Andres Hurtado, one of the founders of Terralynx looks on as two employees of Lapointe Drainage (Eric left, Solange right) explain how Terralynx has been able to help them in developing their business. Tinkess Photo

OSGOODE – It is interesting to watch how different companies react to changes in technology. Some shy away from it and struggle to maintain an ever-shrinking segment of the marketplace, while others jump in with both feet, ready to take over the world, but unprepared for the hard work that comes with building a business, and unable to pivot when they discover that the road ahead isn’t a straight line.

Others however, the successful ones, see a problem and work on developing a solution, using the technology that is available at whatever point in time they find themselves, knowing that they will need to change as available resources change, as expectations change, and as the world around them changes. Change, they realize, is the only constant.

Terralynx, formerly Renova UAV is one such company. They have been one of the presenters for at least the past three years at The Great Ontario Yield Tour event, and attendees have been able to observe how the company has evolved in that time.

Andres Hurtado is one of the company’s founders and has been the key presenter over the past three years. This year, he spoke of some of the developments Terralynx is utilizing. “We’re going to be talking about technology, especially related to what is happening now with drone technology, with imagery, with artificial intelligence, and how that is transforming the farm,” said Hurtado.

It is important to realize that while in this instance Hurtado was presenting information in an agricultural context, it isn’t difficult to see how it could also be used in a wide range of applications, and as new software applications are developed, seemingly on a daily basis, the services they can provide will only continue to grow.

When Terralynx, then Renova UAV first came to be, they were essentially a drone company, exploring what initially were a small but growing list of services, they could provide. Now, however, with the experience they have acquired, combined with growth in machine learning, artificial intelligence technology they are much more. “We rebranded because now we’re more than just a drone company,” said Hurtado. “We’re a data collection and analysis service. We’re most focused on the data, on the decisions that drive value on the field.

“So, we are clear on that we provide the service,” he added. “We don’t sell the drones. We fly the drones for our clients. We fly multi-spectral drones.”

Multi-spectral? Sounds sort of like science fiction, but it’s not. Multi-spectral refers to the camera mounted to the drone, and it means that the camera can detect radiation in different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as near infrared (NIR), mid-infrared (MIR) or thermal infrared (TIR). Because each pixel records different information, a variety of data can be captured and results can be obtained for specific analyses, which can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as detecting plant disease (even before it is visible to the human eye), environmental monitoring, mapping and surveying and security and surveillance.

And they can do it flying above the terrain, and they can do it quickly.

But hang on, it gets better.

Terralynx also can provide drone services which utilizes LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology for 3D modelling. “Basically, what we’re doing here is we’re shooting lasers 240,000 times per second, and then we’re reading the distance,” said Hurtado. “We’re reading how long it takes for this laser to go back and forth. And then with that distance, we can put together very detailed 3D models of fields.”

Obviously, this technology has a use in agriculture, but if you take a moment and consider where else it might be used, you’ll discover that the number of potential uses is limited only by the imagination of the person considering it. Think of someone trying to map a densely populated urban area, or someone developing an area where elevation and slope are very important, and so much more, and all of these done very accurately, and very quickly.

The use cases aren’t necessarily new, only the methods of fulfilling them.

For more information on Terralynx, you can visit their website at terralynx.ai, and if you don’t see the service you require, take the time to ask. It might be just around the corner.

 

If you would like to have a light shined on your business, please contact us at: editor@etceterapublications.ca or call us at 613-448-2321.