Prof. Dr. Yavuz Ünal, the Rector of Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU), stated that agricultural crewless aerial and ground vehicles developed by university students can perform autonomous pesticide spraying and detect weeds in agricultural fields.

TEKNOFEST, Turkey's most significant technology festival, has opened doors to technology and science enthusiasts at Etimesgut Airport.

Starting to welcome visitors on Victory Day and the 100th anniversary of the Republic, the festival witnessed a high level of interest from visitors in projects prepared by universities.

Rector Prof. Dr. Ünal emphasized the festival as an opportunity for intellectual transformation. He pointed out that they reached the finals in competitions with agriculture-related projects and stressed the importance of agriculture for the world and humanity. He also noted that students are particularly focused on this field.

Rektör Ünal: The burden of agricultural workers will be significantly eased

Rector Ünal expressed that with the agricultural crewless aerial and ground vehicles produced by OMU students, the workload of agricultural laborers would be significantly reduced. He added:
"These AI-powered vehicles only apply pesticides where necessary. Since pesticide application is done with this crewless aerial vehicle, it prevents the damage caused by pesticide applicators, which can range from 5% to 6%, depending on the condition of the land. At the same time, it aims to protect people from the harmful effects they would suffer from excessive pesticide exposure."

Rector Ünal explained that the agricultural crewless ground vehicle can autonomously move in agricultural fields and perform automatic weed control. He also mentioned that the vehicle displays task information on a user interface. Rector Ünal noted that the vehicle received twice the second-place prize in Türkiye at TEKNOFEST 2023 and TEKNOFEST 2022.

Note: AA refers to Anadolu Agency, a Turkish state-run news agency.