Drones as a Platform
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
Drone technology has already demonstrated its place in a precision spraying program, allowing farmers to save costs and spray less. But Arthur Erickson, CEO of Hylio, says the real opportunity isn't just what drones already do today, but instead using them as a platform for the next generation of agricultural technologies.
Erickson… “ We're seeing in some studies 10% to 20% yield loss just from literally running over your crop if you have to go mid or late season with the traditional equipment. Not to mention similar numbers over time especially for soil compaction. That being said, like right now, drones are a really good answer for a lot of problems. For now, I think drones are the biggest bang for our buck in terms of robotics deployed on the farm field right now. And I guess as an add-on to that point, like we're not even married to the concept of spraying like a liquid or a solid chemical onto the crop, right? So that's, again, something that is effective that people do right now. The drone is a platform technology. You can do that with drones, but if there are CO2 lasers that are more cost-effective and more effective in general, then there's no reason why you couldn't put that onto a Hylio-developed drone or UGV or whatever it is and also achieve the same if not better results. The drones are a platform technology and, yeah, the future will tell us what is the most effective thing to couple with these drones.”
Learn more about Hylio Drones at hyl.io.
