NCEES PE Agricultural and Biological Engineering Agricultural Drones, Robotics & Automation: practice questions

NCEES PE Agricultural and Biological Engineering · USA · NCEES (ASABE is the content partner)

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers

6worked here, free

20written to this exam in this subject

5syllabus units

What this subject covers

Spray drones, machine vision, robots and autonomous tractors — the newest part of the curriculum.

In the exams: Core in the ICAR 6th Deans' Committee B.Tech, with a skill module on drone operation and maintenance; not yet a large exam topic

UAV types and payload
Spray drones: swath, flow rate and application rate
Droplet drift from drones
Drone regulations (country-specific)
Machine vision
Robot end-effectors
Autonomous tractors
Mechatronic actuators
AI and machine learning for detection

What NCEES PE Agricultural and Biological Engineering asks from it

NCEES PE Agricultural and Biological Engineering; UK IAgrE registration and LTA

Machinery-systems reasoning: application-rate and field-capacity calculations, functional safety of automated machines, and the business case for automation.

Where the 20 questions fall

How our questions for NCEES PE Agricultural and Biological Engineering spread across the units of Agricultural Drones, Robotics & Automation. Difficulty: 1 easy, 11 medium, 8 hard.

Spray drones: swath, flow rate and application rate	7
Autonomous tractors	5
Mechatronic actuators	4
Droplet drift from drones	2
Drone regulations (country-specific)	2

6 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

1 · Spray drones: swath, flow rate and application rate · medium

A drone spreads granular fertiliser at a metered 6 kg/min over an effective spread width of 7 m at 6 m/s. What rate is applied?

23.8 kg/ha
238 kg/ha
0.04 kg/ha
85.7 kg/ha

Answer and working

A. 23.8 kg/ha

Rate = 6 × 10,000 / (60 × 7 × 6) = 23.8 kg/ha. 85.7 kg/ha uses the km/h formula with a speed in m/s; 238 kg/ha is a factor-of-ten slip. 0.04 kg/ha inverts the formula, 60 × 7 × 6/(6 × 10,000).

2 · Droplet drift from drones · medium

Which combination of changes reduces drift from a spray drone most reliably?

Raising the rotary atomiser speed so droplets break up and settle before the wind acts
Flying higher so the swath widens and fewer passes are needed over the same area
A coarser droplet setting with adequate coverage and a lower, still-safe flight height
Flying faster so the job is finished before the wind has time to pick up later

Answer and working

C. A coarser droplet setting with adequate coverage and a lower, still-safe flight height

Larger droplets settle faster and lower release height shortens fall time. Height and speed widen the drift plume, and faster atomisers make finer, more driftable droplets.

3 · Droplet drift from drones · hard

An agronomist wants better coverage for a contact fungicide and asks the drone operator for a much finer spray. The field borders a sensitive vegetable crop downwind. What is the best engineering response?

Fly at twice the normal height so the finer droplets spread evenly and land on the fungicide target more slowly
Keep the droplet category the label requires, raise volume within the label to improve coverage, and keep a downwind buffer
Switch to the finest droplet setting, because the vegetable crop is downwind and drift will move away from the target
Spray only when the wind blows towards the vegetables, since that wind direction makes the fine droplets fall faster onto the target crop

Answer and working

B. Keep the droplet category the label requires, raise volume within the label to improve coverage, and keep a downwind buffer

Coverage can be improved by more volume rather than finer droplets, without raising drift risk; the label's droplet and buffer requirements still apply. Finer droplets and greater height both increase drift onto the downwind crop, and wind direction does not change settling speed.

4 · Autonomous tractors · hard

An autonomous tractor travels at 12 km/h. Its obstacle detection and braking system has a total latency of 0.4 s and can decelerate at 2.5 m/s². What is its stopping distance after an obstacle is detected?

5.78 m
33.6 m
2.22 m
3.56 m

Answer and working

D. 3.56 m

v = 12/3.6 = 3.333 m/s; distance = v t + v²/(2a) = 1.333 + 2.222 = 3.56 m. 2.22 m ignores latency; 5.78 m drops the 2 in v²/(2a); 33.6 m uses km/h without converting.

5 · Autonomous tractors · medium

What does ISO 25119 deal with?

Test procedures for measuring tractor drawbar power and fuel use in an official national or OECD-style tractor test
The data messages exchanged between a tractor and implement over a common bus
Noise levels at the operator's ear on tractors with and without a closed cab
Safety-related parts of control systems on tractors and agricultural and forestry machinery

Answer and working

D. Safety-related parts of control systems on tractors and agricultural and forestry machinery

ISO 25119 is the functional-safety standard for agricultural machinery control systems. ISOBUS is ISO 11783; power and noise tests are covered by OECD tractor codes and other standards.

6 · Mechatronic actuators · medium

A motor delivers 0.8 N·m at 3,000 rpm into a 25:1 gearbox of 90% efficiency. What output torque is available?

20 N·m
18 N·m
0.029 N·m
22 N·m

Answer and working

B. 18 N·m

Output torque = 0.8 × 25 × 0.90 = 18 N·m (at 3,000/25 = 120 rpm). 20 N·m ignores losses; 0.029 N·m divides by the ratio; 22 N·m adds rather than subtracts the losses.

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