July 2023 – UCVision

Blenheim

Maaratech Update July 2023

In July 2023 we conducted our Maaratech field work in the Marlborough region.

Using our robot Genie, we scanned both sides of 110 plants in the Cloudy Bay vineyard.

The HDR capture coupled with the close alignment between each sides meant we got the best photos yet.

We also scan 1.5ha (approx. 3,000 vines) of vines at our secondary site:

In this vineyard we made use of the row following to achieve consistent distance from the vines.

We also tested our remote control of the vehicle. Here is a picture of Matt down the road having a coffee and monitoring the robot. The robot was autonomously scanning and no one was on site to monitor it.

Richie has now mounted all the camera’s on the adjustable camera bar onto Genie (see picture below). They still need some adjustment. Hopefully we will get to test this new set up in Lincoln in July.

CSSE Drone Lab

Drone project – cutting tool

In June InFact completed a cutting tool to be attached to our drone. We already had a tool which had been designed by final project students but was a more lightweight tool. This tool can easily cut larger branches. It was interesting watching the tool being attached to our Matrice drone and the first flights using the tool look promising.

Drones

Drone Project Industry Day 2023

On 22 May 2023 the Drone Project held an industry day at Ilam Homestead. The day started with presentations from our key researchers with updates on how the project is progressing. There was a display of drones from both the University of Auckland and the University of Canterbury. We had a good turnout of industry representatives both on Zoom and in person.

In the afternoon Sam Schofield (Postdoc/PhD) did a demonstration of the Matrice drone in Ilam Gardens with the pruning tool attached. Pruning was not possible during the demo due to the trees being historic. There was also a tour of the Mechanical Engineering wind tunnel.

Several industry connections were developed during this event with ongoing benefits to the project and this will be held yearly to increase industry engagement.

Month: July 2023

Maaratech Update July 2023

Drone project – cutting tool

Drone Project Industry Day 2023