Drone News & Articles

A wastewater interceptor pipe transporting waste from five municipalities to a treatment plant was damaged by heavy surf during storms.

The location of the pipe’s damage along the coast in Barcelona, Spain meant the raw sewage in the pipe was spilling into the Mediterranean Sea at a rate of 500 m3/s.

Only part of the break was visible to engineers and, without further inspection, they were unable to tell whether there was additional damage on either side of the break.

The speed and height of the flow of the sewage meant that human inspection or ground-based CCTV inspection was not viable.

Without timely inspection data, a bypass would have to be built unnecessarily long with the risk of connecting to the existing infrastructure too soon and causing a second break downstream.

As part of the emergency response, global water and waste management specialist Suez contacted Flind, a spinoff of the Spanish branch of the Suez Innovation and Operations Offices specialising in waste and water infrastructure and piloting the Flyability Elios collision tolerant inspection drones.

The drone entered the nearest undamaged manhole, where the Flind team navigated the pipe to provide data for the engineers.

The crash resistant Elios drone enters the sewer through a manhole.

Engineers identified an additional area of the pipe had been damages as the sand retreated underneath and was not visible from the surface, allowing them to efficiently plan and put in place an appropriate bypass.

Additionally, inspection requires one drone pilot and one safety officer, increasing safety and reducing the need for additional inspectors, particularly in bigger and deeper pipeline assets.

“Typically, the drone inspection is twice as efficient as human inspectors – and 40 per cent less expensive per meter of inspection,” said Flind Director of Client Services Péter Kövessi.

“Most of the sewer networks run 2, 3 or 4 m deep – but some larger pipes run much deeper, up to 55 m.

“In those conditions, the use of the Elios is 8–10 times more efficient and cost-effective than people. The deeper the pipe, the more efficient drone use is.”

HARRISBURG, Pa -- Drones are now helping farmers in multiple ways and saving money in the process.

"We want to be able to help the farmers because in this day in age they need it," said Chris Ryan, Drone Pilot.

The work of a farmer is never done. Maintaining acres upon acres is a lot of work. But with a large drone like this farming could get easier for farmers like Ryan Decker.

"You're not damaging the field, you're not trampling down anything," said Ryan Decker, Local Farmer.

Reducing crop damage from an average of 15% to 0%.

"There's a lot of benefits to doing it by drone," said Decker.

One of the many savings. This drone follows the terrain staying clear of the crops. This tool can spray pesticides while using less than if the farmer were to manually spray with larger equipment.

"This thing could cover 33 acres in an hour," said Ryan.

Saving time and money for Decker on many levels. For example, it would save the grower approximately 12 dollars per acre spraying via drone.

If I don't have to use the fuel, ware and tare on the equipment," said Ryan.

Another benefit to the drone is capturing images the farmer would normally not eye like this.

"Tells the farmers how many crops what's producing and what's not producing instead of them going in the field," said Ryan.

"They've got better consistency, they are not overlapping, they are not missing things, they can control it better than I can," said Decker.

Less stressful for Decker along with adding a bigger profit margin. On average using a drone could save farmers anywhere from 35 to 55 percent in labour costs.

PRESS RELEASE: Teck is using a solution that is tailored for enterprise clients. Data collection and analytics company Skycatch said it's a cost-effective and safe approach to surveying with a wide range of benefits, including sub-5cm georeferenced topographic maps and the ability to perform on-the-fly volume calculations while sharing data efficiently.

Christian Sanz, founder and CEO of Skycatch, said: "Customers like Teck are setting new standards in the mining industry by implementing tools that support their mission of increased safety and efficiency."

Laura Ingram, senior engineering supervisor for Teck Line Creek Operations, said: "Using drone technology at our operations is just one of the ways Teck is putting innovation and technology to work across our company to improve productivity and enhance safety and environmental performance."

Teck is using Skycatch at its Red Dog Operations in north-west Alaska, US, and at its Line Creek steelmaking coal operation in the Elk Valley of British Columbia, Canada. Both of these sites can experience high winds and drastic temperature changes, which require a ruggedised UAV that can stabilise itself and withstand the most demanding conditions.

