Simulation and Control of Rotational Vibration of Sprayer Boom Using a Novel Suspension System

Sprayers are important tools in agriculture that usually moved on the field by tractor. Sprayers should distribute the constant rate of chemicals during various conditions encountered in the field. Unwanted vibrations of sprayer boom cause redaction of its life time and over doses and under doses of chemical sprayed on the field. Therefore, in this study a model of suspension system for rotational vibrations of sprayer boom is proposed using horizontal and vertical elements of spring and damper. Then, the state space of the dynamical system is derived. In this state space, absolute rotation of the frame connected to the tractor around the horizontal axis (tractor roll) is input and absolute rotation of the sprayer boom around the horizontal axis is output. Also, the optimal gain matrix is designed for the state-space of system using linear quadratic regulator (LQR). Finally, impulse, step and ramp responses of sprayer boom are calculated and compared to impulse, step and ramp responses of system without controller. The results show that the designed controller significantly reduces rotational vibration of sprayer boom and improves the performance of sprayer.