Autonomous Drones for Lake and Pond Management

The lake and pond management industry has experienced exponential growth and innovation in recent years. Now, with the introduction of autonomous drones, a transformative solution is emerging to address the ongoing challenges faced by aquatic ecosystem managers.

Whether it is invasive species of microorganisms and plants or littering, they are all a nuisance and a risk to the environment and health safety. The use of drone technology offers many advantages in a proactive approach that enables intervention and prevention, minimizing the risk of widespread damage and providing access to sensitive or remote areas without endangering the ecosystem or the workforce.

In addition, drones can be used for regular monitoring and surveillance, providing valuable insights into ecosystem dynamics and changes over time.

Fly4Future is dedicated to developing new solutions using autonomous waterproof drone technologies to make freshwater management safer, more accessible and more efficient. Fly4Future’s autonomous waterproof aerial robots are equipped with complex sensors and advanced cameras for precise data collection and monitoring. Our drones not only provide professionals with a unique aerial perspective that helps them identify potential risks and inspect large areas with precision, but also offer multi-robot solutions for even better water quality diagnostics by combining smart sensory buoys for sample collection. Drones can autonomously deploy and collect these buoys at any location without human intervention. Data is then collected and processed on the high-capacity on-board computer, providing feedback to freshwater management staff for easy and rapid decision making and action.

Clean sources of fresh water are essential to human society. But algae and other organisms are not always to blame for polluting them. Human interaction with nature often leaves traces in the form of litter, which sooner or later ends up in the water. Fly4Future offers the development of autonomous multi-robot solutions for foreign object detection and extraction. Thanks to the KOLDRO research project, we have developed a cooperative system of UAVs and USVs. Autonomous waterproof drones scan the water surface for plastic bottles and other objects, and after detection they send data with precise location to an autonomous boat, which then deploys for a garbage collection mission. This cooperative system is based on artificial intelligence and vision methods such as deep reinforcement learning and model predictive controllers. Moreover, our solution features a multimodal communications device to ensure reliable communications in challenging aquatic environments.