Modular seed-sowing control system for drone reforestation

Deforestation is a severe problem that affects the whole planet. Over the past 30 years, hundreds of millions of hectares of forest have been lost. Different strategies to help solve this issue have been developed. Among these, the use of drones for reforestation has been growing recently. The problem is that using drones for sowing often leads to low vegetation emergence rates. This implies the use of more seeds and the execution of more drone trips to meet the yield requirements. This work proposes using a modular seed-sowing system to reduce the seeds needed to meet the yield requirements. Based on geospatial data that indicates the sowable zones in a given area, the device controls the amount of seed the dispenser releases. The proposed sensor-based system has a modular design that allows it to operate with any drone and different seed dispenser devices using pulse width modulation (PWM) signal to control the amount of dispensed seeds according to the geographical location.