Photo: Allan Nygren
This year has seen many exciting developments in the drone and UAV field, particularly in commercial applications. This shows no sign of slowing down and 2018 promises to be an even more exciting year. Apart from the many exciting new products, software and applications, there has also been much progress with the relaxing of many of the rules and restrictions governing drone usage. This is good news for companies in the industry as well as the many clients that benefit from these new developments and applications.
In one of the latest such developments on 15 December, the Falcon Foundation UAS, L.L.C. was granted a Certificate of Waiver for GreenSight Agronomics for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.
Scientific data was presented to the lower the impact to the National Airspace System (NAS) which prompted the FAA to grant the BVLOS waiver.
This waiver will aid GreenSight Agrodynamics in the effective monitoring and management of golf courses. These areas are highly dependent on water and chemical fertilizers. This new development will benefit the sUAS operations in a range of applications allowing them to reduce the environmental impact caused by golf courses.
Falcon Foundation UAS, L.L.C. was also involved in the project, assisting in reducing the risk in support of these operations. GreenSight is involved in developing automated intelligent platforms for farmers and land managers through their patented analytics and proprietary sensors. This technology allows the customers to improve fertilizer and pesticide usage as well as better manage water resources. They already assist the top 100 golf courses in the USA and Canada and have already helped these customers to optimize the use of fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides. This has resulted in a reduction in the amount of these chemicals needed without compromising on quality.
The development and technology is currently being tested by the top 5 chemical companies to improve and optimize their applications. These developments are good news for the customers in this industry as well as the environment. It further illustrates the beneficial applications of commercial drone technology.
With the rapid advancements and new developments in the past year, 2018 promises to see even more exciting developments in commercial drone applications.
SOURCE: sUAS News