UAS (drones) for Agriculture - 2023 - Dr. Joe DeFrank

  On April 20, 2023 Dr. Joe DeFrank and Dr. Dan Jenkins made presentations at the Pearl City Urban Gardens describing the technical aspects of using a drone (UAS) for agricultural operations.  Dr. DeFrank described the training options for obtaining a FAA Drone Pilots license, requesting a exemption from the FAA regulations that apply to fixed wing aircraft and rotorcraft but not to UAS and obtaining an Agricultural Aircraft Operating Certificate (AAOC).  The video and pdf of slides provide the online links for finding more detailed information on these topics.  Dr. Jenkins demonstrated the use of an agricultural spray drone using a programmed flight plan to make spot treatments, simulating application to coconut crowns.

Topics Covered included:

• UAS for personal vs. commercial use.

• UAS pilots' license

• UAS for agriculture and path to Agricultural Aircraft Operations Certificate.

• Q&A

For more information on this presentations contact:

Dr. Joe DeFrank

email:defrenk@hawaii.edu. 

Phone: 808-956-5698.

Dr. Dan Jenkins demonstrated a UAS for applying spot spray treatments using a preprogrammed flight plan.  In this demonstration the UAS is under software control for both flight path and spray release.

Items in the table below provide pdf files that make up the petition for a Section 44807 (part 137 for UAS under 55 lbs.) waiver from certain FAA regulations that pertain to fixed wing aircraft and rotorcraft but not drones.  Examples are provide for a May Farms petition submission (on 12/21/2022)  as discussed in the video above, the operating manual for the UAS (AG-110)  cited in the petition and the FAA granting of the petition (dated: 04/11/23).  Also included here are standard operating UAS manual (08/19/2015) and aerial pesticide manual (02/06/2018) produced for the University of Hawaii-Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources for their college's drone program.  A copy of the FAA AC-137-1B is also included and provides a detailed explanation of the process of certifying a UAS of “Agricultural Operations”.

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