Seed Bombing Drone
The Challenge
The majority of Nepal, situated in the Himalayas, consists of mountain slopes that are difficult to access. Day by day, deforestation is leaving empty spaces in these mountain ranges, even causing them to collapse. More than 450 landslides occur every year in Nepal, with many of them being fatal, damaging numerous households.
The locals are determined to reforest these areas to improve stability, water drainage, and biodiversity. To them, this is more than just an environmental conservation matter, but a fight for their hometowns. However, traditional methods of reforestation are simply impossible in these inaccessible terrains; hence, the seed bombing drones came into play.
Our Solution
The Seed Bombing Drone project aims to develop an advanced and upgraded version of the current drone and effectively address its shortcomings. In collaboration with the Robotics Association of Nepal (RAN) and Avans Hogeschool’s interdisciplinary student team, the goals are to improve the drone by increasing its seed capacity to 300 seeds, enable continuous operation without jamming, enhance the shooting mechanism to function from a height of 30 meters, and minimize electricity consumption for higher efficiency.
How It Works
- Seeds are loaded into a specially designed hopper with a steep 70° angle to prevent blockages. A mixer continuously agitates the seeds, ensuring a smooth, jam-free flow to the shooting mechanism.
- The system utilizes two counter-rotating flywheels to accelerate seeds to a precise exit velocity of 25 m/s. The flywheels are designed to accommodate variations in the hand-made seeds’ size (12-14mm), and are driven by a dedicated electric motor.
- The system is integrated with a Hexacopter drone that has a 15 kg payload capacity and a 30-minute flight time. The drone will follow a Contour-Following path combined with an adaptive Zigzag pattern.
- Aligning with the local people’s preference, the existing Lora module control system with a 5 km range is retained for reliable digital and analog data exchange, managing the seed dispersal mechanism.
The Outcome
The successful development of this project will result in an efficient and robust seed bombing drone system, capable of deploying and embedding the seeds into the soil, even in challenging post-landslide environments. A key emphasis of the design is taking into account the manufacturability and repairability within Nepal’s resource limitations, using accessible materials and technologies. Ultimately, this system will play a pivotal role in Nepal’s reforestation efforts and hopefully mitigate the devastating impacts of natural disasters.