This is our final T30-centric spray drone demo day. We have just started shipping T40’s and expect to be focussing more on it for future demos. We used the DJI Agras T30, Phantom 4 RTK, and RTK mobile station, and Terra Ag. software.
In this demo, we show the T30 flying from point to point, simulating automated spot spraying of individual blackberry clumps. At each point, the T30 does a 360-degree yaw (pirouette), in order to saturate each blackberry clump. Using the settings in the controller, Oscar has set how many liters of liquid to spray at each point, which the T30 executes based on yaw speed and flow rate.
Another successful spray drone demo at the Murrumbateman Field Days, NSW 2582.
Oscar and Nick had a very enjoyable couple of days showcasing spray drones at Murrumbateman. Plenty of interested growers who simply can't get their spray booms across the saturated ground. The weather on the 2 days was perfect and the turnout was amazing - this was the first year the show has been back on since covid.
Great to meet local families and discuss where drone technology is at the moment.
After receiving a forecast of rain and thunder, we pushed on and were very grateful to Matt and Rachael for their hospitality in hosting the day and their generosity in putting on a BBQ for everyone.
With sections of rain that was so hard we had to stop our discussion in the shed, we carried on and were able to get some good T30 flying done, including some long runs over a saturated wheat field. We had a tonne of good questions to answer from a great turn out of 30+ people. Thank you all for a very enjoyable day out, and once again to our generous hosts Matt and Rachael.
Fitting the spreader to the T30 airframe takes about 8 mins. Note those small black boxes are weight sensors that sit on the frame of the T30 and give constant readings as to the number of material left in the hopper.
Always great to see the kids taking a keen interest in the technology
The DJI Mobile station in the foreground (back item on the tripod), is used to bring the aircraft accuracy from approx. 1-2 meters to 10 cm. The T30 carries an onboard GNSS RTK receiver that gathers data from satellites and uses the stationary mobile station as a fixed reference point to more accurately correct its location, in real-time as it flies.
Demonstrating the spreader in action. Note the T30 will happily fly in the rain as it's designed to be hosed down (regular garden hose pressure only) after each use.
Some excellent questions and comments came from the small groups that formed later in the day.
Demonstrating a simple field mission, spraying water on this wheat field. In this scenario, the T30 is having a walk in the park - and is capable of spraying / spreading 110 ha per day. Based on an application rate of up to 14L/ ha.
Oscar, Ben, and Nick were very glad to be exhibiting, doing T30 demo flights and local FM radio network interviews during Agquip 2022 at Gunnedah (NSW). We thoroughly enjoyed talking to local growers and farmers, many of which discussed the challenges of not being able to get their boom rigs across the saturated and muddy ground. In addition to spray drones, a fair bit of interest also in thermal camera drones for spotting animals and the Air 2S for automated waypoint missions to scout the property (saved automated flights to check troughs, fences, animals, tanks, etc). Great to be meeting plenty of good folks and to be out and about in the wide open spaces and fresh air.
The DFH exhibiters stand was inside the agri-tech pavilion.
Demonstrating the T30 in action (30-second video), and discussing the value of small and simple drones such as the DJI Mini 3 for getting a fast and clear aerial view of what's going on on your property at any time.
Custom-made spray drone trailer. With IBC, chemical tank, and mixing tank. Accommodates 2 x spray drones. Designed for efficient workflow when out in the field (trying to shorten downtime / reduce the number of minutes per day that the drone/s are not spraying/spreading).
Drones For Hire completed yet another full day of setup and training for a new T30 spray drone customer near Braidwood NSW.
We find it’s more stable to update the aircraft firmware via a cable from the laptop directly into the T30 instead of doing it via the RC.
Updating the firmware on the charging station
Updating the firmware on the RC
The new SpaceX system is used for low latency, broadband internet - helps speed up the firmware update processes dramatically.
The DJI Ag management platform (free with your Agras) automatically logs all your flights, the amount sprayed/spread, the locations sprayed (map overlay), and various other useful data for you and for the land owners.
Just waiting for the charging station firmware update to complete
The T30 controller (RC) has a nice large bright screen, both internal and replaceable aux battery (wb37) for redundancy. An excellent and intuitive menu for settings management and Field Mission Planning, and an RTK dongle (grey device on top) for high accuracy spray area boundary planning.
The T20’s spreader (hopper) carries a load of rye grass seed. The hopper can carry 40kg of dry particles such as seeds, fertilizer, mouse baits, or e.g. flupropanate granule herbicide.
T30 spreading rye grass seeds as a demonstration to calibrate the spreader and create a template for the customer for future rye grass application flights
Preparing for the maiden flight!
