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
You should consider what chemicals licences you may need when doing drone spraying. These licences are nothing to do with CASA and requirements vary for each state.
Chemicals licences required in NSW
For example in NSW it is the NSW Environment Protection Authority - you’ll need to apply for a RPA applicator pilot licence, which involves doing 2 training units:
AHCCHM307 prepare and apply chemicals to control pest, weeds and diseases. (previously called AHCCHM303).
And AHCCHM304 Transport and store chemicals.
$415.0
Note if you spray normally from tractors etc you likely have already have done these tickets (AHCCHM307 or AHCCHM303 and AHCCHM304). They will be e.g. on your Chemcert card. Just make sure it less than 5 years since it was updated.
You’ll also need a RPA applicator business licence, or be employed by a person holding one . Again, if you have been spraying for a long time from tractors etc you will probably just need to fill out the form for this (not actually have to do a training course).
Note that a pilot is not allowed to discharge pesticide from an aircraft within 150 metres of a dwelling, school, factory or any other public place without the prior written permission of the occupier of the premises.
Roads, travelling stock reserves and State Rail land are excluded from the definition of public places.
The owner of the land on which the pesticide will aerially be applied must get the written permission of the occupier of the dwelling, school, factory or other public place that is within 150 metres of the application area.
EPA details:
List of regional EPA office locations around NSW
02 9995 5959 – ask for the RPA (drone) licencing team.
You need this if you provide aerial spraying services from an RPA, or employ pilots to carry out aerial agricultural spraying from RPA, or in any other case operate (own, lease, borrow) RPA that carry out aerial spraying.
The RPA AAOL application fee as at 1 July 2021 is $841.65 and the licence is valid for three years.
RPA PCRL: Remotely Piloted Aircraft (drone), Pilot Chemical Rating Licence
PCRL for remotely piloted aircraft
Any person who pilots an RPA (drone) to carry out aerial spraying in Victoria must hold a Pilot (Chemical Rating) Licence (PCRL) issued under the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Control of Use) Act 1992, which specifically authorises aerial spraying from a RPA.
The RPA PCRL application fee as at 1 July 2021 is $338.15 and the licence is valid for three years.
The brand new Agras T30 by DJI has just launched in Australia, boosting itself to the role of next-generation aircraft with its 30L spray capacity, 9m spray range, and 40 acre per hour coverage. However, there are a few other spray drones in the market that are better for different niches in the agricultural market, some of which you may be tempted to consider as well.
The Agras T30 and Agras T10 were built to service different areas in the agricultural industry, and we can help you figure out which drone suits your needs the most. Do you have a family-owned regular-sized farmstead with a few acres of crops and livestock that you would like to keep away from chemicals? Are you a commercial farmer with hundreds of acres of farmland? Are you an orchard or vineyard farmer looking for a better method of spraying your taller crops? Read on to find out which drone is best for you.
Note: we sell the T30, and T10, but no longer sell the T20. The T20 is only included for comparison.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing about spray drones, other than the fact that they help you spray crops, is how much they spray, per hour, or per flight. You want to know how much you can get out of one battery charge or one tank of liquid before you have to recharge and refill. Whether you run a small, simple orchard or have sprawling fields of crops, you want to know how much you can get out of a fully juiced spray drone.
Spraying capabilities
The T30 has the largest tank capacity out of the three, which also leads to the biggest acre/hr spray capability, assuming constant power. The T30 boasts a carrying capacity of 30 litres of whichever herbicide or pesticide you’d like, which can be sprayed at a horizontal range of 9m wide. This allows the T30 to theoretically spray up to 40 acres an hour, which is 33% more than the previous generation Agras T20 spray drone. The T30 can also carry 40L of granules/seeds in place of the 30L of liquid, for seeding and granule spreading purposes.
Furthermore, it can be coupled with 2 other T30s to create a swarm of spray drones that will allow you to spray 27m wide swaths, and up to 120 acres an hour. The swarming capabilities of the T30 allow farmers and farmstead owners to adopt a more modular approach to spraying crops. Are you looking to spray only around your seasonal fruits? Use just 1 of the T30s. What about a farm-wide spraying job? Get all 3 into the air and get the job done in 45 minutes.
