Xaircraft P30 drone sprayer takes off at Wimmera field days
The Xaircraft P30 — a spraying and spreading drone newly released in Australia — proved popular during its appearance at the recent Wimmera Machinery Field Days, its importers say.
THE latest advance in smart agriculture was unveiled at last month’s Wimmera Machinery Field Days, with the appearance of the Xaircraft P30, a spraying and spreading drone newly released on the Australian market.
The drone is imported by Chinese smart agriculture specialist XAG in partnership with Melbourne’s Airpac Solution, whose services cover aerial video/photography, environmental surveying and agricultural spraying and spreading.
Based in Guangzhou, XAG has set up laboratories and research stations in 38 countries, including Australia, and participated in a number of frontier agri-tech projects.
The drone made its public debut at the field days and, according to company founders Gerry Li and Zhilin Yu, proved popular.
“We left with a good list of requests for practical demonstrations,” Mr Yu said.
“Before we start spraying or spreading, we map the field using a surveying drone known as Xmission. This drone collects data from the ground, uses photogrammetry and AI recognition to generate a high-resolution map and identifies crops, weeds and any obstacles before transferring the data back to the spraying drone, the Xaircraft P30, for the actual task.”
Mr Li said that map could also be used for further analysis such as NDVI and feedback on crop health.
“Under our operation, the P30 can cover up to 12ha an hour and a single operator can run five of these drones at the same time, meaning 300-400ha a day could be covered,” Mr Li said.
“The drones fly just 3-5m above the ground, cause no soil compaction, minimise chemical spray drift and are capable of a variety of spray modes, such as spot spray, standard pattern and terrain-following.”
He said the machines were made by XAG in China and arrived in Australia in 2018.
“Airpac Solution acts as a contractor for spraying herbicide or pesticide, sowing or any granular spreading in areas difficult to access for manned aircraft or tractors.
“We also offer geospatial services which include 2D/3D mapping, contour water flow simulation and inspection of roads and channels.”
Mr Yu said the cost of his company’s contracting services depended on the complexity of the field and other requirements, but was roughly $1800 to $3000 a day.
For more details, visit airpacsolution.com
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