The North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission (APUC) has awarded four projects totaling $700,000. Vertipads Inc. was awarded $150,000 to develop a dedicated UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) ground infrastructure to service drones used in and for agriculture. The North Dakota grants can be used for basic and applied research, marketing and utilization, farm diversification, nature-based agritourism, prototype and technology, and technical assistance.
The UAS Trend Builds Up
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are made up of three parts: an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a command and control (C2) system to connect the two, and an autonomous or human-operated control system that is often on the ground or a ship but may be on another airborne platform. UAVs can range in size from hand-launchable models to specially designed or modified aircraft with fixed or rotary wing configurations. Since the early 1990s, the usage of UAS for military and other State purposes has increased. It has operated UAVs far from their controllers using satellite communications and GNSS navigation. In recent years, growing numbers of rotary and multi-rotor UAVs have joined fixed-wing UAVs.
Mordor Intelligence estimates that the drone market in agriculture is poised to grow by 7.1% over 2017-2027 as the need for precision agriculture accelerates across the globe to reduce the use of pesticides and to collect more data to market informed and accurate decisions. However, this growth may be hampered by several challenges, namely the dangers linked to data privacy and protection from hackers.
In an increasingly digitalized world, one of the most prominent threats is the rise and diversification of hackers. While at a certain period in time, they used to hack large companies or individual communities. Unfortunately, there’s been a steady increase in the number of attacks on farmers. Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and Fortress Information Security, a cybersecurity risk management company, introduced the Green UAS initiative. It will offer a standardized cybersecurity evaluation for commercially available drones to guarantee the security of the supply chain that comprises its parts, software, and other technologies. The risk associated with corporate cyber hygiene, product and device security, remote operations and connectivity, and supply chain management, is the focus of four green UAS frameworks. Businesses and products are evaluated and verified in each framework regarding security controls. Photo by Jared Brashier on UnsplashÂ
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