Contact: Manuel Vázquez-ArellanoM.Sc. Dimitrios ParaforosM.Sc. Dietrich KortenbruckDipl.-Ing. David Reiser
Email: mvazquez@uni-hohenheim.de, D.Paraforos@uni-hohenheim.de, dietrich.kortenbruck@uni-hohenheim.de, dreiser@uni-hohenheim.de
Master Thesis, Bachelor Thesis

Today's agricultural operations need to be more efficient in the use of resources. Agricultural robots can provide complete new operations and hence contribute to improve agricultural practices. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have a lot of applications in agricultural scenarios not just for crop status data collection, but also for some applications that require low-weight load.

Currently, it is possible to build an low cost octocopter with carbon fibre structure and controlled by the robot operation system (ROS) (if possible) for precision agriculture applications. The objective is to construct an octocopter using low-cost electronics such as Raspberry pi and Gertbot for controlling the UAV and investigate the limits of such devices without relying on a commercial flight controller, if they cannot provide reliability, a justification must be provided and a more advanced option for the flight controller should be investigated. Security is the first priority for the design, therefore, the platform must ensure a safety flight. The application will be to test the UAV in obtaining visual information of crop status such as NDVI or 3-D crop reconstrucion, using structure-from-motion technique, and collecting data from field sensors; among many other possible applications.

Basic knowledge of software and strong interest on electronics and mechanics. And passion for building things by yourself.