(tranquil music)
- [Narrator] In the farming and research sectors,
Australians are finding that drones
are quickly showing their worth
in an otherwise time and labour-intensive industry.
- CASA introduced drone regulation in 2002,
back in 2002, and it really made Australia one
of the first countries where drone operators
could conduct activities commercially.
- It is giving wildlife researchers
and conservation workers, and governments a tool
that can be used in a way
that has never been possible before.
- We introduced after that a category
called excluded category.
That category also allows people
who own their own land
and wanna use drones in that setting,
for example, in an agricultural setting
to fly drones that weigh up to 25 kilograms
for certain low-risk activities
without needing to have a full remote pilot license.
- [Narrator] Australian drone companies
are using drones outfitted with detection sensors
and spray equipment to target invasive weeds,
reducing cost and the use of chemical.
- We're seeing a lot of use
with the spray drones.
That is an area that has really exploded
in the last, you know, I guess particularly 12 months
but even looking back two or three years.
It's a really, really growing space.
- [Narrator] A drone can be outfitted
with just about any type of sensor.
This can provide the uses with data ranging
from simple tree counts in an orchard
to topographical maps,
and even to animal tracking for wildlife research
and conservation purposes.
- And so we've developed a unique payload technology
that can be attached to a drone,
and it listens for the signals from animal tags.
So whether that's an endangered species
or an invasive species,
our drone payload can listen for those signals,
find which direction they're coming from,
and then locate the animal
all without getting close to the animal
or disturbing their behaviour.
- [Narrator] With Australia's wide and varied landscape,
it can be almost impossible
to reach some places by foot or vehicle.
This is where drones can provide a safe
and efficient way to navigate
an otherwise unreachable location.
- For example, in mountainous landscapes
where there is just no access on the ground
or wetlands and swamps
where people just find it very, very difficult
to get access into those areas.
With a drone, they can get in there,
they can track more animals simultaneously
than ever before,
and they can do it more often and with less effort.
- [Narrator] Drones are quickly becoming a useful tool
of the trade to help improve crop yield, control cattle,
and support asset management.
- Some of the key advantages would be cost.
It's obviously a lot cheaper to charge a battery
than it is to put fuel into a chopper,
as well as time.
So a lot of things in agriculture
are very time oriented.
And so if you need to have something done,
it needs to kind of be done now
and you don't wanna be waiting
for someone to show up to do the job.
So a lot of people are using drones
in that mustering space
because they can just pull it out of the back of their ute,
put it in the air, and get the job done.
- [Narrator] Highly automated drones
can be programmed to collect agricultural data
at specific times and send the data wirelessly
to certain systems, such an irrigation system,
and correct an existing issue
without the need for human interaction.
- Our long-term vision for our business
is to have fully autonomous systems
where you have docking stations:
the drone can launch and land.
It can be pre-programmed to go out
and collect different types of data
in different days or different times of different days.
Thermal imaging.
IGB imagery.
Radio tracking.
And then embedding AI, edge AI as well.
Picking up data from sensors.
There's a plethora of things
that all of a sudden become possible
if you're able to build in the autonomy into the solution.
- [Narrator] With any emerging technology,
it's important to consider the community acceptance
and understanding, and that's no different
with agricultural drones.
- People probably don't understand
just how easy the drones are to fly.
They kind of look at the technology
and think, "Oh my goodness,
I'm just gonna crash this thing"
until they can see a drone in action,
be shown how easy it is for it to fly.
Then they don't have that understanding,
and so once you can show them that, reassure them
of the process, then once you get past that barrier,
then there's a lot more acceptance.
- [Narrator] As we move to a more sustainable,
efficient and technologically advanced future,
CASA will continue to work with industry
to make sure that our skies remain safe
while providing a clear path forward
for the use of these technologies.
Find out more on our website.