Radio Transcript

Welcome to Agritalk this week we are going to be talking about research for the future of agriculture.

Unmanned air vehicles, or UAVs, which are used by defence forces around the world for surveillance purposes, are set to be used in the vast inland regions of Australia as weed spotters and sprayers.

A new MLA-funded project conducted by the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR) at the University of Sydney will develop and test UAV surveillance systems designed to detect woody weed infestations and provide the necessary information for control and eradication programs.

Two types of UAV systems will be available for the project – a fixed wing UAV for broadacre surveillance and a hovering UAV for precision targeting around the weed,” Prof Sukkarieh said.

These two UAV aircraft systems are currently in use at the Centre and Prof Sukkarieh said the MLA-funded project would focus on the sensor and data algorithms needed to determine woody weeds from other vegetation.

The second aspect of the project is to design an efficient herbicide distributor on the hovering UAV to enable the pinpoint placement of herbicide. Initial demonstration of the aircraft and detection algorithms will occur at the University of Sydney farm followed by further testing at a remote field site that is representative of extensive grasslands infested with woody weeds.

For more information on this or any other edition of Agritalk Radio, please go to www.ruralsolutions.sa.gov.au, click on news then radio for a transcript of the program and lots of handy links

 Information kindly supplied by MLA