Previously my local TV had news pieces that mentioned residents buying electric drones for spying on their neighbors. That coupled with the reputation of drones being used for war, may have some disliking the mere mention of drones.
But for Agricultural (Ag) purposes, where there are few structures or people, monitoring crops for maximum production, reduce the amount of pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals used, and many other uses/tasks is invaluable to farmers and other forms of agriculture. I watched a Successful Farming - Machinery Show, Ag drone episode on RFDTV https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201383272963049&set=vb.14657261804&type=2&theater Show Promo (Airing on Sunday June 9th 2013, 10p ET, 9p CT, 8p MT, 7p PT http://www.rfdtv.com/findrfdtv/ Find RFDTV near you) http://www.agriculture.com/successful-farming/machinery-show/drone-technology-on-machinery-show_540-ar31838 that discussed the use of aerial drones for agriculture purposes, both fixed-wing for long flights, and helio for short distance and detailed flights. Here is an image slideshow of the Ag drones shown in the program http://www.agriculture.com/machinery/precision-agriculture/will-drones-be-a-part-of-your-precision_234-sl30993 With a Ag drone search, I was able to find the following video from two years ago. It is worded that Ag drones are off in the future, but the show above tells me, so much has advanced so fast, that electric Ag drone use is now, not the future [video http://youtube.com/watch?v=-fUomcf-27Y Precision Agriculture - Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) UnmannedFarmer Oct 14, 2011 Precision Agriculture, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV, Robert Blair, Blair Farms, Kendrick Idaho, Three Canyon Farms, Washington State University ] The Machinery Show Ag drone episode (above) explained that drones coupled with invaluable software, the farmer can see where they need to fertilize, weed, irrigate, etc. Satellite, and aerial ice plane flyovers to gather said crop data is much more costly than using Ag drones. Except for the initial drone purchase cost (which sounds just like buying a Production EV), the use of the electric drone is nil, and owning one allows the farmer to go back later to have a repeated look without incurring the expensive fees (they use it when they want to for nada/little running costs). Later in the video, a farmer was showing that they were getting the most of their electric drone purchase by also using it like a farmhand or electric flying robot, to go out in the field checking for blocked irrigation sprayer heads, and many other purposes. So farmers are using them much more than the uninformed layman would expect. The video showed that the farmer needs to either hire a person to fly their electric drone, or learn how themselves. So that deadbeat playing video games in the family that can't seem to get a job, there is hope. They can fly the electric drones for the farmer, gathering data to prepare for the local agronomist's visit (have all the data ready so the time spent is focused on the farmer's needs). For the farmer to learn how to fly their flying drone, the use of a simulator was first, and then the use of buddy controllers (two tied to the same drone) like the way student driver vehicles have two sets of controls for both the student and the instructor (encase they get into trouble). *This presents an opportunity for local EV drivers to network with the local RC flying clubs to hook up with them. It may be, that their members may be active with Ag drones, and you could have them attend your next EV show. Like having electric scooters, bicycles, and skateboards at EVents, having a flying electric powered helio showing off its Ag purposes will also be a major attraction/public draw getter. IMO I see Agriculture using electric powered drones as an in-road to more electric propelled Ag items being used (using less fuel = reducing their input costs). Coupled with solar and wind generated on the farm (shown in the first video), and GPS (already in use on smart-farm-equipment), electric propelled Ag items could be a huge growth area, creating many jobs (electric powered/propelled farm robots if you will). Here are some other electric drone/uav links to explore: http://www.precisionfarmingdealer.com/content/technology-drones-could-change-face-no-tilling Technology: Drones Could Change Face of No-Tilling Crop scouting, 3-D mapping, spot spraying and pathogen detection all could be performed by unmanned aerial vehicles to cut labor and input costs and improve decision making. By: John Dobberstein, No-Till Farmer (Editor's Note: This article appeared in the May 2013 issue of No-Till Farmer's Conservation Tillage Guide.) http://www.wired.com/business/2013/05/these-arent-your-little-brothers-drones/ These Aren’t Your Little Brother’s Drones — Or Big Brother’s Either By Michael V. Copeland 05.15.13 The drones are coming. But rather than hovering over our homes in some big-brother scenario, they'll be checking farmers' crops, inspecting power lines, ... http://aerialfarmer.blogspot.com/ UAVs and Precision Agriculture #10 May 27, 2013 – Labels: agriculture, crop scouting, crop yield, drone, precision agriculture, remote sensing, uav, unmanned aerial vehicle, voltaerialrobotics. http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/05/24/how-will-drones-be-used-americas-farms How Will Drones Be Used on American Farms? Soon, drones will fly over America’s Bread Basket. Some think they could reduce the amount of pesticides and fertilizers. by Steve Holt May 27, 2013 http://www.waukonstandard.com/main.asp?SectionID=54&SubSectionID=238&ArticleID=55322 Farming and your freedom: It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a cow counter ... May 29, 2013 – In fact, said Laurie Bedord on Agriculture Online, the drone did help ... of Volt Aerial Robotics has been working since 2006 to bring the drone ... http://www.agriculture.com/farm-management/technology/drones-evolve-into-a-new-tool-f-ag_322-ar31423 Drones evolve into a new tool for ag Laurie Bedord 05/10/2013 http://www.diydrones.com/group/agricultural-uavs Agricultural UAVs (DIY drones - build your own) Commercial use of drones in farms and other agriculture http://www.no-tillfarmer.com/pages/Features---Some-Current-UAV-Models-On-The-Market.php Some Current UAV Models On The Market http://www.voltaerialrobotics.com/quadcopter.htm Volt Aerial Robotics [Dated] Feb 24, 2012 - UAV Development, drones in agriculture, Octane mini VSTOL UAV, UAV for agriculture and environmental research, crop scouting uav, crop scouting drone; ... [videos http://youtube.com/watch?v=nwu5d8JamTg Wave Sight UAV - Volt Aerial Robotics Rory Paul Oct 1, 2012 (fixed wing) http://youtube.com/watch?v=9zKwX8TzQEo Octane Volt Aerial Robotics Rory Paul Sep 4, 2012 (helio) ] {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Electric-Drones-for-Ag-use-video-tp4663486.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
