The news that aroused great interest OlivAir – a start-up engaged in the creation of a large electric drone that revolutionizes the olive harvest, making them fall thanks to the wind produced by the propellers – has been selected among the 100 research projects for the Prototypes for Humanity in Dubai, the international platform-showcase dedicated to the most innovative solutions.
The Olive News, faithful to its role as the digital newspaper of reference for the olive-oil sector, could not fail to delve into the subject. And to do so, he turned directly to the CEO di Oliv Air, Diana Zagarella, who created the start-up together with James Longaroni e Dario Marroccu (in the picture), to which was added later Alberto Zagarella, financial analyst.
A drone that revolutionizes the olive harvest, making them fall thanks to the wind produced by the propellers. How did the idea come about?
“My family has had an olive grove in Calabria for generations. And the arrival of strong winds has always been considered an alarm that prompted us to proceed quickly with the harvest, to avoid losing the olives. I asked myself: what if the problem was the solution? What if the manufacturer could control the wind? The aeronautical engineering studies and the precious stimuli of prof. Umberto Iemma of the Roma Tre University led our team to imagine a large drone as a powerful mobile wind generator".
Tell us about this drone.
“First of all, a premise: the drone is in full development, we are carrying out further tests to create the final prototype. In fact, the project involves the use of the induced wind of a propeller to shake the branches and facilitate the fall of the olives. In this campaign we carried out some validation tests in an olive grove in Lazio with promising results, even though the propeller was placed in a fixed scaffolding. The goal, as mentioned, is to create a prototype for the next campaign, reinforcing the experimentation on other fruit trees in the coming months, as the olive harvest is now practically over. But its technical characteristics are already well defined: a quadricopter with a diameter of 2,5 meters, that is a large and powerful drone that allows you to cause the right vibration on the branches simply by flying over and around them. And the idea has already been patented”.
What advantages can it guarantee on a practical level?
“It makes it possible to improve the efficiency of the harvest on several levels: the quantity of olives that remain on the plant decreases compared to normal harvesting, because the wind allows any type of foliage to be shaken in an agile and effective manner and also because it is possible to intervene on land to date impracticable, due to slope or morphology, with the machinery that acts from the ground. Not only that: it increases the overall quality of the harvest as we give the possibility to calibrate the wind by changing the distance of the drone from the olive trees, allowing only the olives to be detached at the required degree of ripeness. Furthermore, by drastically reducing the total harvesting time, the organoleptic properties of the last drupe that falls to the ground will be approximately equal to those of the first: in short, it will be possible to have a perfectly ripe and homogeneous harvest”.
Reduced times also translate into economic advantages. Have you estimated them?
“We have estimated that the drone guarantees a time three times faster than that used by tractors with mechanical shakers. This translates into a significant reduction in labor costs, also considering that the manual work will have to be limited to just laying the nets on the ground and collecting them. The combination of these factors can lead to an increase in revenues of up to 40%. Another aspect that is very close to our hearts is also the reduction of the environmental impact linked to the harvesting phase, since the drone is electric, unlike current petrol-powered machines, and does not act directly on the trunk of the olive trees, avoiding injury to the bark that make trees more vulnerable to external agents”.
The news of your selection in Dubai has found a wide echo on social networks. Objective findings?
“Yes, many have called us to receive further information, some have also made themselves available to become part of the project. In short, great expectations, which we want to materialize in the next campaign: the business idea is that of renting a drone with a pilot, because obviously a specific license is required for machinery of this type. But we are a start-up that doesn't want to stop innovating and we are always curious and attentive to find further useful solutions for the world of olive growing”.
Learn More www.olivair.eu
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