Unmanned Aircraft Systems take to the skies during Big Iron field demos
By DALE HILDEBRANT Minnesota Farm Guide
WEST FARGO, N.D. – The skies over the Big Iron Farm Show field demo site will be buzzing with activity as models of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) will perform demonstration flights.
According to John Nowatzki, coordinator of the field day demo and NDSU Extension ag engineer, the demonstrations are scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. all three days of the show, Sept. 9-11.
Each session will open with a 30-minute educational session by NDSU Extension precision agriculture, crop and livestock specialists discussing current UAS research at the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center and potential applications to crop and livestock management.
Also, Ian MacRae from the University of Minnesota will explain how he is using UAS in his ag related work as Extension entomologist.
The in-field demonstrations will follow, with each company representative having time to discuss their equipment and then have a time for flight demonstration.
“We are inviting four companies, two fixed wing and two roto-copter to fly and demonstrate,” Nowatzki said. “We are doing it under the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA). This group will have representatives there who will actually coordinate the demonstrations. That way we can be under Federal Aeronautics Administration (FAA) rules.”
Following the UAS displays and demonstration flights, there will be UAS seminars starting at 3 p.m. each day in the Scholander Pavilion meeting room. These seminars will include UAS image data management and processing, equipment displays and UAS industry presentations.
The AMA is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of model aviation as a recognized sport as well as a recreational activity. Under present FAA regulations, the AMA can conduct UAS demonstrations, but commercial use of UAS is forbidden until new rules and regulations regarding UAS are written into law. With the AMA conducting the flying demonstrations, it is regarded as a hobby or recreational activity, which falls within the FAA rules.
North Country Ag Services from Casselton, N.D., will have an exhibit booth focusing on UAS technology and will also be doing a flight demonstration at the field demos, according to Kris Poulson, one of the officers in the company.
“Our company is a process and data analysis firm for farmers. One layer of data that we import to process and analyze is information from a UAV flight,” Poulson said. “We are not a UAV company, but rather a data processing company.
“A lot of people think the actual flights of these UAVs is the next big thing, but I don’t agree with that,” he continued. “I think the information you get off that flight will be the beneficial piece that makes it actionable for farmers to do different things. And that’s what our company does. We import that information, process it and make sense of it for you.”
Poulson describes North County Ag Services as a “cradle to grave” company, meaning that they are fully integrated from the platform the data is gathered from to the finished product.
Data from a UAV is loaded wirelessly to the producer’s laptop and from their laptop to the cloud. His company then retrieves the data from the cloud, and processes, analyzes and makes sense of that data for the producer. This is then put on an on-line application where the producer can view it anywhere in the world where there is Internet access.
“The hardest thing that the producer will need to do is remember their password,” Poulson said.
As for their activity at Big Iron, they will do a flight demonstration each day at the field demo site and will have example reports of what they print off. In addition, they will help those interested, learn how to navigate their app.
He noted that his company is attacking the gathering of data from a different angle. Most are relying on cameras to capture images and turn those images into data. But, instead of using cameras, North County Ag Services is fully integrated sensors, which are on-board computers, accordingto Poulson. With their system, going forward, they are going to be able to detect things such as diseases and insect pressures before a producer will be able to visually see the problem with their eyes.
“In the future, I think this technology will have a phenomenal impact from many fronts,” he said.
The field demonstrations during Big Iron are sponsored by Farm & Ranch Guide.
This is interesting as of course this sort of work falls outside of the FAA’s COA guidelines they will only permit aviation based research and would not seem to fall within the remit of model aircraft flying.
Loopholes all around (ed)
