A new drone prototype caused quite the buzz at the recent Citrus Expo 2015. The drone was developed by Aussley Associates and is like no drone before. It’s fixed wing style and single propeller makes it unique, along with it’s top speed of 80 miles per hour. We spoke with the company’s business development manager, Henry Kotula, about this newly developing UAV.
“We see it as the next evolution for agriculture, in that its going to give people data and information they have not had access to before.” Kotula said. The drone will be able to do a myriad of jobs including crop scouting, multi-spectral infrared video, 3-D mapping, and detect harvest maturity explained Kotula. The unmanned aerial vehicle will be able to carry twice the weight of other fixed wing drones and house up to five cameras. Kotula said they plan to be able to launch it with a sling-shot mechanism from the back of a half-ton pick-up truck and it will land using a parachute device.
The UAV is said to be hitting the market in the next three to six months. Kotula said they are unsure yet whether the UAV will be available for sale or for hire only.
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