The self-driving revolution is moving from the road to the air. A U.S. startup is developing a semi-autonomous helicopter that could spray crops, deliver cargo offshore and operate in other hazardous environments. A Rotor Technologies unmanned semi-autonomous helicopter flies away from a van containing a ground control pilot/operator during a test flight over Intervale Airport, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Henniker, N.H.
For now, Rotor is focused on the agriculture sector, which has embraced automation with drones but sees unmanned helicopters as a better way to spray larger areas with pesticides and fertilizers. At the company’s hangar in Nashua, New Hampshire, Xu said this technology means there is better visibility of terrain at night.Because crop dusters fly at around 150 miles an hour and only about 10 feet off the ground, there are dozens of accidents each year when planes collide with powerlines, cell towersA 2014 report from the National Transportation Safety Board found there were more than 800 agriculture operation accidents between 2001 and 2010 including 81 that were fatal.
Lukas Koch, chief technology officer at Heinen Brothers Agra Services, the company which bought the Pelican Spray in August, has called unmanned aircraft part of a coming “revolution,” that will save farmers money and improve safety. But Koch acknowledges autonomous aviation systems could introduce new dangers to an already chaotic airspace — though that is less of a concern in rural areas with plenty of open space and fewer people.