Drones are made for work, not war

Groundbreaking use of technology in the Philippines made headlines recently as the country prepares to launch into orbit what is to uted as the first Filipino-designed satellite.

The Department of Science and Technology says the artificial moon dubbed “Diwata” or Fairy, will largely benefit the agriculture sector and help shore up food security in the country.

Closer to the ground, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones has been predicted to disrupt fields other than the military. Their use is spreading beyond the armed forces to civilian purposes.

Talks abound about using drones to deliver stuff like mail, and one of the sectors considered most promising for the UAV market is agriculture.

At the Philippine Rice Research Institute or PhilRice, scientists and researchers are pushing for the peaceful use of drones, particularly in the fields of rice research, crop surveillance, disaster monitoring and aerial  mapping.

Roger Barroga, head of the Future Rice Program of PhilRice, tells Agri Matters the multi-functional flying device has potential as a monitoring instrument that will help researchers gather accurate data and conduct studies efficiently.

“This is a low-cost alternative to using helicopters and light airplanes as well as satellite imaging which requires expensive equipment and experts to interpret the      data,” Barroga says.

“They need not have spent so much in the surveillance of the so-called Binay Hacienda when they used a helicopter,” he says in jest.

He was referring to the sprawling estate in Batangas allegedly owned by Vice President Jejomar Binay and which fueled a controversy in 2014.

The drone uses a high-definition camera, flight stabilizer and GPS (global positioning system) that allows users to program its flight path.

Barroga says that, powered with a lithium-ion battery pack, the drone can remain in flight for 10 to 15 minutes at a height of about 200 meters within a two-kilometer-square area.

Build-it-yourself

He says interested users can build a drone do-it-yourself style since the necessary components are available locally.

The flying device is simply a remote-controlled toy that can be purchased in hobby shops—either a so-called quadcopter (one that hovers with the help of four rotors) or a plane-type flyer that can glide and thus save on battery power.

“Other components like the GPS system, HD camera and the onboard computer which we call a micro controller, may be bought in Quiapo and other electronic supply centers,” he says.

As for the software, Barroga says this is available for free download on the Internet.

A ready-made, fully functioning drone may be ordered from abroad for about P25,000, he adds.

“Drones are already being used for civilian purposes in other countries like the United States and Japan, and we were looking at how we can do it here in the Philippines for rice research,” Barroga says. “We were happy to find out that components are available here after all.”

He adds that in rice research, the drone can be very useful for research activities such as  data collection, tracking growth patterns, and pests and nutrient management.

According to PhilRice’s plant breeding and biotechnology division, the drone can also be used to inspect damages during calamities, monitor rice fields during crop establishment, and assess real time conditions in areas hit by the El Niño phenomenon.

Researchers are also looking at the possibility of using such a device to help reduce cost of multi-location monitoring and trials.

Barroga says other institutions in the country have shown the viability of drone technology. He says that, for example, the Ateneo School of Innovation has used a drone to monitor the illegal construction of fish ponds in the San Pablo lake.

Also, he said a group of professors at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños has formed a company that provides services in aerial mapping.

Asked about the potential abuse of the drone, Barroga says this is “not yet” an issue in the Philippines.

“In the United States, where drone technology is a thriving industry, it is already regulated by the Federal Aviation Authority,” he says.