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Hey guys, Nick here from Drones for Hire. This is Alistair and Oscar and we're going to do the maiden flight for the DJI Agras T50. So we're up here, it's a beautiful sunny day, not too much wind and the T50 aircraft obviously behind us here.

We're going to do a regular route mission and we're just going to simulate some typical Australian conditions, so just spot spraying in pasture and we'll set off in a second. So we've got the T50, we've set it up, done our flight checks, we're ready to go. We haven't done any of the mission planning and we haven't put any fluid in it yet, so we're going to run through from woe to go.

The only thing you've really missed here is pulling the aircraft out of the box. So as Nick said, we're doing weeds in pasture spray. It's going to be a full area spray or route mission, so there's no selective positioning spraying.

I think we'll just head into the remote control now and have a look at setting it up. The first thing to note here is that we're not connected to any network, not connected to the internet. You don't need the internet to operate the Agras drones, a great feature of them.

You will find though, if we go into begin, that the map's a little bit blurry where we are because we've moved from where the maps have been loaded. So to get around this, all you do is make sure you zoom in on the area that you're going to be spraying for that day and your maps will get loaded onto the remote control and you're good to go. So we're going to run a route mission, so if we go to the top left hand corner, brings up our task mode options.

We go in here to route mission. On the left hand side next to add, if we click on this little square with the four dots, we've got two types of route mission. We've got an AB route mission and we've got a normal field mission.

Today we're going to run the field mission, click on that, we're going to click add. If we go down here next to add, you'll see a little picture of the remote control. So at the moment, these point options, a boundary point, an obstacle point or a round or a non-spray area, will be added via the position of the remote control.

So if we walk around the field, when we get to each of our boundary points, we click add and it'll lock that in on that boundary point. If we click on the controller, we'll see we've got two other options. So the one I've just selected there is aircraft.

So the one I've selected there is aircraft. So if we were to take the aircraft off, we could fly around to our boundary points, we could click add when the aircraft's hovering over the desired point and it'll record that on the map. If you're running your RTK base station, you're going to have that 10 mil accuracy for those points.

So that's a very accurate way to do a map and it's a ground-proof accuracy. The drone is literally over top of the spot that you want to be your boundary point and it'll mark that in. Now the final point, which is the one we're going to use today, or the add point option, is the crosshairs.

So you can see as I move the map around, the crosshairs move on the map. So wherever I position those crosshairs and press add, it'll create our boundary point. So we're going to just pop in four very simple boundary points.

So if I zoom out now, that's going to be our route mission for today. Really simple, nothing very complicated. We are going to be going over some undulating terrain, so we'll get a good look at the terrain tracking ability of the T-50.

Now if we wanted to put in an obstacle point, we would just click across here to an obstacle point. This allows us to put any type of polygon. So if we, for example, it's not showing up on the map here, but there is a tree just here somewhere.

But let's say hypothetically there was a tree in the middle of this spray mission, we could just put in any polygon or any three points. And there we have now our obstacle area. So the drone will completely avoid this area now.

It won't fly over and just not spray, it will completely avoid that. We've got another options for obstacle points and that's around. This is great for like a tank or a nice tree that's got good foliage on it.

So we'll put another one over here. I'll just click add. And if I zoom in, I've got two points there.

The one in the middle is the position, so I can move that. And the second one is the radius of the circle. So I can pull that out.

There we go. So we've widened that radius and now the aircraft's going to completely avoid that. It's a good time to note here the different colours of the lines of the swim lanes there.

So yellow. Yellow is spraying and then white is flying over, but the spray system will be turned off. Our final option here is a non-application area or a no-spray area.

Again, any three-sided shape. Put in our four points. Now if we zoom in here, you'll see that those lines have gone white.

So the drone will fly over those, but it won't spray. And that's basically it for setting up your flight mission area. So we'll go into some spray parameters now, but you can do this anytime.

You can walk around with the remote control. You can have it in your side-by-side when you're doing some mustering and mark out a patch of thistles. You can drive around the boundary of your crop and mark this out.

You can sit at home and mark it out based on the GPS mat using the crosshairs like we just did. There's those three main ways to get those boundary points. The crosshairs, the controller or the aircraft.

They've all got their advantages and their limitations. But because you've got those three options, there's not many circumstances where you can't get a really accurate map and do it quickly for the scenario that you want. So for example, the crosshairs is really quick and gives you the ability to sit at home and do it how you want it.

But walking with a remote controller or flying the aircraft gives you that ground-proofing accuracy. Okay, so we're going to save that. We're going to call that Test T50.

There we go. Okay, so that's saved now onto the system. You can upload that on the cloud.

On the right-hand side here, it's going to tell us how much liquid we're going to need, and it's going to tell us our task area. If we go over to the left-hand side here and click out this menu, it's going to show our field options. So we've only got two made so far.

We had a little muck around with one first thing this morning, and then this is our one that we just made, Test 50. You'll have a list there of all your tasks. If we click across here to In Progress, this will show us tasks that we've started but haven't finished.

So if you go out and you get halfway through a spray job and you run out of, you know, fluid or something or you've got to go home, you can come back and continue that mission from wherever you left off. Okay, so we'll go back into Fields. Now there's two ways we can select a field.

We can go on the map here and you can see we've got our two areas that we've made, or you can do it in the drop the slide out menu like I just showed you. So we're going to click on that one and we're going to go Use. I'm just going to go to Edit, Basic.

Okay, here we go. So when we're still in this mission planning area, if we click across the slide out menu, you can see here we've got our flight route settings. We've got our route spacings, which we can change later on too.

We're going to put them to six and a half, and we can widen one side or we can widen the overall margins. So if we widen the overall margins, if I change that to five and press Enter, just watch up here along the boundary line. Now everything's moved in.

If you watch on this side now as I minus that out, you'll see that the it'll move closer to the boundary where the spray is finishing. Put that down to zero. We can widen one side by clicking one side widening.

To do that we're just going to click on the side we want to widen, and then we can widen it out. This is a handy feature if we've got a crosswind that might be getting close to a sensitive crop or something like that on a boundary line. You can bring one side out or in closer or further away from the boundary point.

