We first wrote about Yamaha and their agricultural or industrial drones when they were at CES2018 displaying the YMR-01. Today we learn that Yamaha will begin with limited sales of their industrial multi-rotor drone the YMR-08 aimed at agricultural use starting in June of this year in Japan.
The YMR-08 drone for agricultural use
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. just announced that it will begin limited sales of their YMR-08 industrial multi-rotor drone starting in June of this year in Japan. Full commercial sales are expected to start in the fall for the Japanese market. The drone is specifically designed for the spraying of cultivated fields such as rice paddies. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can continuously spray up to one hectare per 15-minute flight.
In their press release, The Japanese company states to have more than 30 years of experience in using unmanned helicopter or drones to spray agricultural fields. Yamaha claims to spray more than one million hectares per year, which covers more than 40% of the Japanese rice paddy fields. Multi-rotor drones allow for more precise spraying of smaller fields. Something that cannot easily be achieved with the traditional Yamaha unmanned helicopters.
The Yamaha YMR-08 has a specially designed rotor layout to provide strong downwash near the position of the nozzles. This will help to achieve optimal spraying ability from a relatively small and lightweight drone.
Comparison of a typical six-rotor layout in which opposite rotors counter-rotate (on left) and the YMR-08 (on right). By adopting the “vertical coaxial” layout for two rotor axes (one each on the left and right), the YMR-08 creates a strong downwash even from a compact and lightweight body. Making the rotors’ direction of rotation symmetric fore and aft has strengthened the downwash in the same location (near the nozzles) regardless of whether the aircraft is traveling forward or backward.
Main Features
- “Vertical coaxial” rotors and optimized spraying nozzle layout deliver spraying quality comparable to Yamaha Motor’s industrial-use unmanned helicopters
- Battery and newly-developed lightweight, high-output motors for safety and operability
- Carbon hybrid rotors with impact-absorbing resin on the leading edge to reduce impact and prevent debris scattering in the event of damage
- Lightweight, rigid, and well-balanced monocoque shell structure carbon body
- The two-eye face brings a sense of liveliness, and the double air intake design emphasizes electrical system cooling performance
- Resin skids soften the impact on landing
- The included “Turn Assistance” function simplifies operation and increases spraying accuracy
For more information, visit www.yamaha-motor.com
Email sign-up form
Would you like to receive our DroneRise email every weekday morning? Enter your email below and look for an activation email in your inbox to confirm your DroneRise email sign-up.
Note: Support DroneDJ by buying your next drone through our site. You can use the following links directly from manufacturers, such as DJI, Parrot, Yuneec or retailers like Amazon, B&H, BestBuy or eBay. Thank you!
Comments