According to Skycatch, the HPP provides the full solution to rapidly collect and process the data capture with a crisp and precise output to view the progression of the site in near real time.

The man who used to shoot down drones on the set of global hit television series Game of Thrones is setting up operation in Australia, planning to offer his services to our security agencies.

The UK security specialist successfully kept a closely guarded secret for about a year about lead character Jon Snow by eradicating the prying eyes of paparazzi drones looking to spoil the cliffhanger plot from season five.

Now Irishman Andrew McQuillan is taking steps to bring his leading aviation technology to Australia, opening the door to a potential partnership with Victoria Police’s counter terrorism operations after he presented to officers while in Melbourne recently.

The Crowded Space Drones director has worked alongside UK police and the FBI and was called in to help solve the Gatwick airport drone saga last month.

He toured the security hot spots in Melbourne during his recent visit to Australia and said popular spaces such as the MCG could greatly benefit from commercially licensed surveillance.

“The key thing from seeing the MCG is it’s a very congested sports venue so drones would be the perfect tool to see the entire area,” Mr McQuillan said.

“The [terrorism] threat level is huge at the moment.”

Crowded Space Drones can be dispatched at short notice around the clock for public safety and counter-terrorism operations as well as major festivals and sporting events.

In 2018 they stopped more than 200 illegal drone flights at major events in the UK.

“As an example we had a music festival in central London recently where the roads were closed and we had large lorries parked across roads to stop heavy vehicles going into the crowd," he said.

"We got a phone call to the 60,000 person event; a car had rammed through road closures and was driving at speed towards the event.

“We got eyes on it and the police were able to just stop it. It turned out to be an Uber driver but it was one of our biggest near-misses."

Mr McQuillan began working in public safety in 2004 before being hired as the head of security from 2011 to 2015 for the Game of Thrones franchise as it grew into one of the world’s most-watched TV series of all time.

As the popularity of the show continued to soar through, so did the eyes of the paparazzi. Mr McQuillan said with tight on-ground security, the would-be spoilers moved into the air.

“The paparazzi really innovated drone technology and we had to respond to that. The more I looked into it, the more interesting it became,” he said.

“Our technology developed and we kept Jon Snow dead for a year without people realising it so we were very happy with how it worked.”

Festivals such as Live Nation are also paying for their aerial surveillance, which means fewer police are needed for big events.

Specialist police have also contracted the company to help track criminals remotely.

“We’ve got specialist drones out there [that] allow firearm officers to talk to suspects so the police don’t have to be in bullet range,” Mr McQuillian said.

“The compact new Mavic Pro 2 comes with a microphone, which means you can fly up to a house that may have been barricaded and you’re not in bullet range."

Last year Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther revealed the remote-controlled technology was at the top of his wish list for counter terrorism operations.

Speaking on the back of the recent international terrorism conference, Mr Guenther said the challenge now for Victoria Police was to decide to purchase its own drones or employ a secondary agency to assist.

Queensland Police senior sergeant John Hildebrand carrying DroneShield's drone gun, which was used at the Commonwealth Games.

He said Mr McQuillan’s presentation at December's international counter terrorism conference in Melbourne was particularly popular with attendees travelling from Canada, America, New Zealand and the United Kingdom for the presentations.

“It’s technology that’s evolving rapidly,” he said.

Currently police services in Western Australia and Queensland use small drones to assist with investigations such as recreating crash scenes.

In 2018 South Australia announced was in the process of equipping its police force with drone technology to help in counter terrorism efforts.

A spokesman from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority said there were about 1400 certified drone operators across Australia and 10,000 licensed drone pilots.

Forestry and construction companies in the U.K. are required to ensure their work doesn’t endanger protected species, including the nesting sites of protected bird species. In the case of the European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), however, the bird’s highly effective camouflage makes it difficult to detect inside a patch of vegetation.

