Parrot Bluegrass, the only one quadcopter, that will help you increase the ROI of your small and medium-sized crops. It is equipped with 2 embedded camers; video camera and
Parrot Sequoia multispectral sensor. It also provides a quick and easy analysis on the health of your crops, thanks to its user friendly processing software such as Pix4Dag or AIRINOV FIRST+ cloud platform. Parrot Bluegrass runs retails for $5,000.
With the growing season fast approaching, we’ve put
5 steps to use Parrot Bluegrass on the farm to monitor and scout crop, improve processes and make informed decisions for crop that needs optimized treatment.
First remove the protective film from the sunshine sensor. Insert the SD card and then take the protective cap from the front camera of Parrot Bluegrass. Insert the battery so that the cables are located on the left side of the drone. If you've inserted the battery incorrectly you will not be able to close the cover. Now, close the battery cover, and connect the battery. Mount multiple propellers on the drone and screw them correctly.
- Connecting Parrot Skycontroller and your Drone
Turn on the Parrot Skycontroller by pressing the power button. Put the drone on the ground on a flat surface and please ensure that you have a security perimeter around the drone. Then, press the on/off button on the nose of the drone. After a few seconds a central light will turn green, as the control of the drone have already been paired in the factory. Sliding screw your smart device holder into the controller and then install your device on it. Connect the USB cable from your smart device into the skycontroller. The power LED of Parrot Bluegrass should flash blue at this point. If it doesn't, your drone may need to be recalibrated.
- Set Up a Flight Plan on PIX4D Capture
Open Pix4D capture and create an account. Once done select Bluegrass from the drone selection screen. On the home screen, select the type of mission to map a plot or a wide area. In the chosen mission menu, display the local map by pressing the localisation button. Zoom out and scroll the map to the area you intend to go. Then, display the default flight plan by pressing the reset button. Place the flight plan above the crops you intend to map by dragging it with your finger. You can rotate or just the size by dragging the corners. Adjust the fight altitude using the scroll bar on your left.
Once your flight plan is correctly set up. Step away from the drone and make sure that it's placed on a flat surface. Press the start button, press next and the takeoff checklist is performed. If your Parrot Bluegrass hasn't been calibrated. Tap draw not calibrated. You'll then see the drone calibration menu. All you need to do is follow the instructions to calibrate your drone and then press Start. If there are no issues, the drone will start its mission and fly automatically from the point selected on the map. During the flight, you can watch the live video streaming from the drone by pressing the camera button. To go back to the map view, press the map button. At the end of the flight, the drone turns to its starting point and lands automatically. If needed, you can take control of the drone and land it at a different location.
- Upload your Crop Data to the Cloud
The photos are stored on the SD card. Remove the SD card from the drone, and insert it into your computer. Go to
parrot.airinov.com and enter email address to create an account. Select the photos from your SD card. The upload will start and may take a few minutes to complete. A detailed report of your crop analysis will be emailed to you within 24 hours. Additionally, you can use Pix4D AG which enables you to create maps with various indexes and not just
NDVI. You can also use data mapping for prescription farming.
And this conclusion our tutorial on how to use Parrot Bluegrass. If you like, you can compile those drones manually using this Parrot Skycontroller
and the FreeFlightPro application to monitor your
livestock and inspect your farm. If you need further information, don't forget to read the user guide. That's included in the box, for the question you can also go to
support.parrot.com. Now is your turn to get out there and fly.
