THE war on weeds could soon be fought from the sky thanks to a fresh round of federal government funding.
Led by CQU's drone, internet of things, mechatronics and agriculture specialists, the project over the next two years will feature the use of light-weight drones to snap millions of ultra-high-resolution images of weeds in large farmlands in Central Queensland. Imagery data will be processed to create GPS location of weeds.
From there, the images will be shared with another drones system that will be integrated with a robust mechatronics system, which will then spot-spray herbicides on detected weeds with precision.
Central Queensland farmer Peter Foxwell, Foxwell Farming is providing access to his broadacre crops for the trials.
Leading the project will be Dr Jahan Hassan, a specialist in consumer drone services and systems, along with technology partners OMRON Industrial Automation and Leica Biosystems.
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The project has multiple research themes: AI and image processing led by Dr Nahina Islam; internet of things and internet of drones led by Dr Biplob Ray; design and fabrication of mechatronics system led by Dr Abdul Mazid; and weed identification and herbicide efficiency evaluation by Associate Prof. Nanjappa Ashwath.
Dr Hassan said the project was made possible by CQUniversity's diverse research expertise along with relevant industries and international collaboration.
"This project relies on advanced drone systems, internet of things technology and artificial intelligence, a complex mechatronic spraying system, and a deep understanding of and connection to our agricultural sector," Dr Hassan said.
Federal Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King announced the successful grants in November.
The CQU project team also includes Dr Nurun Nabi, Professor Steven Moore, and Dr Stephen Xu. Dr Zaglul Shahadat of Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, Bangladesh is also contributing to this research.
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