Michael Casey, The Associated PressAlain Francq, Director of Innovation and Technology, Conference Board of Canada & Bill Strazullo, founder of the NuPath Job Bank on an innovative program aiming
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 towers and other planes. Older, poorly maintained planes and pilot fatigue contribute to accidents.
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.