DJI Agras
3000 spray drones sold, but not in Europe
DJI is the largest drone manufacturer in the world. For a year now, it has also been developing in the agricultural sector with a special agricultural drone: De Agras. It has said that it has sold 3.000 units. But Europe, that is a flight too far for the time being.
Despite the fact that DJI shows two Agra MG-1S drones on the Sima, they are not for sale. Which means; you can get them, but there is no European country that allows you to spray plots with a spraying drone. Whether that will change soon remains to be seen. Even the Chinese have little hope for it. They may still see an opportunity to fight mosquitoes. Something that is now being done with planes and helicopters in France. Different rules apply for this.
The Agras drone has a 10-litre tank on board with which one hectare is sprayed. Under the drone we saw were 010 caps. The propellers should help drive the spray mist into the crop. There is also an app to scan the leaf cover. It tells you whether it is good, too much or too little. Radar under the drone detects the height to the crop. The A3 processor is equipped with a dual system. If the electronics fail, a backup takes over.
The drone itself is made of carbon and therefore resistant to water and mud. The spraying technique looks very basic. There is also not much space because otherwise it will be too heavy. Take the big battery. It lasts about 24 minutes, which is enough for one hectare. You measure plots in advance with an RTK station. DJI also supplies these on request. Via the control app you plan a route and how much needs to be sprayed where. When empty, the drone will automatically return to its starting point. After he knows where the plot boundaries are, he flies his own laps. We already know the controller to fly yourself from the hobby drone Phantom. The video button is now to turn the syringe on and off. That looks a bit clumsy.
According to the manufacturer, it has now sold 3.000 drones since last year. They mainly do their work above Chinese rice fields, but also in other Asian countries. One hectare can be sprayed in ten minutes, with about eight flights a day, according to the manufacturer.
A second model of the drone will follow in April of this year. It has, among other things, a double pump and can probably stay in the air longer with more liquid. DJI sees it sunny, but not in Europe.
Niels van der Boom
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