Development of an unmanned aerial vehicle mobile recharging platform coupled with agrometeorological sensors for hailstorm analysis

Abstract

Hail storms are an extreme atmospheric event that happens all over the world, and which can cause several damages to plants, crops, animals, and buildings. In Brazil, this type of phenomenon affects several families, mainly in rural areas. In recent years, hail storms have caused incalculable damage, especially to coffee plantations in the Midwest region of the state of São Paulo. The agricultural sector plays a fundamental role in the Brazilian economy. Recent studies show that, in addition to the public policies applied in recent years, one of the factors that influenced agribusiness growth in the country was the application of new technologies. One of these tools is the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAVs), mainly in precision agriculture. The greatest difficulty of using this equipment is the low battery performance. Considering the importance of this, this project proposes the development of a battery charging platform for UAVs by electromagnetic induction, which contains instruments for meteorological measurement and for the soil conditions. This platform will function as an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV), making the area of coverage for obtaining the data greater. In order to do so, an information monitoring and equipment control software will be developed. This equipment will be used to carry out studies on the development of hail storm in the central-western region of the state of São Paulo, in an attempt to improve the forecast of this extreme atmospheric phenomenon and to help farmers in the region to prevent their plantations in storms of hail. (AU)