Another happy customer – feeling prepared and ready to put the T30 to work – spraying chemical and spreading seeds.
Weeds getting out of control on your steep sections and gullies
Cost of diesel becoming an issue
Tractor churning up your root systems / destabilising soil on wet banks
In many cases, our customers are reporting their DJI T30 spray drone is getting the same kill rate as a spray rig or helicopter but using at least 60% less liquid (chemical plus water). The T30 propellers push the vapour down and circulate it in and around the surface areas of the vegetation, including the vulnerable undersides. One customer was using a helicopter spraying 50L per ha on blackberry, his T30 achieved the same kill rate spraying 18L per ha. The drone was also more precise (less drift) and is always available (kept onsite).
With La Niña predicted to continue for several more months, spray drones will become increasingly relevant for jobs like spraying Grazon Extra, spreading Super, seeding banks, or spreading mouse baits. The T30 spray drone will cover up to 70 ha per day in open flat terrain (e.g. oats, corn), 35 ha per day in more complex terrain.
Using a spray drone is probably easier than you may think - most of the time you are not actually flying it. Rather, you prepare a Field Plan – mark your spray area boundaries over a ‘Google map’, input the desired L/ha, and the drone will set its speed and fly the mission autonomously. When it runs out of liquid or dry particles the T30 will automatically come home for a refill and then go back and resume spraying/spreading from where it left off. See video tutorial.
Drones For Hire has been operating since 2013 and is an official DJI Ag. Dealer in Australia. Here is a 2 min video of a T30 demo we did in Golspie NSW.
View T30 EOFY bundles. Or consider the T10 - the little brother of the T30, better suited for smaller properties, hobby farms or less frequent spraying.
Drones For Hire visited Kangaroo Island to help customers set up their DJI T30 spray drone and Phantom 4 RTK. A lot of vegetation has grown back since the island suffered extensive bush fires in 2020. Unfortunately, some of the regrowth is unwanted weeds. DFH assisted by providing a solution to enable the customer to map the hilly terrain (P4 RTK) and then use the T30 spray drone to spray weeds and increase the proportion of grazable land.
Do you love drones too? Join us - turn your passion into a career!
Drones for Hire is looking for a full time (4 or 5 days/wk), staff member to join our small and growing team! You will be helping across many aspects of our business, with a central focus on managing the customer experience.
5 days/week, 3 days from our office in Lindfield, 2 days from home. Flexible to do variations of this.
You may be someone already in the drones industry who is looking for a secure full time position OR someone with a passion for drone tech and wanting to join a team of like minded people.
love drone tech (bit of a tech geek like us)
Super clear and professional communication skills
highly disciplined and dependable in how you work (manage checklists and routines etc)
Some key tasks:
Taking inbound inquiries (answering the phone, company emails, job inquiries, chatbot messaging)
understanding each customer’s needs such as help post their quote request or help advise which drone to purchase
Order fulfilment process (sourcing, shipping, maintain the customer experience)
Assist with marketing activities such as prepare promo emails
Do drone demonstrations and learn more about the technical side of drones as you go
Must be self-motivated and keen to engross themselves in the business. We are looking for someone to stay and grow into a general manager role. In your reply, you may like to comment on this 2-min video https://youtu.be/fj0hpsJvrko
We are very honored that our M2 ROV could work with the underwater training institute Survival Systems USA to provide support in their training for NASA( National Aeronautics and Space Administration). They have simulated a vacuum underwater to train astronauts and used our M2 ROV to record footage of young astronauts coming out of the cabin.
This kind of training could help astronaut researchers in becoming familiar with the feeling of weightlessness that they will experience in space. The video has captured just how intense astronaut research training can be.
Some photos are for your reference.
22 March 2022
In March 2022, a drone school in Japan took our underwater drone M2 to the bay of Wakayama Prefecture to investigate the growth of local characteristic algae. We are delighted that M2 will play an increasing role in marine environmental investigations.
This video is very well shot, please kindly enjoy the underwater beauty.
01 March 2022
Recently, the automatic cage detection function in CHASING APP has been updated.
This function is mainly for customers in the aquaculture industry and is suitable for round and square cages.
When the CHASING M2 ROV/M2 Pro ROV is equipped with the distance lock sonar, the automatic cage detection function can be turned on on the APP, which can realize the separation from human control. The ROV automatically detects the entire cage, allowing the operator to complete the inspection network faster and more effectively.
