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46 Insight | Autonomous farming that takes. For crop spraying in particular there is a complex balance of range and performance: as more pesticide is delivered, the craft becomes lighter and its range increases. The algorithms are even more complex for multiple craft, and that balance is specific to crop spraying. Swarms of UAVs can also help farmers map the distribution of weeds in their fields to improve crop yields, according to researchers at the Swarm Robotics for Agricultural Applications (SAGA) project in Italy. The project will deliver a swarm of devices to monitor a field using onboard machine vision to map the presence of weeds among crops. Weed control The software will also allow the UAVs to draw each another to weed-infested areas, allowing them to inspect only those areas, similar to the way bees forage the most profitable flower patches. That means weed control activities can be limited to high-priority areas, saving time and money for the farmer. “The application of swarm robotics to precision agriculture represents a shift with a tremendous potential impact,” says Dr Vito Trianni, SAGA project coordinator and researcher at the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies of the Italian National Research Council (ISTC-CNR). “As the price of robotics hardware comes down, and the miniaturisation and abilities of robots increase, we will soon be able to automate solutions at the individual plant level. “This needs to be accompanied by the ability to work in large groups, to cover big fields efficiently and work in synergy. Swarm robotics offers solutions to such a problem,” he says. The UAV hardware is being developed by Avular in The Netherlands, and the control and machine vision software by the Farm Technology Group at Wageningen University, also in The Netherlands. The swarm algorithms are being developed at ISTC-CNR, with the first systems being delivered in 2017. Crop spraying has also led to new designs of UAVs. For example, last year DJI designed new motors with shielded air intakes for its eight-rotor MG-1, which can carry a 10 kg tank for spraying. The spraying arms are also designed to limit any collateral spray onto sensors such as a camera. Collaborative algorithms are also December/January 2017 | Unmanned Systems Technology The fuel cell-powered Hydrone 1800 has a range of 100 km for agriculture applications (Courtesy of Micro Multi Copter Aero Technology) Yamaha’s Fazer R is a new version of its petrol- driven UAV, developed specifically for precision agriculture (Courtesy of Yamaha) Swarms of UAVs can help farmers map the distribution of weeds in fields to improve crop yields, limiting weed control to high-priority areas