Pollinator

Help the bees to keep our environment alive.

In 2023, The United Nations reported that 40% of honey bees around the globe are classified as an endangered species, and warned that the wild bees can be fully extinct by 2035. Colony Collapse Disorder, CCD, first emerged in the United States (2007) and has continued until nowadays. A decreasing honey bee population implies various plant species could decline or even disappear along with the organisms that directly or indirectly depend on the diversity of pollinators. The biodiverse ecosystems, supported by insect pollinators, are more resilient to changes in climate. They are better able to withstand and recover from extreme weather events and changes in temperature and precipitation patterns. The decline in bee populations undermines this resilience, making ecosystems more vulnerable to climate change. Specifically, the bees play a critical role in pollinating many crops, contributing to approximately one-third of the global food supply. Their decline affects not only food security but also the ecological balance. The European Commission has estimated that bees and other pollinating insects contribute over 15 billion euros annually to the European economy.

In 2017, Arugga AI Farming, located in Israel, invented a pollination robot that works on a straight rail, which questioned us: why not build a flying pollinator? The goal is to build the colonies of AI drones that will perform the role of pollinators to sustain the ecosystem. For the flower recognition technology, YOLO architecture is utilized and set up by OPEN VINO. Individual drones are PID- controlled with an AI autopilot system. To minimize the workload of the image processing, The drone is designed to use two different microcontrollers. Arduino (Leonardo) controls the roll, pitch, yaw, and throttle of the body, while Raspberry Pi (4 model B) manages the automated navigation commands. Additionally, the unique communication method inspired by the fighter jets is planned to be implemented to the AI drones. The fighter jets during the formation flight do not have a direct connection with the control center. However, one jet connects to the closest jet, and the jet that receives the signal connects to the other, such that the entire squad creates a communication web. Adapting this technology using the radio module allows drones to connect limitlessly and be deployed to any wide region. Regarding the sustainability of the drone, a 12V solar panel will be attached to the body, and feed the power back to the lithium Lipo battery. This way, the drones can perform the job without external help to get the power supply. As for the modulations of the battery voltage, DC/DC converter and the solar charge module will be utilized.