NEW UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE APPLICATIONS being developed at Tech, to monitor airbone pathogens above crops:
“Autonomous UAVs have distinct advantages over a sampling aircraft operated via remote control,†Schmale explained. “First, the autonomous UAVs maintain a very precise sampling path. We can establish a GPS waypoint in the center of an agricultural field, and the autonomous plane can circle around the waypoint at a set altitude, with about a meter variation up and down. Second, the autonomous technology enables us to have coordinated flight with multiple aircraft. In other words, we can have two aircraft sampling pathogens at the same time but at different altitudes.â€
Very cool.