PHX integration with 65R expands use cases beyond agriculture

ST. PAUL, Minn. – JULY 12, 2023 – Sentera, the industry-leading provider of ag analytics, today announced that its ultra-high-resolution RGB sensor – the 65R – is now compatible with its PHX fixed-wing drone, lowering the cost and time required to produce accurate digital surface models (DSMs) and imagery products for several industries, including agriculture, construction, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring.

65R’s global shutter and fast frame rate combine to quickly produce exceptional imagery, free from distortions produced by electronic rolling shutter cameras and with a rugged “no moving parts” design that is ideal for the sometimes-challenging physical environment onboard a drone.

With 65 million pixels per frame of global shutter imagery, the 65R is an outstanding tool to produce 3D products like DSMs. DSMs have become a critical factor in how businesses and governments make decisions, from planning and development to natural resource management to disaster mitigation. With 65R, the DSM and the RGB imagery product can both be produced from the same dataset.

“3D models have become almost as popular with our customers as our imagery products,” said Eric Taipale, chief technology officer, Sentera. “65R is a very high quality imager, and integration of this sensor with a high-efficiency platform like PHX cuts the data acquisition time required to capture large areas by up to 50% versus comparable VTOL platforms.”

PHX is one of the most popular high-throughput drone platforms for multispectral and thermal data production in agriculture, generating data products that enable insights like Stand Count and seed emergence, Tassel Count to identify end-of-season yields, and a range of multispectral-based insights. Because of its design, the fixed-wing drone can cover up to three times more ground than multi-rotor drones in the same amount of time. Now, with the additional of 65R, the platform adds 3D and UHR RGB capabilities.

“PHX has established itself as a rugged, workhorse platform for agricultural users. We’re pleased to extend its capabilities to other sectors,” said Taipale. “In real-world use, the time and cost efficiency of PHX is market-leading. With 65R on PHX, these productivity benefits can go to work for many more customers.”

More information about use cases for the PHX and 65R will be covered in Sentera’s upcoming webinar. For more information about Sentera the PHX and 65R drone system, visit https://www.sentera.com.

About Sentera

Sentera helps agronomic leaders maximize every season as the industry-leading provider of ag analytics. With its data science ecosystem, powered by machine learning, Sentera delivers more reliable and scalable plant-level measurements to maximize performance outcomes, which can be informed by aerial imagery captured by Sentera’s drone technology solutions or services. Operating in more than 45 countries, Sentera works with hundreds of customers focused on research, product development, and in-field product validation. For more information, visit https://www.sentera.com.