by NASA

“ Traditionally, coffee has been cultivated on small, one to 100-acre farms where hand picking is the standard harvesting procedure. However, KCP uses a fleet of mechanical harvesters. This approach is becoming a global trend in coffee production. ”

“ The UAV Coffee Project will test new practices in remote aerial imaging and analysis, wireless Ethernet ‘bridge’ communications technology and commercial capabilities of UAV technologies. Data from the cameras attached to the UAV will be continuously downloaded to computers that coffee growers can monitor and will indicate which parts of the plantation are ready for harvesting. ”

“ The ERAST program is a joint NASA-industry initiative to develop and demonstrate aeronautical technologies that could lead to a family of remotely or autonomously operated UAVs to carry out long-duration Earth science and environmental missions at high altitudes. ”

“ The aircraft, because it is solar-powered, eliminates expensive fuel costs. In the future, researchers envision that the airplane will be able to ‘loiter’ in the air over the region of interest for days or weeks at a time, or until weather conditions are best for data gathering. ”

“ How the mission will be accomplished: AeroVironment will fly the Pathfinder-Plus on this mission, which was designed to demonstrate the potential commercial applications of UAVs. The solar-powered airplane will fly back and forth across the plantation in precision patterns while special cameras capture and transmit images of the ripening coffee to field managers on the ground. The aircraft’s camera/imaging equipment takes overlapping swaths of imagery, which will help harvesters locate the ripest coffee fields. ”

“ What is new in Herwitz's research is the platform -- the UAV -- on which the digital cameras are mounted. The UAV promises several advantages over other platforms. It requires no on-board pilot and can fly at low altitudes targeting only the portion of the Earth's surface under study. ”

“ Researchers hope the remotely piloted aircraft's unique capabilities to ‘loiter’ for long periods over crop fields will provide data that coffee growers can use to select the best times to harvest coffee ‘cherries’ located in areas of their plantation that ripen at different rates. ”