Working Quality, Drift Potential and Homologation of Spraying Drones in Switzerland

Abstract

Unmanned multicopters offer an interesting potential for the application of plant protection products in vineyards with steep slopes. Under such conditions, they can replace manual work and are an alternative to applications by helicopters. In Europe, no homologation process for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) exist so far. To fill this gap, a standard procedure has been elaborated in Switzerland and been in force since 2019. In addition to the measurements of common sprayer tests, the lateral wind speed caused by UAVs in 10 m and 20 m distance was chosen for the assessment of the risk of spray drift. The uniformity of the transversal spray distribution was measured by means of adapted patternators. UAVs reached satisfactory lateral distributions with variation coefficients of 6-15 %. During this first year, the testing methodology and the homologation process worked well and will be further applied in the coming years.