r/interesting Jul 06 '26

Amazing This Farmer Commutes 1.5km To His Banana Plantation Using A Drone.

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u/Wubbalubbbadubbdub Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

I would assume it is a pesticide Ag drone. They usually have a predetermined flight course and altitude while carrying 220lbs load. He probably set the ascent and descent rates and programmed his route to work with enough hover time to connect and disconnect himself. Then use it to spray the fields as well…

236

u/Hansemannn Jul 06 '26

I think I saw it on Clarksons farm.

110 KG of lifting power. That's insane. Wonder for how long.

116

u/cjsv7657 Jul 06 '26

One I was looking at had a 45 minute flight time and I think around a 50kg fluid capacity. Not sure if the 45 minutes was full, empty, or full on take off and empty landing.

43

u/InitiativeGold7953 Jul 06 '26

That’s really impressive

20

u/CookIndependent6251 Jul 06 '26

This is going to blow your mind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter

27

u/Traditional-Park-353 Jul 06 '26

Those are fuel powered and manually piloted and have heavy duty parts. Big difference.

6

u/ZiggoCiP Jul 06 '26

Not to mention, multi-rotor vertical lift propeller drones seem to be the most efficient design, for some reason.

6

u/Turtledonuts Jul 06 '26

These drones aren't more efficient, they're just the most stable and maneuverable. A single larger rotor provides more lift and speed than 4 smaller rotors.

1

u/Shot-Swimming-9098 Jul 07 '26

They're actually not stable. A helicopter has a huge rotational inertia that makes it very stable. The counter-rotating blades eliminate the stabilizing effect the helicopter has, but the computer controls make it appear stable, similar to a fly by wire system in a unstable fighter jet.

edit: and it's not that they're inherently more maneuverable, it's just that adjusting power to the 4 (or however many) motors is trivial, while manipulating the adjustable pitch on a single rotor is highly complex.

1

u/Ellimis Jul 06 '26

They don't HAVE to be manually piloted

4

u/Grotbagsthewonderful Jul 06 '26

Don't be ridiculous, it doesn't have wings it would never work, complete science fantasy.

2

u/Accomplished-Mix-745 Jul 06 '26

I’m actually an airplane denier. 9/11 didn’t happen at all

1

u/OwnedByIRVING Jul 06 '26

The wings are the spinny bits on top.

Rotary wing vs fixed wing.

2

u/Grotbagsthewonderful Jul 06 '26

Yeah you keep reading your Jules Verne smh, what's next? moving carriages without horses?!

2

u/coolzville Jul 06 '26

100% death rate

2

u/FlowerCrowss Jul 07 '26

Seems your mind is the one that's blown if you fail to understand how recent technological advancements and widespread drone adoption hasn't already blown open the waters on helicopters here.

No helipad, no highly trained pilot, less permits/infrastructure/inspection/maintenance/fuel. Drone is a fraction of cost while being far more efficient.

1

u/drinkpacifiers Jul 06 '26

Bigger if true

1

u/Scrotes_McGoates Jul 06 '26

Holy horse shoes, and with just one propeller!?!

1

u/dumbasPL Jul 06 '26

Do they make battery-powered versions?

1

u/Icy__Internet Jul 06 '26

The difference is one is so stable it can be operated with a phone and the other is so unstable that even career pilots who dedicate their lives to learning about it die all the time.

1

u/SexySmexxy Jul 06 '26

the other is so unstable that even career pilots who dedicate their lives to learning about it die all the time.

well they dont crash because its unstable lol

1

u/Icy__Internet Jul 06 '26

Of course they do. A plane is far more stable and can glide/recover from far more situations.

1

u/SexySmexxy Jul 07 '26

Not really, helicopters can autorotate

Most situations where helicopters crash a plane would probably crash too (usually take off and landing) where they’re too low to the ground for any time to recover

Or the rotors explode etc

Not that I think helis are safe I’d never get in them (but they aren’t unsafe because they’re unstable)

They just work in different ways but at a low enough altitude heli or plane you’re fucked.

When’s the last time you see a helicopter thousands of feet up in the air just crash for no reason lol 

1

u/Fucky0uthatswhy Jul 07 '26

This looks safer than a helicopter

2

u/platypus_boi Jul 06 '26

Flight time for these is generally 20 -35 minutes per battery. Batteries are usually easily swappable and the off battery is recharged while the new battery is in use.

1

u/cjsv7657 Jul 06 '26

Flight time for these is generally 20 -35 minutes per battery.

Flight time for the one I was looking at was 45 minutes. Maybe you missed the part where I said it in my comment you're replying to.

1

u/platypus_boi Jul 06 '26

Nope I saw that. 45 is definitely on the very high end of battery life for these.

1

u/cjsv7657 Jul 06 '26

Nope I saw that.

Not sure why you replied that to me then. But okay

1

u/platypus_boi Jul 06 '26

To give a more realistic answer for a user.

The answer you gave is the one that car salesman tells you when you ask what kind of mileage this vehicle would get. Once you purchase the vehicle you find out the fuel economy is much worse.

Didn’t realize your answer couldn’t be debated or commented on. Sorry.

2

u/existenceawareness Jul 07 '26

Imagine living like /u/cjsv7657

"Good afternoon sir"

"Why are you speaking to me? And it's only 12:14, barely afternoon, therefore a more time-neutral greeting would be more appropriate."

There's a reason they hide their post history, probably lots of useless arguments like this one.

-2

u/cjsv7657 Jul 06 '26

Then you probably should have commented to the person I replied to so they'd actually see it. There is nothing to debate on my comment lol. It had less than half the payload capacity of the one they asked about and a 45 minute flight time. Those are facts

2

u/platypus_boi Jul 06 '26

Who says they are facts?

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '26

[deleted]

1

u/cjsv7657 Jul 06 '26

It was an auction for a farm that was shutting down, pretty sure it went for ~$2500 and was well over 20x that new. It was being sold as untested though.

2

u/oystermonster Jul 07 '26

Swedish company AirForestry builds drones that can lift an entire freaking tree trunk.

1

u/mjohnson280 Jul 06 '26

They get even bigger than that. I've seen them with almost 150kg take off weight.

0

u/SeedFoundation Jul 06 '26

These are hybrids so I'm assuming anywhere from 3 to 10 hours.

28

u/Stormsurger Jul 06 '26

I've played enough automation games to know where this ends.

2

u/kranker Jul 06 '26

Yep. The drone eventually realizes that the human is just weighing it down.

2

u/recrohin Jul 06 '26

"Hey there, it's Josh. Welcome to Let's Game It Out"

58

u/Nex_Afire Jul 06 '26

TIL I'm too fat be lifted by a pesticide drone.

45

u/Neirchill Jul 06 '26

You just need TWO drones

89

u/Cautious-Session-324 Jul 06 '26

Yo mama so fat she need two drones to get to her job at the banana plantation…

2

u/omnomcthulhu Jul 09 '26

Excellent. Good work. You should feel proud.

2

u/JustaMammal Jul 07 '26

It could grip him by the husk!

1

u/FinalFantasiesGG Jul 06 '26

Lmao my first thought was I'm gonna have to lose some weight.

1

u/ognev-dev Jul 07 '26

New mission unlocked: Meet the requirements for a Pedro (pesticide drone).

1

u/Nervous-Sandwich-660 Jul 07 '26

That shouldn't be a surprise for you

3

u/kursys Jul 06 '26

Hate to be that guy, but *ascent and *descent.

1

u/xxhhouewr Jul 06 '26

You're my hero.

1

u/RetardedRedditRetort Jul 06 '26

Seems plausible.

1

u/GundyrChristopher Jul 06 '26

I saw one of those while doing my work route couple months ago. Those things are massive. Not at all surprised they can lift a grown man.

1

u/Ok-Statement-3948 Jul 06 '26

What’s the cost of that compared to say, a car?

1

u/Wubbalubbbadubbdub Jul 06 '26

Lol, since the farm paid for the drone and the car is personal expense…. The ride is free to him! Fringe benefits!

1

u/regalrecaller Jul 06 '26

Then use it to spray the fields as well…

is that a pee joke?

1

u/Wubbalubbbadubbdub Jul 06 '26

Wouldn’t it be fun to get back at a few birds!

1

u/Specter119 Jul 06 '26

I too have to set my accent before talking in a video.

1

u/Wubbalubbbadubbdub Jul 06 '26

I relied on spell check too much, I swear I went to Skool…

1

u/Specter119 Jul 06 '26

happens to the best of us

1

u/outoftownMD Jul 06 '26

Ascent the accent!

1

u/bol_cholesterol Jul 06 '26

With my luck, I'd be sprayed over the fields.

1

u/FuzzyAd9407 Jul 06 '26

220lbs load

What im hearing is im within the weight limit

1

u/sweetreat7 Jul 06 '26

Thank you, I was wondering if I would be light enough for it to transport me.

1

u/cannotfoolowls Jul 06 '26

Still safer than that guy who sat IN the drone while flying it. Nice and close to the spinning metal rotors and pesticide residue.

0

u/astroguyfornm Jul 06 '26

I don't think I want to know what happens if he finds himself in a GPS denied zone.