The Farmers Mart Jun-Jul 2018 - Issue 57 | Page 61

TECHNOLOGY 61
• JUN/JUL 2018
Drones could add £42bn to UK
GDP by 2030 - PwC research
Over 76,000 drones could be in the UK skies in 12 years’ time
DRONE technology has the po-
tential to increase UK GDP by £42
billion (or 2%) by 2030, according
to new research from PwC.
The research estimates there
will be more than 76,000 drones1
in use across UK skies by 2030.
More than a third of these (36%)
could be utilised by the public
sector (including in areas such
as defence, health and educa-
tion).
There are significant opportu-
nities for economic gains across
all sectors, but the GDP uplift
generated by drones is forecast
to have the largest impact on the
wholesale and retail trade sector
with an increase of 2.5%, amount-
ing to around £7.7bn.
The report finds that drone
technology could help the UK
achieve up to £16bn in net cost
savings by 2030 through increased
productivity. The technology,
media and telecoms (TMT) sector
stands to save the most by using
drones, with a potential net saving
of £4.8bn by 2030.
Across the UK PwC estimates
there will be 628,000 people
working in the drone economy
by 2030. New types of jobs to de-
velop, build, operate and regulate
drones will be needed, as changes
in productivity and consumer de-
mand resulting from drone usage
create jobs.
Elaine Whyte, UK drones’ leader
at PwC, commented:
“Drones have the potential to
offer a powerful new perspective
for businesses across a variety of
industries, delivering both produc-
tivity benefits and increased value
from the data they collect. The UK
can be at the leading edge of ex-
ploiting this emerging technology”.
https://www.pwc.co.uk
Small robot company is finalist in Tech4Good awards
viduals who use digital technology
to improve the lives of others and
make the world a better place.
SMALL Robot Company, a British
agritech start-up for sustainable
farming, today announced that
it is a finalist for the prestigious
AgilityNet Tech4Good Awards. The
company harnesses the power
and precision of robots and Arti-
ficial Intelligence (AI) to improve
the way that food is produced and
minimise chemical usage.
It has been picked for the BT
Connected Society category be-
cause of the positive social impact
and environmental benefits of its
technology. Now in its 8th year,
the AbilityNet Tech4Good Awards
recognise organisations and indi-
Digitising the field with
Artificial Intelligence
Small Robot Company’s robots
work alongside AI ‘nervous system’
Wilma to ‘digitise the field’ and pro-
vide a granular digital view of the
farm. The robots will only feed and
spray the plants that need it, giving
them the perfect levels of nutrients
and support, with no waste. This
will minimise chemical usage in
farming by up to 95%.
Its precision farming technology
allows a level of autonomy, accu-
racy and detail that now makes it
possible to provide precise care
on a per plant basis, and for 10x
better decision making. It will take
in the sum of all farming knowl-
edge, including agronomy, soil
science and market conditions,
coupled with aggregated big data
from all farms across the country,
and apply it to the information
gathered about the crop.
Eventually, each process - from
knowing when to plant, to all
aspects of crop care, to knowing
when to harvest - will be auto-
mated.
www.smallrobotcompany.com
AmaTron 4 - Manager 4 All
AMAZONE has introduced the Ama-
Tron4, an innovative and completely new,
in-house developed tablet style ISOBUS
terminal. This fourth generation of AmaTron
offers the ultimate in operational comfort
and which leaves nothing to be desired.
Thanks to the 8” multi-touch colour
display, the comfortable operation, even
of complex machines, is just a matter of
course. The low reflection display enables
easy readability as well as easy handling.
Operation can be carried out both, either
via the 12 soft keys or via the switch areas
on the touch display. In addition, there are
3 one-touch keys enabling the switch over
between machine, GPS function and back
to the main menu.
Also, just a finger swipe enables the
operator to navigate through the clearly
and simply structured operational menu.
A freely-configurable status bar along
the top of the screen displays the chosen
parameters and information tabs all the
time, no matter which menu or sub menu
one is in. Thanks to the quick start menu,
changes also to the most important
settings are easily made and any job data
can be imported or exported. In addition,
a practical mini-view display helps al-
ways to have in sight the most important
machine settings, exactly there where it
matters. To enable the full utilisation of
the 8” multi-touch colour display so that
it displays the entire screen surface, the
switch areas in the touch display auto-
matically appear or hide. Via a proximity
sensor located at the front of AmaTron4,
the screen detects a hand approaching
for operation and so the 12 switch areas
are shown. A light sensor in the AmaTron4
automatically changes the view, depend-
ing on the light conditions, between day
and night modes and constantly matches
the display brightness to the ambient
conditions.