So researchers from Cardiff University in Wales have turned to thermal-sensing cameras to locate nightjar nests as part of a recent pilot study.

A European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) showing its impressive camouflage, which enables it to evade predators by sitting still. Its large eyes and long whiskers help it detect insect prey in low-light conditions. Image by Dûrzan cîrano via Wikimedia Commons (CC 3.0).

“Nightjars are camouflaged to look just like a fallen log or dead wood,” lead author Mike Shewring, a Cardiff University Ph.D. student, said in a statement. “They nest on the ground and ‘sit tight’ when approached to avoid detection, which makes it nearly impossible to spot them during the day when they are inactive.”

Nightjars, as their name implies, are nocturnal, and the birds remain still if a person walks by, using their camouflage to avoid detection. Ecologists surveying planned logging or construction sites can easily miss seeing birds hiding within the vegetation. Moreover, walking among fallen trees while conducting ground nest surveys is costly, time-consuming, and potentially hazardous.

Shewring and colleagues recently tested the suitability of thermal cameras mounted on drones to detect nightjar nest sites as an alternative survey method. A drone-mounted camera can survey an area faster than a team of ground observers, potentially without disturbing the birds or their nests. Thermal-sensing cameras can find birds and other warm-bodied animals hidden within vegetation, even in the dark.

A thermal image of a logged forest taken from a drone-mounted thermal-sensing camera. A warm-blooded nightjar in the center shows up as a small red dot and the nest as yellow against the colder vegetation. Downed trees are even colder and appear as darker blue in the image. Image by Skeye Ltd and Natural Resources Wales.

Shewring presented the preliminary findings of their pilot tests last month at the British Ecological Society’s annual conference.

The scientists took a series of thermal images by flying the drones over a tree plantation in Wales in areas where nightjar nests had been previously identified by radio tracking and direct observation.

They took the images at 10, 20, and 50 meters (33, 66, and 164 feet) above the ground at dawn, noon and dusk during the nightjar breeding season (between May and August).

The researchers were able to detect nightjars in their nests in the thermal images. Nightjars’ body temperatures run around 40 degrees Celsius (105 degrees Fahrenheit), which show up in the thermal images against the colder background of vegetation or soil. Not surprisingly, the birds’ outlines were more easily seen in images taken at cooler times of the day, when the temperature contrast was greatest.

The scientists found that images taken at 10 meters above the ground produced more useful images than those taken from higher up. Surveying with aerial images from known altitudes also allowed them to estimate the body size of the birds below to confirm the species, without getting too close.

Nightjar chicks awaiting their parents’ return. Nightjars build open nests on the ground that are as difficult to spot as the birds. Image by Mike Shewring/Cardiff University.

To prevent workers from destroying nests, forest managers currently avoid areas around known nests or avoid forestry work altogether during the breeding season. The new findings suggest that drones could make the task of surveying nightjars faster, easier, more accurate and more cost-effective.

Shewring told Mongabay that surveying with drone-mounted thermal cameras could similarly be a cost-effective way to survey other ground-nesting bird species. He added that the method would work best in grasslands and other open-country habitats, rather than forests.

“We were conducting surveys in grassland up to one meter [3.3 feet] in height, and it worked well in this scenario,” Shewring said. “I would think the denser the vegetation and the more water it holds, the more this would mask the thermal signature, i.e. looking [for] nests at ground level through dense woodland canopy would unlikely be successful.”

“Our preliminary findings demonstrate the potential of drones for surveying nightjars during their breeding season, allowing forestry managers to locate nests more accurately and plan their works adequately,” project supervisor Robert Thomas said in the statement. “This methodology could also have wider applications, since it could technically be adapted to detect any warm-blooded species.”

The nightjars stayed put in their nests during the drone flights, a characteristic behavior these cryptic birds employ to avoid being detected by predators.

A group of nightjars looking like logs on the woodland floor. Image by Mike Shewring/Cardiff University.

