University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture, The Institute for Agricultural Engineering
Abstract
The paper analyzes the possibility and necessity of applying special types of robots
(mini unmanned aircraft with different constructions with the UAV tag) in agriculture
(agrodrone). Year 2015 was declared (Fortune Magazine, 2016) as the year of increase
and widespread application of drone aircraft in all areas of human activity, particularly
in agriculture and forestry (75% usage). This is important for large areas of farms, whe re the mini aircraft have numerous useful functions and a very cost-effective application.
Agro drone flight (flight time of 45 min, and the flight altitude of 1 m to 120 m)
can be used to analyze more functional parameters on about 120 ha of crops, and all
data can be sent to multiple locations (Audit Information Centre, mobile phones users
and the like). Today some types of agro drones have a relative price of 2000 USD, if
the users (farmers) assemble the drone themselves after purchasing it in parts. However
the price of these mini aircraft can be up to 250,000 US$ for specific models used by
the military, when equipped with special infrared cameras, sensors and HD video tech nology, which is controlled by an operator (pilot) from the surface. Usage of agro
drones may be expensive at first, but research shows that many data collected (for
example, identifying the species of insects and plant diseases, irrigation, yield asse ssment or monitoring the movement of animals on farms), help farmers to regain inve sted funds, sometimes for only one year. Farmers can use these aircraft in order to
establish a rational and precise use of pesticides, herbicides, mineral fertilizers, all
based on data obtained from the agro drone, used for precision agriculture systems. In
this sense, the farmers have significant financial benefits, since one drone flight has an
operational cost of a water bottle, and the data collected has great value. There are
anecdotes about farmers in the US who first buy an agro drone and afterwards a hunting
dog. The paper presents some structures of agro drones as well as ideas for their possi ble future application in agriculture of the R. of Serbia
