SkyPlanter: Aerial Reforestation With an Ultralight, Seedling–Planting Drone

This article presents SkyPlanter, the first drone-based system for aerial reforestation with tree seedlings. Traditional tree planting is labor-intensive, physically demanding, and expensive—making it ideal for automation. Current mechanized solutions depend on large, heavy, ground-based excavator-based solutions best suited for extensive clear-cuts, but which struggle on steep or uneven terrain, and carry prohibitive relocation costs for smaller operations. SkyPlanter is a drone-mounted seedling-planting system that enables it to easily traverse rugged or steep terrain while remaining inexpensive, easily transported, and highly scalable. It uses an ultra-lightweight compressed air planting mechanism that inserts seedlings and compacts the surrounding soil. Its innovative double-telescoping design reduces vehicle weight to 15.2 kg (without batteries) or 16.4–20.8 kg (with batteries, depending on flight duration). This article details the system’s novel planting and ground compression mechanisms, its unique high-pressure pneumatic power systems, and its custom quadrotor carrier drone. We demonstrate its feasibility in the first-ever aerial seedling-planting tests in a forest environment. The system is proposed as a cost-effective, scalable reforestation solution with high automation potential.