Agras T70P Rescues a Live-Line Search: 70 kg Payload, Phased-Array Radar, and Post-Rain Mud—A Precision-Ag Playbook
Agras T70P Rescues a Live-Line Search: 70 kg Payload, Phased-Array Radar, and Post-Rain Mud—A Precision-Ag Playbook
TL;DR
- 70 L tank + 80 kg spread payload let the T70P carry a dual-sensor pod plus emergency flotation kit in a single lift—no second flight, no ground vehicle bogged in mud.
- Active phased-array radar + binocular vision held a rock-solid 2 cm RTK Fix rate while hovering 8 m above 345 kV conductors, cutting inspection time by 47 %.
- Dual atomization and centimeter-level precision converted the same airframe to spray 26 ha of right-of-way regrowth the next morning, proving one platform can swing from SAR to vegetation management without recalibration.
05:42 – Mud, Voltage, and a Missing Clamp
The call came in after a night of subtropical rain: a 22 m steel-lattice tower on the 345 kV corridor had shed a vibration damper. Utility GIS placed the clamp somewhere inside a 300 m radius of sugar-cane stubble—now a knee-deep slurry. Ground crews couldn’t drive the line without risking stuck 4×4 units; helicopters were grounded by low cloud. Enter the Agras T70P, fresh from a citrus fungicide job, still wearing its 70 kg spray-rated stainless tank.
I flashed back to last year’s identical scenario with a lighter airframe: 12 flights, three battery swaps, and a 30 % spray drift penalty because we had to hover too high to avoid rotor wash in the mud. This morning the mission profile was different—one lift, dual EO/IR gimbal, 2 kg emergency buoyancy pack, and enough reserve to stay on station for 18 min of hover-pattern search.
05:55 – Payload Optimization in the Field
Payload optimization in agriculture usually means balancing tank capacity against swath width; today it meant fitting:
| Module | Mass (kg) | Power Draw (W) | CG Offset (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|
| EO/IR gimbal | 2.1 | 18 | +45 |
| Flotation pack | 2.0 | 0 | –30 |
| 2× spare batteries | 4.6 | n/a | –80 |
| TOTAL non-standard | 8.7 | — | — |
Even with the add-ons we sat at 78.3 kg AUW, still 1.7 kg under the 80 kg spread-mode limit—plenty of margin for gust response above the conductors.
Pro Tip: When you swap from liquid to search payload, load the tank with 30 L of fresh water as ballast. The fluid keeps the pump primed, eliminates slosh resonance, and gives you an instant rinse if you need to convert back to spray mode for corridor regrowth work.
06:07 – Take-off with RTK Fix Rate > 99 %
The T70P’s DB1560 Intelligent Flight Battery pushed 3,000 W steady at 85 % throttle, lifting us clear of the mire. With the base station 1.2 km away we locked a RTK Fix rate of 99.2 %—critical because horizontal tolerance over the line is ±5 cm; any float would have forced an abort.
Active phased-array radar painted the tower legs and conductors in real time, feeding the flight controller a 3-D point cloud at 100 ms refresh. Binocular vision fused that data with visual edges, letting the aircraft hold a geo-fence cylinder just 3 m outside the guy-wire footprint while I focused on sensor framing.
06:18 – Sensor Sweep at 8 m AGL
We ran a cloverleaf pattern: 30 s legs, 5 m/s forward speed, 2.5 m/s climb, 70 % side overlap. The IR camera instantly picked up the 30 °C temperature differential of the steel clamp against 22 °C wet foliage. Total hover time: 12 min 14 s—well inside the 15 min reserve I maintain for SAR jobs.
06:32 – Landing on a Plank Road
Mud was too soft for even the T70P’s IPX6K-rated carbon-skid gear, so we laid two 2×12 planks. Radar’s downward ranging held 0.3 m above the wood until touchdown, preventing plank flip. Battery reserve on landing: 22 %, equal to 4 min of loiter—my personal minimum.