The next one we're going to look at here is start point settings. So if we click on start point settings, we should be able to select whichever corner we'd like to start from. So the green is our start point there.

You can see that the start point's moved out to this corner. If I click over here, there we go. It's moved over to that side.

We're going to stick with this closest one. The next one, this is the main one I wanted to take a look at in the advanced settings there. Okay, so we've got route only, we've got route and boundary, or we've got boundary over only.

So if I click route and boundary, you'll see that now there's this orange line that runs around the boundary of the field. So what will happen is the aircraft will start at the green dot, it'll fly the swim lanes, it'll then finish at the yellow dot, the swim lanes, and it'll do a boundary run around the boundary. This is basically just a headland.

We can choose whether it's clockwise or anti-clockwise, just changing the direction of this arrow, the direction the aircraft runs. Single side spray, so we can just turn off one side spraying to do this boundary run and we can change our course angle. Then the other option there is boundary only.

So if you've got a fence line, say, you can run a boundary only and you can run a single side spraying and that aircraft will run around the boundary of your paddock and just spray out one side spraying your fence line. So we're going to do route and boundary, everything's good. Okay, we'll save that again.

Okay, so now we've got our basic spray parameters. So over here we've got our litres per hectare, we're going to punch that up to 60 so that we get a couple of fills. We've got our, this is our droplet size, so at the moment we're set to medium or 320 microns.

So we can slide that right up to 50 microns or right down to 50, sorry 500, up to 500, down to 50. So we're going to put it at 250 microns, it's just a little bit better visually. As a general rule you want to be, for most herbicides, you want to be between 500 micron down to 250 sort of minimum.

Okay, we're going to apply that. So you see here our litres per minute is 12. We can't change that, the system will automatically change that depending on your litres per hectare rate and your flight speed.

Flight speed at 17.6 kilometres an hour. Anything above 18 you tend to compromise the ability of the drone to terrain track. Having said that, the T50 should be a lot better at that.

So we'll start off at 18 today and see how it goes. Height above crop, usually between three and four for weeds in pasture type stuff, so we'll put it at 3.5. Route spacings, we're going to go with 6.5. Okay, low speed ascend, this is a great feature in a lot of this weeds in pasture type spraying. As the aircraft slows down, it will start to ascend, start to rise up.

That allows your spray pattern to remain a little bit more consistent as your speed changes. As your speed changes, it affects what your rotor wash does and therefore affects your spray pattern. So when we slow down, if we rise up, we give those droplets more time to spread out and maintain a more even spray pattern.

So we're going to put that on, we're going to put that at 1.5 metres. Okay, the one thing that we didn't look at before is if we want to change the orientation of our swim lanes, we're just going to click on the side. So if I want to change my orientation of the, go into here to edit, I can just click on one side of the boundary and it's going to orientate my swim lanes to that boundary side.

We want to try and get our aircraft to be running long straight flat lines. So in this circumstance and looking at the terrain in front of us, that would be running up and downhill and it would be running in short runs. So we want to leave it how it was.

It's going to be running kind of along the contour lines and it's going to be doing the longest runs possible. So that's our sort of mission runs. Okay, that's it pretty well set up now.

We're going to go and put a battery into the aircraft and fill it up with fluid and then do a quick spray system check. We've already done all our pre-flight checks. When you do your pre-flight checks, usually you do them without fluid in the tank.

So that's still empty. So we're going to initialise the aircraft. Okay, so we've put the battery in.

We've just re-orientated our swim lanes or our spray runs. Now we're going to put some fluid in the tank. So we're running a 30 litres per minute 12 volt pump here.

It's not the fastest fill setup. We like it because if we're doing education demos or set up days, it's quiet. You can still have a conversation.

If you're setting up for a contracting job, you'll usually want something, you know, around that 60 litres a minute, maybe up to a petrol system which is 120 litres per minute or something like that. So we're going to put about 30 litres in today because we want to show the fill cycle. A lot of your weeds in pasture stuff, you might not be putting in your full 40 litres.

For the most part, you'll be somewhere between 20 and 30. You're looking for efficiencies. So you want the aircraft to return with no fluid in the tank but with about 30% battery.

If you're returning with fluid in the tank and a 30% battery, like a low battery, that means you've kind of had wasted energy. The aircraft's been carrying around that extra weight when you really couldn't utilise it anyway. Okay, so on the screen here we can see that we've got 32.7 litres out of 40. We've got 99% battery in the aircraft. We've got 28 satellites, so everything's good to go. So pretty simple from this point.

We're going to monitor the aircraft but the aircraft's going to do pretty well all the flying. So in this route mode that we've chosen, it's not like a fruit tree mission or a mission where we've done some of that processing. You can check out some of those videos on YouTube.

This one is simply the aircraft's doing all the processing, all the flying on the go. So all we're going to click here now is start and then we're going to initialise the aircraft and let it take off. So we need to stand back to our safe distance and then we're going to go.

Okay, so I click to start. Now the remote control is going to upload that mission into the aircraft. So on the remote control here we've got our GPS systems normal, we've got 28 satellites, our radar is okay, our spray system is okay.

We're in hill or orchard. The main thing that's going to happen there is if the obstacle comes to something complicated, it will rise up over it instead of going around it. All our functions are returned to home if we complete the task and all we're going to do is slide to execute.

Clear the props. Aircraft on ground. Aircraft's flying out to our start point and you can see on the little screen on the left here, the aircraft's over our start point and now it's off and flying.

So we can see our altitude's holding at about 3.1 metres. We should be between 3 and 3.5 is what we want to see there. Speed is 17 kilometres an hour.

Okay, if we click onto the screen there we can watch it go. Quite impressive terrain tracking there for 18 kilometres an hour. Some fairly steep terrain there over the rocks, dropping down over them.

Okay, over on this left hand side we can pull up our spray parameters and we can adjust a lot of them on the fly. So if I want to change the droplet size, I can slide that up and apply and now that'll be running at 420 microns. I can also change the flight speed.

So if I want to bring that down to 10 kilometres an hour, I can do that and the aircraft will slow right down. You've got to remember if you change the speed or the height mid-mission, it's going to change your spray pattern. But we run through that sort of thing on our setup days to try and give you a good understanding of how your flight height, speed and other parameters are going to affect your spray pattern.

