DJI announced 2 new drones for agricultural use!

[Florida Drone Supply]

We knew agriculture was going to be a huge topic at AirWorks 2019, but we didn't expect DJI to announce 2 new drones, perfect for agriculture missions and environmental monitoring! See these two beauties here: DJI Airworks 2019: DJI unveils two new drones for agriculture | Heliguy

 

[BigAl07]

Impressive! I wish I was in that industry right now

 

[dougcjohn]

We knew agriculture was going to be a huge topic at AirWorks 2019, but we didn't expect DJI to announce 2 new drones, perfect for agriculture missions and environmental monitoring! See these two beauties here: DJI Airworks 2019: DJI unveils two new drones for agriculture | Heliguy

Great Technology... the Argus T16 is an impressive craft.
Although, have you had much interest in the Argus line in the States?
I thought it'd be popular on hilly vineyards but after a discussion with a vineyard Owner it wasn't even in their plans due to not being practical compared to other machinery options for spraying.

In the Mid-West, with most fields being large there isn't much interest in a 10-15L spray system. On a business side, purchasing & operating 2 or more of these MG-1P or T16... at $15-20K each... again with 10-15L compared to 2x1000gal saddle tanks and 30-60ft spray arms, I don't see where it's a practical spray system in ROI and operating costs.

Aren't these intended for smaller fields, that aren't very accessible during growing season (bogs, wet ground, etc).

The visual of 4 of these flying in sync with 1 RC across a field would be impressive, can that even operate in the States, multiple craft on one controller simultaneously? But again, that's about $100K and other options would provide faster broader coverage with a much faster ROI.

Was just curious as to the usefulness of the Argus line in USA.

The Phantom Multispectrum camera setup may have a hard time competing with well established & economical Sentera Double 4K Inspire Sensors and the Matrice M210's AGX710 Skyport system... their monthly cost to process is very reasonable in comparison to most. Slant also offers amazing products, but focused on the M210 too.

Although great to see DJI getting into Ag, it offers many new avenues. I'd like to see them provide more toward the Inspire, M210 & M600Pro payload size platforms for several Ag related tasks & payloads instead of moving away from established platforms and attempting to keep the P4 alive.

 

[R.Perry]

The T16 hold 16 liters, sprays at 4.8 liters a min (max) meaning your tank it empty in 3.3 minutes. For a very small farm that might work for someone with a lot of patience, but when looking at a few thousand acres, just isn't practical in my opinion. In most of the farms here in California central valley that wouldn't cover one row.
Personally I think we are a long ways from having efficient UAV crop dusters. The Air Tractor 802 will pack 9000 plus pounds of chemical.

He is another little known issue with crop dusting. Terrorist have shown interest in crop dusting aircraft, you can rest assured they aren't interested in farming. Anyone owning a crop duster has been advised to keep them secured. One of these drones used by the wrong people could be used to deliver lethal chemicals or make a biological attack on a large group of people. Just imagine what a crop duster lake the AT802 could do.

 

[dougcjohn]

The T16 hold 16 liters, sprays at 4.8 liters a min (max) meaning your tank it empty in 3.3 minutes. For a very small farm that might work for someone with a lot of patience, but when looking at a few thousand acres, just isn't practical in my opinion. In most of the farms here in California central valley that wouldn't cover one row.
Personally I think we are a long ways from having efficient UAV crop dusters. The Air Tractor 802 will pack 9000 plus pounds of chemical.

He is another little known issue with crop dusting. Terrorist have shown interest in crop dusting aircraft, you can rest assured they aren't interested in farming. Anyone owning a crop duster has been advised to keep them secured. One of these drones used by the wrong people could be used to deliver lethal chemicals or make a biological attack on a large group of people. Just imagine what a crop duster lake the AT802 could do.

I went there long ago on that tangent, but to many that's just not a consideration. Back in Pentagon days (70-80's) we considered bio warfare along the same lines. A scenario: 2-40 rental mini Van's with 2-4 members in each... just tourist travel the roads equipped with asprine sized bio-tabs in common looking over the counter bottles. Every body of water you cross over, toss out a few tabs and let it work. In short order think of the results.

In my understanding, drone dusting isn't intended for the whole field, it's more driven by NDVI GPS coordinates or visual spot coverage.
But agree, at 16L it's not well suited to Ag in USA in my opinion.... actually probably more useful in the manor you suggest.

