Precision Agriculture UAVs and Drone Mapping on the Rise

Across Australia, startup businesses using agricultural drones to assess crop health via infrared mapping are becoming more and more popular. Through mapping methods, drone surveillance can offer farmers early warning signs of crop health issues. Agricultural drones offer clearer, more detailed map resolution than satellite and plane surveying by measuring in centimeters rather than meters.

Using precisionagriculture UAVs are relatively fast and cheap, making it easier for startup companies to get on board. They utilize the technology to collect information and provide a service back to farmers.

Future Business Potential

A research project, held at the Deakin University’s Centre for Regional and Rural Futures, investigated drone and satellite technology for monitoring crop performance. Dr. Hornbuckle and his team were looking for ways to improve nitrogen use and water management decisions.

His findings show the potential for even more businesses to join the market. Drone manufacturers are creating UAVs and software capable of mapping a range of agricultural crops including vineyards, broad acreage, horticulture, and orchards. While some farmers prefer to handle crop performance on their own, others would rather outsource the task to experts.

Breaking Down the Cost

Status Imaging, a company based in Washington state, shared their imagery and processes were costing farmers $3.50 to $7.00 a hectare depending on the type of crop and size of the land. Even at that price, having information to determine what is stressing their crops in advance is worth the investment. This data could potentially turn a $3,000-$4,000 yield into a $5,000 yield depending on the crop issue.

In addition, the data helps farmers save costs by telling them when to stop spraying or to only spray in certain areas. Currently, most farmers spray everything and simply hope it fixes a problem.

It’s Just the Beginning for Crop Mapping Technology

Many businesses entering the marketing are still in their infancy stages of getting to know the technology and mining the data properly to better help farmers. In addition, drone manufacturers are continually coming out with newer, better products and technology bringing swift changes to the market.

Precision agriculture UAV technology won’t replace the fact that farmers will still need to go out and see their crops at ground level, but it can help target certain areas and provide feedback faster. Many farmers will be surprised by the speed and accuracy to detect issues earlier than other traditional methods.

At Insitu, we specialize in agricultural drones and data monitoring to help improve farming methods. Learn more about our services here.

Advancements in Military UAS via Civil and Commercial Technologies

The military unmanned aerial systems (UASs), or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), used in the first Persian Gulf war of 1991 are nothing compared to the technology used today. GovernmentUAS are now competing with a range of future and commercial versions for law enforcement, agriculture, and even package delivery.

Today military UASs are becoming a vital part of the military’s arsenal. At the same time, civil and commercial models are also improving. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other aviation authorities often feel pressured to allow non-military UAV operations in civilian airspace.

Civil and Commercial Technologies Bringing Change

Technology companies are working hard to bring higher levels of automation, high-speed data processing, and memory. While military branches are facing dwindling defense budgets they’re tasked with doing more with less while keeping up with advancing commercial technologies.

Experts see a changing militaryUAS market by increased use in civil law enforcement and a fast-growing commercial market. These markets may soon advance beyond government UAS markets or fail to materialize at all. But industry experts expect the following information processing software and technology trends coming soon:

·         Improved battery life and longer endurance for smaller electric UAVs

·         Better fuel efficiency for larger models

·         Military UASs offering stealth technologies intended to penetrate contested airspace

·         Smaller, lighter, and more efficient sensors

·         Sense-and-avoid systems enable government UASs to operate alongside manned aircraft in a congested battle airspace, including civil and commercial UASs in a civilian airspace

·         Increased onboard computing power to process significant amounts of raw data before transferring useful information

·         Lower costs for manufacturing and lifecycle operation

·         Multi-mission capabilities with reprogrammable sensors

Government UAS Needs

A key feature for future government UASs is survivability. Medium to large applications may need stealth and electronic countermeasures while small applications could use swarming to survive.

Better technology for small aircraft is a goal for future generations and will likely translate to civil and commercial applications. Technology is being pushed from massive applications to put massive capabilities into applications you can carry in your pocket.

Power-to-weight is always a factor. The more you put on it the bigger the applications must be. Altitude and speed are factors for medium-altitude, long endurance UAVs. The computing power needed for these applications require more weight, size, power consumption, and heat signature.