So back to 18 kilometres an hour there. In the top right hand corner here we've got our litres remaining, so we've got 18 litres. So we're going to wind up our rate to 100 so that we get a bit more fluid out and then we're going to do a battery and fluid change.

So as I mentioned before we really want to be looking to have the aircraft returning with no fluid but the battery somewhere above 30%. If you look in this image here of the flight path you can see this little tank with a cross through it. That's when the aircraft's going to run out of fluid and it's going to go into return to home mode there.

Down the bottom here you see our flow rate's up to 15.2 litres per minute it had. So that's getting close to our maximum of 16. Remembering that if we had the T40 it was only getting to around about 12.

So already we're putting out a lot more fluid at a quicker rate. Okay we're coming up to our tank empty. On the top right hand corner you see it down to zero.

Okay now the aircraft's going into return to home. On the right hand side here we've got our task summary. It's going to tell us how many hectares we've done, how many litres we've put out and this is how you keep track of your job, how it's going.

Okay so we've got to do a battery change and a fill now. So you'll notice that in that whole process that was all the drone. We didn't do any pilot inputs, I wasn't flying at all.

I in theory could have had the drone down, the remote control down. So you can see the thing that held us up there probably the most was our filling. Again we're running a 30 litres per minute pump.

So you know you go up to 60 you're going to halve that refill time. Okay the one thing I am going to change before I take off quickly is I'm going to change my return to home height. So we're starting to head uphill now.

So I'm just going to move it to the left. So I'm going to change my return to home height. So I'm just going to 15 metres and now the aircraft will rise up to 15 metres.

Then I'm just going to hit resume. Again we get our pre-task checklist, check everything's okay, slide to execute and that's it. The aircraft's now got a new battery, it's reconfirmed its GPS signal and it's just going to continue on the mission.

I'm going to pass the remote control to Nick now and we're just going to have a look at the charging. So if you want to follow me we'll go around the back, we'll turn on the generator, we'll run through the charging system. Nick's just basically going to be holding the remote while the drone keeps on going with that task.

So if we come around the back here. So here we've got our generator, we're just going to switch that on. It's got our two leads, our two 15 amp leads, which run around to our charger.

So usually you'd have this running. Charger here, we usually want our charger in the shade. Usually want our charger and batteries in the shade and we turn that on and then we and now our battery's going to start charging.

So usually when you're in a spray mission, the aircraft will come and land, you'll put your battery straight on to charge and start it charging straight away. We might have a little bit of a lag here but what we should see is when this aircraft has finished its run, this battery will be fully charged and ready to go again. So the next thing to have a quick look at is our fill station here.

Pretty simple setup. We've got a 250 litre tank in there. We've got a Venturi agitator to keep agitating it when we're not getting fluid out and we've just got our reel there to run straight to our drone to fill it up.

So this system that we have, we pre-mix before we get out so we carry a hot mix. A lot of the other systems and if you use something like the Batchmaster, you're probably more going to be mixing on site as you go. So you might mix up batches of 160 litres to maybe 200 litres and you'll have a thousand to two thousand litres of fresh water you'll mix as you go.

This setup's more designed for a compact weeds in pasture type spraying as opposed to a broad acre, sort of lots of batches, lots of mixing. All right, we're going to check in how Nick's going. See the battery's coming along now.

We're up to three bars so we're about about 75 percent. We'll go look at Nick. All right, just keep it running.

Okay, so Nick's probably got another two runs before he runs out of fluid. We can see on his remote there we've got the battery empty icon there. Everything's going pretty well.

About 51 percent battery left. So at any time I can just touch this little window here to switch to seeing what the drone sees, real time of course. I can use this little wheel up here to change the angle of the camera, bend it up or down like that.

Touch that window again to switch back to overhead view. And the green indicates what's already been sprayed. The yellow is to be sprayed.

And that small icon there is the estimated point at which it'll run out of liquid.

Unstoppable today, unstoppable today, unstoppable today, unstoppable today, I'm unstoppable today.

Much more elegant landing. It is. So the aircraft's just landed.

We come over here, we see we've got four lights going on there. So it's very nearly done. We're going to pull it off and see what percentage is on there and then we can turn off the generator.

So normally we'd have the generator running, we'd bring the battery back, put it straight on the charge, and then that one started charging and away we go. How much battery we got there Nick? 91.

Okay so we got 91%, so if we put that on charge straight away we should have got around 98 to 100% which is perfect. Okay well that's basically it, that's how we run a normal route mission. We'll send the aircraft off and let it sort of finish up but you know you can imagine doing a weeds in pasture type spray, doing some thistles on a sheep camp or you know whatever your target species is, you're just going to mark out that area, send off the aircraft, it's going to do its spray, you're going to be busy changing batteries and filling up the aircraft when it comes back in.

And you do need to keep a constant monitor on the aircraft but it's all automated, you set up the mission, you slide to execute and off it goes. It comes back in, you do your fills, you resume, slide to execute, off it goes again. So we'll initialise again, send it off and yeah watch it finish off its job.

Let's resume, disable, resume. All right guys so we're just finishing off the mission that Oscar designed and right now we're doing what's called connection routing which is the aircraft's going from where we're standing at the refill point over to resume the mission which is that green dot there. So it's arriving there now and it's going to turn around and then carry on down that yellow line there to resume from where it ran out of liquid.

Should do it the next two runs. So it's going to turn right now. All about 50 metres.

It's going to turn right again. But I can't help you I like it Nick. Look at it go.

I like how you do it. It certainly is a smooth operator this one.

It's like the train tracking is so solid at 18k. This will be interesting. Oh yeah so it's doing a what we call a headland or a boundary run.

So it's basically the drone's just going to go around the entire outside of the field and spray the edge. So some of the problems that you can have using any spray system actually but drones particularly is as they slow down your spray pattern changes so as you get to the end of a run your spray pattern might narrow. So by doing a boundary run or a headland at the end it means that the spray system's functioning and operating while the aircraft's going at its speed at full speed and then it cuts off in that last sort of three to six metres depending on what your settings are and then it slows down in that time which allows the spray pattern to remain consistent and then when the aircraft does its boundary run well it's holding that speed the whole time. Okay so the aircraft's finished the spray mission and it's just going to automatically return to home.

