Page 15 - LandscapeSA_112

FEATURE

“A quiet revolution is
occurring and this bodes
well for the farmer”
– TIM WISE

Two drones for spraying solutions
In terms of agricultural spraying solutions,
there are two drones involved in the full
process. The first is a mapping or scouting
drone which is smaller and capable of
longer flight times and distances. This
drone will survey a farm, taking high
resolution digital photos to create 3D
models and crop stress maps, for example.
Both these data sources are critical in terms
Spray drone in flight of achieving precision pesticide applications
with the second drone, the large crop sprayer.
Both drones have Wi-Fi enabled remote
controllers with very advanced software
that allows for the seamless transfer of data
between them, ultimately to ensure pesticide
applications of a precision level not previously
achieved by aircraft before in South Africa.
Spray drones for golf courses
Spray drones are now being seriously
considered as a viable solution for golf
course construction and maintenance. Being
capable of broadcast grass seeding, sealing
off new dams and compaction-free pesticide
Tim Wise presenting to SASRI in 2019 and fertiliser applications, the versatility of
the drones is important, considering how
‘equipment heavy’ golf courses typically are.
Wise says the future of drone spraying
is “very bright”, and that DJI is currently
releasing new versions every 12 months,
with each new version being approximately
30% more efficient than the previous one.
This steep development curve is starting
to unlock the mega-crop markets of maize
and wheat, where in the past, traditional
aircraft have been far more efficient and
cheaper to operate than drones. “A quiet
revolution is occurring and this bodes well
for the farmer,” states Wise.

Information and photos supplied by Tim Wise of
PACsys
Processing the survey drone maps to ensure precision spray drone accuracy

Drone demonstrations at Fancourt n

Landscape SA • Issue 112 2022 13