Dractor-25a-en

Released in 2020, DRACTOR 25A inaugurates a new generation of drones, considered by the market as one of the most innovative drones in the world. And that´s not an overstatement: when analyzed as a PRODUCT, one of its differentials that make DRACTOR unique is the combination, in the same drone, of two distinctive applications: MAPPING and SPRAYING. And when analyzed as a SOLUTION (which is XMobots purpose set for this product), DRACTOR is the only RPA system in the world able to perform the automatic detection of weed bushes, a feature made possible thanks to the intelligent and revolutionary integration of drone, XMC camera and XFarming software. There´s more: when analyzed through the sugar-energy market perspective, which represents Brazil as the number one world producer, DRACTOR overtakes all imaginable boundaries, identifying the species present in each weed bush, while using the AI resources of XFarming software. You can FEEL and ACT in every step, from mapping to located spraying. You can count on the efficiency of airplanes combined with a tractors´ versatility in a single drone. This is DRACTOR 25A.

DRACTOR 25A MAPPING

When used as a photogrametric aero survey tool, DRACTOR 25A presents as a great differential its exclusive 4-hours autonomy, since its high efficiency of propulsion and exclusive fuel tank system allow the swap of the 10-liters tank of pesticide for a 10-liters tank of fuel, summing 12.5 liters of fuel.

Using Dractor Planner, its users plan missions in a fast and secure way, generating flight plans that assure maximum productivity in the mapping.

Dractor also leaves factory with the established embedded XMobots HAL technology, RTK system that assures accuracy of few centimeters, with no need to collect control points. Counting on Dractor, you may also use high-resolution APS-C cameras in the RGB bands as well as in NIR and RedEdge bands.

DRACTOR 25A becomes a powerful tool for data capture, combining the easy operation and longer life cycle of the multirotor drones and the high capacity of mapping that was only present in fixed-wing drones (in a single flight above 400ft counting on XM3 sensor, 2.5cm GSD and a 60% side overlap, DRACTOR can map 750 hectares).

Check below some highlights of the mapping version of the DRACTOR.

DRACTOR 25A SPRAYING

When used as a crop spraying tool, DRACTOR 25A is completely integrated to the XMobots embedded technologies that assure maximum accuracy and high yield in input application. One of the greatest innovations brought by DRACTOR´s spraying version is the possibility of dispersion of pesticides in located areas, with no worries about battery juice. The spraying mode represents a significative ECONOMY in inputs, once the pesticide is sprayed only where needed. For wide infested areas, XMobots multirotor can also perform spraying in total area. For both cases, the drone presents a capacity of carrying 10 liters of pesticide, resulting in a spraying process in an one-hour flight.

DRACTOR 25A SOLUTION

According to XMobots, DRACTOR must not be considered a simple product to perform aerophotogrammetry or spraying operations. DRACTOR 25A was developed to perform as an innovative and intelligent solution in data capture and processing, using XFarming´s AI resources to fight weed plants with accuracy. This way, DRACTOR 25A´s cycle of use is described in the chart below:

Step 1: Mapping flight AOI

Mapping flight (over 4 hours) using XMC sensor for mutispectral data capture.

Step 2: AOI Processing

Processing of the multispectral ortophoto. The generation of the orthomosaic is a simple and optimized step, thanks to XMC plug-in implemented in the Metashape software.

Step 3: Analysis for weed bushes detection

Analysis of the orthomosaic using the AI resources of XFarming, the data postprocessing software developed by XMobots*.

After weed bushes detection and delimitation, XFarming exports the polygons of the infested areas.

*On sugarcane version, the exclusive and innovative matology plug-in will detect and delimitate automatically the weed bushes.

Step 4: Sampling flight over weed bushes

Dractor flies up to 10m above the center of weed bushes detected by XFarming. High-resolution (4mm) images are generated to allow the identification of each species of weed.

