Neuw Publikation: Stationary and mobile reload strategies for agricultural UAVs: A simulation study across field sizes and geometries within fertilizer application [08.10.26]
Bublik, Nikolas & Breunig, Peter (2026).Landtechnik/agricultural.engineering.eu, DOI: https://doi.org/10.15150/ae.2026.3368.
Abstract:
Frequent fertilizer refilling and battery exchange interrupt agricultural UAV operations and can substantially reduce effective field performance. This study quantifies how stationary and mobile reload configurations affect the operational performance of UAVs, using fertilizer application as a case study. A simulation framework combines field-coverage planning, re-load-point selection, carrier movement, and mission-time optimization.
Eight DJI agricultural UAV models, from the MG-1 to the Agras T100, were evaluated across standardized field sizes from 5 to 150 ha and three square or rectangular geometries. Six reload configurations were compared: two stationary positions and four mobile carrier paths with access to one to four field boundaries.
The results show that mobile carrier support consistently reduces non-pro-ductive return travel and improves area performance relative to stationary reload points. The largest gains generally occur when mobile access first includes the field‘s longest operation-ally relevant boundary, while additional gains tend to become smaller once the most relevant boundaries are accessible. Newer UAV generations achieve higher area performance, but the absolute values remain conditional on the standardized model assumptions.