In comparison, the T20 is smaller and lighter (21.1 kg) than the T30 (26.4 kg), carries up to 20 L of liquid, and sprays up to 27 acres an hour. Although the T20 has the advantage of a smaller and lighter frame, it does not stand up to the T30 in terms of spraying rate or width.
Battery Life and Rechargeability
The other vital parameter of any spray drone is its battery. Specifically: how long one lasts and how many are required for continuous use. The basic details are listed below, and we can use them to go into more detail about each drone’s battery capabilities.
T30
T20 (T16 charger)
T10
Battery Model
BAX501-29,000mAh-51.8V
AB3-18000mAh-51.8V
BAX501-9500mAh-51.8V
Weight
10.1 kg
6.4 kg
3.8 kg
Recharge time for fully loaded charging station
18-24
80
7-10
Number of charging slots in 1 charging station
2
4
2
Recharge time with only 1 battery in the charging station
12
20
5
Each drone has its own dedicated charging station and smart battery with different voltages (except the T20, which shares batteries and charging station with the older T16 model, and the T10,which can use the T20 and T16 batteries).
Since each charging station has more than one charging slot, you can choose to either charge 1 battery at a time then quickly replacing the batteries on your drone, or get more than 2 batteries for continuous flight and to lessen the risk of running out of power between flights. Our personal recommendation is to always get 3 batteries, which is our tested minimal amount of batteries to maintain continuous flight throughout the day.
Each drone’s battery also has a battery life, which the manufacturers supply, but it’s not worth it to cover here since you’ll have to get their specific batteries anyway.
Spreading systems
In addition to spraying liquid, some of these drones, specifically the T30, T20, and T10, have spraying systems, which you can use to spray seeds, grains, granular fertilizer, and even solids like animal feed over fishponds.
Manual Operation
T30
T20 (T16 charger)
T10
Spreading Tank
10L (realistically)
35L
16L
12L
Spreading Width
2 m
7 m
7 m
7 m
Tank Opening (affects flow rate)
-
44.6cm²
32.3cm²
44.6cm²
Particle Diameter
Any
0.5-5 mm
0.5-5 mm
0.5-5 mm
Rate of Distribution
1
105.5
35
36.25
The rate of distribution above is according to continuous use, and with respect to the rate of manual operation. The tank capacity, spreading width, and tank opening of the drones all contribute to a significant increase in spreading capabilities for your farmstead. If you have been physically spreading granules by hand, the T10 can decrease your workload by 36x, and the T30 can do it by a whopping 105x.
If you have been using a large vehicle or anything that takes up more space and resources, consider getting a drone to do the work for you: it’s smaller, less intrusive into your crop growth, and allows you better control over your work.
Spray Method
One of our most popular questions is “how do I start spraying with this drone? Will I have to fly it manually?”
Short answer: “Nope!”
(Well, sort of no.)
To spray an automatic path through your crops, you will have to create a set plan, either by:
Manually inputting waypoints as you fly a drone through your farm
Manually inputting waypoints as you walk through your farm with a remote controller
Or! Setting them through first or third-party software like DJI Terra, Pix4D, or Drone Deploy
How do you do this? For the first and second methods, all you need is your drone, your remote controller, and a good understanding of your farm and where you would like to spray. Spray drones will only spray where you manually set them to spray and does not make any intelligent decisions on their own other than to avoid trees and other obstacles. Even then, you should be careful to ensure that the flight path you’ve planned is as accurate as possible, and around as few obstacles as possible. As much as sensing technology has improved, your drone is NOT sentient.
However, you can use DJI Terra, Pix4D, or Drone Deploy to enhance your field mapping and planning and specify flight missions so that you save time, resources, and overall effort. These software packages allow you to set waypoints on a visual map of your farm and depending on the type of software, you may also be able to get thermal and multispectral information about your farmland to assist in targeting areas.
The DJI Terra is compatible with all Agras Spray drones, namely the T10, T20, and T30, and for the drones currently in stock (T10, T30) a 1-year subscription to DJI Terra is included in the price. DJI Terra allows you to plan flight missions, capture image data, process images into maps and models, and analyze data all in one. Both Pix4D and Drone Deploy use different images across many sources to produce ultra-high res, high-accuracy 3D maps and models, while DJI Terra is much more limited in image source compatibility, even if it is comparatively much more convenient to use than Pix4D and Drone Deploy
Tl;dr DJI Terra allows you to immediately create a flight plan with 2D images, though it does so less accurately and with a lower resolution of maps than Pix4D or Drone Deploy, which are incompatible with the T10 and T30.
