the state of drones for agriculture

THE STATE OF DRONES FOR AGRICULTUREMANOJ KARKEE, LAV KHOT, SINDHUJA SANKARAN

Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural SystemsBiological Systems Engineering Department

Washington State University

Washington State Grape Society (WSGS); Annual Meeting; Grandview, WA; Nov 13 2014

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A LITTLE BIT ABOUT CPAAS


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CPAAS: CENTER FOR PRECISION AND AUTOMATED AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS• Located in Prosser, WA; Directed by Dr. Qin Zhang

• 15+ affiliated faculty members • Cross-disciplinary environment: extension educators, horticulturists,

biologists, economists and engineers

• Facilitates collaborative, systematic research in precision agriculture, automation and mechanization


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CPAAS ACTIVITIES

• Basic and Applied Research • Graduate Education • Field Days; Tech Expos • Educational Tours • National and International

Collaboration


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Horticultural Technologies

Mechanization Technologies

Automation Technologies

Precision Agriculture

Socio-Economic Studies Agricultural Health & Safety

CPAAS RESEARCH DISCIPLINES


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SOME RESEARCH PROJECTS• Apple and Cherry Harvesting • Apple and Raspberry Pruning • Intelligent Bin Transport System • Automated Weed Control In Vegetables • Robotic Hop Twining • Water and Nitrogen Stress Sensing • Solid Set Canopy Delivery System • Post Harvest Fruit Quality Assessment


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UAS FOR AGRICULTURE


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UAS…..

• Unmanned Aerial Systems

• Also called UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and Drones

• Hardware Platform

• Fixed wing and multi-copters

• Communication and Navigation

• Ground Control/Operator, Auto-guidance, Auto-pilot • Sensors (e.g. cameras, lasers, multi-spectral sensors)

• Data collection, processing, storage


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SCALE OF UAVS

Source: WSU Magazine


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UAS FOR AGRICULTURE

• General interest in smaller, low cost platforms

• Applications can be categorized to

• Passive Applications • Remote Sensing • Crop Monitoring • Production Management Aid

• Active Applications • Precision chemical application • Cherry tree drying • Bird control


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IT IS A PRIME TIME FOR AGRICULTURE• AUVSI -“Precision Agriculture will lead civil UAS.”

March 2013• WA state second to CA in UAS industry growth

Plant-by-Plant resolution from

UASs.


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RESEARCH AREAS

• Validating Applications with Proven Values

• Color and NDVI maps

• Plant Stress Maps

• New/Emerging Applications

• Identifying new/particular diseases

• Bird Deterrence

• Technological Development • Increasing stability and endurance of low cost platforms

• Improved stitching of images


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REMOTE SENSING WITH UAS

• Remote Sensing Platforms

• Fixed Platforms

• Ground Vehicles

• Satellites

• Aerial Vehicles – Manned and Unmanned

• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles has Potential for • Higher Resolution Data

• More Frequent Flights

• Lower Altitude Flights

• Safer Operation

• Flexibility and Maneuverability

• Lower Cost


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SENSING/MONITORING FOR SPECIALTY CROPS

• Mapping Plant/Canopy Level Variability • Mapping Variability in Bloom Density • Monitoring Effectiveness of Pest Control Strategies • Real-time monitoring for field management • Developing high resolution terrain models


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UAS RESEARCH AT CPAAS/WSU


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• 2013 Survey of 252 farmers in Washington State • Bird damage in WA estimated at $80 million! • Collaborators indicated 50% crop loss to migratory

birds in 2010

BIRDS: A BIG PROBLEM FOR WA AG


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UAV FOR BIRD DETERRENCE

• OSU collaborators performed preliminary studies • More work for conclusive results

• System preparation at WSU with two UASs • A fixed wing and a hex-copter

• Planned test flights in 2015

3D Robotics Aero-M; Fixed Wing UAS


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FLYING OVER A VINEYARD


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LIQUID HYDROGEN FUELED UAS

Work of Jacob Leachman, WSU

The State of Drones for Agriculture: Applications

L. Khot, S. Sankaran, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Systems Engineering

Resolution: ~30 m/pixel ~2 m/pixel ~2 cm/pixel

▪ UAS benefits: Low cost, timeliness, high resolution imagery (sensing)

Imaging

Non-imaging

Ag Producti

on Managem

ent

1) Stress monitoring (biotic & abiotic) 2) Irrigation management 3) Inventory management 4) Crop emergence & yield estimation 5) Vine Vigor-Quality harvest

1) Surgical spraying 2) Crop loss management (cherry drying) 3) Bird deterrence

Yield ≈ f(Genetics, Environment, Farming Practices) + Ɛ

Precision Agriculture Crop Phenomics

UAS Sensing to Detect Vine Vigor & for Quality Harvest

ADAR 5500 remote sensing system (NIR, R, G), Johnson et al. (1998) Images: CRUSH project, NASA Ames Research Center

Team: Khot, Sankaran (August 2014) Collaborators: S. Jennifer, M. Means; St. Mitchell Wine Estates, Patterson, WA

