Manual Operation

  • The farmer needs to manually pilot the drone and physically interact with the drone and its controller for take-off, flight and landing.
  • The farmer is required to maintain clear visual contact with the drone by law at all times, which is around 500 meters away from them. They must also be capable of keeping the drone flying safely during each flight.
  • The farmer decides if the weather conditions for flying the drone are within safe limits.
  • The farmer decides, for each flight, where the drone must go, what they want it to do, and what information they want to get from it.
  • The farmer maintains relevant documentation such as flight logs and maintenance records in support of Operating Certification and Regulation.
  • The farmer physically manages battery charging for each flight daily.
  • The farmer manually extracts the data captured by their drone each flight and then loads it onto their computer for analysis.
  • The farmer will need to manage the drone’s servicing and maintenance to keep it in good flying condition and/or replace it if they damage or destroy it.
  • The farmer will need to learn how to do all of the above.

Fully Automated

  • The drone is fully automated and the farmer never needs to touch it or fly it. It lives in its own micro hangar on the farm.
  • The drone can cover an entire farm without the farmer interacting with it.
  • The drone is programmed to return to its hangar if any operating anomaly is detected – and we’ll be notified of that incident.
  • There is a small weather station on the drone’s micro-hangar that decides if it is safe for it to fly.
  • There is a menu list on the farmers tablet or phone to choose what pre-programmed task they want the drone to perform… and then press ‘go’.
  • Documentation and regulation compliance is taken care of by Aeronavics.
  • Battery charging is automated. The farmer never has to even think about it.
  • The drone is connected to the internet. It automatically processes data and delivers that data to the farmer In fact, it is processing data while flying.
  • We monitor the drone’s health and critical systems and keep it operational. If it gets damaged, we repair or replace it.
  • The farmer chooses the information they need the drone to capture – we manage the rest.