Agriculture

Design the drone your farm actually needs.

Twelve chat-ready mission templates across row crops, orchards, livestock, frost mitigation, pollination, and the agritourism long tail. Every design is physics-validated, priced, and 3D-rendered. Regulatory flags per region. No hallucinated part numbers.

Design for my farm Read the cow-farmer case →
12 missionschat-ready templates
L2–L4autonomy range
MR / FW / heavy-liftform factors
$800 – $45,000build cost range
Mission library

Twelve agricultural missions. Each a chat-ready template.

The user describes the mission in their own words — "spray 40 acres of corn," "count my cows at dusk," "find the frost-risk spots in my vineyard." DRONA classifies into one of the templates below and runs the end-to-end design. Each template pre-wires the form factor, autonomy level, sensor payload, and the key compatibility envelopes.

Row-crop scouting (visible + NDVI)
AG-01
Multispectral pass over row crops — corn, soy, wheat — to identify stressed zones for ground-truthing. Output: orthomosaic + NDVI raster. Fixed-wing for > 100 acres efficiency; MR hex for precision passes < 40 acres.
form factorFW  or  MR hexsensorMicaSense RedEdge-Pflight60–90 min FW · 25 min MR
L3multispectral
Orchard / tree canopy mapping
AG-02
Canopy structure, yield proxy, pest-hotspot discovery for orchards and vineyards. RGB + multispectral. FW preferred for throughput; LiDAR optional for 3D canopy.
form factorFixed-wingsensorRGB + multispectralflight60 min
L3RGB + MS
Livestock locate (including agritourism cows)
AG-03
Scheduled route or on-demand search for wandering livestock. Thermal contrast at dawn/dusk works better than visible at 100+ m AGL. Rain-rated IP54 essential if this is the cow-finding use case.
form factorMR hexsensorradiometric thermal + RGBflight25 min
L2–3featured
Pest / disease spot detection
AG-04
Precision re-visits over flagged zones from AG-01, with higher-res RGB and close-range multispectral. MR for ground-sample-distance flexibility.
form factorMR quadsensormultispectral + 20 MP RGBflight25 min
L3
Chemical spraying
AG-05
Pesticide, herbicide, or fungicide application. Heavy-lift octocopter or X8 coaxial with 10–30 L tank and downwash-optimized propellers. Part 137 / EU Specific / equivalent operator certification required.
form factorOctocopter HLpayload10–30 L tank, fan nozzlesflight8–15 min per tank
L3heavy-liftregulated
Granular spreader (seed / fertilizer)
AG-06
Seed broadcast, granular fertilizer application, cover-crop seeding. Same airframe as AG-05 with a swap-head spreader. 30 L hopper + centrifugal spreader disc.
form factorOctocopter HLpayload30 L hopper, spreader discflight10–15 min per hopper
L3
Frost protection (air mixing)
AG-07
Hover at low altitude to mix warmer air aloft into cold inversion layer. Protects orchard blossom and early-season crops. No payload; mechanical effect only. Large low-RPM props for efficiency.
form factorMR heavy hexpayloadnone (downwash)flight30–60 min
L2
Pollination (research / controlled)
AG-08
Nano swarm depositing pollen onto flowers in controlled environments (greenhouse, research plot). Experimental at commercial scale; supported as a research-tier template.
form factorNano MR swarmsensordownward cam + pollen dispenserflight8–10 min
L4research
Harvest-yield estimation
AG-09
Pre-harvest wide-coverage pass correlated with ground-truth sample data. RGB + multispectral. FW ideal for large acreage.
form factorFixed-wingsensorRGB + multispectralflight60 min
L3
Irrigation-system survey
AG-10
Thermal detection of irrigation leaks, over- and under-watered zones. Thermal anomalies (cool = wet) correlate with drip-line failures.
form factorMR hex or FWsensorradiometric thermal + RGBflight25 min MR · 60 min FW
L3
Vineyard bird deterrence
AG-11
Scheduled drone presence near ripening vineyards to deter starlings and other flocking pests. Acoustic + visual deterrent; agritourism-adjacent.
form factorMR quad / hexpayloadloudspeaker + LEDflight20 min
L2–3agritourism
Apiary monitoring
AG-12
Thermal activity check of beehives, swarm-detection, remote apiary health assessment. Small MR, low-noise, short mission.
form factorMR quad (3-inch)sensorthermal + RGBflight15 min
L2agritourism
Compatibility envelope

Agriculture-specific constraints the engine enforces.

