PNIPU Acro3D Scanner

Main articles:

• Unmanned aerial vehicle (drone, UAV)
• Robots (robotics)
• IT in the agro-industrial complex in the world
• IT in the agro-industrial complex of Russia

2021: Acro3D Scanner Development

Developers from Perm Polytechnic made drones for agriculture more "hardy"|The University announced this on May 21, 2021. The lightweight design of economical materials made it possible to maintain all the important characteristics of the UAV and increase the flight time.

Due to the growth of the population of the planet and climate change, the need for people for food is growing. By 2050, this will require 70% more crops than in May 2021. Automation and intellectualization of agriculture will allow us to cope with the food crisis, experts say. In particular, agronomists use electronic field maps according to "drones." But this opportunity is not always available due to the high cost of drones.

Digital technologies and high-tech equipment make it possible to move to precision farming, which increases agricultural productivity and reduces costs. The market for information and computer technologies in this area is 360 billion rubles, and by 2026 it will grow 5 times. For the most effective and prompt monitoring of fields, "drones" are used. But such an opportunity is not available to all farmers for economic reasons, and drone flights are limited in time, "says Anton Lubyansky, author of the idea, student of the electrotechnical faculty of Perm Polytechnic.

Perm developers have created a prototype of the lightweight and "hardy" drone Acro3D Scanner, which can fly longer flights compared to its counterparts. The idea to improve the "drone" appeared in student Anton Lubyansky 3 years ago, when he was engaged in the children's technology park "Quantorium." The peculiarity of the development is in the application of the SandwichFrame concept: instead of the traditional base of a carbon frame, the developers used textolite printed circuit boards with soldered electronics. They were combined into a multilayer structure. The technology allowed to reduce the weight and dimensions of the aircraft without losing its main properties: strength, rigidity and functionality. According to the researchers, the modular multicopter can be equipped based on the individual needs of farmers. Copter assembly is also not time consuming.

The mass of the prototype drone size 1.1 x 1.05 m was 3.5 kg, the flight time takes about 50 minutes. It is capable of lifting loads up to 11 kg to a height of up to 450 m and reaching a speed of up to 18 m/s.

Shooting with multispectral and hyperspectral cameras will allow farmers to obtain information for mapping. This will help point-to-point use of fertilizers and plant protection tools, monitor crops, for example, track crop growth indicators. To do this, the farmer will need to carry out the necessary number of overflights at different stages of plant development, the developer explains.

Agronomists will be able to obtain information on the heterogeneity of crops and the presence of weeds, as well as evaluate the future crop. According to the researchers, the service will help reduce costs by 30-50%. Maps can be used in software products (Field History, GIS Map, ArcGIS, QGis, FarmWorks), in monitoring systems (Autograph, Scout, Wialon) and in mobile applications.

Perm researchers have already created the first field map, the effectiveness of which was confirmed by customers, and also completed several orders for the destruction of pests. The development will be interesting to large companies that are engaged in agriculture and the production of grain crops. In addition to agriculture, drones can also be used for industrial tasks and professional video shooting. As of May 2021, developers are in search of investors for the development of technology.