So how would you use Pix4D or Drone Deploy? Well, you’ll need the Phantom 4 Multispectral or Phantom 4 RTK. Why another drone? These 3rd party software require compatible cameras and sensors which spray drones generally do not support, which leads to the 2nd drone requirement if you’re looking for advanced mapping capabilities.
Pix4D is also compatible with the Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual (RGB only) and Mavic 2 Advanced, and the Matrice 300 series drones. The following sensors from DJI are compatible with Pix4D software: Zenmuse X3, Zenmuse X4S, and Zenmuse X5S. Multispectral and thermal sensors such as the Zenmuse XT are not compatible. A full list is available here.
The Conclusive Evidence Suggests…
If you’re a farmer (orchard or crops) with a huge farm, get the Agras T30, with an accompanying Phantom 4 Multispectral or RTK.
If you’re a farmer (orchard or crops) with a slightly less huge farm (say, up to 16 acres), you’ll be able to get by with an Agras T10.
If you think you’ll want to use your drones to spray seeds and solid fertilizer, get the DJI spreading system, you’ll need it.
Always confirm that your bundle comes with at least 3 batteries to maintain continuous flight.
And finally, if you’re planning on getting a T30 or three, consider getting the RTK mobile station. It will bring your accuracy from a 1-2 metre range (error owing to satellite uncertainty) to 20 cm, significantly improving your drone’s spray capabilities. You can read more about it here.
Hopefully, this was informative for you, and remember to check out all the drone pages before you make a calculated decision. Feel free to call us at 1300 029 829 if you want to chat about obtaining the best spray drone for your needs!
The below info relates to spray drones that are more than 25kg when filled with liquid (e.g. DJI T30), and used on your own property (different rules apply if you are spraying other people’s properties as a commercial business).
No licence is needed for lighter-weight spray drones
If your spray drone is rated to under 25kg such as the DJI T10 being 24.8 kg, and you are only using it on your own property, you can skip steps 3 and 4 below - you do not need a Remote Pilot Licence (RePL) or Flight test.
1. Get an ARN
Get an Aviation Reference Number (ARN) from CASA It’s like a passport number for pilots and drone pilots. Start the process on this CASA webpage
No fee and easy process. Note if you are a manned aircraft pilot (e.g. have a helicopter or crop duster on your property) you will already have an ARN.
2. Register your spray drone with Casa
After getting your ARN (step 1), here is the myCASA page to register your drone.
$40.0 and valid for 12 months. 1 min video showing how to do it.
3. Get a regular 0-7kg RePL (this is the basic drone licence).
If you fly a 25-125 kg drone over your own land for business or as part of your job, this is called (by CASA) the ‘landowner’ or ‘private landholder excluded’ category. Simply get a regular 0-7kg REPL- Remote Pilot Licence. You can just fly a small drone such as a DJI Mavic or Mini 2 for this licence course.
Its normally 5 days – 3 theory and 2 practical (flying). Some training companies offer the 3 theory days as online work from home. Approx. $1,300.0 - 2,000.0
Fill out this form to get upcoming course dates and prices in your state.
Note that you can actually use your spray drone to make up the minimum flying hours required for the REPL. If you do not have your chemicals approvals in place yet you can simply spray water to practice.
Depending on where your property is, you may need to include the optional AROC (Aeronautical Radio Operator Certificate ) component when you choose a course. An AROC is a short course that shows you how to communicate using a VHF radio with others who are using the air space such as control tower staff. The most popular VHF radio we sell is the Icom A16-E.
NB if you already have a Flight Radio Operator Licence you can skip the AROC.
4. Get a 25kg license upgrade
This license 'upgrade' brings your REPL rating up to the 25-125 kg drone category. The T30 for example weighs 76.5 kg when fully loaded.
Request a CASA inspector to observe you flying (a 'flight test')
This involves a CASA inspector observing you flying your spray drone and checking that you are able to fly it safely. CASA charges $160.0/hr and would normally be on your property (or another property that you may prefer) for about 1.5 hrs + travel time. Regarding travel time, CASA will not disadvantage clients for CASA not having staff in a particular region. They only charge travel time from either the nearest CASA office or the nearest regional office.