 

[Slade Beck]

Just like [B]dougcjohn[/B] said why would they put this sensor on a Phantom!? I am in agriculture and the matrice series is the standard in the industry. Why not make a sensor that connects on the skyport? the phantom series is innovative and great but as far as being a solid and secure in high winds or having an IP43 rating the Matrice is a workhorse. Why do we now have to downgrade to a drone that feels like a good gust could send it tumbling to the ground? It just doesn't make sense from a practical perspective but I guess if the goal is to force us to purchase a cheaper drone just to get the sensor that is solely supported by the phantom then they will make millions simply because they are DJI.

 

[jourdango]

I saw the 16 at Airworks. It is very large but amazing. I wonder how long it will take to get waivers to fly this beast.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Great Technology... the Argus T16 is an impressive craft.
Although, have you had much interest in the Argus line in the States?
I thought it'd be popular on hilly vineyards but after a discussion with a vineyard Owner it wasn't even in their plans due to not being practical compared to other machinery options for spraying.

In the Mid-West, with most fields being large there isn't much interest in a 10-15L spray system. On a business side, purchasing & operating 2 or more of these MG-1P or T16... at $15-20K each... again with 10-15L compared to 2x1000gal saddle tanks and 30-60ft spray arms, I don't see where it's a practical spray system in ROI and operating costs.

Aren't these intended for smaller fields, that aren't very accessible during growing season (bogs, wet ground, etc).

The visual of 4 of these flying in sync with 1 RC across a field would be impressive, can that even operate in the States, multiple craft on one controller simultaneously? But again, that's about $100K and other options would provide faster broader coverage with a much faster ROI.

Was just curious as to the usefulness of the Argus line in USA.

The Phantom Multispectrum camera setup may have a hard time competing with well established & economical Sentera Double 4K Inspire Sensors and the Matrice M210's AGX710 Skyport system... their monthly cost to process is very reasonable in comparison to most. Slant also offers amazing products, but focused on the M210 too.

Although great to see DJI getting into Ag, it offers many new avenues. I'd like to see them provide more toward the Inspire, M210 & M600Pro payload size platforms for several Ag related tasks & payloads instead of moving away from established platforms and attempting to keep the P4 alive.

You're accurate, we haven't seen much interest for agricultural applications. Surprisingly we have gotten the same request on multiple occasions recently, a lot of local folks are looking for a drone capable of spraying roofs–either for power washing/cleaning, or to apply chemicals for mold/mildew protection. We're thinking this is going to be more practical applications for this drone. Because as you've said, the in-place agricultural systems provide a much better ROI due to their large capacity capabilities, where the T16 would be for much smaller, case by case uses.

 

[dougcjohn]

You're accurate, we haven't seen much interest for agricultural applications. Surprisingly we have gotten the same request on multiple occasions recently, a lot of local folks are looking for a drone capable of spraying roofs–either for power washing/cleaning, or to apply chemicals for mold/mildew protection. We're thinking this is going to be more practical applications for this drone. Because as you've said, the in-place agricultural systems provide a much better ROI due to their large capacity capabilities, where the T16 would be for much smaller, case by case uses.

Roof spraying, that's a great application. It places the specialty of the craft into a unique market zone more justifying and chargeable well above common aerial Ag spaying.

Another segment I thought usable is insecticide in flooded areas; urban and city after storms and the over spreading of mosquitoes causing health / comfort issues.
Hit those stagnant rotting wet sections. These are only reachable by backpack tanks and slow to control.

Last area I thought possible, would be orchids experiencing an outbreak infestation, use to get above the trees to quickly eradicate the pests in small sections of grove.

 

[dougcjohn]

We knew agriculture was going to be a huge topic at AirWorks 2019, but we didn't expect DJI to announce 2 new drones, perfect for agriculture missions and environmental monitoring! See these two beauties here: DJI Airworks 2019: DJI unveils two new drones for agriculture | Heliguy

The new light is of interest... gimbal mounted and controllable via App? Any estimated cost yet?

It's rating is 45W, curious as to the Lumens? The advertisement doesn't mention LUX or Lumens. Depends on if 45W rating is LED... which would be about 3200 lumens... density for Lux unknown based on beam.

In comparison, 1 Lume Cube is 1500 Lumens (750lux @ 1m)... the Industry standard states 1600 lumens is a 100W rating, and 75W is 1100 lumens. But that is Incandescent Wattage, the LED equivalent of 1500 Lumens is 21 Watts.

Most aircraft mount 2 Lume Cubes for 3000 lumens... that's 41 Watt. At 1500 lumens... they are extremely bright at night... able to turn them down in power and still light up the ground.

If this light is 45W LED... that is a very bright light... if beam narrow dense LUX, it'd be a long range light too.