It’s something you’d expect to be used in a time of war or in a Hollywood spy movie, but not in rural Australia as a weed buster.
Unmanned air vehicles, or UAVs, which are used by defence forces around the world for surveillance purposes, are set to be used in the vast inland regions of Australia as weed spotters and sprayers.
A new MLA-funded project conducted by the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR) at the University of Sydney will develop and test UAV surveillance systems designed to detect woody weed infestations and provide the necessary information for control and eradication programs.
The ACFR is the world’s leading UAV research and development organisation and has collaborated on programs with the US Air Force, the UK Ministry of Defence and the US Office of Naval Research, as well as civilian applications dealing with aquatic weeds, ecology management, and animal tracking.
Woody weed infestations that cover large open grassland areas are often difficult to detect and control so management can be costly, haphazard and time-consuming.
Occupational health and safety concerns and the availability of labour also make weed control difficult on larger properties.
ACFR’s project leader, Professor Salah Sukkarieh said the research aims to develop a UAV system which could support a single operator in detecting and treating woody weed infestation within large infested areas.
“Two types of UAV systems will be available for the project – a fixed wing UAV for broadacre surveillance and a hovering UAV for precision targeting around the weed,” Prof Sukkarieh said.
These two UAV aircraft systems are currently in use at ACFR and Prof Sukkarieh said the MLA-funded project would focus on the sensor and data algorithms needed to determine woody weeds from other vegetation.
The second aspect of the project is to design an efficient herbicide distributor on the hovering UAV to enable the pinpoint placement of herbicide. Initial demonstration of the aircraft and detection algorithms will occur at the University of Sydney farm followed by further testing at a remote field site that is representative of extensive grasslands infested with woody weeds.
The ACFR is also developing a similar program detecting aquatic weeds as part of the Australian Government’s Defeating the Weed Menace program.
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Click here to view an image of a UAV.
Released by: Damon Whittock, MLA Media Affairs Manager, ph. 02 9463 9368.