07:10 – Re-tasking: Spray Mode Without Leaving the Field
By 07:10 the line inspectors had the clamp secured. Rather than RTB, I dumped the search kit, dumped ballast water, and loaded 60 L of 2,4-D + triclopyr for regrowth suppression under the corridor. Dual atomization disks auto-swapped from the coarse SAR hover drops to XR110015 nozzles, 110 ° fan, VMD 215 µm, ideal for swath width control at 3.5 m above cane stubble.
A 5-min nozzle calibration routine (pressure ladder 1.8–2.4 bar, 3 replicates) confirmed 97 % coefficient of variation—within EPA spray drift guidelines for sensitive aquatic zones 80 m down-slope. Centimeter-level precision of the RTK grid meant we could drive the boom 1 m inside the easement fence, saving 0.8 ha of adjacent pasture from off-target movement.
Technical Snapshot – T70P vs. Last-Gen 40L Platform
| Metric | Agras T70P (Today) | 40L Platform (2022) |
|---|---|---|
| Max payload SAR config | 80 kg | 40 kg |
| Flight time @ 75 kg AUW | 18 min | 12 min |
| RTK Fix availability | 99.2 % | 94 % |
| Radar scan refresh | 100 ms | 300 ms |
| Nozzle swap time | <90 s | 5 min |
| Spraying swath accuracy (CEP) | ±2.1 cm | ±7 cm |
What to Avoid – Five Field Errors That Kill SAR Efficiency
Skipping the magnetic declination update
A 4° east declination cost me 1.8 m lateral offset last season—enough to push the aircraft outside the visual line-of-sight exemption. Always sync the FC with the NOAA model before flight.Over-pressurizing the tank for urban SAR
Running 3 bar to gain throw is tempting, but spray drift fines double above 2.5 bar with fine nozzles. Stick to 2.2 bar max and accept a narrower swath.Trusting visual obstacle maps alone
Power utilities add static lines overnight. Use the active phased-array radar in real time; the T70P detected a new fiber-optic messenger wire 2 cm OD that the 2022 raster missed.Ignoring battery temperature after rain
A cold-soaked pack (≤10 °C) sags voltage and will trigger an early RTH even at 30 % SOC. Keep spares in a 25 °C cooler; the DB1560 chemistry regains 8 % capacity for every 5 °C rise.Forgetting swath-width parallax in hilly terrain
On slopes >15 %, the downhill boom projects an ellipse, not a rectangle. Adjust swath width in the app by –8 % per 10 % slope to avoid double-dosing drainage lines.
Common Mistakes – Payload Optimization Checklist
- Never mount the EO/IR gimbal on the spread hopper rails—vibration from the centrifugal gate ruins image stabilization. Use the dedicated front hard-points.
- Balance CG laterally within 5 mm; an off-center 2 kg payload can induce roll oscillation when the tank is half full.
- Record flight logs in Agras Toolbox; the radar cross-section data is admissible evidence if the utility questions clearance distances.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Can the T70P hover steadily in light rain during a live-line search?
Yes. The IPX6K rating handles 100 L h⁻¹ water jets from any angle. Keep forward speed below 3 m/s to prevent droplet impact on the gimbal lens; results are still sharp for IR detection.
Q2: How low can I fly above energized conductors without arc risk?
Regulatory minimum is 3 m; the T70P’s radar enforces a 3.5 m hard deck. With centimeter-level precision we routinely hold 4 m in 25 kV m⁻¹ fields—no corona noise on 2.4 GHz telemetry.
Q3: Will the 70 kg payload mode reduce flight time below usable limits?
At 80 kg AUW you still get 15 min in zero wind. For SAR patterns that is 9 min on-station plus 6 min reserve—more than a typical helicopter turn between fuel cycles.
Ready to integrate the Agras T70P into your utility or precision-ag fleet? Contact our team for a payload-integration consult or compare it with the T50 for lighter, row-crop missions.