Moulton Wars: Attack of the Drones!

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or ‘drones’ are increasingly being used in the land-based sector for bolstering farm performance, promoting sustainable land management or assisting in wildlife conservation or forestry objectives. Showing its commitment to new technologies, Moulton College are now the proud owners of a remote controlled quadcopter drone with integrated GPS and sophisticated wide angled lens camera (or ‘payload’).

Today Learning Technologies Manager Andrew Bailey capably demonstrated the equipment to BSc Land Management students, who were then able to view live feed aerial footage as Andrew expertly piloted the quadcopter in blustery winds on the farm. Students then debated how this technology could be applied to the management of the land. In related news, BSc Arboriculture student Alan Elderton is currently using a UAV to try and identify fungal diseases in London plane trees for his final year dissertation, and recently received a travel bursary from the Studley College Fund.

To learn more about the use of drones in tropical forestry, watch: http://www.ted.com/talks/lian_pin_koh_a_drone_s_eye_view_of_conservation#t-9355. Moulton College will also be hosting unmanned vehicle expo conference later on in the year and you can see some footage of the College estate from here: http://www.uvxpo.com/#!news/c1x8h.