Instrument System to Monitor the Dynamic Behavior of a 27-m Sprayer Boom

The problem was to identify wide boom behavior under field conditions. The objective wasto develop a spray boom instrumentation system to monitor x-y-z accelerations at boom ends, boomcenter, and sprayer vehicle rear; boom end heights; and sprayer position along a track. A pc-baseddata acquisition system was required instead of a data logger, based on required samplingfrequencies. In general, peak amplitudes were measured at frequencies ranging from 4 to 5 Hz.Other characteristic frequency components were identified for bumps and dips placed along thetrack, and for the effect of water load in the sprayer hopper. Data may aide the design of sprayersuspension and boom mount systems to minimize adverse boom movement.