AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. has announced the Launch of a new university specific drone offering for 2019.
AgEagle has entered into a new UAS program agreement with Modesto Junior College (MJC) in Modesto, California, in an effort to ultimately enhance the curriculum of the school's agriculture technology department. This agreement builds on a sale to Arkansas State University - Newport (ASU) last year by Agribotix, which AgEagle acquired in August 2018.
AgEagle says that starting next spring, ASU and MJC will both use AgEagle’s UAS and technology as part of their respective curriculum and research. Students will not only receive hands on experience creating digital aerial maps through the AgEagle FarmLens platform, but they will also be educated on the benefits of using the data collected for sustainable farming.
Training on how to properly use UAS will also be offered. The UAS will be equipped with specialized sensors that collect ultra high-resolution images to identify specific areas of the field with crop weakness.
AgEagle says that UAS education will become a component of several tracks within each university's agricultural curriculum, including precision ag, agronomy, plant science and mapping.
“Our new university partnership program showcases our commitment to bring advanced, industry-leading technology to students and research organizations with the goal of training the next generation on the tools of today, so they can dream, build and utilize the tools of tomorrow,” says Barrett Mooney, CEO of AgEagle.
“Both ASU and MJC are in close proximity to important agricultural areas of the U.S., making them institutions with a practical need to add emerging agricultural technology to their curriculum for educating the future farmers of our generation.” AgEagle says that universities can now purchase UAS technology packages specifically tailored to their unique use cases. A combination of multicopter and fixed wing UAS are available to universities with several sensors and one common software platform for data processing, the AgEagle FarmLens.
According to AgEagle, this university offering helps ag departments build a relationship with one company to test and train students on the best technology available. The company notes that it will continue to provide support to universities after the sale, and will offer training to faculty and research staff to make sure that they have the tools to build a strong curriculum on the field use of UAS in agriculture.
Source: https://www.auvsi.org/