When CASA get back to you to confirm your flight test was successful, you are all set to go!
Chemicals licence/s
Note, you should also consider what chemicals licences you may need. These licences are nothing to do with CASA and requirements vary for each state. Please check out this article for full details.
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.
Both the T30 and T10 share these advantages as drone-based spraying systems:
Access: Spray areas that can’t be accessed by vehicles or that vehicles get bogged in
No ground impact: no earth compression/crop damage (unlike utes and tractors)
Safer: Much less potential to get herbicide/pesticide on your body, unlike back-pack sprayers and ute sprayers.
The T30 is best if one or more of these criteria relate to your situation:
You see a lot of potential for drone spraying on your own or others’ property’s and plan to blanket spray/spread more than 10 days per year, and expect this to increase with time. You might also be planning to add one or two more T30’s later to swarm them (operate two or three T30’s from a single controller / Field Mission).
You plan to spray/spread on other people’s land (as a commercial business), not just your own land. Because you need a licence (for any size spray drone) if spraying on other peoples property. Getting a licence and spraying others’ properties would normally suggest you would go with a spray drone with larger capacity so you can cover more ground and handle larger spray jobs as the business grows.
You are ok with a larger / heavier drone and are used to using large generators and moving them around a property.
Your budget is higher (T30 is approx. 42k, T10 is approx. 25k) but you don’t mind this as you see your T30 proving a strong return on investment after a year or less of use.
The T10 is best if one or more of these criteria relate to your situation:
You are ‘dipping your toe in the water’ with drone spraying, have a smaller property, or plan to blanket spray/spread up to 10 days per year, or only need to do isolated spot spraying.
You only want to spray/spread on your own land (no licence needed with the T10 on your own land).
You want to be able to carry the drone around with one person (the T10 is only 13kg without battery and an empty tank). It also requires a much smaller generator than the T10 (to charge the battery station out in the field).
Your budget is lower (T30 is approx 42k, T10 is approx 25k)
Spraying Productivity
T30
The T30 achieves an efficiency of 40 acres per hour based on a dosage of 6 L/acre (herbicide or pesticide mixed with water/carrier), spraying width of 9 m, flight speed of 6.5 m/s, and height of 2.5 m.
T10
The T10 achieves an efficiency of 15 acres per hour on average (with a dosage of 4.8 L/acre, spraying width of 5 m, speed of 5 m/s, and height of 2 m).
You also need to consider your own water/carrier dilution ratio. And note these figures are claimed by the manufacturer, it's always good to make them about 15% more conservative for real world use.
Granule/seed spreading Productivity
(fertilizers, seeds, or any dry granule sized 0.5-5mm)
T30
35kg spreader tank capacity spreading width of up to 7 meters Hourly spreading capacity of 1 tonne, based on a dosage of 20 kg/667 m², flight speed of 4.5 m/s, and row spacing of 6m. T10
10kg capacity spreading width of up to 7 meters Hourly productivity of 14 acres based on dosage (of seeds) of 2 k g/667 m², flight speed of 7 m/s, and row spacing of 5 m.
Licencing
T30 - licence needed
The T30 is more than 25kg when filled with liquid/granules so you will need to get a "REPL" licence (about $1500.0 - $2000.0) , and a 25kg "REPL license upgrade" or “Agras Flight Test” (about $1200.0).For spraying on you own land or someone else’s land. T10 - no licence needed when spraying on your own land.
The T10 is rated to under 25kg (24.8 kg), so if operating on your own property, you do not need a Remote Pilot Licence (RePL) or Upgrade / Flight test. You will need a RePL licence if spraying on other people’s property but not the Upgrade / Flight test since the drone is under 25kg.
For more details see our article “4 Steps required by CASA to be able to operate a spray drone on your own land in Australia”.
Generator
If you don't already have one, you will likely need to buy a generator as spray drones are commonly used on rural properties , far from access to mains power.
T30
The T30 charging station needs a generator with:
7200W charging power Total external AC current greater than 32A Two or more 15A AC output from generator
The T10 drone charging station needs a generator with:
3000W charging power Total external AC current greater than 16A Two or more 15A AC output from generator
Click here to see suggested generators, specs and prices.
