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Gun-Wielding Drone Plants Trees
ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Magazine ^ | Jun 2, 2020 | Michael Abrams

Posted on 06/02/2020 2:17:17 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom

A Canadian startup, Flash Forest, that hopes to [plant trees] by drone. “This industry is ripe for innovation,” said Bryce Jones, the company’s CEO. “With recent developments in lithium ion batteries, the drone industry has been revolutionized with increased payload capacity and flight time. Jones and his team plan to use drones for every step of the reforestation process. That means surveilling target areas, planting seedlings, monitoring growth, and collecting data, all from the air.

The planting will use a pneumatic gun on the drone that will fire seed pods into the soil. The drones can hold hundreds of seed pods at a time and can plant roughly a tree a second. They are 10 times faster than a reforesting human and orders of magnitude less expensive.

The pod gun was the easy part. “Developing drone technology able to plant trees was certainly a challenge, but producing our seedpods was undoubtedly more difficult,” Jones said. Each pod needs to be a micro-environment that promotes seedling growth. Also, different species require different nutrients, moisture levels, and fungus to encourage root growth.

The autonomously controlled heavy lift drones fly predetermined flight paths to do their planting. The company has developed software that uses 3D mapping technology and AI to select both the best planting sites and the best flight paths.

Already, Flash Forest has planted more than 3,000 pods in southern Ontario and expects to plant 40,000 more before summer. Universities, governments, and forestry companies from more than 40 countries have contacted the company about using this technology. “This is where we believe we’ll be able to have the largest global impact on climate change and biodiversity loss,” Jones said.

(Excerpt) Read more at asme.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Canada; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: drone; gun; trees
This is really cool (ignoring the standard claptrap about climate change). What a great way to re-forest after logging operations. I'm always impressed with new innovative applications for industrial-strength drones. Who would have thought you could shoot seed pods into the earth from a drone?

Why aren't the young people in the photos above out looting and burning cities down? How can they get any satisfaction out of creating something new and so innovative? Poor deluded suckers! I feel so sorry for them. Don't they know they are just slaves to white paternalistic capitalism?

1 posted on 06/02/2020 2:17:17 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I would rather they retask this to plant Antifa and BLM maggots.


2 posted on 06/02/2020 2:19:00 PM PDT by Howie66 ("...Against All Enemies, Foreign and Democrat.....")
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To: Howie66

it would be a lot more productive.


3 posted on 06/02/2020 2:26:11 PM PDT by sport
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To: Howie66
It's time for Slaughterbots.
4 posted on 06/02/2020 2:28:08 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

LOL


5 posted on 06/02/2020 2:49:47 PM PDT by Howie66 ("...Against All Enemies, Foreign and Democrat.....")
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Perhaps a demonstration on treeless Easter Island would focus the world’s attention on this marvel


6 posted on 06/02/2020 2:55:33 PM PDT by exPBRrat (.)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Even ASME into click-bait!


7 posted on 06/02/2020 3:17:21 PM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: TexasGator

Click-bait? Hardly. What’s your definition of click bait?


8 posted on 06/02/2020 3:25:35 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
gun [ɡən] NOUN a weapon incorporating a metal tube from which bullets, shells, or other missiles are propelled by explosive force, typically making a characteristic loud, sharp noise. synonyms: firearm · weapon · shooter · cannon · piece · heater · gat · rod · roscoe · shooting iron informal (guns) muscular arms; well-developed biceps muscles. "it's encouraging to note that Schwarzenegger wasn't born with massive guns"
9 posted on 06/02/2020 3:32:48 PM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Tree planters in Canada spend weeks in the middle of nowhere re-seeding clear cuts. Some people love it as a seasonal job.


10 posted on 06/02/2020 3:44:15 PM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: Rebelbase
Some of my nieces and nephews have done that & they did love it. I've worked in even more remote places (above the treeline), you might say they were on the far edge of nowhere. It was sublime, at times. Never had a riot, or any looting either.
11 posted on 06/02/2020 4:14:27 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: TexasGator
Aren't you pedantic?

Here are the "other missiles" shot out of the Flash Forest pneumatic gun on the drone:

They don't discuss their pneumatic gun, but, in the drone photos, you can see the high-pressure air tank that propels the seed pod "bullet" from a "precharged pneumatic" air gun.

You probably know about the Girardoni air rifle that was in service with the Austrian army from 1780 to around 1815. Many references to the Girardoni air rifles mention lethal combat ranges of 125 to 150 yards and some extend that range considerably.

A Girardoni air rifle was taken by Lewis & Clark on their expedition. If it was a good enough "gun" for them, it's a good enough air gun for Flash Forest.


12 posted on 06/02/2020 5:05:21 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

No, but you provided me with a great example of a pedantic.


13 posted on 06/02/2020 5:10:54 PM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Pics really add to posting thanks


14 posted on 06/02/2020 8:40:11 PM PDT by mosesdapoet (mosesdapoet aka L.J.Keslin posting here for the record hoping somebody might read and pass around)
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To: mosesdapoet

Sure. Great tech, huh? Drone, seed pellets, GPS, high firing rate, AI...great innovative melding of lots of things. Oh to be a young engineer again.


15 posted on 06/02/2020 9:57:32 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: TexasGator

I think the problem is in that definition of “gun”, using the word “weapon”, which does make the title seem a bit, uh, hyperbolic.

Still, the idea is to attract interest, and “Seed Gun-bearing Drone Replants Forests” is more accurate but boring.

I’ll have a go at it:

“Gun-Wielding Residents Re-Roof Neighborhood After Storm” has an entirely different feel than “Nail-Guns Speed Residents’ Repairs After Storm”.

;-)


16 posted on 06/03/2020 9:20:41 AM PDT by Paul R. (The Lib / Socialist goal: Total control of nothing left wort h controlling.)
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To: Paul R.
"Still, the idea is to attract interest" That is what I said! ------------------- clickbait [ˈklikbāt] NOUN click bait (noun) (on the Internet) content whose main purpose is to attract attention and encourage visitors to click on a link to a particular web page.
17 posted on 06/03/2020 9:36:38 AM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: TexasGator

Yes, but you again make a similar error (if not deception) by not providing the FULL definition of “clickbait”, which typically continues something like: “with a defining characteristic of being deceptive, typically sensationalized or misleading.”

In THIS case, IMO, is the title sensationalized? A bit. Deceptive or misleading? No. Not all “guns” are weapons, which you (first offense) conveniently left out. And no reasonable person assumes weapons are involved with most tree planting. Merely titling in a “catchy” manner was not “clickbait”, as deception was not involved.

My fictitious example given is slightly more egregious: The context is created such that a casual reader would likely assume real weapons were involved, since, sadly, looting (and even more so, measures to counter it) after destructive storms is not highly unusual. THAT use of the readers’ assumptions is deceptive (and widely practiced, I must say.)


18 posted on 06/04/2020 12:09:18 AM PDT by Paul R. (The Lib / Socialist goal: Total control of nothing left wort h controlling.)
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To: Paul R.

“y not providing the FULL definition “

Mine was the full quote from my source.


19 posted on 06/04/2020 9:48:14 AM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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