In order to prevent a series of fruit theft damage, farmers and robot development companies collaborated in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, and a demonstration test was conducted to automatically patrol fields with drones.
This demonstration test is being conducted by JA Aichi Toyota and a company in Nagoya City, which is developing robots, in response to a series of fruit theft damage.
On the 24th, about 20 people gathered in a pear field on the outskirts of Toyota City and brought in a black box containing the drone itself, a computer that controls its movement, and a charger.
Then, under the watchful eye of a qualified pilot, the drone automatically takes off from this box as a "base", flies over the fields for several minutes according to a pre-programmed program, and then automatically returns to its original location. I came back to
This system was originally developed as a countermeasure against wildlife damage, and the drone is equipped with a camera. increase.
According to JA, in the city of Toyota last year, there were 9 cases of theft of fruits such as pears, and there were reports of damage exceeding 100,000 yen in one case. That's it.
Mr. Yoshihiro Kato, a farmer, said, "My field is also being damaged. It is difficult for us as farmers to monitor it 24 hours a day, so I hope that this monitoring system will be put into practical use."