Uncharted Territory 

In 10 years, the UAV industry could become a $10 billion a year industry in the U.S. between manufacturing, sales, new jobs, etc. By the same time, we’ll likely see bigger UAVs helping agriculture industries deploy pesticides and packages delivered for Amazon.

The Industry Faces Delays

The FAA is late to developing rules for small UASs to be flown commercially. This delay is causing local companies to sell to overseas operations, yet they face restrictions designed to keep superior U.S. technology away from potential competitors or adversaries. These delays can be devastating to the nation’s current lead in information processing software and UAS design, development, and production.

Some compare the situation to the 1980s U.S. satellite technology. Efforts to protect the technology lead to much of it going overseas and we lost our lead. Many fear we’ll do the same with UAS technology. While the U.S. military is the biggest developer of military UASs, other countries such as China and Israel will likely catch up and may surpass us.

As civil and commercial markets bring advancements to the industry, these will help the U.S. military in adding a new level of speed and focus on technology evolution, just like we saw with lasers, computers, and cell phones.

At Insitu, we’re leaders in developing information processing software for government and military UAS. Get in touch to learn more about our technology and services. 

Get to Know Drone as a Service Aerial Drone Features

The drone as a service market is a booming sector for cinematographers and helps streamline infrastructure inspection in industries such as mining, oil and gas, military, and agriculture. Since regulations for drones as a service have relaxed, aerial drone technology is continually evolving to bring new investments and innovation to the expanding market.

As a fast-moving industry, staying up to speed on aerial drone technology and drone control requires keeping up with the latest and greatest innovations and features.

Aerial Drone 101

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aircraft are made of lightweight, composite materials to increase maneuverability and decrease noise. The composite material strength allows military drones to cruise at high altitudes.

An aerial drone comes in two parts: the drone itself and the drone control system. Drones come in a wide variety of sizes, with larger drones mostly used for military purposes.

Aerial Drone Technology Features

The following are popular features of drone technology.

Flight Radar & Return Home

Flight radar displays the current position and location of the drone in relation to the pilot. When the drone exceeds the control range of the remote control, “Return-to-Home” is triggered. The drone will fly itself back to the takeoff point and land safely.

Real-Time Flight Details on Mobile

This allows you to see what your drone sees and keep track of current flight telemetry on your smartphone.

No Fly Zone Technology

To increase flight safety, some models include a “No Fly Zone” feature to prevent accidental flights into restricted areas.

First Person View (FPV) Technology

First Person View is when a video camera is mounted on the drone and broadcasts live video to the pilot on the ground. This offers the viewpoint of flying onboard the aerial drone instead of looking at the craft from the ground. Pilots can fly drones higher and further with more precise flying around obstacles from a fixed position.

Flight Assistant Port and Firmware

The drone control system can communicate with a PC Assistant through a micro-USB cable. This allows configuration of the drone and to upgrade the firmware. Updates can fix bugs and add new features.

UAV Remote Control System

The drone and remote control system are paired before leaving the factory. The drone control is a wireless communication device.

Range Extender

If you go out of range, the range extender is a wireless communication device that operates on a lower frequency. It can extend communication between the smartphone or tablet and the drone in open, unobstructed areas. Distance with extenders can reach up to 700 meters and each has a unique MAC address and network name.

While some drones out of the box can fly up to 3.1 miles, range extenders are popular to push the distance even further.

Drone Operating Systems

While some aerial drones use MS Windows operating systems, more UAV innovators are using different versions of Linux. The Linux Foundation recently launched the Dronecode Project, a collaborative project bringing together existing and future UAV projects under a nonprofit structure. This offers a shared open source platform for UAVs.

Intelligent Flight Systems

The latest drones have intelligent flight control and modes including Active Tracking, Waypoints, Follow Me, Return to Home, and many others.

Drone Uses

Drones have so many uses for drone as a service. With cameras, sensors, thermal, and more, the list of drone uses continues to grow and expand.

At Insitu, we specialize in government defense and commercial UAVs and software solutions. Get in touch to learn more.