I can see here that it's done a total of 1.53 hectares 86.6 litres. We stuffed around with that litres per hectare a fair bit in there just to show different features and that's pretty well it. It's going to return home automatically land.

There is different settings in the T-50 which allows us to control how much pilot input we need to have a landing but you'll see here we've got it set up so that as it comes in to land in an automatic mission we're going to get a prompt which requires us to confirm that we want it to auto land. So we're just going to click on R3 and the aircraft will automatically land. Sweet.

Okay so that's our basic route mission done. We just did about one and a half hectares. We had a very rate so that was put it out about 80 litres but we kept changing the litres per hectare.

I think it gives a good example of your battery changes, your fill, how it all basically works. You can kind of extrapolate that out to a larger broad acre setting. You're going to be running a lot longer, a lot straighter run so you're going to be a lot more efficient.

There's going to be less terrain tracking so your batteries are going to get more area done but basically that's the simple aspect.

Yeah, a route mission is really the most common way these spray drones are used. It's very effective, it's easy to set up, it's uncomplicated so we don't need a mapping drone, we don't need an RTK system, we don't need Terra. It's just the standard three battery kit doing a great job tracking the terrain nicely with those radars working away and the binocular vision system, inputting do not spray areas like over waterways or dams, inputting obstacles like trees and things.

You can really get a lot out of these T53 battery kits just as they are without any extras, without any complications. You can do a lot of these route missions and get a lot of spraying done without much complication or cost.

And as you saw, we literally came here, we got the T50 out and that was it. We just had the remote, we set it up in 10-15 minutes. Once you've had your setup day with us, it's so easy for anyone just to come out and just get stuff sprayed.

You can see, if you put the camera over here for a second, you can see the vehicle we have. It's very lightweight, set up, very manageable. Just the generator, the drone of course, the 12 volt pump, the retractable reel and a small tank.

We can do a lot of spot spraying, get a lot done with just a fairly simple, lightweight, manageable system like that.

And the good thing about all these Agra systems is if we want to change this setup to be a more broad acre setup, then all we do when we do that is we add a 1000 litre IBC, we move our batch tank to a trailer with a 1000 litre IBC and we add a petrol pump. And then suddenly we've got 120 litres per minute, we've got 1250 litres of fluid and we can get out into a broad acre setting and spray what we like. So very easy to scale up.

So in other videos we'll move on to a couple of other flight modes, but that's a regular route mission, very common way to use a spray drone. Simple, get a lot out of it and yeah, we'll take it from there. Awesome.

Thanks for watching. Thanks guys. Bye-bye.

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Brochure & sales speak aside, the DFH Ag team has come up with our own top 5 reasons why we think the T50 is the best spray drone in Australia. 

1. More hectares covered per hour

Spraying:
The manufacturer quotes 21 ha per hour. This is higher than any other similar model in Australia, the T50 achieves this due to its upgraded speed and flow rate of 24L per min (running all 4 x spray lances).  

Spreading:
The manufacturer quotes 108 kg per minute (empties the hopper in about 30 secs), or  1.5 tonnes per hr. Also higher than any other similar model in Australia. The T50 spreader is larger than the T40 one and has a more consistent output rate of granules. 

Even the older DJI T40 model was able to cover more hectares than the current closest competitor in Australia . In an online comparison video the T40 achieved 18 acres after 4 batteries and the other brand achieved 14.9 acres after 4 batteries. Compared to the T40, the T50 fly’s faster, and has a higher max flow rate, and larger capacity hopper. As a result, the upcoming T50 comparison videos will likely show a widening the gap even further , between DJI and its nearest competitors.

In addition to the T50 being the most efficient in its main function - spraying and spreading,  the next point below discusses the importance of understanding the drone/aircraft itself is just one part of your whole setup out in the field – which involves various systems working together in order to achieve overall workflow efficiency.

2. A much more considered and integrated system as a whole   

DJI is by far the largest drone maker in the world. Estimated more than 85% market share of the global drone market. Employing over 14,000 employees of which 25% are research and development-based, a testament to the company's list of world leading innovations and achievements. DJI’s depth and breadth of experience allows it to compound its strengths across multiple market segments such as agriculture, inspection, thermography, delivery, mapping and recreational flying. Some of DJI’s marked achievements are noted below:

2.a.
In addition to agricultural drones DJI also makes the best mapping drones in the world by far (e.g. M3M, M350RTK), which are designed to work in unison with their spray drones.

2.b.
DJI also designs and produces a long list of other world leading industrial drones such as the M3T thermal drone (animal spotting), Flycart30 (delivery) , Dock 2 (continuous automated monitoring)

2.c.
DJI has by far the most advanced and easy to use remote controller (RC) with Ocusync 3 transmission technology , 4 x RF antennas on the AC and a large bright integrated screen and smart menu system.

2.d.
DJIs thorough and unmatched testing process: the T50 was tested for over 12 months in China before being sent out to Australia and other markets.

2.e.
Peace of mind regarding nozzle and droplets regulation: DJI has a manufacturer declaration that the T50 has been developed, constructed and verified to meet the technical requirements of the regulation  and ‘certified nozzle’ LX8060SZ. 

2.f. 

Engineered to achieve good spraying results, not just short term sales. From our observations and testing, our opinion is that a spray drone operating at more than 10 MPS (meters per second), is likely to be significantly compromising its ability to achieve its job - getting spray droplets sufficiently down into the target (the weed or crop), and out to the sides (swath / spray width).  This is likely because the aircraft is moving too far ahead of its own “sphere of influence” – the forces coming from the rotors. The rotors on a T50 are carefully positioned and engineered to drive and circulate the spray droplets downwards and outwards for optimal spraying efficacy, but only whilst the droplets remain inside this sphere of influence (not behind it).  Be wary of any spray drone with a top speed of more than 10 MPS as whilst it may be flying over more hectares per day, it may only be applying some of the application rate that it was set to achieve.  Also be wary if the spray drone has a ‘flat’ rotor layout – this suggests it is engineered only for lift, and not for both lift and optimal spray efficacy.

