Controlled from anywhere in the world, the drone takes off, circles the fields, gathers information and returns to its station. It automatically recharges its batteries and replaces them with a robotic arm when needed. The autonomous UAV monitoring technology “DBOX” has already been successfully deployed in Vilnius and all over Lithuania, and in the spring, the first such stations will be installed at the Future Farm developed by Agrokoncernas.
According to Arnas Radzevičius, Commercial Director of Agrokoncernas, this is the technology of the future that will significantly ease the challenges of the agricultural sector. One of them is to collect data from the fields, process it and make recommendations quickly, conveniently and economically.
“When I first heard about this urban concept, I thought it would be very suitable for the agricultural sector. This technology allows the drone to automatically take off at a set time and view the crop in high resolution. The drone maps can then be used to plan fertilisation and spraying operations, monitor the condition of the crop and promptly resolve any problems that may arise,” says A. Radzevičius.
Vilnius Tech Antanas Gustaitis Aviation Institute professor-partner and head of “IT logika” dr. Linas Gelažanskas says that the idea of the autonomous drone station “DBOX” came from the need to save human resources. The team working on urban mapping realised that many processes could be automated, but a human was always needed to change and maintain the drone’s batteries.
“We have been thinking about how to solve this problem so that we can move from the second level of automation to the fourth. That’s how we developed “DBOX”. It is like a drone attachment that allows you to control your UAV from anywhere in the world. It is like a drone garage that can autonomously pack and unpack the drone and, most importantly, recharge the drone’s battery or replace it with a robotic arm”, says the innovator.
Such a network of drone stations is already very active in Vilnius. UAV controllers carry out up to 100 flights a day from one central station. Drones rapidly scan the entire city and produce reports. This helps to avoid wasting resources, as people are only sent to specific locations where certain problems have been documented, such as unploughed streets, overflowing rubbish bins, roofs in critical condition etc.
“Just as there are problems in cities, we have the same challenges in the fields. So far, we have been sending people to check these points, but with many hectares of fields, this is very difficult and time-consuming. There is now a lot of software that can already identify where in the field we have weeds, thinning biomass or other problems, so we can now send specialists only where there is a need”, says A. Radzevičius.
Modern UAVs are equipped with multispectral cameras that can see more than the human eye. The information they collect and map can show parameters such as vegetation index, mineral deficiency, etc. Agronomists receive a wide range of information to analyse and make decisions.
According to the Commercial Director of Agrokoncernas, agronomists have long been able to work with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and have made excellent use of them in their work, but there has been a serious lack of automation of processes. This is exactly the problem that “DBOX” stations will help solve.
They operate continuously and have their own microclimate system. Drone garages heat themselves up when it gets cold, and when it gets hot, the interior is cooled to prevent damage to the batteries. In the event of a power outage while the drone is in the air, there is a back-up battery that can provide 2 hours of operation without power. The drone can successfully return to the station within that time.
“I believe that this technology will inevitably come to farms because it can not only speed up processes, but also reduce the number of specialists needed, which, as we know, is one of the biggest challenges in regions. For the time being, we will test “DBOX” at Ateities Farm, then we will expand it to other farms of the Agrokoncerns group of companies, and when we have gained enough knowledge and experience, we will offer it to our partners as well,” shares A. Radzevičius.
The first station is planned to be installed at the Future Farm in the spring, followed by five more. According to the commercial director of Agrokoncernas, the best technological solutions were sought, but in the end the product developed by Lithuanians was chosen.
“We can be proud that such technologies are being developed in Lithuania. We use them to help the local economy to circulate, and the other important thing is that, until now, we have been working more with scientific agricultural universities, with life science institutes, and now we are moving into technological ones. In this way, we are undoubtedly contributing to the modernisation of the agricultural sector”, concludes A. Radzevičius.
To see the DBOX drone station, find out how it works and meet its creator, click here:
