CropCam

The CropCam offers images on demand and is an inexpensive alternative to satellite or flying an airplane over a field. It can provide images for agriculture, forestry, oil & gas, surveys, mapping, land management drainage, environmental, and a multitude of other uses.

The CropCam is $7,000 USD, highly efficient and user friendly for the commercial market. It is a radio control (RC) glider plane equipped with a Pentax digital camera, controlled by an autopilot, along with pre-programmed ground control software. Available in electric, the CropCam will also work with a RC transmitter for manual control of the plane.

The CropCam utilizes an autopilot for navigation and control of the camera, for everything else it is RC parts (wings, servos, propellers, glow fuel or batteries) purchased locally. This makes the CropCam parts practical and accessible worldwide.

Introduction

The CropCam is a revolutionary mini agriculture plane that changes the way you manage your crops, fields or any part of your agricultural operation, by providing high resolution GPS based digital images for precision agriculture Hand launched, the CropCam includes a miniature autopilot, camera, GPS and software to provide images on demand.

How it Works

The CropCam is a radio controlled model glider plane equipped with a Trimble GPS, a miniature autopilot and Pentax digital camera. Hand launched and automatic from take off to landing, the CropCam provides high resolution GPS based images on demand. Simply stand at one corner of your field and hand launch the 6 pound CropCam plane. The powerful miniature autopilot and Trimble GPS, does the rest navigating in a pattern over the field. Both the CropCam and the camera perform automatically to take GPS based digital imagery. After the flight the CropCam will land in the spot you started from.

For further analysis, you can choose and zoom in on each image separately. Each individual image is GPS based with latitude, longitude and altitude. Finally, the CropCam Image Software allows you to export images in TIFF format with associated World files (.tfw) for use with other Geo reference software.

Benefits

Precision agriculture has become a buzz word for the agriculture industry and has received growing attention. In addition to GPS mapping, auto steer and variable rate spray, GPS aerial images are being used for crop analysis such as plague scouting, disease scouting and plant development.

Traditional aerial images provided by satellite, manned aircraft or stock photography are often expensive, difficult to obtain or outdated. The CropCam provides GPS based digital images on demand throughout the growing season. The images obtained through the CropCam will allow producers to detect, locate and better assess the actions required to correct the problem.

Specifications - Electric

Length 4 feet
Win span 8 feet
Weight 6 pounds
Engine Brushless Electric
Batteries Lithium Polymer
Altitude 400 - 2200 feet in Canada
(Can be adjusted to meet regulation or application)
Flight duration 55 minutes

What is the spatial resolution of the imagery acquired from CropCam?

Images acquired at 2100 feet above ground have a spatial resolution of approximately 15 cm. However, increased spatial resolution can be achieved by simply programming the CropCam to fly closer to the ground.