What does all this mean for an Australian farmer? It means that when you use DJI equipment, it feels right - the different components, systems, software’s, integrate together well. DJI has considered the wider user experience as a whole, rather than picking equipment specifications to work on in an isolated way.

Some of the benefits listed above of these are less visible when ‘window shopping’ but play a very important role when you’re out in the field trying to get hectares treated  by a deadline. At the end of the day DJI have succeeded by being customer-centric -  understanding that farmers want -  a dependable machine that is productive, not overly complicated, and well thought out.  You might choose the T50 for the same reasons you choose the LandCruiser - it focuses on the right things and gets the job done, and is the most dependable and well supported asset every time.

3. Unique dual-purpose design (broadacre and complex terrain)  

Some spray drone manufacturers took the easy path - designed their machines for broad acre work – large flat areas with no trees or obstacles. These are easy conditions for the drone to perform in.  Getting a spray drone to confidently navigate and spray in trickier country is much more difficult – steep terrain, trees, powerlines, gully’s etc. The T50 has a uniquely powerful perception system - phased array digital radars on both the front and back, plus 2 x sets of binocular vision cameras. These features form a much more advanced overall perception system for the aircraft, enabling it to confidently move through and spray/spread on areas of your property you’ve never been able to access with a quad or tractor or quick spray setup. 

T50 is the only choice if you're looking for a flexible multi-terrain machine. It is not simply a flying boom sprayer. Put your T50 to work on a wider variety of tasks such as seeding, stabilizing steep areas, spraying weeds in gully’s or rocky areas, spraying up close to trees and fence lines on ridges. And see a faster return on investment from your spray drone. 

4. Superior features and performance when compare to nearest competitors

Please see the detailed comparison table here.

5. Investment security and resale value

As with any farming machine, by buying the best and most ubiquitous spraying drone from the largest and best drone manufacturer in the world, you are making a relatively safe investment and will see a more reliable resale value than choosing a sub-par brand.

5 reasons why spray drones are booming in Australia in 2024

1. Availability: By having a T50 yourself, you can spray/spread anytime, day or night in a moment's notice. No more waiting for spray contractors, helicopter pilots to show up, or for the ground to dry out. Spend less time worrying about missing tight time frames that are right to spray in. 

2. Efficacy: The drones' propellers sit just 3m off the ground, forcing the droplets down and circulating them to get more liquid on-target. Drones very often achieve the same kill rate / desired effect with less water and less chemicals.

3. No ground compaction Meaning no yield loss & no machine wear from ground impacts. Particularly so for small plot broad acre drone spraying 

4. Accuracy and precise control: Spray drones can get into steep areas you've never felt safe taking your tractor into, or near fence lines, close to trees, gullies etc.   

5. Safety: spraying via drone allows you to stand back at a distance meaning reduced risk of chemical exposure.

El Niño's demise and La Niña's emergence is gaining traction, increasing the odds Australia will face another lengthy period of above average rain and cooler temperatures by the back half of 2024 (ABC article). Not being able to spray because the ground is too wet or the area is inaccessible can create large losses for any farmer - sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. An event like this can make the cost of adding a spray drone to your list of machines insignificant. Even having a spray drone purely as a backup can create a return on investment  in just a year or two when used at those critical times when your boom sprayer is out of action, helicopter pilot is too busy, or your contractor is unavailable. It's also quite likely your neighbors will take an interest and ask you to spray sections of their property as well, meaning there's potential for a new side-income stream. 

Important to note, there's more to it than just buying one - spraying by any method, needs to be done at the right application rate, performed carefully to manage drift, and done on-time. Like most farming activities,  it is a workflow which can also be done efficiently or inefficiently. The drone spraying workflow usually involves designing aircraft missions with the controller (see 2-min video), moving chemical/granular into it, battery charging, trailer design and whether pre-mapping (see 7-min video ) is needed or not. 

It helps to be supported by people who use the equipment themselves and know what they're doing and to be connected to a community of other drone sprayers. People who can assist you with understanding your spraying goals and the capabilities of drone, setting you up properly and with legitimate equipment, planning suitable spray missions for each section of your property, supplying useful value-adding accessories and supplying parts and support quickly when needed to reduce machine downtime. The initial cost of the equipment is important, but it's only the first step and only one part of the consideration set when you plan for long term success and cost minimisation.  

When to opt for the smaller T25

You can see the detailed comparison of T50 and T25 here.

Choosing between the DJI Agras T25 and T50 for agricultural purposes depends on the specific requirements of your farming operations. Here are some scenarios where the T25 might be a preferable choice over the T50:

Smaller Farm Size: The T25 is light, nimble, and flexible, with smaller dimensions when compared to the T50. This makes it better suited for smaller or more confined agricultural lands where a smaller drone can maneuver more easily and efficiently. A T25 tends to be the go to option for farmers with land smaller than 100 hectares and who won’t be spraying often (often is considered twice a month or more). 

Cost Efficiency: The T25 comes at a lower cost. Additionally both initial investment and operational expenses are less. If budget constraints are a concern, opting for the T25 could be more economical while still providing the necessary capabilities for agricultural tasks.

Ease of Handling and Transportation: Due to its reduced dimensions and weight, the T25 can be easier to transport and set up , especially if your planning to be operating on your own.  Easy to put on and off the back of the ute, easy to quickly pack up and move up to the next patch of weeds, again - especially if your a single person operation. 

Specific Crop Types: Certain types of crops or agricultural practices may not require the higher application rates and range that the T50 offers. In such cases, the T25's capabilities might be perfectly adequate, making it a more targeted and efficient choice.

When considering which drone to use, it's important to assess the specific needs of your operation, including the size of the area to be serviced, the type of crops, available time to complete the tasks and budget considerations. The T25, with its compact size and flexibility, may just be the better option for smaller, more budget-sensitive operations.

Why choose DJI   

Market Leadership and Global Presence: DJI was founded in 2006 and has grown to become the world's leading drone manufacturer. The company has a significant global presence, with its products available in over 100 countries. 

Versatility: DJI offers a diverse range of drones catering to different needs and budgets. From compact consumer drones like the Mini 4 Pro and Mavic 3 series, enterprise drones like the Mavic 3 Enterprise and Matrice 30 series, to the Agriculture drones like T50, T40 and FlyCart, DJI provides options for aerial photography, cinematography, mapping, agriculture, search and rescue, and more.