UAS Sensing to Detect Vine Vigor & for Quality Harvest

UAS Sensing to Monitor Vine Physiology Sub-surface Micro-irrigation (SSMI)

Team: Jacoby, Sankaran, Peters, Keller et al. (Wine Advisory Committee, ERI, USDA-ARS)

Precision SSMI to regulate wine grape physiology (Red wine grapes) Comparison of SSMI to standard surface drip application (Concord juice grape & white wine [Chardonnay])

Mini-rhizotron camera- root monitoringSub-surface micro-irrigation Vine physiology

Crop Sensing for Early Anomalies Detection During Production

Potato Virus

Potato Early Dye

In-field Sensing and Decision Support System to Prevent Cherry Fruit Cracking due to Rainwater

Yamaha RMAX Type II G unmanned helicopter

WSU ARC-ERI (2014-2016) Team: Khot, Peters, Zhang, Granatstein & Whiting

July 23, 2014 - Chelan, WA - 40 year old Tobey Vigil of Beaverton, OR was killed on the job when the helicopter he was piloting crashed…..He was using the “helicopter to hover over cherry orchards, using the blades down draft to blow rain water from the cherries of an orchard.”

Overhead sprinkler

Downwash

Rain gauge

LWS

Anemometer

Cherry tree

900 MHz link

In-field Sensing and Decision Support System to Prevent Cherry Fruit Cracking due to Rainwater

Top

Middle

Bottom

Crosswind

Disease Detection & ManagementCrop Stress Management

Team: Lav Khot, S. Sankaran, Reza Ehsani, Stefano Musacchi

Precision Spraying Inventory and Yield Estimation

Estimating crown diameters in citrus orchards to predict fruit yield

Estimating container-grown ornamental pear trees in nurseries

Plant phenomics is the study of plant growth, performance and composition. In other words, expressed plant traits. Critical for variety development.

Average period for developing varieties = 10-15 years.

Breeding and Genomics Programs

✓ Global population is continuing to grow and may surpass 9 billion by mid of this century.

Plant Breeding Programs in Washington

Breeding programs at WSU and USDA-ARS labs. ✓Wheat ✓ Lentil ✓ Dry Peas ✓ Chickpeas ✓ Barley ✓ Potatoes ✓ Hops ✓ Apples ✓ Pear ✓ Peach ✓ Cherries ✓ Grapes ✓ Rice ✓ Beans ✓ Fuel crops

We demand on plant systems for food, fiber and fuel.

Phenotyping BottleneckIn last two decades, advancements in sequencing and molecular technologies have significantly improved plant breeding approaches; however current phenotyping approaches are slow, expensive, labor-intensive, subjective, and sometimes destructive.

UAS in PhenomicsHigh-

Throughput Phenotyping

Soft White

Hard Red

Soft White Club

Team: S. Sankaran, Lav Khot, Arron Carter

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Susceptibility to viral infections

Potato crop emergence and canopy closure

500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500

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Team: S. Sankaran Lav Khot, Rick Knowles, Lisa Knowles, Mark Pavek, Sagar Sathuvalli

UAS Economic Impact ✓ DOD Spending

http://www.auvsi.org/resources/economicreport


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FAA AND FLIGHT AUTHORIZATION

• Certification of Authorization (COA) for each research flight • Comprehensive process • Description of what, where and why • Ground school competency for operator(s) • Takes several months to more than a year • Comprehensive reporting and renewal process • Limited experiments may be possible with tethering

• No provision yet for commercial flights in Ag • Congress has mandated FAA to develop new regulations by

fall 2015 • Less stringent regulations expected for smaller UAVs in Ag

FAA – Federal Aviation Administration COA – Certification of Authorization


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POTENTIAL ADOPTION MODELS• In-house Technology

• Semi-autonomous • Acquire hardware • Fly as needed; upload data • Contract data management and processing service

• Autonomous • Acquire hardware, software and storage (local or cloud) • Dedicated in-house operator(s) • Contract maintenance and consultancy service

• Service Companies

• On-demand imaging and data processing • Per-acre cost

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Thank You


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MORE RESEARCH/APPLICATIONS


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WATER AND NUTRIENT STRESS SENSING

Tetracam small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS)

• Research in Potatoes• Oregon State University; Hermiston, Oregon• USDA Ag Research Services; Beltsville, Maryland

• Water Stress in Nuts• UC Davis

Upadhyaya et al. (2014)Hunt et al. (2014)


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ACTIVE UAS USE: AUTONOMOUS SPRAYING

• 90% of crops sprayed by UAS in Japan.

• Similar application in trial in CA Vineyards; UC Davis


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AUTONOMOUS SPRAYING IN NAPA VALLEY

Image Source: http://www.uasvision.com/


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FRUIT YIELD ESTIMATION IN CHILE

Octo-copter with a Multi-spectral Camera

Wulfsohn and Lagos (2014); Region O’Higgins, Chile


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TOWARD ADOPTION


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COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS

• Technology Developers

• Aerospace; UAV Companies

• Imaging Service Providers

• Image acquisition, processing, cloud • Integrated companies

• Both hardware, imaging and data processing

the state of drones for agriculture

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