Special Report

UAVs fly high at InfoAg demonstration

AutoCopter Corporation UAV coming in for landing, Holmes field, Pawnee, IllinoisUnmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are part of the future of agriculture and the future is here.

It was in a central Illinois cornfield and along a private airstrip where representatives from three companies demonstrated their UAVs (“drones”) to farmers, precision ag folks and others on Monday.

Three companies demonstrated three very different looking machines. One looked like a mini helicopter and weighed 28 pounds. Another looked like a large bird in flight and, while made of foam, weighed only one pound.

The machines can be controlled remotely by growers and the aircraft does the high-tech scouting for them. Images and date are processed, in some cases, right after the vehicle lands. The UAVs can be programmed ahead of time or controlled as you go.

Drew Janes gives UAV explanation before flightThe UAV demonstration was part of a day of preview demonstrations leading up to the 2013 InfoAg Conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield, Illinois. The show runs Tuesday through Thursday.

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