Development of pesticide application devices for small unmanned aircraft

Rutgers Inventor(s):  Randy Gaugler; Gregory Williams

Awarded:  August 2019

Summary:  Mosquitoes are the deadliest animal on Earth causing over 700,000 human deaths each year. One of the most effective ways to control them is to treat the water where the immature mosquitoes live with a pesticide. Unfortunately, these areas are often too large, remote, or unsafe to treat with ground equipment, and aerial applications are prohibitively expensive. We have developed a pesticide application device that can distribute pesticide tablets with a small unmanned aircraft. The device was designed to attach to the DJI Phantom, the most popular consumer drone in the world. This combination allows mosquito control professionals to easily treat difficult mosquito habitat at a fraction of the cost of contracted piloted aircraft. The device can be easily adapted to deliver a variety of payloads.

Market Applications:

• Mosquito and pest control
• Package delivery
• Weed management
• Agriculture