Dutch greenhouse uses handheld drones to accurately crush pests

Can drones kill mosquitoes? This’ brain hole ‘inspired the need to eliminate pests in greenhouses. On March 7th, the Associated Press (AP) reported that Rob Baan, a greenhouse operator in the Netherlands who grows fragrant plants, flowers, and more for high-end restaurants, uses a palm sized drone to eliminate moths that eat crops without spraying chemicals.

This autonomous drone system comes from PATS Indoor Drone Solutions. Drones themselves are ordinary, but they are controlled by intelligent technology and can scan the airspace inside the greenhouse with the help of special cameras. So it sees moths flying by, it knows where the drone is… and then it just guides the drone towards the moths, “said Kevin van Hecke, the chief technology officer of PATS

According to reports, these drones killed moths instantly in mid air by flying onto them. The company presented a video showing how a bug was instantly crushed by the propeller of a drone. The design inspiration of this UAV system comes from the imagination of former students of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. They want to know whether they can use UAVs to kill mosquitoes buzzing in the room at night.

Barnes said that this drone control system is smart enough to distinguish between beneficial and harmful insects. He said, “You don’t want to kill ladybugs because ladybugs are very helpful in killing aphids. So they should kill pests, not beneficial insects. Beneficial insects are sometimes expensive – I buy a bumblebee for at least 50 cents, so I don’t want them to kill my bumblebee

However, the report also mentioned that the system is still being improved. Barnes also believes it needs improvement, he said. “I think they still need too many drones… but this will be easy to handle and not so serious. I think they can use 50 small drones to manage this greenhouse in the future, which is very beneficial