SPRAY PATTERN MONITORING

1 . A method of determining a status of a liquid spray from a nozzle with a plurality of optical sensors, the method comprising:

generating, by a first optical sensor of the plurality of optical sensors, a first output of directional light directed substantially orthogonally towards an expected position of a liquid spray emitted from a nozzle;

detecting a reflection of the first output of directional light reflected by the liquid spray at the first optical sensor to generate a first return signal;

generating, by a second optical sensor of the plurality of optical sensors, a second output of directional light directed substantially orthogonally towards the expected position of the liquid spray emitted from the nozzle;

detecting a reflection of the second output of directional light reflected by the liquid spray at the second optical sensor to generate a second return signal;

comparing the first return signal to the second return signal; and

determining a concentration of droplets of the liquid spray based on a comparison of the first return signal and the second return signal.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating, by a spray sensor that includes the optical sensor, a spray signal based on the concentration of droplets of the liquid spray; and

communicating the spray signal to a control module.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein communicating the spray signal to the control module comprises wirelessly communicating the spray signal to the control module.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein communicating the spray signal to the control module comprises communicating via radio frequency.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein communicating the spray signal to the control module comprises transmitting radio waves in at least one of a 2.4 GHz band and a 5 GHz band.

6 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

communicating, by the control module, the concentration of droplets of the liquid spray to a user interface of an agricultural implement.

7 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

storing, in a memory of the control module, the concentration of droplets of the liquid spray.

8 . The method of claim 2 , wherein communicating the spray signal to the control module comprising communicating via an interface selected from the group consisting of a controller area network, a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter, and a serial peripheral interface.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a presence or absence of the liquid spray.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sensing, by a spray sensor that includes the optical sensor, variations in the concentration of droplets of the liquid spray; and

generating a spray signal indicating an abnormal spray based on the variations in the concentration of the droplets of the liquid spray.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating, by a spray sensor that includes the optical sensor, a spray signal based on the concentration of droplets of the liquid spray; and

communicating the spray signal to a user via a user interface.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the spray sensor is configured to intermittently activate the plurality of optical sensors.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a nozzle status based on the comparison of the first return signal and the second return signal;

wherein the nozzle status comprises a nozzle fault when one of the first return signal and the second return signal indicates absence of the liquid spray.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second outputs of directional light each comprise laser pulses and the optical sensor comprises a laser range finder.