LahakX and AeroSystemsWest partner to swarm heavy-payload spraying drones
U.S.-Israeli BIRD Foundation awarded companies to build, license, and commercialize the innovative solution in agriculture and firefighting applications
SALINAS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, January 31, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — LahakX, an agricultural spraying drone technology builder and operator, and AeroSystemsWest, a U.S. manufacturer of heavy lift multirotor platforms, today announced a technological and commercial partnership. The two companies will collaborate to launch an autonomous swarm of heavy-payload spraying drones. ASW will focus on building the new drone, while LahakX will concentrate on assembling swarming planning and autopiloting to the new drones. In addition to technology development, the companies will regulate the new drones in California and sell a ready-to-fly solution to their current and new customers. The US-Israeli BIRD Foundation will provide partial funding for the entire project.
“We have received numerous customer requests to expand our services to cover more acres and spray more gallons. Swarming is one way to do it. Heavy-payload drone is another way. Through this partnership, we’ll be able to do both,” said Dr. Itzik Turkel, LahakX Co-Founder and CTO. “We were deeply impressed by ASW drones, and we look forward to leveraging the BIRD Foundation resources and jointly developing new technologies and introducing them to the market ASAP.”
“ASW has seen an increased demand in heavier lift drone aircraft in both the civil and defense sectors. We are thrilled to begin our venture into heavy lift drones for agriculture missions,” said Danny Neal, Aero Systems West CTO. “We are grateful to have been awarded BIRD Foundation resources for this project, and are excited to continue our partnership with LahakX in the development of heavy lift, swarming drones.”
An autonomous fleet of heavy-payload spraying drones that can be assembled in a variety of configurations results in significantly improved performance. This technology can potentially revolutionize the agricultural and fire/wildfire prevention markets by covering vast areas quickly and dispensing a large quantity of liquid per acre.
Lettuce is one example of a low canopy crop that requires frequent spraying, typically in medium-sized blocks. According to the US Department of Agriculture, lettuce is harvested on 180,000 acres in California, generating approximately $6 billion annually for growers.
About LahakX
LahakX is an AgTech company developing and operating autonomous drone technology for agricultural applications. Our vision involves drone swarming and spot-spraying, and we accomplish this by integrating our proprietary technology with third-party drones. LahakX serves growers and applicators by operating a self-flying fleet of spraying drones that makes crop protection sustainable, precise, safe, and affordable. Visit https://lahakx.com
About Aero Systems West
Aero Systems West (ASW) was founded in 2016 with the intent to provide US manufactured, industrial, and modular unmanned aircraft to government and civil customers. ASW’s vision was to develop and manufacture flexible platforms for various drone missions. In 2018, ASW released its Heavy Lift Multirotor (HLM) platform, a modular system that can be built out into a Quad, Hex or Octo configuration of unmanned aircraft. Since its release in 2018, the HLM has enjoyed consistent use throughout the military, government, and civil sector of aviation. The HLM use cases range from humanitarian granule spreading in the Pacific Islands, high level R&D within various departments with US government (DoD, USDA, DOI, etc.), and spray drones for forestry services and local firefighting units. Visit https://aerosystemswest.com
Eylon Sorek
LahakX
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