SYDNEY, 12th January 2018 - Southern Cross Drones Pty Ltd, an Australian commercial UAV solutions company, today announced arrival of the Parrot Bluegrass, the fully integrated precision agriculture drone.   

Drones aren’t new technology by any means. Now, however, thanks to solid investments and a favourable regulatory environment, it appears their time has arrived, especially in agriculture.

Responding to the rapidly evolving technology, Southern Cross Drones has embarked on extensive program by creating new business unit and operating models for UAVs.   One of the company strategic partnerships is with Parrot,  an established and highly respected UAV technology firm.  

Parrot, has made an entry to Precision Agriculture space by releasing last year a “ready to fly” kit based on popular fixed wing drone Parrot Disco.  Today, the new UAV aimed at the same market space of commercial agriculture has arrived in Australia.  The Parrot Bluegrass sends a strong message from a vendor that is clearly looking to stay visible in competitive market place by offering a full suite of drone offerings that run the range from consumer to enterprise markets.

Southern Cross Drones team had privilege in testing Parrot Bluegrass drone recently and as a result we have now full confidence in launching the package to drone-savvy farmer in Australia.

The Bluegrass is a multipurpose quadcopter designed for agriculture that uses two fully integrated cameras; video camera and multispectral sensor. Its front full HD video camera helps farmers visually monitor a farm’s infrastructure, the land and herds. It also enables farmers to obtain an overview and detect problem areas in all types of crop fields, thanks to its multispectral sensor.

The drone can easily cover up to 30 hectares at 70m flight altitude per battery and fly at low altitudes optimising scouting fruit crops that require more mapping precision.  It weighs 1.85kg hence it does not require remote pilot operator license in Australia.  The drone is equipped with an on-board computing system, as well as embedding the Parrot Sequoia, an advanced multispectral sensor.

Fully supported by Southern Cross Drones team, Parrot Bluegrass Agricultural Solution includes:

•     A powerful and easy to handle quadcopter equipped with a full HD front camera and integrated Parrot Sequoia advanced              multispectral sensor
•     Flight planning mobile application with Pix4D Capture that works with iOS and Android devices.
•     Data processing service with AIRINOV FIRST+ cloud platform
•     A remote control Parrot Skycontroller 2
•     Two spare batteries and chargers
•     A practical backpack for carrying the drone around

Pix4D Capture is a flight planning application that enables farmers to precisely define the specific area they want to map. The user adapts the flight parameters according to the precision needed and the type of crops. The entire flight, from take-off to landing, is performed autonomously by the quadcopter and the images captured by FPV camera are streamed live on the operator’s screen.

The Bluegrass can also be piloted manually using the included Parrot Skycontroller 2 Wi-Fi remote control, which provides a 2km range, with the capability to hover and safely return home.

The Parrot Sequoia which is included is a popular and industry proven multispectral sensor with GPS that automatically records images of crops in four distinct spectral bands: green (500nm Bandwidth 40nm), red (660nm Bandwidth 40nm), red-edge (735nm Bandwidth 10nm) and near Infrared (790nm Bandwidth 40nm). It is equipped with a RGB camera (16 MP); a 64GB internal memory to store captured images and a luminosity sensor  called sunshine sensor that records lighting conditions and automatically calibrates collected data with the multispectral sensor data for the precise processing of information.

Data analytics is handled by Parrot’s AIRINOV FIRST+, the mapping and analysing platform for multispectral images captured by Parrot Sequoia.

With the Bluegrass a farmer receives a complete report composed of orthomosaic NDVI maps (absolute and adjusted) and zoning (simple and detailed). This provides a precise view of the biomass (density of vegetation) and relative health of the crops, helping professionals to determine which areas need specific attention. Professionals can use these insights to enforce corrective actions and track the effects and progress of the farm with high precision.

About Parrot Drones

Parrot Drones is a subsidiary of Parrot, founded in 1994 by Henri Seydoux.

Parrot creates, develops and markets advanced technology wireless products for consumers and professionals. The company builds on a common technological expertise to innovate and develop in three primary markets: civil drones, connected objects and automotive systems.

Headquartered in Paris, Parrot currently employs more than 700 people worldwide and generates the majority of its sales overseas.

For more information, please visit www.parrot.com

About Southern Cross Drones Pty Ltd 

Southern Cross Drones is a Sydney, Australia based commercial UAV and sUAS company.  Founded in 2016 Southern Cross Drones provides range of unique drone based solutions aimed at civil engineering, surveying, mapping, mining, infrastructure inspection, precision agriculture, search and rescue and law enforcement applications. Southern Cross Drones team of professionals is renowned for its competency in advising the best available solutions for specific requirements of their clients.  For more information, please visit  www.southerncrossdrones.com