agriculture's game of drones - laser sensor

In the popular TV series Game of Thrones, spies
The owners rely on "birds" to keep them informed about the coming and going.
New Zealand farmers may soon find themselves in the same position, thanks to a new technology that is on the rise: Drones --
Also known as drones (UAVS)
Small, lightweight, flexible remote control
A controlled or autonomous aircraft usually equipped with a camera.
Several New Zealand companies including lahlgren
Aeronavics in North Palmerston-
Eagle eye drones and New Zealand Skycam drones are playing drone games.
They're toys.
Many industries, including agriculture, are touting these machines, a growing market.
Neil gadain, a farmer in the South, said the drone was "a changer for agricultural games ".
Neil and his partner, Filippa, run three farms where sheep, beef and grain are grown.
They use drones to perform dozens of tasks, including monitoring inventory and looking for sheep.
Since investing in drones, Neil says, they have cut sheep deaths by half.
They are also used to control weeds and for water infrastructure-
"We can find a leaking trough with a drone and then decide if we need to go out and repair it on a farm bike.
We are not traveling twice, but one.
"Drones give you the opportunity to easily monitor farm activities ---
Where is your inventory, the waterway, the inventory is healthy. It's a birds-
Aeronavics co-said: "eye view
Founder, former commercial pilot, Rob Brown, a lifelong aviation enthusiast.
"When you're sitting on a porch or parked on a truck, the video wireless feedback stream goes back to the base station unit.
The drone can fly automatically or it can be controlled manually.
You turn on Google Earth coverage on your laptop and touch a few times on the touch screen to run the task planning software-
Go along this paddock, go through this slot, check this trench-
Just sit down and watch the screen.
There are already more than 400 "apps" for drones, but Gardynes says they are developing new apps for drones that will enable them to count sheep on their own, measure pasture growth several times a week.
"The price of the drone is about $10,000, but I think it's worth £ 50 for the farm," Neil said . ".
"We do 11000 km a year for four people.
At $4 per kilometer, including gasoline, depreciation and Labor.
We realized that it was about A check from A to B.
Over the past year, we have used drones to reduce commuting time in 2000, thus saving us $8000.
"There are dozens of uses for drones from various farmers ---
From dairy farmers and herdsmen to garden artists.
Drones are more than just carrying cameras;
They can be equipped with sensors that provide equal information such as grass growth rate, ground humidity and even nutrient water.
Special mapping sensors can complete 3D mapping of a given area, and conduct comprehensive and detailed mapping.
Rob said: "For the ducklings, they can give you an indication of how healthy your crop is, whether they are ready to harvest, the possible yield, and even help with disease control.
The drone is already working with the Royal Forestry Institute, Scion, on pest spraying, 3D scanning, and using laser sensors to determine the volume of wood in the forest.
With the rapid development of UAV technology around the world, they will become a common sight of New Zealand farms.
"One of our customers thought he didn't get any new head dogs.
"In the past, it saw a drone behind a farmer's motorcycle, which was a strange sight, but we would get used to it," Rob said . ".