Payload Manipulation for Seed Sowing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle through interface with Pixhawk Flight Controller

In recent years, the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is growing rapidly in the agriculture sector and forest management. UAVs play a vital role in the conservation and protection of forests in forestry applications. Especially, in precision agriculture, UAVs are used to automate farming activities and increase productivity of the yield. Unmanned aerial vehicles used in seed sowing are concerned with finding desired waypoints and the weight they are able to carry while flying. The Payload of seed sowing quadcopter capable of dispersing seeds in forests and areas on the verge of a road is proposed in this system. Furthermore, the waypoints are selected in target fields using the Mission planner and communicated to the Pixhawk Flight Controller. The Pixhawk interfaced with UAV controls seed dispenser and regulates the flow of seeds at the desired locations. As a result, the seed sowing quadcopter is implemented and tested in a semi-automated mode which significantly reduces the manual operation.