“We don’t know whether the nightjars perceived the drones as a predator,” Shewring said. “This would be interesting to explore in future studies to ensure that the sight and sound of drones don’t have any negative impacts on the birds’ stress levels or metabolism.”

In the meantime, Shewring said, the group will be further developing their software and analyses this year, to characterize in better detail the thermal signature of nightjar nests through additional drone flights and testing of automated analysis approaches. He added that they hope the forest managers, who funded the pilot study, will be able to begin using drones with thermal cameras in 2020 to inform how and when they program their activities.

Forestry and construction companies in the U.K. are required to ensure their work doesn’t endanger protected species, including the nesting sites of protected bird species. In the case of the European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), however, the bird’s highly effective camouflage makes it difficult to detect inside a patch of vegetation.

So researchers from Cardiff University in Wales have turned to thermal-sensing cameras to locate nightjar nests as part of a recent pilot study.

A European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) showing its impressive camouflage, which enables it to evade predators by sitting still. Its large eyes and long whiskers help it detect insect prey in low-light conditions. Image by Dûrzan cîrano via Wikimedia Commons (CC 3.0).

“Nightjars are camouflaged to look just like a fallen log or dead wood,” lead author Mike Shewring, a Cardiff University Ph.D. student, said in a statement. “They nest on the ground and ‘sit tight’ when approached to avoid detection, which makes it nearly impossible to spot them during the day when they are inactive.”

Nightjars, as their name implies, are nocturnal, and the birds remain still if a person walks by, using their camouflage to avoid detection. Ecologists surveying planned logging or construction sites can easily miss seeing birds hiding within the vegetation. Moreover, walking among fallen trees while conducting ground nest surveys is costly, time-consuming, and potentially hazardous.

Shewring and colleagues recently tested the suitability of thermal cameras mounted on drones to detect nightjar nest sites as an alternative survey method. A drone-mounted camera can survey an area faster than a team of ground observers, potentially without disturbing the birds or their nests. Thermal-sensing cameras can find birds and other warm-bodied animals hidden within vegetation, even in the dark.

A thermal image of a logged forest taken from a drone-mounted thermal-sensing camera. A warm-blooded nightjar in the center shows up as a small red dot and the nest as yellow against the colder vegetation. Downed trees are even colder and appear as darker blue in the image. Image by Skeye Ltd and Natural Resources Wales.

Shewring presented the preliminary findings of their pilot tests last month at the British Ecological Society’s annual conference.

The scientists took a series of thermal images by flying the drones over a tree plantation in Wales in areas where nightjar nests had been previously identified by radio tracking and direct observation.

They took the images at 10, 20, and 50 meters (33, 66, and 164 feet) above the ground at dawn, noon and dusk during the nightjar breeding season (between May and August).

The researchers were able to detect nightjars in their nests in the thermal images. Nightjars’ body temperatures run around 40 degrees Celsius (105 degrees Fahrenheit), which show up in the thermal images against the colder background of vegetation or soil. Not surprisingly, the birds’ outlines were more easily seen in images taken at cooler times of the day, when the temperature contrast was greatest.

The scientists found that images taken at 10 meters above the ground produced more useful images than those taken from higher up. Surveying with aerial images from known altitudes also allowed them to estimate the body size of the birds below to confirm the species, without getting too close.

Nightjar chicks awaiting their parents’ return. Nightjars build open nests on the ground that are as difficult to spot as the birds. Image by Mike Shewring/Cardiff University.

To prevent workers from destroying nests, forest managers currently avoid areas around known nests or avoid forestry work altogether during the breeding season. The new findings suggest that drones could make the task of surveying nightjars faster, easier, more accurate and more cost-effective.

Shewring told Mongabay that surveying with drone-mounted thermal cameras could similarly be a cost-effective way to survey other ground-nesting bird species. He added that the method would work best in grasslands and other open-country habitats, rather than forests.

“We were conducting surveys in grassland up to one meter [3.3 feet] in height, and it worked well in this scenario,” Shewring said. “I would think the denser the vegetation and the more water it holds, the more this would mask the thermal signature, i.e. looking [for] nests at ground level through dense woodland canopy would unlikely be successful.”

