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Mar. 25, 2024
Source: FOX News A new exemption for drone piloting from the Federal Aviation Administration has cleared the airways for "drone-swarm" agriculture, a method of seeding and spraying crops at a fraction of the traditional cost. Hylio, a Texas-based drone manufacturer, successfully applied for an exemption from the FAA to allow fleets of drones weighing 55 pounds or more to fly together. It's the first exception of its kind for machines that carry what the company calls a "meaningful payload" and makes the process competitive with traditional tractors and seeding rigs. "On average, you're spending a quarter both up front, capital cost to buy the machinery, and operating cost is about a quarter or maybe a third of what you'd spend for the traditional stuff," Arthur Erickson, Hylio's CEO, told Fox News Digital. Hylio drones spraying chemicals over a field of crops A pair of Texas-made Hylio drones spraying chemicals over a field. (Hylio) Even a set of three drones costs substantially less than a single tractor. They use less water to carry chemicals, causing less soil compaction, and only a fraction of the fuel for generators to recharge batteries in the field. And Hylio doesn't charge a subscription fee for its software, Erickson said. Under previous rules, a single drone required a pilot and another person acting as a spotter. Because of weight limitations in flight, it took a long time to cover large fields. Now the two-person team can fly up to three drones at once in a "swarm," covering triple the area in the same time, making it almost as fast as a conventional tractor. Andy Kreikemeier, a Nebraska farmer behind Infinity Precision Ag, says he began using drones about six months ago, primarily in hard-to-reach places. In addition to the pilot and the spotter, his operation also includes a third person to refill the drone. "Now we can run three drones with two people with this exemption," he told Fox News Digital. "So, not only are we increasing our coverage time frame with using three drones, but we're lessening the time and the amount of people we have to have on site." To read the entire report click here. Tweet |
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