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Iowa | Now that I got my Star Wars reference out of the way, I am going to hop up on my soap box. "Ihpartsman" I am not speaking to you directly but to everyone.
I apologize in advance for the shouting but I want to get my point across.
DO NOT CALL THESE TYPES OF SYSTEMS DRONES!!!
What do you think of when you hear the word drone?
My mind flashes immediately to pictures of a big crosshair in the middle of the screen, immediately followed by a building blowing up.
OR
A conspiracy theorist could think that these are devices being used by "Big Brother" to spy on them and listen in on their intimate conversations.
THOSE ARE NOT THE IDEAS WE WANT OUR SKEPTICAL NON-AGRICULTURAL NEIGHBORS THINKING OF WHEN THEY SEE OUR PLANES CIRCLING AROUND OUR FIELDS SCOUTING OUR CROPS!!!
There is going to be enough of an uphill battle to get the FAA to fully allow us to use these systems in our own airspace above the ground we own. We don't need negative connotations associated with these tools that will help us create even more "precision" to our decision making.
*Steps off of soap box
There are a couple of different terms that I have heard while looking into these systems. UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) or UAS (Unmanned Aerial System). Either of them accurately depict the correct image for what we are trying to accomplish with these systems.
I have done research for a couple of years on these systems and have seen everything from a system that is a basic R/C helicopter with a GoPro camera mounted on it ($1000) to a 6 ft helicopter with multiple cameras and camcorders mounted on them; that also have autopilot on them so that they will fly a pre-programmed pattern and then come back to you when they are finished ($75,000).
Those are the extremes. You can find many different systems with a range of different options.
Where the money is needs to be spent is on the camera(s) and software to process the images.
IMHO, this is the next step in precision agriculture. Being able to scout our fields more thoroughly and use less time will help growers be able to raise more bushels by being able to see problems in their fields and react to them quickly. | |
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Drones