“Our preliminary findings demonstrate the potential of drones for surveying nightjars during their breeding season, allowing forestry managers to locate nests more accurately and plan their works adequately,” project supervisor Robert Thomas said in the statement. “This methodology could also have wider applications, since it could technically be adapted to detect any warm-blooded species.”

The nightjars stayed put in their nests during the drone flights, a characteristic behavior these cryptic birds employ to avoid being detected by predators.

A group of nightjars looking like logs on the woodland floor. Image by Mike Shewring/Cardiff University.

“We don’t know whether the nightjars perceived the drones as a predator,” Shewring said. “This would be interesting to explore in future studies to ensure that the sight and sound of drones don’t have any negative impacts on the birds’ stress levels or metabolism.”

In the meantime, Shewring said, the group will be further developing their software and analyses this year, to characterize in better detail the thermal signature of nightjar nests through additional drone flights and testing of automated analysis approaches. He added that they hope the forest managers, who funded the pilot study, will be able to begin using drones with thermal cameras in 2020 to inform how and when they program their activities.

Shares of an Australian drone ‘detection and counter-measure’ company jumped 28 per cent on Friday after drone sightings closed London’s Gatwick airport for three days last week.

Peter James, chairman of ASX-listed DroneShield told Your Money Live that the company’s technology could have resolved the issue more effectively than Britain’s armed forces.

“We saw reports of police going in trying to do something, it’s all a bit sad. The military defense force is also going out, but with traditional mechanisms, they can’t do anything” he said.

Drones were sighted around the Gatwick airfield dozens of times during the three-day period, forcing the government to bring in military specialists as hundreds of thousands of passengers were left stranded.

With police still hunting for the perpetrators, the unfolding drama highlights the difficulty facing governments as drones and other flying devices become more mainstream.

“It’s Christmas, it’s a busy time of year and if anyone is going to cause unrest or uncertainty what better time to do it?” James said earlier on Trading Day.

“It’s an unfortunate comment but given we’re in the business, we see these kinds of events happening around the world all the time. For example, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, other airports have all been interfered with, sometimes by terrorists, sometimes just by clueless, careless activities.”

A relatively new issue, legislation around drone flying remains a grey area in many countries and cities, made more confusing because each airport has its own set of rules.

“One of the good things that come out of this is it may hasten the legislative process, that’s often the case. But airports are very complex pieces of infrastructure with their own electronic rules and activities so this sort of event is complex to interdict,” he said.

Police said there was no indication of a terrorist motive behind the devices, which first appeared on Wednesday night.

Drone tech utilization is multifaceted.  Now photogrammetry using drones is helping recreate 3D models of buildings and cities to the minutest detail. David Kretz who has been working with 3D for over 10 years explains from his experiences during the process of building a portfolio.

Studying architecture at ETH Zürich 3D modelling quickly became a passion with David. He understood the efficacy of 3D to comprehend ideas in a precise way in contrast to the limitations of 2D plans which can be hard to read and imagine. David quickly picked up the skill of using CAD software like Archicad to visualize projects and render them in Cinema 4D and compose in Photoshop.

After completing his masters David travelled around the world on his motorbike focusing on photographing, filming and editing videos for the 2.5 years of his journey on road using a drone. David says that this drone, a Spark from DJI, was compact and ideal for travel and helped enhance the quality and perspective of output.

Now, working as an architect in an architecture office in Burgdorf, Switzerland on the 3D visualizations for a couple of projects David began using his drone to capture photos of facades for preservation of evidence.

David began working on developing possibilities using photogrammetry to help with the architectural projects in more precise planning and visualization. He set to work and the results speak for themselves- David has created models of the old city of Bern, the ancient temple in Ayutthaya, a pretty Swiss castle amongst many others; all capturing the minutest of details have made the 3D models as close to reality as can be.

