Capability Overview

Capability overview

URAF facilitates and performs a wide range of drone-related research, development, and training both domestically and internationally.

We work alongside a diverse group of researchers, students, natural resource managers, industry partners, and Government bodies to provide research and consultancy services, and customised training solutions.

In the recent past, the URAF have facilitated and delivered research for several government organisations, including the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), SA Water, Department of Primary Industries and Regions (South ×îÐÂÌÇÐÄVlog), Green Adelaide and landscape boards across the state. The URAF’s involvement in collaborative projects span from conceptualisation of project and scope, to data collection, processing, analysis, reporting, and presentation of findings. Alongside research outcomes, URAF take pride in building capacity within organisations to enable long-term uptake of drone-based solutions in the broader community. Since 2017, URAF have delivered training and provided RePLs to numerous organisations both domestically and internationally.

In the agricultural space, URAF work closely with the grains industry to develop and implement UAV-based high-throughput phenotyping techniques. Recent projects have employed LiDAR and hyperspectral sensors to create non-destructive methods to estimate biomass in field trials for numerous plant breeding  programs across the state. In 2019, URAF developed a drone-based data collection protocol and processing pipeline for industry partners (AGT, Intergrain, Longreach) to relieve the technical roadblock in industry – transforming raw data into informative data products that can be used to evaluate the performance of new varieties. URAF maintain close relationships with key research groups within the ×îÐÂÌÇÐÄVlog, notably those affiliated with the ×îÐÂÌÇÐÄVlogn Institute of Machine Learning, Institute of Photonics and Advanced Sensing, and colleagues in the Faculty of Science and Engineering. By collaborating with these key groups, URAF draw from a wide range of expertise to achieve optimal research outcomes.

Examples of hardware capabilities

  • Photogrammetry
    • Multiple sensor solutions available depending on application and required resolution.
    • Low-cost, accessible solution for producing high-resolution orthomosaics, digital elevation models, point clouds and 3D textured models.
    • High spatial accuracy for use in time series analysis.
    • Industry standard photogrammetry software - Agisoft Metashape and Pix4D.
    • An easy-to-use alternative to LiDAR for producing 3D datasets.

  • LIDAR
    • Generation of true-colour 3D point clouds using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors.
    • For 3D reconstruction, LiDAR is often more suitable for complex environments in comparison to photogrammetry - multiple returns enable penetration through vegetation and detection of ground points in the understory.
    • Commonly used to measure structural traits in vegetation, such as height, canopy volume etc. Grain breeding trials, erosion monitoring in rangelands and malleefowl nest detection.
    • Digital twin production.

  • Spectral
    • The URAF have expertise in collection and processing of VIS-NIR multispectral and hyperspectral data.
    • Commonly used for vegetation condition monitoring purposes in agricultural or natural environments.
    • Precision agriculture in broadacre cropping – identifying areas of nutrient deficiencies for variable rate fertiliser application.
    • Can be used for discrimination between vegetation types. In certain contexts, can be used to classify genus or species.
    • Identification of minerals using spectral signatures of surface soils – hyperspectral.

  • Thermal
    • The URAF house an array of thermal imagers.
    • Can be used for live detection of wildlife or infrastructure inspection, e.g., finding water leaks.
    • URAF provide expertise in thermal data processing and conversion to temperature.
    • Ability to use photogrammetry software to process raw data into temperature maps for applications such as identification of water stress.

  • Media and promotional photography / videography

    In collaboration with AIML, URAF developed an open access machine learning model which uses RGB imagery captured from drones to count waterbirds.

  • VLOS, EVLOS and BVLOS

    Under standard operating conditions, Uncrewwed Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s) are required to be flown within Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) which limits the distance that the UAV can be flown in one mission. In many cases, this isn’t an issue, but in certain projects, flying long continuous flight lines to cover large areas can be highly beneficial.

    URAF has the capability to apply for Extended Visual Line of Sight (EVLOS) and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) exemptions, allowing larger sites to be imaged uninterrupted.

    Please contact uraf@adelaide.edu.au to enquire about our EVLOS and BVLOS capabilities.