Quality and Reliability: DJI drones are known for their high build quality and reliability. They undergo rigorous testing to ensure they can withstand various environmental conditions and deliver consistent performance. Whether it's capturing stunning aerial footage or performing complex maneuvers, DJI drones are trusted by hobbyists, professionals, and industries alike for their dependability.

Agriculture Solutions: DJI has a dedicated line of drones and solutions for the agriculture industry. Their agriculture drones, such as the Agras series (i.e. Agras T50, Agras T40, Agras T10, etc.), are specifically designed for efficient crop spraying, field monitoring, and data collection. These drones help farmers optimize their operations, save time and resources, and improve crop yields. 

Ecosystem and Software: DJI's software ecosystem includes apps for flight planning, post-processing, and data analysis, providing comprehensive solutions for drone users across industries. Specifically for agriculture, the DJI Terra app provides a comprehensive solution for farmers, agronomists, and agricultural professionals to plan, execute, and analyze drone operations for various agricultural tasks, such as Field Mapping and Surveying, Plant Health Monitoring, Crop Scouting and Inspection, Variable Rate Application, Irrigation Management and Workflow Automation.

Accessories: DJI has built a robust ecosystem around its drones, offering a wide range of accessories and add-ons to enhance functionality and performance. This includes spare parts, batteries, propellers, gimbals, and camera upgrades, allowing users to customize their drones according to their requirements. 

Customer Support and Community: DJI is known for its strong customer support and active user community. The company offers comprehensive customer service, tutorials, and resources to help users get the most out of their drones. Additionally, DJI has a vibrant online community where users can share tips, techniques, and discuss their experiences.

Why choose DFH  

1. DJI Agriculture Authorised Service Center (ASC) & Authorised Dealer 

Drones For Hire (DFH) is a DJI Agriculture Authorised Service Center (ASC) and authorised dealer. DFH has multiple staff certified as official DJI Academy Certified Agras Instructors & DJI Certified Agras Repair Technicians. 

Our stock (T40’s, M3M’s etc) is legitimate and correct for the AU region and backed with an official DJI warranty. Being an Ag focused DJI dealer means our capability is uniquely focussed around spray drones and mapping drones. Here are some example images from setup days and demo days. And some example instructional videos . DFH has supplied over a hundred Agras units to growers and contract sprayers nationwide. Clients also include the QLD dept. of Agriculture and Fisheries, WA Dept. of Primary Industries, CSIRO, AECOM, Department of Defence, Charles Sturt University, Southern Cross University, and Anglo Coal. Other non-ag focused DJI dealers are likely to be focussed on the more common consumer drones which significantly affects their capacity to guide and support agricultural customers. 

2. Onsite training on your property 

DFH has technicians in most states who own and use this equipment themselves and are competent in drone-spraying and mapping operations. Our technicians are qualified with CASA type ratings/endorsements, and are often farmers themselves. Doing the setup day at your property is important as it means your technician will be able to understand the terrain in conjunction with your specific spraying/spreading  goals and be able to advise the best spraying methods for each section of your property. They may also be able to map and start spraying/spreading the paddocks that are the highest priority for you to get started. Before the day, your technician will send you a list of pre-setup day procedures (activations, charging, firmware updates etc) that you can do at home so you can hit the ground running when he arrives.

The DFH team also includes degree qualified engineers, photogrammetry experts, PhD’s, OAM, robotics experts, members of agribusiness advisory committees, and an ex-RAAF pilot. The team has a diverse mix of capabilities who can assist with the various goals and challenges our customers face and bring to us for professional advice.  This could be about facets of their unique workflow design to maximize hectares covered per day, capture and interpretation of multispectral data, software setup, trailer design and engineering (to carry drones, IBC carrier tank, batching tank, chemical tank, generator, pump etc), custom modification of your spray drone, and payload lifting kits.

3. Included spares kits and spares availability 

DFH includes a spares kit with your spray drone order - spares that typically wear out sooner than other items (e.g. washers, sealing rings), and items that are good to have onsite ready to go if you have a mishap (e.g. propellers). Being able to continue spraying on the same day can make a huge difference especially when under time pressure with e.g. weather coming in. 

In addition to supplying spares kits, DFH also maintains an extensive parts supply in NSW, ready for express shipping when customers need to get flying again fast. 

4. DFH-exclusive value adding products

The DFH team of engineers and technicians has developed our own DFH-unique products designed to help our customers optimise their workflow when spraying/mapping. These include for example our T40 Fast Mover wheel sets, fast-fill tank caps, custom spares kits, HDS: Heavy Droplet Spinner discs, Granular Sherpa System, dual 15-amp socket extension cables, cooling station modifications, custom made CNC hard cases, and modified laptops for faster image processing on the go. 

5. Backed by the largest drone site Australia since 2013 

DFH has deep roots in the Australian drone industry. We started in 2013 , building DJI Flame Wheel F550 ARF Kits (pre the first Phantom and pre the MG-1P - DJIs first spray drone). With 10 years of relevant experience DFH has now grown to become Australia's largest drone site, supplying $M of hardware sales each year and attracting more than 40,000 drone marketplace requests.

Go to see T50 bundles and pricing

When do i need an RTK mobile station, and when do I need a mapping drone?

Complexity of your country

RTK makes your drone more precise and stable in how it moves around. So if you have a lot of trees, steep hills and complex country in general, RTK will help you operate and steer the drone with extra surety and confidence.  

Adding a mapping drone such as an M3M adds more surety again to your spraying mission as it essentially gives your spray drone all the information in advance as to the ‘lay of the land’ its about to head in to - in effect showing the spray drone the height changes and trees etc before it even takes off. 

The ‘google map’ showing on your controller screen is relatively low resolution, relatively old (maybe 1-3 years), and low accuracy (it was created by GNSS satellite imagery, not RTK ). 

By mapping an area with a mapping drone, you will be able to solve these limitations: 

• High resolution - zoom in and mark precise spraying area boundaries,
• Recency - you know that the map your looking at was made as at the day you flew the mapping drone,
• Accurate - because the mapping drone needs to connect to your RTK base station, you know the position of trees and other features are correct to centimeter level accuracy. This means it's good to prepare prescription spraying missions from. 

