Drones for tree trimming

Heidi Ren July 21, 2015 at 3:11pm

Thanks George, I will contact these people at Berkeley and see if I can replicate their design.

George Kelly July 21, 2015 at 2:03pm

I don't recommend using the props, Heidi!

What you want is already being done, it seems:

You might contact those people (Berkeley Forest Pathology and Mycology Lab) and ask for advice (or permission to copy their approach - in case it's patented).

http://nature.berkeley.edu/garbelottowp/?p=1801

If theirs works, why waste ages trying to re-invent it? Just learning to operate it would be a handful for anyone.

George

Heidi Ren July 21, 2015 at 11:03am

Hello,

I'm a researcher who studies trees and I stumbled onto this discussion while trying to figure out a relatively easy way to cut small branches down from tall trees so that I can measure the leaves. I'm wondering if the propeller blades of a small drone would be able to cut through small tree branches, or would the copter blades just become damaged. Any recommendations on a drone that would be suitable? Or could I attach some sort of pruning device to the drone (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001E3QGK/ref=ox_sc_act_image_10?...) and cut the branch down with the attached rope? Would a drone be strong enough to lift a pruning head off of the ground (and stable enough to hover it over a specific branch)? Would it be possible to attach rope to the drone, fly it over a small branch and then use the rope to pull the branch down? I have no experience flying drones so I am not sure what they are capable of, how much control you have over them for fine scale positioning and how easily they would become damaged. But it seems like a good way of accessing tree crowns without climbing them!

Thanks in advance for any advice

Gabriel DeVault April 6, 2015 at 7:29pm

That "tree trimming 101" video just shows that an average 700 class copter is WAY more dangerous than an inspire with a weak little saw on it. I mean, maybe it would cut you up a bit, but a 700 can dismember or decapitate you without even trying. I love people's "knee jerk" reactions to multicopters, when we've have more dangerous RC stuff for decades with an astonishingly good safety record overall.