Drone in

agriculture
irrigation

Abdullah alrashoudi - 443105703 (Leader)

Faisal Alomrani – 443101571
Sultan Albrikan - 443101313
Faisal Aldahmash – 443101029
Ibrahim Albakairi – 443100963

Supervised By:
Prof.Abdelhamid Ajbar
 Introduction
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia faces a significant challenge regarding the
excessive water consumption in its agricultural sector, which has become
increasingly critical due to the global drought affecting the world in recent
years.

Important statistics:

-Saudi Arabia water requirements estimated at 25 billion.

-The Agricultural Sector accounts for 84% of the total water demand.

-The technique effectiveness that’s used in Saudi Arabia is at 50%.

-The optimal percentage is 75%

 Some available solutions:
• Sprinkler irrigation : It involves the use of sprinkler heads to distribute
water,

and has a major drawback in terms of water consumption. This irrigation

method

requires a large amount of water to operate..

• Drip irrigation: Implementing a drip irrigation system requires a

significant capital investment of drilling pipes and irrigation equipment,
and requires regular maintenance to purify the efficient system.
 Primary objective
To design a drone that could automatically water plants exactly as
needed without wasting water.
 Secondary objective

1- To save power
2- Covering large areas of fields
3-To decrease manual labor, and time, and resources wasted
 Problem statement
The agricultural sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia faces great
challenges due to the lack of water sources and the lack of methods
and technologies that work to save water.
 Design Specification
Drone Solutions Company Drone project Issued: 13/09/2023

M/W Wt Requirements Keyword

Material
M -Lightweight for optimal flight Lightweight
-weather resistant Resistant
M M - suitable for a life expectancy of 10 years Life

W
Ergonomics
W H -Smooth maneuverability Maneuver

Energy
M --Battery must last for 12 hours minimum Battery life
M -Time for charge is 4 hours Charge Time

Need analysis M
Signals
-Indication when battery life is low Charge
-Indication on levels of water Resources
M -Easy to start/stop start/stop

M
Geometry
W H -Large storage water Storage
-Suitable area for electronics and battery Components
W M -Empty space on top of the drone for solar panels Solar panel

W H

Economics
H -Should cost 3000 USD
W Price
 Constraints

-The drone must cover an area of ​1 square km

-Charging time does not exceed 4 hours
-The drone can work continuously for at least half a day (12 hours).
-Should cost 3000 USD
-Should weight under 4 KG
 Criteri
a
- Low capital cost
- Light weight
- Water saving
- Low operation cost
 Problem definition
Designing a drone that could solve a problem in agriculture in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
which is waste of water. It should cover an area of 1 km, can work for 12 hours straight, Charge
time should not take more than 4 hours, does exceed 4 kg in weight, and price should be 3000
USD. The drone will fix this problem by accurately distributing water across the farmland exactly
as needed and reduce the need of manual labor to perform this task. Our goal with this drone is
to make it easily maintainable, and be low cost.
 Morphological analysis
Features Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4

Material Plastic Carbon Fiber Iron Aluminum

Color Red Blue Black White

Water Distribution Horizontal lines Square pattern Zig zag Circular motion
route

Blades Two Blades Three Blades Four Blades Five Blades

Rotor type Y6- Rotor Quad-Rotor Hexa- Rotor Octo- rotor

Motor MPL ADVANCE NOVA.1 NOVA.2

series

Power Supply solar Battery Battery and Petrol

solar
 Design(1) :
• Carbon fiber
• Black
• Circular motion
• Three Blades
• Y6- Rotor
• NOVA.2
• Battery and solar energy
 Design(2) :
• Aluminum
• White
• Zig zag
• Five blades
• Octo- rotor
• MPL
• Battery
 Design (3)
• Plastic
• Blue
• Vertical lines
• Two Blades
• Hexa- Rotor
• NOVA.1
• Petrol
 Scenarios

Criteria Low capital Low operation Light weight Water saving

cost cost

Scenario 1 25 25 25 25
compromise
Scenario 2 20 20 20 40
Saving water
Scenario 3 40 20 20 20
Low cost
 Ratings

