfaces. The development consists of three main layers: the development and integration layer, the communication layer, and the application layer. An ESP32 is used as the main controller, while the Android ESP Bluetooth Dabble app enables communication and control via Android smartphones. The robot’s performance was tested and validated on a real fertigation farm at Kebuniti Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah. Results show that the robot can be controlled using the Dabble application and can communicate over a Bluetooth network generated by the ESP32 at a maximum distance of 20 meters. Additionally, the robot can move on various types of flat surfaces, including uneven farm roads, at up to 30% of its maximum speed. In the future, this robot has the potential to revolutionize pest control, improve crop health and productivity, and eliminate the need for human labor and worker exposure to chemicals.