Cultural Heritage in Switzerland

Cultural Heritage is a big part of the Swiss culture- the cities and villages look like something out of a fairy tale.

David has created 3D models of these heritage buildings and is glad to be able to record them the way there are. Someday his work might be able to help preserve heritage for future generations.

Handing out some tips that should be considered for using 3D to recreate models, David says:

Choosing the right tool-For single houses, whole neighbourhoods or single buildings a drone is required to get the shots from above and also for getting into smaller spaces.

Choosing the right time-Strong and long shadows while shooting also get baked into the 3D model.

The best conditions for shooting are on an overcast day or at midday day to avoid any hard shadows and the object is evenly lit from all directions.

David sometimes uses the DJI Spark and a compact camera or the Sketchfab depending on the conditions of lighting and the building or place to be recreated.

According to David for a large scale project it’s great to have a drone with capability of waypoints. With this function it’s possible to set up the desired picture overlap, camera angle as well as the flight area before the flight David adds.

Quadcopter drones and other unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAV’s) have become common -place and their use is widespread among consumers and professionals in numerous industries. Aerial imagery and video can provide useful perspectives and have great value in communicating progress, for use in documentation of site activity and for use in marketing services.

Drones, either through imagery or LIDAR, can further provide quick and accurate surveying information, which is valuable for positioning of facilities and activities. LIDAR data can also be used effectively for quality control and for quantity measurement.

Imagery also has further applications in safety evaluation, productivity improvement, security and real-time job-site monitoring. Such additional uses have the potential for making a real impact on successful project delivery while increasing and competitiveness.

Progressive construction companies and service providers throughout the globe recognize this potential and see significant promise for tangible return on investment. This paper will evaluate these opportunities for quadcopters and other UAV’s based on experiences of the authors in using drones in Dubai and in the United States. The examination concludes with evaluation of the opportunities and avenues for research using UAV’s.

Drone captured imagery of construction status [Source: Wikimedia Commons, March 2018]

Listing the Plethora of Opportunities for UAV Integration

Researcher Edgar P. Small of the University of Delaware decided to focus on the plethora of opportunities for UAVs in construction planning, performance and contract close out. In his paper, he describes drones as “ubiquitous throughout the globe for hobbyists and within professional communities” and shows that surveying and construction are one of the most notable professions where the integration of these quadcopters has become common over the past decade.

As Edgar Small states:

“Today, drones are frequently routinely employed somewhere in the delivery of a construction project along the life-cycle from concept through completion. This increase in the use of drones makes sense as resulting aerial imagery has great value in documenting, communicating and recording current conditions with visual perspectives previously unavailable without large expense. Considering just aerial imagery, the prevalence of drones makes sense at nearly all levels and for all participants in the project delivery process. Planners and designers can use aerial imagery in conceptual and preliminary design. Construction professionals can use imagery to layout construction sites and monitor job-site activity, owners can use likewise use the imagery for marketing and business development.”

Amazing Benefits Result in Amazing Opportunities

Small then begins listing the different types of drones, starting from consumer and commercial drones which are already used in a number of industries, from agriculture to surveying, forestry and ecology. Since they are low cost and have increased power and size, increased flight times and ranges as well as respectable flight load carrying capacities, drones like these open up the possibilities when it comes to their potential uses.

Speaking of uses, Small focuses on drones in construction, where the base imagery and videography of drones can be seen through countless of examples. He addresses all the sites and the benefits of drone-based aerial imagery as well as the potential opportunities that include construction progress photography and development, preconstruction planning and evaluation, visual inspection and auditing, safety improvement, volumetric measurement and 3D modeling.

Current and Future Applications and Research in the Use of Drones for Construction

There are numerous research activities on drones for construction explored through a search of peer-reviewed journals and conferences. When it comes to the future applications of drones, the author is quite confident that there are a lot of potential uses.

