Development of a PWM Precision Spraying Controller for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

This paper presents a new Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) controller for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) precisionsprayer for agriculture using a TL494 fixed-frequency pulse width modulator together with a data acquisition board and developedsoftware. An UAV can be remotely controlled or flown autonomously by pre-programmed flight plans. The PWMcontroller was implemented through the guidance system on the UAV with control commands sent between the UAV helicopterand the ground control station via a wireless telemetry system. The PWM controller was tested and validated using LabVIEW8.2. Several analyses were performed in a laboratory to test different control signals. The results show that the PWM controllerhas promise as a higher precision technique for spray applications, which will improve efficiency of pesticide application,especially in crop production areas.