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The Evolution of Spray Drones, Their Capabilities and Challenges for Pesticide Applications

1.THE DAWN OF DRONES

The historic flight in North Carolina ushered in the dawn of aviation, which has a direct line to the development and deployment of unmanned aerial systems. While some people refer to these systems as “drones,” the term only refers to the aircraft itself. The phrase “Unmanned Aerial System,” or UAS, refers to the entire system required to operate the drone, which includes the remote controller and all the other components necessary to remotely operate the aircraft. A drone can be small enough to fit in the palm of a hand or be as large as units operated by the military.

Today, drones are often considered new technology, but their military use dates as far back as the 1930s. The military invested billions of dollars to develop sophisticated hardware and interactive software programs for drones involved in surveillance operations, reconnaissance missions, and weapons deployment.

A major advantage of using drones instead of conventional military aircraft is that drones eliminate the need to account for the lives of pilots when planning military missions. This allowed decision-makers more objectivity when they considered the potential risks of operations.

 

 

The military laid the groundwork for today’s drones

The Commercialization of Drones

In recent decades, the public release of military technologies (such as the internet and GPS satellites) has had important implications for commercial uses. Those who want to commercialize drone use quickly realized that the science and technology behind military drones provided a good starting point. They looked for ways to simplify the aircraft for public use and other specialized applications in different industries.

The DJI Agras T30 is a spray drone designed for use by commercial applicators and farmers.

In the early days, one obvious disadvantage of military drones were the hefty price tags that came about from highly advanced capabilities such as detection, communication, and photographic technologies.

Additionally, military drones were designed for specialized personnel who were trained in their operations and functions. For drones to become commercialized for the general public, manufacturers needed to develop a more “turnkey” solution so people of all skill levels could operate drones for hobbies or commercial businesses.

Additional disadvantages of adapting early military drones for public use included:

• Their size and bulkiness
• Operations, features, and functions were too specialized for civilian uses
• Systems were complex
• Public operators could not use software that the military deemed confidential and restricted
• Drones lacked important features for use in agriculture and other industries
• Operators required a high level of competency atypical of the general public
• A regulatory framework was lacking for flying and application

 

 

The system on this DJI Agras T30 allows operators to select standard ground  equipment nozzles for spraying.

Once drone technology was released to the public, drone manufacturers focused on the potential commercial uses of available technology. They developed new features that could be added or removed to improve the utility and value to end users. Much of the repurposing was developing, adapting, or modifying copyright-protected software that could be used by industries such as agriculture or the government.

This publication describes the current state of drone technology for making liquid pesticide applications. Our goal is to inform and provide the current best management practices to those interested in using drones for applying pesticides. We want to ensure readers will be able to operate spray drones safely and effectively.

 

A Drone by Any Other Name Is Still a Drone

For many people, the term “drone” is associated with a tool used by the military for surveillance operations. As a result, many users have tried to rename drones to distinguish their nonmilitary uses from those used by the military.

Some of these names include:

• Remotely Piloted Aerial Application Systems (RPAAS)
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
• Small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS)
• Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV)
• Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA)
• Remotely Operated Aircraft (ROA)
• Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)
• Unmanned Aerial Spray System (UASS)
• Unoccupied Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
• Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

While some of these names are used, the authors will use the more common “drone” throughout this publication when referring to the aircraft, controller, and entire system needed to operate the remotely piloted unit.