The company was set up by Kripa Varanasi and Vishnu Jayaprakash in 2020 to commercialise a new type of spray nozzle.
该公司由克里帕·瓦拉纳西(Kripa Varanasi)和Vishnu Jayaprakash于2020年成立,旨在将新型喷嘴商业化。
The problem, says Dr Varanasi, an expert in the behaviour of liquids, was that they needed to compare the performance of their nozzle with that of existing techniques.
液体行为专家瓦拉纳西博士说,问题在于他们需要将喷嘴的性能与现有技术的性能进行比较。
As such data hardly existed, they set about collecting it themselves. Having grown up on a small farm in India, Dr Jayaprkash is well versed in using a backpack sprayer.
由于此类数据几乎不存在,他们开始自己收集。Jayaprkash博士在印度的一个小农场长大,非常擅长使用背包喷雾器。
He says it is extremely difficult to know if any treatment has been successfully applied.
他说,很难知道是否已成功应用任何处理方法。
The trouble is farmers have too many variables to consider when setting up a sprayer,
问题是农民在设置喷雾器时需要考虑太多变量,
from deciding on the chemical composition of the mixture through to measuring the temperature, humidity and the age of the plants - all while deciding the best speed at which to drive the tractor.
需要确定混合物的化学成分,测量温度、湿度和作物的年龄,同时还要确定驱动喷雾器的最佳速度。
To cut through the noise the team came up with a monitoring system called RealCoverage, which has now been launched as a product in its own right.
为了消除噪音,该团队提出了一个名为RealCoverage的监控系统,该系统现已作为独立产品推出。
Capable of being retrofitted to existing sprayers, RealCoverage consists of two camera-based sensors on each spray boom arm, one placed slightly ahead and the other just behind.
RealCoverage能够对现有喷雾机进行改装,每个喷杆臂上都有两个基于摄像头的传感器,一个放置在稍前,另一个放置在后面。
As the sprayer moves along, the firm's algorithms identify images of leaves captured by the first camera and compare them to images obtained by the second.
当喷雾机移动时,该公司的算法会识别第一个相机捕获的树叶图像,并将它们与第二个相机获得的图像进行比较。
This allows the number of droplets left clinging to the leaves to be calculated.
这样就可以计算出附着在叶子上的液滴数量。
The algorithms also take account of many external factors, such as weather conditions, to compute how effective the spray will be.
该算法还考虑了许多外部因素(例如天气条件)来计算喷雾的效果。
The results are shown in real-time on a display in the driver's cab, giving a simple percentage of spray success.
结果实时显示在操纵室的显示屏上,显示喷雾成功率的简单百分比。
The AI model can also suggest how things might be improved, so the driver can adjust the nozzles, raise or lower the boom o drive a bit faster or slower to achieve better coverage.
人工智能模型还可以就如何改进提建议,这样驾驶员就可以调整喷嘴、升高或降低喷杆,或者更快或更慢地行驶,以实现更好的覆盖范围。
At the end of the day, a digital map showing how the field was sprayed is produced, which can later be compared with how crops eventually flourish.
最终,系统会生成一张显示田地喷洒情况的数字地图,随后可以将其与农作物最终的生长情况进行比较。
All this provides a huge increase in the depth of knowledge available to farmers, essentially allowing them to measure spray results in terms of millilitres per leaf, instead of litres per hectare.
所有这些都大大增加了农民可获得的知识深度,这样他们就能够以每片叶子的毫升数而不是每公顷的升数来测量喷雾结果。
The firm says trials on farms in America and Europe allowed farmers to save 30-50% of their chemical costs.
该公司表示,在美国和欧洲农场进行的试验使农民节省了30%到50% 的化学品成本。
As the system also works in conjunction with other spray technologies, AgZen is discussing possible collaboration with equipment suppliers and contract-spraying businesses.
由于该系统还可以与其他喷涂技术结合使用,AgZen正在与设备供应商和喷涂承包商协商合作。
With RealCoverage now on the market, AgZen aims to launch its original idea next year. This is a unique spray nozzle called EnhanceCoverage.
随着RealCoverage现已上市,AgZen计划明年推出其原创的EnhanceCoverage,这是一种独特的喷嘴。
Instead of mixing adjuvants into the spray tank, these are put into a second container and injected into the nozzle as the droplets are formed.
不是将佐剂混合到喷雾罐中,而是将其放入第二个容器中,并在形成液滴时注入这种喷嘴中。
This has the effect of "cloaking" the droplets in additives, says Dr Varanasi, which results in better adhesion to foliage.
瓦拉纳西博士说,这可以将液滴“隐藏”在添加剂中,从而更好地粘附在叶子上。
The new nozzle could further improve the spot-spraying of herbicides.
新喷嘴可以进一步改善除草剂的点喷效果。
However, says the firm, its broader benefit is that taken together with the measurement system it could reduce the total amount of fungicides and insecticides sprayed over complete crops by some 90%, as well as cutting the amount of adjuvants required.
然而,该公司表示,其更广泛的好处是,与测量系统结合使用,可以将喷洒在整个作物上的杀菌剂和杀虫剂总量减少约90%,并减少所需佐剂的用量。
For farmers willing to try these new technologies, the possibility beckons of eliminating the most noxious pest of all: waste.
对于愿意尝试这些新技术的农民来说,可以消除最有害的害虫:浪费。