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Langdon, ND | Legally awhile, technically now like others have said to a point. Payloads are still pretty small so large acreage farming operations won't see them until chemicals become more effective with less amounts used. That and the detection of algorithms that specifically know the weeds or cause of disease and can spray in spots.
I've talked in great detail with a group out of NASA and Virginia Tech trying to develop a 1/2 scale model of a typical helicopter to do what you mentioned. 1.5 million and has a 50 gallon payload max. Add in insurance, fuel, overhead and it would be quite expensive in today's world. I told them work with specialty crops like vegetables or vineyards for now instead of sugarbeets in ND which was their plan with our great UAV laws. Spraying roundup is too inexpensive I told them, they didn't know that or understand the actual costs associated with Ag production.
So to answer your question I'd say another 10 years at least due to FAA laws, technical advancement, and industry adoption in my opinion. | |
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A question from somebody who knows very little about drones
