Emerging Technologies in Precision Agriculture
Arkansas Based Efforts
&
Mobile
Apps &
Cloud
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)
Presented to:
Board of Directors, Agricultural Council of Arkansas
W. Memphis, AR , May 13, 2014
Dharmendra Saraswat, Ph.D.
James Robbins, Ph.D.
Associate Professor/Extension Engineer-Geospatial
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Professor and Ornamental Crops Specialist
Department of Horticulture
"...when you are trying something new, hard,
or innovative, failure is not only inevitable, but
it is also sometimes necessary ..."
Amy Elliott at TEDxVirginiaTech
Outline
1. Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) - currently most talked about
aerospace industry
- background, potential applications,
requirements, limitations and
opportunities, and our experiences
2. Mobile Apps and Cloud technology for Agriculture - status,
progress, and future plans
UAS- Background
“we’ve come a long way baby”
What is an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)?
 There is nothing unmanned about an unmanned system!
 What are they called:
• Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) (FAA and Congress)
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
• Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) (ICAO and Air Force)
• Drones
UAS Classification by Size
*Source: : Congressional Budget Office,
Policy Options for Unmanned Aircraft Systems,
Publication 4083, Washington,
DC, June 2011
UAS Classification by Weight
*Source: : Weibel and Hansman, 2004.
Safety considerations for operation of different
classes of UAVs in the NAS. Chicago, IL.
What UAS Options are Available to You?
Rotary
MicroDrone MD4-200
€ 50,000.00
DraganFly X6
http://www.microdrones.com
Mikrokopter
$ 3- $15k
$36,000.00
http://www.mikrokopter.us/
http://www.draganfly.com
DJI Phantom (<$1000)
http://www.dji.com/product/phantom-2/
Fixed Wing
Swinglet CAM
http://www.sensefly.com
$ 20- $25 K
Trimble-Gatewing
http://uas.trimble.com/
Precision Hawk
Future of Farming?????
3 D’s of UAS Use
Dull
 Persistence beyond manned capabilities
Dirty
 Poisonous/Radioactive Environments
Dangerous
 Anti-Access/Area Denial Operations
Economic Impact of UAS in Arkansas
• AUVSI’s 2013 Economic Report:
2015-2017 : Economic Impact- $80M, Taxes- $0.94M, Jobs Created- 411
2015-2025: Economic Impact- $481M, Taxes- $5.63M , Jobs Created- 608
What is gained by UAS adoption?
Source: Ehsani et al., 2012
‘Agriculture is a very sophisticated industry and
farmers are very data hungry — and they have
not been well served, historically, in providing
that data. They need on-demand data, they need
it very high resolution and they need it often.’
‘Meet the New Drone That Could Be a Farmer’s Best
Friend’, Rachel Rohr, Modern Farmer, January 21, 2014
Resolution Comparison
~ 50 cm/pixel
(20 inch/pixel)
~ 5 cm/pixel
(2 inch/pixel)
How will UAS be used in a agriculture?
Crop monitoring (nutrient, water, pest)
Chemical applications
Land & building management
Crop & livestock inventory management
Emerging Commercial UAV Uses
DuPont Pioneer

This year DuPont Pioneer is providing remote
sensing imagery services to growers though
Pioneer Field 360 services.
Monsanto FieldScript
 FieldScripts is planned to launch in Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa and Minnesota in 2014
FS Green Plan Solutions (GROWMARK)

Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Ontario
Trimble
Acquired Gatewing, a Belgian company
Leica Geosystems
Collaborated with Swissdrones
Challenges to Widespread Adoption
Safety
Privacy
“The challenge for industry is that the public perception of this
technology is being shaped by one percent of its [potential] use.” Peter W. Singer, Director for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, Brookings Institute
certainly don’t want ‘em flying over my house ‘ Beafore
says. But he emphasizes surveillance is not what his UAVs
are about. The first uses will probably be agricultural,
checking crops for mold or standing water.
