Drones and agriculture @sUSBexpo
Professor Ken Giles will speak at sUSBExpo 25th 26th July 2013, about his work at UC Davies and the Yamaha RMAX
Professor Giles focuses his research on fluids and material handling, particularly spray applications. The atomization of liquids into spray droplets for deposition onto target surfaces is a common process in industries such as agricultural pest control, painting, pharmaceutical production and product coating. In the agricultural applications, particular emphasis is on precision spraying and the avoidance of inadvertent spray drift onto non-target areas.
The development of electronic sensing and control systems for spraying applications is a focus area for Professor Giles laboratory. A number of developments have been successfully patented and licensed to industrial partners where commercialization has been achieved.
These developments have greatly increased the efficiency of spray applications, reducing environmental contamination. Additionally, the use of spraying and fluid handling systems has been deployed for processes to reduce or prevent the discharge of toxicants or dusts into the environment, e.g., computational fluid dynamics techniques have been used to guide the design of dust mitigation systems for crop harvesting. Professor Giles is also active in outreach to agricultural and industrial clientele, providing training, demonstrations and lectures on spraying and pesticide application to a wide variety of local and international audiences.