Step 5: Analysis for Species Identification

Analysis of samples using XFarming AI**.

**On sugarcane version, the exclusive and innovative matology plug-in helps in the identification of weed species.

Step 6: Spraying flight

With all the infested areas detected and identified by XFarming, the operator performs the flight to spray 10 liters of pesticide up to 1 hour in located areas. This method eliminates weeds which are harmful to the development of the crops in a very agile and accurate way, resulting in a great economy of resources.

SWITCHABLE TANK SYSTEM

Dractor presents two models of main tank: one for pesticides and another for fuel, both presents the same shape and distinct valves, allowing the easy and fast exchange of tanks. When Dractor performs a mapping mission, it connects to the 10-liter fuel tank, which valve connects itself to the 2.5-liter internal reserve tank, totalizing 12.5 liters for the generator. When Dractor performs a spraying mission, it´s connected to the 10-liter pesticide tank which valve connects itself to the bomb of the spraying system. In this case, Dractor flies with 2.5 liters of fuel that equals to the 1 hour of a spraying flight.

HYBRID POWER SYSTEM

DRACTOR 25A presents a hybrid power system, which means, it´s fed by the battery and the generator engine.

The battery is used to supply instant demands of the current, and to perform as redundance for the generator engine, allowing a completely steady flight up to 4 minutes.

DETECT WITH ACCURACY

DRACTOR 25A was developed to close the Precision Agriculture cycle. Like all platforms projected to perform with complete accuracy, the positional accuracy is one of the fundamental premises to the success of DRACTOR SOLUTION. Afterwards, detection and identification need to be accurate since each centimeter counts in the matter of weed infestation and input economy.

That´s why the drone leaves the factory with the HAL (High Accuracy Low cost) embedded RTK technology, assuring its users the few centimeters positional accuracy, completely eliminating one of the slowest steps of aerial mapping with drones: the control points collection.

HAL system operates in dual-frequency (L1 and L2) and quad-constellation, assuring average altmetric accuracy of 2x the GSD of the flight. It can be used with a GNSS L1 and L2 XRTK184B base, developed by XMobots or with available bases in the market and compatible with HAL technology.

HIGH RESOLUTION IN MAPPING

For non-agricultural markets, such as Topography, Mining, Eletric energy, Environment and others, DRACTOR 25A presents the possibility to perform only as a photogrammetric aerial mapping platform. For this kind of application, its 4-hour autonomy increases the performance to the highest level, concerning rotary drone mapping. Besides its autonomy, its high performance is favored by the XM3 camera. With a 24Mpix resolution and a 16mm fix lens. Dractor presents 0.9 x 0.6 inches APS-C sensor while conventional multirotor drones used for mapping use 0.25 x 0.2 inches sensors. Therefore, the coverage band of XM3 camera is around 3.5 times bigger than the ones used in other multirotor drones.

FEEL THE EMOTION TO DETECT AND IDENTIFY

NEW POSSIBILITIES WITH NDRE

Although XMC camera is completely related to the weed bushes automatic detection, DRACTOR can also count on the XM5 sensor embedded in applications that present the requirement to extract NDRE indices. Each 5 band-camera (R, G, B, NIR and RedEdge) developed by XMobots presents 6 Megapixels resolution, allowing a 4.7cm GSD at 400ft AGL. XM5 is a sensor that captures the “invisible” to help in the search of what can be corrected.

RICH IN DETAILS

A platform that impresses by the details, with each angle projected to combine a modern and aerodynamic design with its maximum structural efficiency. Among the requirements to be fulfilled by the DRACTOR´s R&D team there were the use of high-performance materials made of carbon and aluminum, propulsion efficiency, high-density energy and maximum security. And, in order to increase Dractor´s team performance, the drone´s innovative design was projected by an automobile design team, the same one responsible for the design of one of the greatest automobile factories in the world. It all comes to the reason why DRACTOR is a very unique drone.