Prospective Review of Agricultural Drone Robots Application: Opportunities and Challenges

There is a significant challenge in sustainable energy and food production due to limited land resources on the planet and a rapidly growing global population. Therefore, agricultural crop yields must be improved with the same agricultural area, environmental impacts, and crop diseases. Over the last decades, technologies widely used in the manufacturing industry, such as automation and robotics, have been applied to agricultural operations to face the aforementioned challenges. Additionally, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) aim to optimize agricultural operations, improve efficiency, and enhance sustainability, making farming more resilient to modern challenges [1]. Drones have become suitable devices among the diverse robotic technologies in the Precision Agriculture (PA) context.

In this context, the application of drones has contributed to precision agriculture (PA). Thus, PA operations such as crop mapping, real-time monitoring, automated spraying, and yield prediction have significantly enhanced. Despite the widespread application of agricultural drones and their numerous advantages, several challenges to improving agriculture drone technology must be faced. This manuscript presents a prospective revision of the opportunities and challenges associated with agricultural drones.

An agricultural drone is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) specifically designed for agricultural applications. This drone has sensors and tools typically used in precision agriculture, such as diverse sensors, cameras, and spraying mechanisms. Agricultural drones are used for aerial mapping, crop monitoring, pesticide and fertilizer spraying, and irrigation management [2]. By collecting and analyzing real-time data, agriculture drones help farmers optimize resources, improve efficiency, and enhance overall crop yields [3].

Agriculture drones provide innovative solutions for precision agriculture, resource optimization, and automated agricultural processes. Some of the key opportunities offered by agriculture drones are listed as follows.
1. Crop Monitoring: Multispectral and thermal cameras mounted on drones are used to monitor crop health, detecting early signs of diseases or nutrient deficiencies. Therefore, some strategies to reduce waste and improve crop health and soils can be applied based on this monitoring.
2. Pest and Disease Control: Pesticide spraying targeted by drones aims to reduce pesticide application and minimize environmental impacts. Precision pesticide spraying helps to minimize runoff and ensures applications only where needed, improving the efficiency of this operation.
3. Automated Irrigation and Spraying: Drones can be used to obtain aerial thermal images, which are processed to determine dry spots so they can be irrigated selectively. This technology has contributed to enhancing the performance of crop field irrigation systems [4].
4. Data-Driven Decision Making: The data acquired by drones can be proceeded by using artificial intelligence and machine learning, which contribute to decision-making through predictive models, real-time feedback, and integration with other smart agriculture tools [5]. These technologies improve productivity and resource efficiency by anticipating crop growth patterns, optimizing fertilization applications, and adjusting harvesting schedules.

Agricultural drone technology faces several limitations that still make its integral adoption to agricultural tasks difficult. Consequently, developing solutions to the aforementioned challenges is essential to increase their potential benefits and augment agricultural drone usage. These challenges mainly include diverse factors such as high initial investment, regulatory barriers, and technical limitations of drone performance. The main challenges are following enumerated.
1. High Initial Investment: The cost of agricultural drones and their maintenance, driving software, and personal training to operate drones are high for many small and medium-sized farmers.
2. Regulatory Barriers: Several countries impose strict regulations that potentially limit agriculture drone adoption. These regulatory barriers encompass airspace restrictions, flight permissions, and data security concerns.
3. Performance Limitations: Although drone technology is mature, it still demands battery life and robustness improvements. Thus, agricultural drones are sensitive to weather conditions (rain and strong winds). These limitations can decrease their reliability in endurance and adverse operational conditions in agricultural operations.
4. Operators Training: Several drone operators lack training courses and the technical knowledge to use and maintain agricultural drones properly. This factor degenerates the correct application of drones in agriculture applications.

The adoption of agriculture drone technology is showing a significant rise worldwide. The maturation of drone technology and the recent developments in AI and machine learning have enhanced drone capabilities and reduced the associated costs. Moreover, the integration of drones with the Internet of Things (IoT) and precision agriculture systems will provide real-time information to optimize agricultural operations and sustainability. Additionally, the adaptation of regulatory frameworks to the particularities of every single country may release the application of drone technology in agriculture.

Agricultural drones convey transformative opportunities by improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing sustainability. However, addressing challenges such as high costs, regulatory issues, and technical limitations is crucial for maximizing their potential. With continued research, innovation, and supportive policies, drones can play a significant role in the future of sustainable agriculture.

None.

No conflict of interest exists.

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