In addition to the 12 universal compatibility rules (§5 of the physics primer), agricultural designs are checked against the predicates below.

RuleWhat it checksSeverity
tank-payload-balanceSpray/hopper tank capacity × fluid density ≤ payload rating × safety factor 1.25. Prevents sagging arms and prop tip strike at full tank.error
downwash-nozzle-matchFan-nozzle spacing and flow rate matched to rotor downwash velocity. Prevents drift and fuzz.warn
rain-rating-ipMission tag env:rain present → IP54 or better on all exposed electronics. Cow-finder use case requires this.error
chem-resistant-servoSpray mission → servos rated for chemical exposure (Savox SC-1258TG class or better).warn
low-rpm-frostFrost-mixing mission → propellers ≥ 18" and motor KV ≤ 400, for sustained low-RPM hover.warn
regulatory-operator-certSpray or heavy-lift AUW → per-region certification flag (Part 137 US · SORA EU · MAFF JP · etc.).info
anti-drift-marginSpray mission ground-speed < 0.4 × wind-speed threshold; flag if configured ground-speed risks drift.warn
field-topology-fitFixed-wing cannot launch from small orchard gaps without catapult; flag if launch area < 40 m.warn
Regulatory profile

Where agricultural ops are regulated as their own category.

Agricultural operations sit in a heavier regulatory bucket than hobby flight in almost every jurisdiction. DRONA surfaces the applicable rule the moment the mission classifier decides on a spray or heavy-lift template.

United StatesFAA Part 137Agricultural operator certificate required for dispensing. Part 107 + Part 137 combo. 14 CFR § 137.
European UnionEASA Specific · SORASpray ops fall in Specific category. Operator registration + SORA risk assessment.
United KingdomCAA · A2 CofC / GVCA2 for most sub-25 kg ops; GVC if > 25 kg or BVLOS.
CanadaTransport Canada · AdvancedAdvanced RPAS operator certification + Transport Canada permission.
JapanMAFF accreditationMinistry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries accreditation + DIPS registration.
AustraliaCASA · ReOCRemote operator certificate for > 2 kg commercial; AMD for liquid dispensing.
IndiaDGCA · Digital SkyDGCA-registered SSP + Kisan Drone program incentives for crop protection.
BrazilANAC + MAPADual registration: civil aviation + Ministry of Agriculture for ag-application.
ChinaCAAC · UAV Class IIIClass III certification for UAS > 25 kg; AG fleet dominant globally.
Sample build

What an AG-03 livestock-locate design actually looks like.

The configuration below is the output for the cow-farmer conversation. Every field is computed, validated, and exportable.

herd-watch-01 · vdx 1.2
# Generated by DRONA · mission AG-03 · autonomy L3 [drone] name = "herd-watch-01" form = "multirotor" subtype = "hex" useCase = "livestock-locate" mission = "AG-03" [frame] model = "Holybro X500 V2" wheelbaseMm = 520 material = "carbon_fiber" ipRating = "IP54" # required by rain-rating-ip rule [motors] model = "T-Motor MN3110" kv = 470 count = 6 [battery] cells = 6 capacity = 6000 # mAh cRating = 30 [flightController] model = "Pixhawk 6C" firmware = "ardupilot_copter" [payload] thermal = "FLIR Vue TZ20-R" visible = "Sony IMX678 · 48 MP" gimbal = "Gremsy Pixy WP" [autonomy] level = 3 schedule = "05:15, 11:30, 17:45, 22:00" returnToHome = true terrainFollowing = true [specs] # computed allUpWeightG = 4150 thrustMaxG = 12400 twr = 2.99 hoverTimeMin = 27.5 noiseDb = 68 totalCostUsd = 2380 [export] stl = "herd-watch-01.stl" param = "herd-watch-01.param" bom = "herd-watch-01.csv" plan = "herd-watch-01.plan"
Featured case study
G
Case study · Agritourism

Nine minutes, one conversation, 40 cows back in the pasture.

How a 60-ha agritourism farm in a remote mountain region went from "help me find my cows" to an IP54 hex design, ordered and operating within a week.

Read the case study →
Agriculture

Tell us what's growing — or grazing — on your farm.

Describe the mission, not the airframe. We'll pick the right drone, the right autonomy tier, and the right sensor stack. Then we'll show it to you in 3D, priced, compat-checked, and exportable.

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