Criteria Low capital Opertaion cost Light weight Water saving

cost
Design 1 3 9 7 9
Design 2 6 7 3 3

Design 3 9 5 6 6
 Table 1 : Decision matrix

Criteria
Low capital Light Water
Concept
cost
Operation cost
weight saving
Score

Weight W 25 25 25 25 100
Design 1 R 3 9 7 9 700

W*R 75 225 175 225

Design 2 R 6 7 3 3 475

W*R 150 175 75 75

Design 3 R 9 5 6 6 650

W*R 225 125 150 150

Conclusion: design 1 got the highest score

 Table 2 : Decision matrix

Criteria Low capital Light Water

Operation cost Score
Concept cost weight saving

weight W 20 20 20 40 100
R 3 9 7 9
Design 1 740
W*R 60 180 140 360
R 6 7 3 3
Design 2 440
W*R 120 140 60 120
R 9 5 6 6
Design 3 640
W*R 180 100 120 240

Conclusion: design 1 got the highest score

 Table 3 : Decision matrix

Criteria Low capital Operation Water

Light weight Score
Concept
cost cost saving

weight W 40 20 20 20 100
R 3 9 7 9
Design 1 620
W*R 120 180 140 180
R 6 7 3 3
Design 2 500
W*R 240 140 60 60
R 9 5 6 6
Design 3 700
W*R 360 100 120 120

Conclusion: design 3 got the highest score

 The decision
Given the results of decision matrix tables:

We choose the first design because it most closely matches the criteria of our project
Drawing
 Human factors

• Anthropometric
• Ergonomic
• physiological
• psychological
 Anthropometric
Drones can be found in a wide variety of forms, sizes, and weights, and they
each have their own special qualities and skills. The characteristics a drone
has, how easily it can be transported, and how much it can carry are all
influenced by its size.
 Ergonomis
Relationship between the person and the drone should be demonstrated in
ergonomics:
• Suitable button’s size and form, the user's fingers may press it without
discomfort.
• The lid should be made to make it simple to access the water tank without
exerting too much effort or complicated motions
• The lid should be of the proper size and weight to allow users to lift and
move it without difficulty
 Physiological
1-No bright color for the drone
2-Drone shouldn’t reflect sunlight
3- sound should not exceed 70 db
4-Smooth edges
5-light weight
 Psychological
The drone features an on/off switch button that alludes to how the button's
layout, placement, and use can affect people's feelings, perceptions, and
actions. The water level indicator displays a range of colors that, depending
on how vivid they are, encourage people to act quickly when the level
drops.
 Market share
Our project plan basically aims to rationalize private water consumption in the
agricultural sector within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where it will be. The most
prominent buyers are:

• The Ministry of Agriculture.

• major companies in the agricultural sector such as (Almarai).
• local farmers.
 Safety
Adding some additions to achieve high levels of safety; Among these
additions is an alarm device in the event of breakdown and fall to alert and
prevent accidents. It is also possible to add a parachute to slow down the
fall of the drone to absorb the collision.
 Conclusion
As we mentioned before, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia faces a significant
challenge in the agricultural sector due to this problem. We tried to design an
irrigation drone under specific specifications to be able to solve this problem,
and these are some of the main things that we focused on.

-The currently solutions and their shortcomings and Try to improve them.

-knowing the primary objectives and secondary objectives and work on it.

-Suggesting some designs and comparing between them to choose the most appropriate one.

- we cared about the most important things about the human factors which are the market
share, safety, Anthropometric, Ergonomic, physiological and psychological.
 References
Ministry of Environment Water & Agriculture: https://www.mewa.gov.sa/ar/Pages/default.aspx

Ministry of Energy: https://www.moenergy.gov.sa/ar/Pages/default.aspx

Food and Agriculture Organization: https://www.fao.org/water/ar/

Arab development portal: https://arabdevelopmentportal.com/ar/blog

Nova Motors: https://www.nova-motors.de/

Built In: https://builtin.com/drones/types-of-drones