TECH@
WORK
Fall
2015
Grains
West
18
SIGNS YOU LIVE INA BRAVENEWWORLD
UAV IS AN ABBREVIATION FOR
unmanned aerial vehicle. Some people
call them drones, some people call them
toys, but whatever we call them, it is clear
that they are serious business. But what
are they?
The UAVs being used today are
advanced-technology packages that use
strong battery packs to stay aloft long
enough to capture high-resolution images
with multiple sensor arrays. The on-board
computers make sure that the flight paths
are exact, similar to automatic steering
for tractors. So, they are essentially flying
robots that take pictures of crops on de-
mand—welcome to the future!
Today, most farm imagery is sourced
from satellites owned by governments or
large corporations. Satellite imagery is
powerful, and it has allowed agricultural
professionals to push the boundaries of
precision production practices. But satel-
lites have drawbacks, namely:
1. Expense: Building and launching a
satellite to orbit the earth from space is
expensive and takes years of planning.
2. Upgrades: Changing out sensor or
camera equipment is nearly impossible.
While software can be updated remote-
ly, hardware can only be updated by
space shuttle.
3. Clouds: Anything that gets between the
satellite and Earth degrades the image.
4. Schedule: Satellites fly on a predeter-
mined schedule and a set path that
are difficult to change. This makes it
challenging if an image is needed right
away.
These four primary weaknesses of satel-
lite technology have created the opportu-
nity for UAVs and continue to drive the
growth in UAV use in agriculture. UAVs
have many strengths that directly offset
the weaknesses of satellites:
1. Expense: UAVs are far less expensive
compared to satellites, and with prices
beginning to drop due to larger produc-
tion quantities, farms can now easily
afford UAV technology.
Flying Robots
