Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 11, 2021 - October 17, 2021

Cheong Jin Xi, founder and CEO of Poladrone Sdn Bhd, is developing drone technology to advance the age-old agricultural industry in Malaysia. 

“Drones in Malaysia are often seen as toys for the hobbyist, but their commercial use has skyrocketed in recent years. With the advancements in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) hardware and software, drones have become easier to operate and much more reliable,” says Cheong, 29.

“Our drone technology serves as an entry point for planters to automate their routine tasks. In doing so, this technology addresses the many inefficiencies in the local agricultural industry, especially oil palm plantations.” 

Established in 2016, Poladrone was initially focused on providing drones for aerial photography. When oil palm planters starting asking whether drones could be used to survey their plantations and trees, Cheong was quick to realise that the real value of drones was in its industrial use and decided to start offering drones equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. 

Poladrone’s drone technology, developed in-house, is a competitive advantage for the company, as drone operators do not often develop their own software. To expedite their time to market, most companies provide third-party drone-operating software as well as drones developed in other countries. 

Cheong says such drone technology, designed for other crops, do not meet the needs of local planters. 

For example, Poladrone’s precision spraying drone, Oryctes, can apply spray fluid with centimetre-level precision in the centre of an oil palm tree. 

Cheong says Oryctes, which was launched in August 2020, is the world’s first precision spot spraying drone for oil palm trees. Oryctes is named after the rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros, which it looks to eradicate.

“The innovation behind Oryctes lies in our AI algorithms which enable the drone to identify and precisely spray young growing shoots in the centre of oil palm trees. The rhinoceros beetle likes these shoots, so this is the part of the plant that we need to protect with pesticide,” says Cheong. 

“To develop Oryctes, we sat down and listened to oil palm planters as they described their problems with the rhinoceros beetle, and their requirements. Then, we looked at what we could do with our drones.

“Oryctes is fully automated. First, we use an aerial mapping drone to survey the land and capture high-resolution images. Then, Airamap, our AI software, analyses the image data to identify vulnerable palm trees and prepare the flight routes. This information is then transmitted to Oryctes for it to carry out automatic spraying along the planned flight paths.” 

Bright outlook for drones in farms and plantations 

The global agriculture drone market is projected to grow more than four times in value from US$1.2 billion in 2020 to US$5.7 billion in 2025.

Industry observers say pesticide-spraying drones will become more commonplace, given a booming drone industry and an urgent need to reduce reliance on manual labour during the ongoing global health pandemic. 

With pesticide-spraying drones, plantations can also expect to use less pesticide. Studies in the US have seen a 30% to 40% reduction in chemical application rates with the use of drone-enabled smart pesticide applications. 

(Photo by Poladrone)

“By targeting the areas that are most in need of pest control, the plantation cuts expenses and reduces harmful chemical exposure for workers. Furthermore, drones can continue to work when parts of a plantation become inaccessible because of weather or terrain,” says Cheong. 

Oryctes was chosen to be one of the six pilot projects under the National Technology and Innovation Sandbox (NTIS) — an initiative under the government’s Short-Term Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) — in recognition of its potential impact on the national agricultural industries.

“We need more collaboration between technology providers and conventional industries to further develop commercial application of drones and boost the ecosystem for local start-ups,” says Cheong.

“If a tech company works in a silo and develops the most cutting-edge solutions on its own, it may receive lots of investments by venture capitalists and/or angel investors. But there is a tendency to overlook the commercial aspects of its solutions; for example, is its price acceptable by the market and does its tech solution solve the pain points in an industry? 

“Being part of the national sandbox allows us to further our collaborations with industries as well as regulatory parties. It also opens the door to introducing or changing existing regulations to permit the commercial use of new tech solutions.”

There are big ambitions for Malaysia to become a major player in the global drone industry as well as serve as a potential drone hub in Asean.

In mid-September, the government launched a drone development zone, known as Area 57, in Technology Park Malaysia in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. Three other drone development areas have been identified: Felda Mempaga in Pahang; Drone and Robotic Iskandar in Johor; and Urban Delivery Drone in Cyberjaya.

By promoting the use of “high-tech, low-touch” technology led by local drone companies, the government hopes to increase the number of skilled workers in the country. 

A global shortage of skilled talent, the essence of a tech industry, is particularly prevalent in new and niche areas such as AI, machine learning, blockchain and cybersecurity. 

Cheong says Poladrone struggled to find suitably skilled talent initially and addressed this problem by approaching universities. He managed to recruit the company’s head of AI from a local university. 

“It is important to grow talent here because tech companies are looking to meet local needs. Poladrone plays a part in upskilling existing tech talent in the country. We also hope that, by introducing drones to plantations, we are also encouraging young adults to consider a career in the agricultural industry, which could use fresh talent,” says Cheong.

Setting up a drone service network

Unlike drones used for aerial photography, agricultural drones require after-sales service support. Cheong is looking at establishing a drone service network across the country. 

“A drone service centre is even more important for plantations in rural areas such as Sabah and Sarawak. This is where machine maintenance, trouble shooting, test flights and assembly can be done,” he says. 

A nationwide drone service network will require technicians with specialised skills to service drones made by different manufacturers. It provides opportunities to those living outside big cities to jump on the drone technology bandwagon and provide a valuable service. 

“We can think of these drone service centres as a centre of excellence that introduces and trains interested parties on drone servicing and drone technology. It upskills them and provides the talent and infrastructure that is needed to boost the usage of drones in industries across the countries,” says Cheong. 

Besides agriculture, he sees potential for drones to be used in the oil and gas industry and the logistics sector. For example, in the US, Amazon.com produces its own drones and uses them to deliver packages to customers in 30 minutes or less within a 10-mile radius.

“The drone industry is relatively new in Malaysia and the full potential of drones has yet to be seen. There are many opportunities. We need more tech companies in this field to fulfil demand from industries. More parties create a robust ecosystem for drone operations to thrive,” he adds.

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