Developers: | Pyka |
Date of the premiere of the system: | August 2024 |
Branches: | Agriculture and Fisheries, Transport |
2024: Start of Sales
In mid-August 2024, the American company Pyka launched the Pelican Spray agricultural drone. The first customer was Kansas-based firm Heinen Brothers Agra Services, which plans to integrate Pelican Spray into its Southwest operations. The company expects the new technology will help them more effectively meet the growing demand for field processing through massive service automation.
The Pelican Spray is the world's largest field-spraying drone, capable of processing 85 hectares per hour. Heinen Brothers Agra Services Chief Technology Officer Lukas Koch noted: "Pelican Spray is the first standalone agricultural solution that provides the required productivity in field processing. Ultimately, we want to remove the excess load from manned aircraft, and UAVs can take on some of the difficult tasks. "
Koch explained that from an agronomic point of view, processing time is extremely important for obtaining a healthy crop. He hopes new tools like Pelican Spray will help the company spray customer fields in a timely manner without losing quality due to logistics issues. Pelican Spray is capable of processing 65 hectares per hour when loading 20 litres per hectare and 85 hectares per hour when loading 10 litres per hectare. Its useful carrying capacity is 281 kilograms (or 281 liters).
Volker Fabian, Pyka's commercial director, emphasizes that Heinen Brothers is an advanced organization that uses new technologies to help American producers and improve food production systems in the country as a whole. "We are excited to partner with them and excited to begin operations in the US with Pelican Spray." In addition, Pyka also signed a commercial agreement for the supply of UAVs to the Brazilian company SLC Agricola.[1]