GPS, Size of area and frequency of spraying 

Basically , the more you spray in general the more important precision becomes, because the cost of any inaccuracy increases proportionally to how often you're spraying. Especially if ‘GPS’ (GNSS) is known to be relatively weak on your property, you will be more likely to be slightly overspraying or under spraying since the spray drone may not maintain its route spacing and or height as well. This GNSS accuracy affects every drone and make , since 99% of drones determine their position based on satellite connections . GNSS accuracy is a contingency on every property, but is pretty good in many areas of Australia compared to some other countries. 

Using RTK in conjunction with a mapping drone  

If you have a RTK mapping drone such as the M3M, you can produce a high resolution map, view it on your PC then shade-in specific areas of the map to spray - you then save the map and put it into your T50 RC to execute the mission as a prescription spraying mission rather than a blanket spraying mission. You will need an RTK base station to do this since the spray drone needs to know precisely where the clump of e.g. blackberry is otherwise it will head out and spray e.g. 2m to the side of the clump of blackberry.  

To take things further, the M3M has a regular camera and a multispectral camera meaning you can create NDVI maps that show where there are variances in health across your crop, and then automatically prepare a variable spray rate mission for your T50. See the M3M page for more information on this. 

If you're planning to be a contract sprayer (spraying on other peoples properties for an income), it's very likely you should get the RTK base station and M3M as you will be spraying more often and in a variety of conditions described above which you will need to be prepared for in advance.

Whereas if you are using the T50 on your own property, and on a more casual basis, you may not see the need for RTK or mapping drone. you can always add these later if you are initially unsure. The DFH team will always be ready to help by asking the right questions to help you decide.

What licencing is required to fly a spray drone

Flying a spray drone, such as the T50 and T25, entails two essential licenses and one optional certification:

Remote Pilot Licence (0-7 kg RePL):

The RePL is indispensable for drone pilots as it imparts fundamental knowledge and regulations essential for safe drone operations. It covers the basics of flying drones and ensures compliance with aviation rules.

Type Rating:

A Type Rating is necessary for operating aircraft weighing over 25kg. Given the T50 has a minimum weight of 39.9kg and the T25 is 25.4kg, they both mandate a Type Rating. Despite similarities between predecessors (T40 and T10), each model requires a separate Type Rating according to CASA rules. Type Ratings are not interchangeable. For instance, if you own both a T50 and T25 drone, you will need a different Type Rating for both. 

Optional: Remotely Piloted Aircraft Operator's Certificate (ReOC):

If intending to undertake contract work with the T50 or T25, obtaining an ReOC is necessary. This certificate allows individuals or businesses to operate drones commercially under specific regulations.

In summary, an RePL and a Type Rating are mandatory for flying the T50 and T25, while a ReOC is optional - its for commercial contract work / work not done on your own property. 

How much can I earn as a contract spray drone operator?

DFH maintains the largest network of agricultural spray drone and regular drone operators in Australia. On average, spray drone operators tell us they earn around $35 per ha for broad acre work and $275.0 per hour for spot spraying work.   You should always consider the amount and type of competition available at each specific site. Some customers will opt for a boom operator if lower cost, but will quickly pay more for a drone operator if the boom is unavailable due to wet country, repairs or if hes just too busy / booked out. And some sites literally cant be done by any other means such as steep country with powerlines – in these cases a T50 with its advanced radars can be the only way to treat that area and e.g. unlock more valuable grazable land for your customer.

Other useful material

Droplet size and drift study report for DJI T40 & T50: download here.

Manufacturer declaration for certified nozzle: download here.

MSDS sheet for DJI Agras T50 battery: download here.

T50 software, apps, quick start guide, user manual, etc: download here.

Go to see T50 bundles and pricing

By now you may have noticed spray drones are becoming much more popular in Australia. So who’s buying them? For large broadacre plots, spray drones won’t cover as much ground per day as ground based sprayers.

SP sprayer                            600-800 ha/day

Smaller boom sprayer            200-230 ha/day

T50 or T40                                      100-130 ha/day

Existing spray systems for large operations are a big capital investment and unless operating a precision agricultural enterprise, the yield loss created by ground based sprayers trampling crops is not high enough to advocate switching to a spray drone, for larger plots. For crop spraying (as opposed to weed spraying), spray drones such as the DJI Agras T50 and T40 have therefore seen a faster up take for smaller sized broadacre plots (e.g. 25ha or 50ha) for the following reasons:

1. Owners of smaller sized plots are less likely to own an SP sprayer / ground based sprayer or manned aircraft as they just wouldn’t see a good enough ROI / utilization of the asset.

2. Manned aircraft pilots (as spray contractors) charge more per ha for small plot owners (e.g. $25/ha instead of $15) and are known to de-prioritise them (or even refuse the work) especially in high demand times

3. Availability: just having a spray drone onsite means you can knock off some spraying at will, anytime (day or night). No waiting for people to turn up, for the weather or waiting for the ground to be prepared. Just get it out and start spraying -particularly useful when its time sensitive (e.g. an 8 day spraying window after irrigating cotton).

4. For ground based sprayers the land preparation time, and machine prep time relative to spraying time is much higher (e.g. preparing rotor bucks, syphons, checking for holes, rocks, checking nozzles, inspecting the machine,  etc)

5. Maintenance cost due to wear and tear is also much higher with ground base sprayers because they impact against the ground as they roll.Also ground driven spray rigs have a lot of moving parts (stering, suspension, engine) and therefore lots of water parts and lubrication points. 6.For some plantations, cotton for example, the last 3-4 sprays (of 7 sprays per season) must be via plane or helicopter (when the cotton canopy has joined up between rows). It can make sense to purchase a spray drone rather than pay an aerial contractor.

A T50 or T40 may be considerable for larger properties

If the property has a relatively high ratio of difficult terrain (steep and or rough ground: holes, rocks).

If you are growing crops that respond particularly well to the strong droplet penetration and circulation effect created by the drone. You can therefore reduce the water rate. Fertilizer has gone up 2* and chem 3* in cost in the last 18 months.

