Drones

about R95 000( the majority of this cost is for the camera), while an off-the-shelf DJI Phantom with just a visual camera will cost around R25 000. Paterson says their data contracts vary,“ but we can process data from most drone systems out there.”

Their focus is on processing the data and rendering it useful to the farmers, which seems a good idea – often farmers want to invest in new technology but want the data to be useful to them at the end of the day. Farmers have before expressed to SABI magazine they are astounded by the amounts of data from weather stations and the like- and would like to know what it all means ultimately. Aerobotics have worked hard to keep the process simple and userfriendly, however.

Says Paterson:“ Aerobotics aim to provide a constant, realtime monitoring solution. Since there is so much data around, the challenge is to keep things as simple as possible and only alert the farmer when his attention is required.”

“ A big focus for us is to make the process as easy as possible. We provide an app with our systems to plan completely automated flights by just drawing the area you want to fly on a map. No software is needed, once the flight is complete, the client drags the images into our online interface and we handle all the processing. After that, the client can log into their account and view all their data online, see what has changed from previous flights, as well as generate reports.”

Aerobotics’ core product is a Farming Management Tool- and is suitable to all crop varieties. However the team is focussing their early efforts on certain industries to target specific problems, like diseases in crops. They have started off working in the sugar cane, macadamia and citrus industries.

Huge opportunity for farmers in data

Harnessing drones in to the water management toolbox, looks a trend set to grow. As Aerobotics

explain that drone imagery can be used to assess crop stress at centimetre resolutions! And on a regular basis.“ This allows farmers to track individual plants’ performance over time and act accordingly. Longer term water stress can be detected by the drones, but detecting day-to-day water stress is still in development.”

Like many pundits locally and internationally, Aerobotics says there is a“ huge opportunity for farmers to become more data driven, basing their decisions on fact rather than assumption. Drone imaging offers this type of solution, where all decisions can be backed up with the data- and comparable over time.” They envisage this technology forming a big part of farming going forward.

“ While drone technology is new, there is no doubt that it will form a large part of farming operations in the future. In the next 10 years, I see all farms having systems on their farm that regularly fly over the farm completely autonomously( without the need

for an operator). The main applications would be collecting and analyzing information and then acting on this information through targeted, variable-rate applications from the air( such as fertilizers and pesticides). It would be the most efficient if the two systems( scanning and application) could run at the same time,” says Paterson.

“ Since there is so much information being collected, a big focus( of Aerobotics) is to keep things as simple as possible, automatically analyze the data for the farmer, and only alert the farmer when his attention is required.” No doubt farmers will welcome more precise decision making enhancement – and only when his or her attention is really needed!

For more information, contact Aerobotics: info @ aerobotics. co. za http:// www. aerobotics. co. za /

* In our next edition a look at the use of satellites in water use estimation and agriculture