Visit our booth at:
Manitoba Ag Days
January 20-22, 2009
Brandon, ManitobaWorld Ag Show
April 4,5,6, Toledo, Ohio February 10-12, 2009
Tulare, California
Booth C3401
Recent News
Unmanned Systems Down on the Farm
Gaea honey Cutt, AUVSI, September 2008 Click hereCropCam Featured in Episode 2 of BBC1 Series, "Britain from Above' at 2100
August 17 in UKWest Sussex Farmer Using Specially Adapted Army Spy Plan to Treat Land
BBC News, August 15, 2008 Click hereQinetiQ achieves UK's First Unmanned Flight for Agricultural Crop Monitoring
Shephards, August 2008 Click hereAvian research project takes off
McGill Reporter, June 2008 Click hereSky's the limit for unmanned aerial vehicles
Winnipeg Free Press, June 2008 Click hereResearch takes flight
In-Forum Archive, April 2008 Click hereDrones ready to tackle different fields
Business Edge, Ontario Business News, March 2008 Click hereArticle in Central Valley Business Times, February 2008
Click hereArticle in Ilmailu Magazine (Finnish Aviation Association)
Ilmakuvia lennokilla Click hereAerial Images Tell Agronomic Tale
Ron Lyseng, Western Producer, Dec 20, 2007Green Fingered UAV's
Unmanned Systems, Sept/Oct 2007, Pages 24-25 Laurence R "Nuke" Newcome, Unmanned Vehicles, November 2007FAA Considering CropCam COA
The Newsletter of the Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium, Fall 2007, Issue 50Unmanned Systems, Nov/Dec 2007Piloto Automatica
An Argentine magazine called "El Federal" on October 4, 2007, Pages 40-41 Click hereUnmanned Systems: The Farmer’s New Friend
Unmanned Systems, Sept/Oct 2007, Pages 24-25Remote Controlled Aircraft Utilized to Collect Aerial Photography in Otter Tail County
The Newsletter of the Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium, Fall 2007, Issue 50Click hereAerial Scout: Remote control plane helps diagnose problems
Progressive Farmer, September 2007, Page 8Click here
“CropCam Aerial Photography,”Model Airplane News, August, 2007, Page 116“CropCam: Mini ag plane,” “Spotlight On Canada,”
June 11, 2007, Page 2“Farmers get bird’s-eye view,” by Scott A. Yates, Capital Press, March 2, 2007
“Keep a better eye on your crops with the new CropCam,” Manitoba CO-OPERATOR, November 16, 2007, Pg. 15
For interviews and sample images see below:
Shots from CropCam Users
- Eagle's Nest in Tower, 1 shot at 400 feet
- Elk damage in peas, 12 images covering 60 acres at 2100 feet
- University of Putra in Malaysia, 1 shot at 400 feet
- Canada Geese, 1 shot at 500 feet
- Nitrogen improperly sprayed in left corner, 48 images covering 640 acres at 2100
Original Pictures, British Columbia
This link provides 12 images taken at 2100 feet of a river in British Columbia. They are stitched together using PT-GUI
Manitoba, Canada
- 12 images for 160 acres at 2100 ft
- 24 images for 320 acres at 2100 ft
- 48 images for 640 acres at 2100 ft
Video
Video is pulled directly off the Pentax camera and sent to a base receiver where the laptop and/or monitor can pickup the signal. The camera gives a 640x480 video image at 30 fps and the system has a usable range up to and beyond 1 mile. The transmitter is quite small and light, it adds maybe an ounce to the airplane, the power in can be taken from the autopilot LIPO, so no extra battery is needed. Power consumption is only 100 MA every 10 minutes.A simple Velcro attachment to the bottom of the wing is all that’s needed for mounting. A few more leads are used to attach to the camera and for power. It is quite handy in that you can view and record a video image, and then take a full size picture any time using the picture button in horizon when something good comes into view.
Attached is video taken at 400 feet, the black dropout is when the picture was taken at the waypoint.
click here to download the video
CropCam Interviews
- CBC Interview (July 2005)
- CTV Feature (May 2006)
- Overview of CropCam by Greg Lewis, On-Demand Imagery Services
Old Sample Images
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| University of Manitoba, Experimental Farm, Taken at 400 feet, July 21, 2005 | |||
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Kroeker Farms, Potatoes, Taken at 400 feet, July 21, 2005 | ||
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Cargill, Canola, Taken at 2100 feet, August 9, 2005 | ||
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Nature Conservancy of Canada – Manitoba Region, Experimental Grazing Plot on the Tall Grass Prairie Reserve, Taken at 2100 feet, October 20, 2005 | ||
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Using an Angle Box, Wheat, Taken at 400 feet, on August 19, 2005 | ||
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Assiniboine Community College, Hay Test Field , Taken at 2100 feet on September 19, 2005. |
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| Greg Lewis, Faculty of GIS Environmental Technologies at Assiniboine Community College used the (.tfw) Hay Test Field images taken at 2100 feet on September 19, 2005 to create a mosaic | |||
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| Gary Martens, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the University of Manitoba used the (.tfw) canola images taken at 2100 feet on August 9, 2000 in APS Assess Software. | |||