Skyplanter – An Ingenious Non-Invasive Drone Mounted Seedling Planting System

The Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) and the University of Southern Denmark, as part of the SPADE Horizon Europe project, have developed Skyplanter, an ingenious, non-invasive drone-mounted planting system that firmly deposits seedlings into the ground in ten seconds or less.

The SkyPlanter system features a custom high-powered quadrotor carrier drone, an ultra-lightweight seedling planting mechanism, weighing only 4 kg, a seedling reloading mechanism allowing repeated planting, and a high-pressure compressed air system to produce powerful, explosive motions with minimal weight.

The need for reforestation, particularly in rural areas, is growing exponentially worldwide, and traditional methods can cause damage to the areas they serve.

Current tree planting operations are typically performed manually, and existing automated solutions use large land-based vehicles or excavators which cause significant site damage and are limited to open, clear-cut plots. We propose this mechanism as a cost-effective, highly scalable solution that avoids ground damage, produces minimal emissions, and can operate equally well on open clear-cut sites as in denser, selectively-harvested forests.