Autonomous micro-drone pollination system for protected cropping

Overview

Polybee offers an autonomous pollination platform built around miniature quad-rotor micro-drones designed for use in protected cropping environments such as greenhouses. The system addresses two core challenges in pollination: achieving high-precision and timely pollen delivery while maintaining high throughput capacity. By replacing manual labor with autonomous drones, the technology aims to lower operational costs, increase fertilization rates, and improve cross-hybridization success in breeding and seed production for row and vegetable crops.

The solution combines computer-vision-based flower assessment with robotic pollen delivery. Onboard sensors evaluate flower development stages to identify the optimal pollination window, ensuring that pollen is applied precisely when it is most effective. This approach supports both commercial crop production and breeding programs where seed quantity per fruit is a critical performance metric.

Technical specifications

Key features:

• Autonomous 9 cm quad-rotor micro-drones with sub-cm positioning precision for accurate pollen delivery
• Onboard computer vision for real-time assessment of inflorescence and flower development, enabling pollination within the optimal biological window
• Scalable and economically viable robotic platform suited for continuous operation in greenhouse environments
• Assumes externally harvested pollen loaded into a drone payload for delivery to target flowers
• Designed for row crops and vegetable crops grown under protected cultivation

Validation history:

• Micro-drones have been deployed in controlled environments for pollination of tomatoes and strawberries at the National University of Singapore
• In strawberry trials, stigma pollen deposition improved by 50 percent (p < 10e-4) compared to a negative control subject to ventilation
• Marketable fruit set rate improved by 45 percent over the same control condition
• Fertilization was measured by counting stigmas with pollen deposition and by non-destructive tracking of fruit development

Technology readiness level

The platform has demonstrated precedent in autonomous self-pollination and has been field-validated in controlled strawberry and tomato environments. Polybee is planning a greenhouse study in Singapore focused on row and vegetable crops. The proposed study will measure the accuracy of real-time flower development assessment to empirically determine optimal pollination windows by species, and will compare fruit set rate and seed quantity per fruit between autonomous drone pollination and manual pollination. Seed quantity per fruit is identified as the core key performance indicator for pollination efficiency.