Problem

There are many young people, with no personal or family experience in farming, who set out to begin permaculture farms on land that was previously used for commercial agriculture - a daunting task that poses two problems:

• a lack of basic knowledge about plants, pests, diseases, and wildlife, which ones are beneficial or harmful, and how to reduce their presence without chemical agents.

• using a method of farming that, through its sudden fertility, is especially attractive to pests and wildlife.

System Concept

The overall concept is to put power, through knowledge, into the hands of these farmers with an artificial intelligence system that takes the mystery out of forming a permaculture ecosystem. After the small drones collect images, the contents are identified in the artificial intelligence hub and sent to a connected device for easy access.

Sketch Development

Important design criteria for the drone were that it was light, agile, and capable of operating autonomously. The AI hub, likewise, needed to facilitate an autonomous method of storage and charging.

Developmental Prototypes

Final Concept

Biomimicry

The final design direction is based off of a water skimmer. Every spring, they fly overhead to identify and colonize new water sources, often within minutes of the pools forming, similar to the scout drone’s ability to identify problems rapidly.

Storage & Charging

The sleek and customizable AI hub is able to store six scout drones, and features automatic hangar doors that open upon detection of each drone. Where the drones are docked, they are also recharged through induction charging plates.

Comprehensive Reports

Each day, a report that summarizes the drones’s findings is issued to the farmer to further simplify their busy schedules. It also recommends actions to take to improve each crop, like harvesting, pruning, and intercropping.

Detailed Identifications

Linked within the daily reports are more detailed identifications on the images taken by the drones. These provide information about pests and their natural predators, native plants and what they indicate in the soil, diseases, especially those which are viral and require outside intervention, and wildlife, regarding the role they play in the wider ecosystem.

Peace of Mind

Many farmers are so concerned about the health of their farms that they don’t get the enjoy its beauty - which is often why they began. Cropscout offers peace of mind through a comprehensive awareness of the permaculture farming experience.