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Are drones being used in the US as well? This type of labor savings seems like a pretty obvious win. Of course I’m just a CRUD monkey living in the city so I ha

by SCUSKU 2y ago

Are drones being used in the US as well? This type of labor savings seems like a pretty obvious win. Of course I’m just a CRUD monkey living in the city so I have no idea how farmers actually operate.

SailToSki 2y ago
Yes! I know of at least one instance where a farmer in Colorado is using them for seeding and pesticide spray.
owlninja 2y ago
Absolutely, and ironically, given recent news, I think DJI is one of the top manufacturers used.
- alephnerd 2y ago
  VN and China have a FTA (part of the ASEAN FTA) > Are drones being used in the US as well Yes. We even funded a couple prominent players in the space that got acquired a decade ago. Chicago, Champaign-Urbana, Pittsburgh, and Ames used to be hubs in this niche back then.
bri3d 2y ago
Yes. Until recently though, spraying by drone was a near impossible permitting nightmare (now it’s only a minor permitting nightmare) and was inefficient because you needed a Part 107 pilot and a Visual Observer for each individual drone. But, things have gotten better. Before, spray drones over 55lb (the limit for a Small UAS in the US) had to go through an experimental aircraft registration program and be granted a tail number. Now, a select list of drones are authorized for spray operations with a special waiver instead, which is way easier.
- rukuu001 2y ago
  Interesting! In Australia we see drones mapping areas that need to be sprayed, then that data is downloaded into a tractor which traverses the field spraying (or adding nutrient) according to data collected by the drone. Haven't heard of spraying drones yet
  - greenavocado 2y ago
    This makes way more sense. Spraying with drones is a huge waste of energy.
    - Rnonymous 2y ago
      But driving a tractor over a field is a huge waste of land. Energy can be easily renewable in sunny regions such as vietnam.
- thepasswordis 2y ago
  Is it possible to buy a piece of land and just get a rule that says "I can pretty much fly anything 100 feet up in the air above my property"? It's kindof frustrating that this isn't the case. If you're a company developing drones, for instance, how do you even test them?
  - kjkjadksj 2y ago
    Just do whatever you want no one patrols for this. Someone would have to call it in then a cop would have to show and do something about it in a timely manner. Fat chance IMO. I see either hobbyist or real estate photography drones overhead my property all the time, no way any of that has a permit. How would I even report the tresspass? They are gone in a few minutes. Cops aren’t showing up that fast without a body.
    - fragmede 2y ago
      People are getting away with using drones as you mentioned, but the FAA's rules have had a real chilling effect on the hobby, which is a problem. Where drone piloting is a now a necessary skill for soldiers to have, and we're not encouraging the hobby, I think the next few decades aren't going to play out as well as they could.
      - kjkjadksj 2y ago
        The sort of drones the military are going to pilot in the next few decades are going to be nothing like what you can pilot as a consumer. Either way the youth is trained pretty well for electronic warfare. Just mate the drone to a video game controller or a mouse and keyboard and people will be elite immediately just like they are the first day a new video game is released to the world.
        theossuary 2y ago
        That's not true. First, many operations the US military engages in are with partner nations who only have access to commercial drones. The US military is behind them in effectively utilizing these drones (commonly DJI, which the US military can't even practice with due to the ban). Second, there's a huge push to shorten the drone procurement process, and reduce the cost of drones. This allows them to be used in harsh EW environments as one-offs, and allows the operator to be safer (the more expensive the drone, the more likely a unit will be sent to recover it if it's downed). It also allows for faster adaptation to EW and changing circumstances. The US military drones of tomorrow will look a lot like Skydio drones today, if the US can get it together and update their procurement process to the 21st century. Interesting listen to on the topic: https://irregularwarfare.org/podcasts/drones-automation-and-how-arsof-is-adapting/ https://irregularwarfare.org/podcasts/drones-automation-and-...
082349872349872 2y ago
Until recently, we manually checked fields before mowing in order to flag fawns. Now it's done by drone (and IR makes for good contrast).

by SCUSKU 2y ago

SailToSki 2y ago

Yes! I know of at least one instance where a farmer in Colorado is using them for seeding and pesticide spray.

owlninja 2y ago

Absolutely, and ironically, given recent news, I think DJI is one of the top manufacturers used.

alephnerd 2y ago
VN and China have a FTA (part of the ASEAN FTA) > Are drones being used in the US as well Yes. We even funded a couple prominent players in the space that got acquired a decade ago. Chicago, Champaign-Urbana, Pittsburgh, and Ames used to be hubs in this niche back then.

bri3d 2y ago

Yes. Until recently though, spraying by drone was a near impossible permitting nightmare (now it’s only a minor permitting nightmare) and was inefficient because you needed a Part 107 pilot and a Visual Observer for each individual drone. But, things have gotten better. Before, spray drones over 55lb (the limit for a Small UAS in the US) had to go through an experimental aircraft registration program and be granted a tail number. Now, a select list of drones are authorized for spray operations with a special waiver instead, which is way easier.

rukuu001 2y ago
Interesting! In Australia we see drones mapping areas that need to be sprayed, then that data is downloaded into a tractor which traverses the field spraying (or adding nutrient) according to data collected by the drone. Haven't heard of spraying drones yet
- greenavocado 2y ago
  This makes way more sense. Spraying with drones is a huge waste of energy.
  - Rnonymous 2y ago
    But driving a tractor over a field is a huge waste of land. Energy can be easily renewable in sunny regions such as vietnam.
thepasswordis 2y ago
Is it possible to buy a piece of land and just get a rule that says "I can pretty much fly anything 100 feet up in the air above my property"? It's kindof frustrating that this isn't the case. If you're a company developing drones, for instance, how do you even test them?
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  Just do whatever you want no one patrols for this. Someone would have to call it in then a cop would have to show and do something about it in a timely manner. Fat chance IMO. I see either hobbyist or real estate photography drones overhead my property all the time, no way any of that has a permit. How would I even report the tresspass? They are gone in a few minutes. Cops aren’t showing up that fast without a body.
  - fragmede 2y ago
    People are getting away with using drones as you mentioned, but the FAA's rules have had a real chilling effect on the hobby, which is a problem. Where drone piloting is a now a necessary skill for soldiers to have, and we're not encouraging the hobby, I think the next few decades aren't going to play out as well as they could.
    - kjkjadksj 2y ago
      The sort of drones the military are going to pilot in the next few decades are going to be nothing like what you can pilot as a consumer. Either way the youth is trained pretty well for electronic warfare. Just mate the drone to a video game controller or a mouse and keyboard and people will be elite immediately just like they are the first day a new video game is released to the world.
      - theossuary 2y ago
        That's not true. First, many operations the US military engages in are with partner nations who only have access to commercial drones. The US military is behind them in effectively utilizing these drones (commonly DJI, which the US military can't even practice with due to the ban). Second, there's a huge push to shorten the drone procurement process, and reduce the cost of drones. This allows them to be used in harsh EW environments as one-offs, and allows the operator to be safer (the more expensive the drone, the more likely a unit will be sent to recover it if it's downed). It also allows for faster adaptation to EW and changing circumstances. The US military drones of tomorrow will look a lot like Skydio drones today, if the US can get it together and update their procurement process to the 21st century. Interesting listen to on the topic: https://irregularwarfare.org/podcasts/drones-automation-and-how-arsof-is-adapting/ https://irregularwarfare.org/podcasts/drones-automation-and-...

082349872349872 2y ago

Until recently, we manually checked fields before mowing in order to flag fawns. Now it's done by drone (and IR makes for good contrast).