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Mike Corder / AP
A Dutch startup is using drones to kill moths in the air as a way to protect valuable crops in greenhouses damaged by caterpillars.
Dutch watercress grower Rob Baan has hired high-tech helpers to fight a pest in his greenhouses: palm-sized drones search for and destroy moths that produce caterpillars that can chew on his crops.
“I have one-of-a-kind products where you don’t get certified to spray chemicals and I don’t want it,” Baan said in an interview in a greenhouse bathed in the pinkish glow of LED lights that help her seedlings grow. His company, Koppert Cress, exports aromatic saplings, plants and flowers to the best restaurants around the world.
An enthusiastic adopter of innovative technology in his greenhouses, Baan turned to PATS Indoor Drone Solutions, a startup that is developing autonomous drone systems as greenhouse sentinels, to add another layer of protection for his plants.
Mike Corder / AP
Rob Baan of the Koppert Cress plant nursery in a green house illuminated by pink LED lights in Monster, the Netherlands.
The drones themselves are basic, but they are driven by smart technology with the help of special cameras that scan the airspace in the greenhouses.
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Drones instantly kill moths by flying towards them, destroying them in midair.
“So you see the moth flying, you know where the drone is … and then you just point the drone at the moth,” said PATS Technical Director Kevin van Hecke.
There were no moths in a recent visit to The Associated Press greenhouse, but the company released video recorded in a controlled environment showing an insect being instantly sprayed by a drone rotor.
Mike Corder / AP
Kevin van Hecke, Technical Director, PATS Indoor Drone Solutions, on the left, and Bram Tijmons, Managing Director, on the right.
The drones are part of a series of pest control systems in Baan’s greenhouses that also include other insects, pheromone traps and bumblebees.
The drone system is the brainchild of alumni at Delft Technical University who came up with the idea after wondering if they could use drones to kill mosquitoes that buzz in their rooms at night.
Baan says the drone control system is smart enough to distinguish between good and bad critters.
“You don’t want to kill a ladybug, because a ladybug is very useful against aphids,” he said. “So they should kill the bad guys, not the good guys. And the good ones are sometimes very expensive: I pay at least 50 cents for a bumblebee, so I don’t want my bumblebees killed. “
The young company continues to work to perfect the technology.
“It is still a development product, but… we have very good results. We are targeting the moths and we are killing them every night autonomously without human intervention, “said PATS Executive Director Bram Tijmons.” I think it’s a good step forward. “
Baan also acknowledges that the system still needs to be refined.
“I think they still need too many drones … but it will be manageable, it will be less,” he said. “I think they can do this greenhouse in the future, maybe 50 small drones, and then it is very beneficial.” “
