British engineering firm Cal International has teamed up with Australian sustainable technology start-up Airseed Technologies to use drone technology to plant 100 million trees by 2024.
The engineering firm worked with the start-up to refine the design of the existing engine for Airseed’s pod delivery system, which uses aerial drone technology.
AirSeed designed the initial engine and delivery mechanism, of which Cal International has improved the design and functionality.
The British company was approached by AirSeed to assist in refining the drone’s planting systems, specifically the user interface design and the system’s manufacturability.
The drone, which uses artificial intelligence (AI), is a payload and delivery system designed to use GPS technology to locate target areas for seed delivery.
The carbon pods are pinpointed on a mapping system aligned with the drone’s flight path, which was built to consider wind variables and weather conditions on the day of planting. By storing this information, the drone is able to make a return flight to monitor tree growth.
Cliff Kirby, Cal International founder and engineer, said: “Cal International is a unique business that not only has dedicated teams working in partnership Blue Chip manufacturers but also incredible start-up technologies and disruptors such as Needlesmart and Airseed.
“As a company we blend a traditional engineering background with a company ethos built on innovation, as such we are often brought in to solve complex problems and issues in the automotive, defence and nuclear industries.
“Often those complexities will span both engineering and tech fields, which allows us to create solutions that can then be scaled to volume.”
Using a two-person team, Airseed hopes to use its drone to plant 40,000 pods per day, with each carrying a gram of carbon harvested from dying vegetation.
The pod shields the seed from obstacles such as insects, rodents and birds during germination. The seed pod is activated when it rains, with the carbon absorbing the water and allowing the seed to grow.