As Small concludes:

“Drones are ubiquitous and widely employed, most frequently, for capturing of imagery and videos regarding construction site conditions. The information is then used for wide variety of purposes, including but not limited to: planning, for site monitoring, for safety evaluation, for promotion and marketing, and for surveying. Drones can also be coupled with LIDAR for surveying purposes and the development of digital terrain models and digital elevation models. Thermal imaging cameras can also be employed for a variety of purposes, such as quality control. Photographic, video and live-stream data can further be used for monitoring, control, inspection and so on, when accessed and acted upon by experienced professional personnel. ”

Small also accents that as research advances, more automation will be integrated and the technology will become more pervasive – as well as expand its reach and develop new ways to use drones.

DJI recently launched what seems to be a massive agriculture drone in China. It is called the T16 and the video below explains everything in great detail to anybody who can understand Chinese. Unfortunately, that does not include me. However, there are a few things that become clear as you watch the video.

The massive T16 agricultural drone from DJI

Apparently, DJI launched a new agricultural drone in China recently. The video of which you can see below. It is hard to get all the details from it as it is all in Chinese. I tried taking screenshots, OCR them and then use Google translate but no luck there. So, if you happen to speak Chinese, feel free to chime in.

*** Updated and confirmed specs ***

Our friends from DroneWatch in The Netherlands have been able to get a lot more information on the new T16 agriculture drone from DJI.

• The T16 has a 16 liters (4.23 gallons) container on board for ‘plant protection fluids.
• Integrated ground radar allows the drone to closely follow the terrain.
• The addition of AI in combination with a 3D point cloud enables the drone to recognize trees and deliver a high-precision application.
• More stringent rules and regulation in Western European countries, the US and Canada may be the reason why the DJI T16 will only be available in China for now.
• When folded up the size of the DJI T16 will be reduced by 75% for easier transportation.
• IP67 rating protects against rain and dust.
• Both the tank reservoir and the batteries can be swapped easily and quickly.
• The batteries have a capacity of 17.500 mAh.
• The charger has a capacity of 2600W and can charge four batteries at once.
• One battery can be charged within 20 minutes with a special fast-charging option.
• The integrated spray system has four motors, eight spray heads. A maximum spray capacity of 4.8 liters (1.27 gallons) per minute. The drone can spray up to 6.5 meters (21.33 feet) wide.
• In combination with the Phantom 4 RTK, one could create a highly precise 3D map of the area that is to be sprayed. AI can then be used to calculate and plan the optimal flight path for the DJI T16.
• The DJI T16 has obstacle avoidance front and back.
• The integrated ground radar allows for very precise altitude determination even in dusty or foggy conditions.
• The DJI T16 can even be used at night as it is equipped with a floodlight.
  
  
  
  YouTube video of the DJI T16 The title and description of the video translate according to Google as follows:
  

Dajiang T16 Plant Protection Unmanned Aircraft Introduction Video

Xianchuang International Co., Ltd

The T16 plant protection unmanned aircraft has reshaped the overall structure and adopts a modular design, which brings the high load and wide spray width of the Dajiang Plant Protection Unmanned Aircraft as never before. Powerful hardware collaboration AI intelligent engine technology and 3D job planning capabilities bring plant protection operations to new heights.

A few other things do become clear after watching the video. The T16 drone has six rotors, mounted on foldable arms. It can spray up to 4.8 liters of plant protection, i.e. pesticides per minute. The drone has a waterproof rating of IP67 meaning you can fly it in the rain.

The DJI T16 drone also has obstacle avoidance and features RTK for highly precise spraying and land or crop monitoring. The drone also comes with what seems to be quite sophisticated software to plan the flight of the drone and make accurate maps of the area.  It also seems to have some kind of radar system mounted below the drone that allows the drone only to spray when it is actually flying over the treetops and not in between the trees. Obviously, this would go a long way in using less ‘plant protection’ per acre.

It seems that the DJI T16 offers the latest in high precision application of ‘plant protection’ by drone, from DJI. About one year ago, DJI Launched the MG-1S Advanced and the MG-1P drones for the agriculture market. Alternative solutions are offered by Yamaha with the YMR-08 drone for instance.