ForesTECH

They’ve been used by the US military to deadly effect in Afghanistan, but drones – also known as unmanned aircraft – are now being deployed to survey forests.

Auckland technology company, Synergy Positioning Systems, is touting small Belgian-made delta-wing drones to forestry managers and engineers in New Zealand that can be launched easily from any location to fly over forest estates and take digital photos of the canopy.

One of the tiny planes was displayed by the company at the recent ForestTECH conference in Rotorua, sparking interest among potential users.

With a wingspan measuring little more than one metre and constructed from ultra-light but very tough materials, the Gatewing X100 is powered by an electric motor that drives a rear-mounted propeller and is launched into the air with a giant catapult. The plane carries a miniature camera and follows a set of coordinates that are entered into an onboard GPS system, so that it follows a set flying pattern.

A high-tech battery provides enough power to enables the plane to fly over and map up to two square kilometres and then it will land at pre-set coordinates.

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