Using the aerial video produced by GreenSight Agronomics’ drones, properties can analyze low points of moisture, the health of the green, provide day-to-day comparisons of the turf, monitor renovation work and give a snapshot of each hole.
James Peverill, CEO GreenSight Agronomics, used to build drones for the military and now uses his skills to build drones that can survey the health of golf course turf and help his clients save water and chemicals needed to keep the fairways healthy, Tech.Co reported.
From the drone command center, licensed pilots remotely activate the drone from its sight and make daily flights around the course. From the drone’s aerial video, their platform can analyze low points of moisture, the health of the green, provide day-to-day comparisons of the turf, review renovation monitoring and give a snapshot of each hole. Ultimately this evaluation will help golf course staff manage overall turf quality and efficient use of water and chemicals to make it all green and beautiful, Tech.Co reported.
To date, the company has surveyed over 20,000 acres of golf turf, are located at close to 36 active sites, and have nearly 1,000 hours of safe flight operations logged. They also have contracts with Arlington-based agencies like DARPA and ONR as well as the Air Force Research Lab, US Army and University of Maryland, Tech.Co reported.
“GreenSight is building what we call the intelligence platform for agriculture,” said Peverill. “We utilize fully automated drones and advanced sensors coupled with machine learning to deliver valuable and actionable intelligence to high end agriculturalists like golf course superintendents, wine growers etc.
“Our patent pending thermal imaging technology and moisture analytic will solve a billion-dollar irrigation problem for the golf industry and that is just the beginning,” Peverill said. “We are pushing to integrate our platform with automated agriculture technology like irrigation systems and GPS guided sprayers to reduce labor even further.”
The company is currently testing a system where the drone will live in a weatherproof enclosure until it is time to fly, when it will automatically take off, fly its designated area, land and be recharged for the next flight, Peverill said.
However, regulations don’t yet allow this type of unattended operations, Peverill said, so in the meantime users leave the vehicle on a charger inside overnight and at the appropriate time they put it outside, Tech.Co reported.
“Our remote operators take it from there, verifying that weather conditions are appropriate and there are no nearby airspace issues that would prevent a drone flight,” Peverill said. “Once this is confirmed the remote operator instructs the drone to takeoff. From this point the drone operates completely autonomously until it lands itself. The customer then takes it inside and places it on the charger.”
For customers to fly the drones, they must have what’s known as an RPIC, or remote pilot in command certificate. “This means they must take a test to verify that they understand how airspace safety works,” Peverill said. “We are actively working with the FAA to get a waiver to remove this requirement, but in the meantime, most of our customers have enjoyed becoming ‘licensed drone pilots.’
“Beyond this certificate, our customers don’t have to do much to use our system since we do all the piloting remotely,” Peverill said. “We provide customers training on how to use our online portal to access their daily information.”
Watch how the GreenSight drone scans golf courses here.
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