The following is the guide video of the APP interface for your reference:
20 Jan 2022
Recently, Toyama School, an underwater drone school in Japan, invited the famous announcer of NHK Company in Japan, to cooperate in the shooting, challenging the use of underwater drones for fishing shooting.
A Japanese distributor, Spaceone, will open the Air Ocean Drone School Tokyo School in Tokyo in March, based on the rich achievements and experience accumulated in the Fukushima Drone School. A variety of drones in the air and underwater will be exhibited here. In addition to providing various drone pilot certification courses, the opening of underwater drone safety diving pilot training courses will also expand the use of underwater drones in the industry, more training activities can be conducted for local fire departments, fire brigades and industry customers.
15 Jan 2022
Australian distributor PESAC recently used the Chasing M2 ROV in combination with an auxiliary camera for underwater inspections.
The auxiliary camera is an exclusive accessory developed for Chasing M2 Pro ROV. Used with CHASING GO1 App, it allows users to engage in real-time viewing and shooting via their mobile device, and supports both photography and video functions. And it provides additional viewing angles to facilitate underwater operations, and can capture multi-view data at the same location, reducing ROV operations, especially suitable for hull maintenance and inspection, providing hull industry customers with the best solution.
Click the link below to watch the detailed video：
14 Jan 2022
Recently, a Hong Kong dealer used Chasing M2 ROV in combination with DJI drones to inspect ships at the dock.
The underwater robot navigates around the hull by the operation of the remote, delivering high-definition video footage and images of the hull in real-time for the captain to evaluate.
Such hull inspections greatly simplify the process and make hull inspections more frequent and less expensive. Since no diver is required, there is no need to shut down the vessel's systems for inspection.
Using underwater robots, daily and continuous hull condition monitoring can be performed during daily docking, enabling shipowners and operators to implement appropriate maintenance plans to optimize vessel performance.
Click the link below to watch the detailed video:
11 Jan 2022
In recent years, more and more countries have paid attention to biological invasion in port. On the night of January 7th, in Port Stavanger from Norway, M2 & M2PRO were used in mapping the prevalence of "sea vomit"(Didemnum vexillum) on the seabed.
Sea vomit is an invasive species in Norway and was first discovered here in Stavanger one year ago. The sea vomit has no known predators in Norway and can make big damage to local marine life. This species can grow colonies up to 11 times bigger every 14 days and can cover big areas where all other marine life will die.
Nowadays CHASING M2 and M2 Pro underwater drones are used in a project to find ways to limit and reduce the spread of these colonies. This is not a problem only in Norway, this species has spread to New Zealand, the USA, Canada, and Europe, bringing a big problem for the marine life there.
Recently, Chasing ROVs are being used in conjunction with PIX4D to provide a comprehensive inspection of infrastructure including dams and bridges, and it has helped the operator to be more prepared to understand the distribution and dynamics of the underwater target area.
How it works: Use Chasing M2 and Pix4D Mapper to perform underwater photogrammetry, drive M2 to shoot and upload the target area and objects from multiple angles, and use PIX4D to model the actual image through three-dimensional technology, magnify the situation of each point, and get the underwater clearly The three-dimensional structure environment.
Please kindly check the actual case video of a Norwegian customer using Chasing M2 and Pix4D Mapper to do underwater photogrammetry.
10 Dec 2021
Yesterday, M2Pro helped ship owners in Kyongpohae, South Korea, inspect propellers and anchor chains. "It's so convenient, commonly, without entering the dock, we had to employ divers to check the situation. Now with the M2Pro we can easily inspect the fleet by ourselves, with distance lock sonar, we guys can learn to use very is such quickly, which is very convenient, "the shipowner said excitedly.
Helsel, the Korean distributor of CHASING, received a call from Goyang Police station, hoping to find the missing persons at the southern end of the Gyeongpo Bridge with the help of CHASING M2/CHASING M2 Pro. The man went missing near the Kimpo Bridge. His jumper was found on the banks of the Han River two weeks after he went missing. Police are focusing their search on missing people based on where the clothing was found.
At first, CHASING M2 was put into use, but over time it became too strong to move forward due to the inflow of water from the West Sea.
Later, it was replaced with M2 PRO, a higher version of the product with higher motor power and 4 knots of anti-current. After changing into CHASING M2 PRO, the police overcame the current and continued the search. CHASING M2 PRO made 2-3 searches in the vicinity of the underwater beam from the expected missing position to 200m ahead and helped them to judge the places effectively.
Besides, CHASING has introduced USBL and BP image sonars, which are very helpful for underwater search and rescue. In the future, CHASING ROVs will continue to assist search and rescue teams and police departments in searching for missing and drowning people.
