40 unmanned systems
inside
August/September ugust/Septe August/September August/September be August/September 2016 0 2016 6 2016
AIR NEW APPLICATIONS
P
lanting trees is not easy work. Unlike
spreading seeds in a freshly tilled acre
of level farmland, forestland is hilly,
sometimes inaccessible, and covered in things—
rocks, shrubs, vines and other trees. That's why
it's still, for the most part, done by hand.
At least two companies are pursuing what
they say is a better way: seeds distributed by
UAS. A small, unmanned vehicle can go where
human crews cannot and plant trees faster and
better than humans.
Portland, Ore.-based DroneSeed said it of-
fers a full, "seed-to-tree" solution to timber
companies, state forest services, and nonprofit
organizations. It has a set of unmanned air-
craft systems (UAS)—three-arm multi-rotor
drones with proprietary elements—that map
and analyze land to find the best places to
plant trees. A UAS can fire "seed capsules" into
the ground then come back and track the trees'
growth. It even can spray herbicides to protect
the seedlings from invasive species.
Meanwhile, Oxford, UK-based BioCarbon
Engineering, which recently announced a seed
funding round from drone manufacturer Par-
rot SA, is working on a similar platform. Details
are scant and the company is operating in quiet
mode for now, but a company representative did
confirm that BioCarbon Engineering is in field
trials and hopes to have more to share soon.
Selective Seeding
"When planting trees," said Lauren Kozak,
DroneSeed's manager of public relations, "they
send out people with shovels to do a thousand
trees a day. It's dangerous and expensive work."
by Rachel Kaufman
"PEOPLE HAVE TO
GET THROUGH
the
terrain; most of the
time it is land that is
covered in all kinds
of stuff. That's a huge
reason to send
in drones."
Lauren Kozak, manager of
public relations, DroneSeed
Photo courtesy of DroneSeed
Seeding trees
on the fly
The other option is to drop thousands of
seeds from a helicopter, basically shoveling
them out the window, said Jim Warren, pub-
lic and private forestry section chief at the
Two firms are
developing drones
to plant trees in
deforested areas
and wildfire zones.