To have a T50 or T40 simply as a backup , especially for when crops are advanced (e.g. Spring time , fungicide sprays) or when its very wet and the ground machines can’t get across the ground.

One of the main barriers to drones in Australian ag is the fact that it is new technology. The average farmer is over 50 and are often doing the same thing they have been doing for a long time.  As drones become more common and growers see that they are an effective tool they will inevitably become more accepted. It will take a different way of thinking for example, it may be advantageous for growers to invest in spray drones and use a contract ground rig. As opposed to the traditional arrangement where growers own ground rigs and use contract manned aircraft for in crop sprays.This type of system would allow growers to get onto fields no matter what the conditions(wet, when contractors are in high demand, in-crop spraying for pests etc) and use ground rigs when they are cheaper and easy to find contractors.  

About us: Drones For Hire (DFH) is an Ag-specific DJI dealer meaning our capability is uniquely focussed around spray drones and mapping drones. We have representatives in most states who own and use this equipment themselves and are highly competent in drone spraying and mapping operations. Amongst our team we have farmers, contractors and drone experts that can assist in operations and in utilizing drones in different agriculture systems.  DFH also maintains an extensive parts supply in NSW, ready for express shipping when customers need to get flying again fast. We started in 2013 and have grown to become Australia's largest drone site, supplying $M of hardware sales each year and attracting more than 40,000 drone job requests. 

Feel free to ask us about your property’s suitability for a spray drone via phone or email 1300 029 829 or info@dronesforhire.com.au

What is the Active Phased Array Radar System?

The active phased array radar system on the T50 drone is an advanced technology that allows the drone to perform precise and efficient obstacle sensing and avoidance. This system utilizes an active electronically scanned array (AESA) to electronically steer the radar beam, enabling rapid scanning of the drone's surroundings without the need for physical movement of the antenna. By incorporating a binocular vision sensor system, the T50 drone achieves 360-degree horizontal omnidirectional obstacle sensing, enhancing its safety and maneuverability during flight. This radar system is crucial for agricultural applications, such as crop spraying, where the drone needs to navigate through complex environments while avoiding obstacles to ensure accurate and efficient operations.

What's so good about the Radar upgrade?

As technology continues to revolutionize farming practices, the DJI T50 spray drone emerges as a beacon of efficiency and reliability, equipped with the latest advancements in aerial agriculture. At the heart of its capabilities lies the upgraded Active Phased Array system, a game-changer in precision farming. Here's why the T50 is a must-have for farmers:

1. Unmatched Versatility: While its predecessor, the T40, boasts impressive features, the T50 takes versatility to new heights. With the ability to navigate slopes of up to 50°, compared to the T40's 30° limit, the T50 ensures no terrain is too challenging to conquer.

2. 360° Situational Awareness: Imagine a drone that sees everything. With an omnidirectional 360-degree field of view, the T50 comprehensively understands its surroundings, enabling precise navigation and obstacle avoidance.

3. Height Precision: Farming requires precision at every level, and the T50 delivers. With a height measuring range of 1-50m and a height fixing range of 1.5-30m, surpassing the T40's ranges, farmers can now execute missions with unparalleled accuracy, optimizing crop treatment and monitoring.

4. Safety First: Agricultural drone farming demands intelligent safety measures. The T50's advanced perception system coupled with auto-braking capabilities ensures swift response to obstacles, significantly reducing the risk of accidents. With the ability to halt horizontal speeds of up to 10m/s and vertical speeds of 3m/s, farmers can rest assured that their investment is protected while maximizing operational safety.

In conclusion, the DJI T50 Drone with its upgraded Active Phased Array system represents a leap forward in agricultural drone technology. From conquering rugged terrains to ensuring precise crop treatment, the T50 empowers farmers to embrace efficiency and safety like never before.

Are you interested in advancing your drone technology skills? Drones for Hire provides the DJI T50 Type Rating Certification, designed for current Multi Rotor RePL holders. With this certification, you gain the ability to operate your personal T50 drone on your property. If you plan to extend your flying activities to other properties, consider obtaining an additional ReOC license in conjunction with your type rating certification.

Pricing

Here is the pricing for Type ratings (for T30/T40/T50) in a single booking/day. It's possible to do up to 3 people in one day.

1 person – 889.0

2 person – 1389.0

3 person – 1689.0

Pricing is inc GST 

The travel fee is $68c per km and can be calculated when we match your location to the nearest Type Rating Instructors location. 

FAQs’

Q1: Does my T40 type rating apply for the T50 as well?

A1: No, type ratings are specific to the drone you got it for. However it does make the process faster and easier for you if you have the T40 type rating given the similarities between the drones.

Q1: Can I fly my T50 drone anywhere with the type rating?

A1: The DJI T50 type rating certification allows you to operate your T50 drone on your property. However, if you intend to fly on other properties, you may need to obtain an additional ReOC license.

Q2: Can I fly any large drone with the T50 type rating?

A2: No, the T50 type rating is specific to the DJI T50 drone and does not grant permission to operate drones over RePL standards. Different certifications or licenses are required for larger drones.

Q3: How long does it take to complete the type rating certification?

A3: The duration to complete the DJI T50 type rating certification varies based on prior experience. If you are familiar with DJI products, such as the T40, the endorsement can take just a few hours. However, for those less experienced, it typically involves training courses and assessments, spanning several days to weeks. 

Q4: What are the prerequisites?

A4: To obtain the DJI T50 type rating certification, you typically need to hold a Multi Rotor RePL (Remote Pilot License) and fulfill any additional qualifications specified by relevant authorities.

Q5: How much does it cost?

A5: The cost of obtaining the DJI T50 type rating certification varies and is listed above, however, If you get it with a T50 drone get $300 off your purchase.

Q6: Does it expire?

A6: The DJI T50 type rating certification does not expire.

Q7: What should I expect during the training?

A7: During DJI T50 Type Rating Certification training, you can expect to learn the following:

- Comprehensive instruction on the operation of the DJI T50 drone.

- Training on the maintenance and care of the drone.

- Practical hands-on experience in flying the DJI T50.

- Guidance on safety protocols and regulations.

- Evaluation through assessments or exams to ensure competency.