Pilotless planes may guide Ga. plows, pickers | www.myajc.com

MOULTRIE — On a dirt path through rows of corn, cotton and peanuts in this South Georgia town, a small black unmanned helicopter levitates, then takes off 675 feet into the sky.

It’s one of the test flights of unmanned helicopters from Stockbridge-based military drone maker Guided Systems Technologies that started in June and finish next month, a project underwritten by a $100,000 grant from the Georgia Centers of Innovation for Aerospace and Agribusiness. Researchers from the University of Georgia Tifton campus and Middle Georgia State College are also involved.

“This is absolutely a sweet spot for us,” said Steve Justice, director of the Center of Innovation for Aerospace. For Georgia, agriculture is worth $60 billion a year, and aerospace $50 billion a year — so Justice says if unmanned aircraft drive economic development for both, “it’s a huge win from the start.”

In this nascent market, “our goal is to be the leader in the Southeast, if not the nation,” he said.

The battery-powered copter is just a few feet long, and its takeoff is controlled from the ground by safety pilot Josh Frizzell with a remote control. Ground station operator Jesse Sheridan sits under a pop-up canopy peering at a laptop on a small folding table to guide the aircraft along a computerized path high above the fields.

During the 10-minute flight, a camera attached to the helicopter takes multi-spectral images of peanut and cotton crops that farmers can use to detect disease or other problems.

The project also represents hope for expanded use of unmanned aircraft as the nation’s military drawdown prompts drone makers to search for civilian uses. Technology-fueled “precision agriculture” is one of the key target areas.

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