A group of students from Türkiye's Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University (BAIBÜ) developed a drone-monitored seeding tool for the purpose of reforestation of forests from the air, according to reports on Saturday.
The tool, dubbed "Seedrone," was made as an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) and is capable of carrying approximately 4 kilograms (8.82 pounds) of seeds, the students of Bolu Vocational School of Technical Sciences and project consultants who worked on the development of aircraft said in their interview with Demirören News Agency (DHA).
The students, who began working with the contributions of project adviser Muhsin Uğur Doğan and Bolu Turkish Air Association Branch President Murat Çalışır in November last year, developed the "Seedrone Seeding Vehicle" that consists of a seed chamber and six-wing propeller.
The aircraft made with the aim to re-green the burned forests competed at the final stage of Türkiye's largest aerospace and technology event – Teknofest, which brought in a record number of tech and aviation enthusiasts to Atatürk Airport between April 27-May 1.
Noting that Seedrone can easily work on rugged forest lands, team captain Erdem Alkan said that thanks to the device’s seeding unit, which they have built underneath, it can do seeding of 1 hectare of land in less than 10 minutes. Adding that reforestation is very long and time-consuming work since it's sometimes very hard for people to reach rough terrain, Alkan highlighted the device's advantages, as it does seed insemination from the air.
Giving information about the capacity of the unmanned seed scattering vehicle, Turkish Air Association Bolu Branch President Murat Çalışır said that the device has a payload lifting capacity of approximately 4 kilograms of seeds, while together with its body, it's 8 kilograms in weight.
"With the seed reservoir, we developed within our university and placed underneath, approximately in 2.5-3 minutes, a 1-hectare area can be inseminated. As per hectare, about 2-2.5 kilograms of seed is used. According to the data we obtained from the Regional Directorate of Forestry, we have determined that 2.5 kilograms (of seeds) is sufficient per hectare," Çalışır explained.
Professor Ömer Özyurt, deputy director of Bolu Vocational School of Technical Sciences and dean of the Engineering Faculty, stated that they are waiting for the device to be put into commercial use.