‘I
“The corn doesn’t care,” he says.
Frank Beafore, SelectTech Geospatial, ‘New York, Texas
among test sites for commercial drones, Marketplace,
December 12, 2013
Safety of Operation- MIT Study
Ground Impact of UAV accident
*Source: : Weibel and Hansman, 2005.
Report No. ICAT-2005-1
Challenges- System Issues
• Extend battery life (stay aloft for 5-15 minutes - limited ground coverage)
• Variety of UAV types (semi-autonomous, hand launched etc.)
• Research data on reliability is missing (500 hrs, 1000 hrs etc. useful life)
• Weather robust
• Missing data network to download images and videos from multiple UAVs
• Minimize solar flare impact on navigation
Challenges- Operational Needs and Funding
• Insurance
• Focus on data collection, analysis, and interpretation
• Sensors- Thermal imagery- reliable temperature
measurement, uncooled vs cooled camera
• Software support
• Greater Funding Support
a) The Commonwealth of Virginia announced it will award more than $2.6 million over
three years in Federal Action Contingency Trust (FACT) funds to Virginia Tech
b) Hawaii ($100,000),Maryland through ($500,000), Nevada ($4M), North Dakota ($1M),
for UAV test site
Our Experience
1. Inventory Management
a. Christmas Tree Farms
b. Open Field Nurseries
c. Citrus Orchards
2. Row-Crops
3. Others
Christmas Tree Farm
Results and Challenge
Inventory Management in Open Field
Nurseries
Plant Count- open-field nurseries
Diameter Estimation/Plant Grade- Citrus
Source: Ehsani, UFL
Citrus disease/stress detection
Thermal Camera
Source: Ehsani et al., 2012
False color image
NDVI Image (dark soil vs. regular
soil. The dark green shows higher
biomass and healthier crop
Visually, this variety in
particular seems to be
doing better than others
on the dark soil
Source: Ehsani, UFL
Source: Ehsani et al., 2012
Mobile Apps
Mobile Technology- On the Rise
Source: Time, January 13, 2014
Mobile Operating System Use Statistics
Mobile Apps and Farm Community
70% of ag respondents access
agriculture related
information on their mobile
phones
71% of farmer’s under the age
of 39 say they own a
smartphone
*Source: www.paulsenmarketing.com
** Source: agriculture.com, John Walter, 11/02/2011
Reality of Internet Speed
19 to 30% of rural
households in
southeastern USA lacks
broadband internet*
Map Source: Connect Arkansas
*Source: The Congressional Research
Service, July, 2013
Mobile App Design Focus
• Provide research based, updated
information, 24/7, at right location- i.e. field
or work place
• Download Once, Use it Bunch
• Fulfilling the mission of land grant university
system
Mobile Apps Status- since January 2013
Released Educational Apps
• Corn Advisor- both Android and iOS
• Manure Valuator- both Android and iOS
• Hort Plants- iOS
• Cotton Advisor- Android
Undergoing Beta Testing- Educational Apps
• CE Budgets- both Android and iOS
• Soybean Advisor- both Android and iOS
• Drought Advisor- Android
• WeedID- both Android and iOS
Drought Advisor- Some Examples
Cloud Application
https://fttcloud.uaex.edu
Features
Housed in a dynamically scalable cloud computing environment, the FTTCloud allows:
a) digital establishment of relationships across user types,
b) visualization of field data voluntarily entered by users,
c) sharing of field data among the trusted user base, and
d) a snapshot of its statewide adoption status.
Conclusion
• UAS technology is moving ahead at a faster
pace than regulations
• Precision agricultural is expected to be the
largest beneficiary
• FAA’s regulations are eagerly awaited
• Mobile phone apps and cloud technologies
are helping bring RTTP protocol to reality
• Exciting times lay ahead
Acknowledgments
• Colleagues in the U of A Division of Agriculture
• Staff and students in geospatial program