Ph.D Project: A control system focused on minimizing drift - specification of a VTOL

Ph.D. Student: Natássya Barlate Floro da Silva

Project title: A control system focused on minimizing drift - specification of a VTOL

Abstract: This project has the objective to develop a new control system focused on the application of pesticides on crops to minimize drift. The applications of pesticides currently performed in rural areas of Brazil, still is characterized by high energy and products waste, coupled with the inefficiency of the control results. The increasing costs of chemicals, labor and energy, coupled with growing concern regarding the impacts environmental and social damage caused by using improper application of such products and equipment, have highlighted the need for improvement of the methods, techniques, processes and equipment, as well as to establish appropriate procedures for spraying pesticides on crops. The majority of applications involving UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) in agriculture uses it as a platform for remote sensing. This project differs because UAV is used for direct sensing, ie, it has contact with the object sensed. The usefulness of aerial spraying in countries with large cultivated areas such as Brazil can not be questioned. The development of a new control system for a VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) UAV type will be conducted to the construction of a system that is stable enough to allow monitoring the manned aircraft flight responsible for spray (taking into account the characteristics of strong wind and other parameters).

Keywords: UAV, PID Control, VTOL

Period: 2012 - nowadays

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