Using Drones for Precision Spraying
All the drones and robots in our range are electrically powered.
They use state-of-the-art, 48 Volt Lithium-Ion batteries that can be hot swapped in a matter of seconds. Even with the battery removed, the drone and robot systems remain active for rapid continuous operation.
These batteries are also super-fast to recharge:
From empty they take 22 minutes from a 13 amp plug or 13 minutes if charged from our in-field system.
And off course, if you’re recharging from a renewable source, your carbon footprint is slashed.
The spray system is at the heart of the Drone. XAG have been developing and refining the intelligent Centrifugal Disk System on real farms for the last15 years.
It is preferred to nozzle-based systems because it doesn’t block easily and gives accurate control of droplet size over a much wider range. The faster it spins, at speeds up to 16,000 RPM, the finer the droplets.
The 20 Litre spray tank, which has real time volume sensing, can be quickly changed, allowing farmers to spray more than 15 hectares per hour.
Both the drones and robots can easily be converted for seed and pellet spreading
The drones have a 25 litre capacity, again, with real-time volume sensing and give an even coverage over a 10 meter strip in a single pass.
The gravity fed screw feeder is a simple, high capacity system that avoids blockages.
Imagine slug pelleting a 5 hectare, water logged field with a single load in 15 minutes. Beats getting the tractor stuck!
The drones all navigate using a CM level RTK system.
The portable ground station provides an accurate fixed reference point to the on-board RTK system to ensure precise positioning.
Multi directional radars work with high-speed processors allows for real time obstacle avoidance and accurate terrain following. Whether you farm in the Cheshire planes or the Welsh Hills, the drone will maintain a consistent height above ground.
But off course, no piece of new tech is any use if it’s so complicated to set up and use that you have to ask a teenager for help.
Like most things these days, the drones are controlled from a simple, visual phone App. If you can use your phone, you’re half way to there!
While these state-of-the-art drones may be news in the UK and Europe, in many other countries, they’re simply another tool in the barn.
For the last 15 years XAG drones have been hard at work, protecting millions of fields across China, Asia Pacific, South America, Africa, Australia and more recently in the European mainland in Switzerland and the Ukraine.
During this time the XAG system has evolved to be incredibly simple to operate and robust, like any good farm tool.
In fact, so great is the adoption of drones for plant protection spraying around the world, that the big chemical manufactures are now paying very close attention. Recently Bayer took delivery of a full suite of equipment so they can develop application data sheets for their product range.
But to bring matters a little closer to home, I think it would be helpful to hear what local farmers and agronomists think about the use of drones in the UK.
Last week, I was up in Yorkshire chatting to a couple of farmers….