Remotely-Piloted Helicopter Citrus Yield Map Estimation

A remotely-piloted Gas Xcell mini-helicopter with GPS, wireless Ethernet, and a machine vision system was flown over orange trees to take overhead images. The individual tree images The authors are solely responsible for the content of this technical presentation. The technical presentation does not necessarily reflect the official position of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), and its printing and distribution does not constitute an endorsement of views which may be expressed. Technical presentations are not subject to the formal peer review process by ASABE editorial committees; therefore, they are not to be presented as refereed publications. Citation of this work should state that it is from an ASABE meeting paper. EXAMPLE: Author's Last Name, Initials. 2006. Title of Presentation. ASABE Paper No. 06xxxx. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASABE. For information about securing permission to reprint or reproduce a technical presentation, please contact ASABE at [email protected] or 269-429-0300 (2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659 USA). were processed to estimate the number of orange pixels in the images. The fruit yield of individual trees at harvest a month later had an r-squared value of 0.373 with the number of orange pixels on the irrigated tree images. While it was demonstrated that a remotely-piloted mini-helicopter could be used to acquire useful overhead images of citrus trees, substantial further research is needed to improve the accuracy of estimates of individual tree yields or health.