FORGET DRIVERLESS CARS. ONE COMPANY WANTS AUTONOMOUS HELICOPTERS TO SPRAY CROPS AND FIGHT FIRES

The heart-stopping flights led to his research of unmanned aircraft systems while getting his doctorate degree in aerospace engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Then, he formed Rotor Technologies in 2021 to develop unmanned helicopters.

Rotor has built two autonomous Sprayhawks and aims to have as many as 20 ready for market next year. The company also is developing helicopters that would carry cargo in disaster zones and to offshore oil rigs. The helicopter could also be used to fight wildfires.

For now, Rotor is focused on the agriculture sector, which has embraced automation with drones but sees unmanned helicopters as a better way to spray larger areas with pesticides and fertilizers.

Rotor conducted a public flight test with its Sprayhawk at an agriculture aviation trade show in Texas.

“People would call us up and say, ‘hey, I want to use this for crop dusting, can I?’ We’d say, OK maybe,” Xu said, adding that they got enough calls to realize it was a huge untapped market. Reporters were the first people outside the company to witness a test flight of the Sprayhawk. It hovered, flew forward and sprayed the tarmac before landing.

Rotor’s nearly $1 million Sprayhawk helicopter is a Robinson R44, but the four seats have been replaced with flight computers and communications systems allowing it be operated remotely. It has five cameras as well as laser-sensing technology and a radar altimeter that make terrain reading more accurate along with GPS and motion sensors.

At the company’s hangar in Nashua, New Hampshire, Xu said this technology means there is better visibility of terrain at night.

One of the big draws of automation in agriculture aviation is safety.

Because crop dusters fly at around 150 mph (240 kph) and only about 10 feet (3 meters) off the ground, there are dozens of accidents each year when planes collide with power lines, cell towers and other planes. Older, poorly maintained planes and pilot fatigue contribute to accidents.