Volocopter announced that it will partner with John Deere to create an autonomous agricultural drone. Volocopter previously revealed its VoloDrone as an autonomous industrial drone, and the two companies will work to create a system for the drone to perform crop-dusting tasks. John Deere will have the drone fitted with a sprayer as well as a tank, which will allow the drone to distribute fertilizer and anti-frost agents.
Often times crop-dusting is done using helicopters with human pilots, however, using an autonomous agricultural drone could reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Volocopter and John Deere will be conducting tests in order to create a crop-dusting drone that will be operational for the next growing season. Additionally, the companies will look into the VoloDrone's potential abilities to sow seeds.
Image Credit: Volocopter/ John Deere
What's Driving This Trend
- Autonomous Agricultural Drones
- Opportunity to revolutionize crop-dusting by replacing human-piloted helicopters with autonomous drones to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
- Industrial Drones for Agriculture
- Disruptive innovation opportunity to develop specialized drones for agricultural tasks like crop-dusting, fertilizing, and distributing anti-frost agents.
- Autonomous Seed-sowing Drones
- Exploring the potential of autonomous drones, like Volocopter's VoloDrone, to sow seeds and automate the planting process.
Who This Affects Most
- Agriculture
- Agricultural companies and farmers can leverage autonomous drones for crop-dusting, fertilizing, and other tasks to optimize their operations.
- Drone Technology
- The drone industry can expand further with the development of specialized drones for agricultural applications, disrupting traditional methods.
- Robotics
- Advancement in autonomous drone technology for agriculture presents opportunities for robotics companies to develop innovative solutions for the industry.
