Introduction
AirForestry is an innovative Swedish company that focuses on electric airborne forestry management - a new, unique, and innovative way of thinning a forest. According to AirForestry, the company was founded by Markus Romar and Mautriz Andersson who then collaborated with Olle Gelin in January 2020 to make the vision a reality. From that time, the development work has expanded swiftly with Airforestry signing agreements with some large growers in Sweden and further joined by the Walerud family and Caroline Walerud who became the fourth co-founder.
What is it?
The system comprises a high-capacity drone which is 6.2 meters in diameter. It has a specially designed structure in carbon fiber and angled rotors, to achieve the precision flying necessary to carry the tool and tree. The drone carries a 60kg light harvesting tool used for cutting the branches and cutting the tree. Since June 2020 several prototypes were developed and tested to prove the feasibility of the concept.
How does the technology work?
The harvesting drone flies out to the specific location, once the harvesting tool is positioned, it grabs the top of the tree, hugs it and prunes off the branches on the way down, and then saws the tree stem off. Thereafter, the harvesting tool secures the trees so that the drone can carry it all the way to the nearest road. Currently, the system is designed to work in early thinning operations and it can cut trees up to 15cm in diameter and has a lift capacity of around 200kg. The system requires a 5G mast for superfast communication between drones and operators.
The AirForestry solution
Through this technology, AirForestry aims to be the number one global forest operating system to nurture and enhance all values of the forest such as:
• Biobased products toward sustainable societies
• Biodiversity
• Carbon sequestration
• Stronger forests mitigating wildfires and other natural disasters
AirForestry plans to introduce an environmentally friendly method of thinning that promotes biodiversity and reduces potential site impacts caused by existing ground-based systems.
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