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Local RC Flyer group partners with UMASS Engineering Students to develop Agricultural UAV System

PestCounter.com
Mar 31, 2018
2 min read

Hampshire County Radio Controllers offer support for innovative pest-control project

HADLEY, Mass. April 1, 2018 - The Hampshire County Radio Controllers (HCRC), a local group of remote controlled airplane and helicopter enthusiasts, are offering their decades of experience to assist a team of six UMass engineering students with their capstone design project. The students aim to develop a drone-based system to precisely deploy agricultural chemicals using little to no manual labor.

The HCRC will help the students learn to safely operate the drone they are using, as well as to navigate the rapidly changing regulations surrounding the commercial drone industry. Public safety and acceptance through responsible drone use is of the utmost importance to the HCRC and their chartering organization, the Academy of Model Aeronautics. Drones are increasingly becoming a part of daily life, and the industry is expected to grow by 17.5% annually over the next eight years. HCRC is excited to work with the students, and hopes to continue educating the community and sharing their love for RC flying.

The students hope to save farmers money by reducing the amount of labor and chemicals required to protect their crops. The project consists of a payload container which attaches to Ascent AeroSystems Sprite®️ drone. The drone flies on a specified path, releasing its payload at selected locations. Once empty, the drone returns to a docking station, where the container is swapped out, refilled, and reattached.

The system is currently designed to use Mosquito Bits®, a granola-like product which, when dropped in water, grows a bacteria that kills mosquito larvae and is harmless to people, pets and other organisms. The team hopes that this system could someday be deployed after floods in areas like Puerto Rico in order to reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika and Malaria.

The project is sponsored by local entrepreneur and UMASS Alumni Steve Longpre of Barnstorm Studio, South Hadley. Together, the groups hope to secure additional funding and continue development after the students graduate this May.

For more information, please contact: Ryan Smith, UMASS Mechanical Engineering Team Lead phone: 978-758-4744, email: ryasmith@umass.edu Steve Longpre, CEO of Barnstorm Studio, LLC, phone: 413-210-1698, email: info@barnstormstudio.com Project website: www.pestcounter.com