Optimization of Operational Parameters for Tractor Operated Swinging Lance Sprayer using Taguchi Design

Abstract

Application of pesticide in recommended dose not only reduces the input cost of chemical but also reduces the ill effects due to excess application of pesticide on crop and environment.  A tractor operated swinging lance sprayer was developed for the effective application of chemicals. To standardize optimum operational parameters, the effect of various operational parameters was investigated by using Taguchi design. The operational parameters, such as spacing between spray guns(s), spray gun height (h), swing angle(a) and operating pressure (p) were selected independent parameters, whereas swath width (Sw), and overlap (Op) were considered as performance evaluation characteristics. For conducting experiments and analysis of experimental data, Taguchi design was considered using Minitab.17 software tool. The optimum combination obtained from the Taguchi design significantly improved the swath width by 38% with the targeted overlap of 40%. After analyzing ANOVA results, it was seen that the sprayer performance in terms of Sw was greatly influenced by swing angle, in case of Op was greatly influenced by spacing between spray guns. Furthermore, predictive model equations were developed by using regression models for predicting the Sw as well as Op.