26 Nov 2021
9News, one of Australia's most-watched news services, has just broadcasted news reports about marine life in Australian waterways captured by our M2 drone.
The underwater ROVs or drones can double as a dive buddy, scanning for information in marine settings and carrying out vital inspections on pipes, hulls, and water tanks.
Besides, Chasing ROVs can be fitted with a range of sensors and accessories such as gripper arms, sonars for low visibility inspections and search and rescue, water sampling, and scientific payloads.
The drones can be lowered to 150 meters beneath the surface.
Remotely operated vehicles are increasingly being used in Australia and global markets. Check the link below for details：
I'd like to share the latest video shared by Cape Fear Explorers, the non-profit dedicated to the efforts of finding and preserving historic artefacts located in North Carolina, USA.
The Chasing M2 with the grabber arm has helped divers to find a crashed airplane underwater, providing an extra security guarantee underwater as well as helping dives better communicate about the mission at hand. They are impressed with the equipment as it has helped them to check out sites without disturbing them. They will continue to use this technology for surveying and monitoring sites underwater. Check out the details:
Recently, A fishing farm in Chile used Chasing M2 ROV to salvage dead fish and has shared the inspection video with us.
Chile, by virtue of its geographical location, provides conditions for salmon farming, but its own high levels of SRS bacteria and the destruction of cages by aquatic organisms make it necessary for fisheries customers to use ROV for real-time dead fish clean-up and cage testing every day.
29 Oct 2021
The Blue Sky Rescue Team uses CHASING M2 PRO to help salvage those who fell into the water. It is quickly deployed, convenient and efficient, and quickly locates the position of those who fall into the water.
A Norwegian fishery uses CHASING M2 PRO to assist in the cultivation of mussels, Quick deployment, convenience, and high efficiency, successfully reduce breeding costs and promote marine environmental protection.
25 Oct 2021
On October 15th, Сергей Сорокин from Russia(with 219,000 subscribers) took Chasing F1 to the beautiful lake and filmed a fishing test video which showed F1 performed excellently in fishing and also increased the interest in fishing.
This is the second Chasing F1 video released by our KOL Сергей Сорокин, who has great influence in the fishing circle in Russia. This time the theme of the video is to use F1 to find carp, focusing on the entertainment of the fisherman’s life. The footage produced by this KOL is very good. Since its release on October 19th, the video has been viewed more than 10,000 times, more than 1,000 likes, and more than 300 comments. The original materials used by KOL have been given to our marketing department for video clips, and related videos in English will be output later.
19 Oct 2021
Here are the solution documents for three major industry applications:
From April 2021 to the present, a shipowner in Singapore used M2 PRO to conduct underwater inspections for ships. Shipowners will regularly use ROV to collect videos and photos to determine the corrosion of the hull and the attachment of marine organisms to investigate potential safety hazards. Through the lens of the M2 PRO, the underwater hull, the side plates, welds, and valves are visible in real-time clearly. Even in dim waters and narrow spaces, the details of the hull can be easily observed. While the data detected by the M2 PRO provides an effective basis for the hull cleaning plan, it also greatly reduces the high labor costs of using divers for ship inspections and reduces safety hazards.
Youtube video link below:
14 Oct 2021
On September 21st, KOL Dustin Dunnill from the United States (with 246K subscribers) shared a CHASING M2 Underwater Drone ROV Dive Test Review. The video was viewed 26,164 times, making the public realize how useful this highly portable ROV is.
12 Oct 2021
Our Australian partner Spot X has just made an introduction video for operating the latest function of the Hull inspection tool/report generator in the Chasing ROV app G01.
This function allows you to efficiently conduct a hull inspection and generate a report.
With this feature, you could choose the pictures which are to be shown in the report. Sometimes, you may have to cancel few pictures because of poor quality or wrong angle or some obstruction.
You could mark the specific hull location when you take close-up pictures of certain niche areas – such as under bilge keels, propeller boss, rudder pintle bearing area, inside of sea chests, etc.
This feature makes it easier for you to manoeuvre to ROV models more efficiently to get the report.
Click the following link to see the introduction video.
21 Sept 2021
The Ukrainian Seaport Authority uses CHASING M2 for hull inspection, including propeller, hull sides panels, bottom keel, and stern propeller etc.
CHASING M2/M2 PRO Underwater Drone is good for hull inspection, which can do 80% of the entire hull inspection job, such as Hull videography and photography, the bilge keels, propeller, rudder, bow thrusters, transducers, cathodic protection. The underwater drone helps lower the hull inspection project costs, since diver do only the remainder 20% areas where ROV cannot access.
