Applied Technology Review : News

AeroVironment offers drones to universities that perform research in agriculture to improve farming practices. AeroVironment, a superior manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems and tactical missile systems, is excited to expand its applications into farming. As part of the 2019 Quantix and AeroVironment decision support system (AV DSS) University Collaboration project, the company is working to improve the future of farming. As a primary step towards this goal, AeroVironment has donated more than 90 Quantix hybrid drone and AV DSS ecosystems to the universities. Agricultural departments of 35 universities including Ohio State University, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, North Dakota State University, Cornell University, Purdue University, University of Georgia, University of Florida, and the University of Louisiana-Monroe have received this offering. These universities will employ the Quantix drones and AeroVironment decision support system for academic research as in a variety of in-field trials, applications, and precision agriculture systems research covering areas such as crop health and input management. Through artificial intelligence, these drones detect weeds, pests, and diseases and predict crop yield with improved accuracy. Besides, the students are benefitted by hands-on-experience in drones. The universities tend to share this hands-on experiences and insights, and give suggestions on how drones can improve in-field performance while advancing the adoption of drone-based technologies. Quantix, a hybrid drone built for crop scouting, features simple operating mechanism with the touch of a button including fully automated takeoff, flight, and landing operations. It can survey large area up to 400 acres in just 45 minutes. During the flight, the dual 18–megapixel cameras produce multispectral images, and the integrated sensors capture high-resolution color. It then wirelessly transmits the true color and Normalized Difference Vegetative Index (NDVI) imagery to the handheld devices of the farmers who investigate the crop-related issues. However, to provide deeper insights into resource management, plant emergence, inputs, and vegetative health, Quantix seamlessly integrates with AV DSS to execute advanced image processing and data analytics including NDVI, GNDVI, True Color, anomaly detection, canopy coverage, and more. AeroVironment focuses on serving the latest generation of farmers, enabling them to derive the benefits of drone technology in acquiring high-resolution imagery to improve farming practices. ...Read more

Robots can benefit humankind, with robotics available in almost every sector, from automobiles to healthcare. A robot is a mechanical device capable of movement by duplicating certain human functions electronically with the help of a computer. It can perform any function automatically, whether complex or straightforward. Robots possess a lot of capabilities. They can be beneficial to humankind. From transforming people’s daily lives and work practices to raising efficiency and safety levels, robotics solutions influence every aspect of work and home. Some well-known types of Robots are: Autonomous Vehicles Since driverless vehicles are in the market, robots are now capable of driving. Every vehicle must meet a specific set of requirements to operate at an autonomous level. Examples of companies building autonomous vehicles are, Zoox, Drive.ai, Tesla, and Waymo. Collaborative robots Collaborative robots, also known as cobots operate in conjunction with humans to perform their tasks. For example, Sawyer cobot arm, which helps greenhouse workers pick plants and Mitsubishi cobot, offers coffee at Café X kiosk in Hong Kong. Some cobots are used for higher-quality inspection resulting in more accurate production batches. Emergency response robots These robots can perform dangerous tasks like searching for survivors post emergency situations like disasters. For example, Colossus from Shark Robotics can help in firefighting, haul firefighting equipment, transport wounded victims and trigger its 360-degree, high-definition thermal camera to assess a scene. It was approved as resourceful during France’s Notre-Dame Cathedral fire disaster. Drones A drone is an aerial vehicle that works as an aircraft without a human pilot on board. Drones are being used in many industries around the world. They help in carrying out various activities from surveillance to deliveries. For example, in China, drones were used to help clear the fog from the atmosphere. Some drones are used for aerial photography in events. Entertainment robots These robots are designed to entertain humans. They can mimic human behaviour, such as Comedian robots, musician robots, and theme park robots. Industrial robots These robots are generally used for assembly purposes all over the world because of their precision. They can perform mechanical configurations like humans and with even more details. Industrial robots are used for moving and packing goods and also providing delivery details. ...Read more