A Rotor Technologies unmanned semi-autonomous helicopter sprays a payload of water during a test flight over Intervale Airport, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Henniker, N.H. When Hector Xu was learning to fly a helicopter in college, he recalled having a few “nasty experiences” while trying to navigate at night.
On Wednesday, Rotor plans to conduct a public flight test with its Sprayhawk at an agriculture aviation trade show in Texas. 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.
The California-based Pyka announced in August that it had sold its first autonomous electric aircraft for crop protection to a customer in the United States. Pyka's Pelican Spray, a fixed-wing aircraft, received FAA approval last year to fly commercially for crop protection. The company also sold its Pelican Spray to Dole for use in Honduras and to the Brazilian company, SLC Agrícola.
“The biggest draw is taking the pilot out of the aircraft inside of those most dangerous situations,” Koch said. “There’s still fields that are surrounded by trees on all borders, or you’ve got big, large power lines or other just dangers, wind turbines, things like that. It can be tough to fly around.”
Companies like Rotor have incorporated built-in in contingencies should something go wrong — its helicopter features a half-dozen communications systems and, for now, a remote pilot in control.