Pond Management Capstone Proposal
The use of unmanned aerial systems to facilitate inspections using sensors is very cost efficient when compared to traditional manual inspection methods. I have a particular interest in
pond and lake management. I currently work for a company called Pond Life Consulting
and we also deal with a lot of bodies of water for golf courses. I have
recently came across a company called GreenSight Agronomics and they specialize
in image analysis for the purpose of TurfGrass to help golf courses make better
decisions about their property. My past experience in pond management could
assist in going further into golf course management as a whole. The goal at Pond Life Consulting is to keep ponds under control
without damaging the greens and turf on the course. The problem we have when
going to check for algae growth is constant tire tracks from our trailer
destroying their perfectly cut grass and traveling far distances to accounts
only to get there to find no substantial growth. My plan is to use a small
unmanned aircraft system to fly over the ponds while using a multispectral
camera to identify issues with vegetation growth on top of and even underneath
the water. Identifying invasive species of plants and algae with the use of a
drone would make our job and the job of the greenskeeper a lot easier and more
efficient. If I could incorporate pond care inspection into GreenSight's and my
company's business model I think it would make the turf grass service even more
worthwhile for golf courses and save Pond Life Consulting a lot of money. I
would be able to help reduce the operation of maintenance costs by keeping the
vegetation in check.
The project I plan to do will include multiple flights
over a pond using an unmanned platform most likely being a quadcopter equipped
with a RedEdge-M sensor to determine the amount of algae or subsurface plants
present. Once I have determined the amount of plant life present I will then
determine the amount of chemicals needed to completely eradicate the growth.
Following this I will utilize my companies spray boat to disperse the predicted
amount of chemicals needed to fix the problem. Within a few days as the algae
or plants start to turn brown and decay I will make another flight to analyze
the percentage of plants killed. Also when doing this follow up flight I will
look for any fish kills that are present. Within a week a final flight will be
conducted showing that the body of water is clear of any unsightly plant life
on the surface or subsurface. If this is successful I would like to try out
this procedure on bigger bodies of water using a fixed wing platform capable of flying for a
longer endurance time.
You can view a PowerPoint presentation which briefly goes over the project proposal by following the URL below.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JbAeDkgVyU74XCf2bLdnRH0VfADSkiO3osUDVe_JgXQ/edit?usp=sharing
