The Problem: When Dad Couldn’t Be There
My dad owns a small rubber plantation. For years, he used to walk around every day checking who showed up for work, seeing what tasks were being done, and making sure everything ran smoothly. But as he got older, his health made it hard for him to visit the farm regularly. And that is when things started to slip:
- Workers’ attendance was only reported by word-of-mouth.
- There was no real way to see what was happening on the fields
- It was tough to manage or verify daily activity without being there
What he needed wasn’t some high-tech gadget that only engineers could handle, he needed something simple, reliable, and trustworthy that he could use from home. That’s where we brought in the Vikas R&D Drone
The Simple Idea: Let the Drone Do the Watching
We proposed a very clear goal: Use a drone that could fly and monitor the plantation on its own, and send live video back home without dad having to learn how to fly it. We wanted three things
- Live Video from the Field
Dad should be able to see the workers and activity from home, just like standing there in person - Fully Automatic Flying
The drone should take off, go to the right spots, hover, and come back without manual control - Super Easy for Non-Tech People
All dad had to do was press a simple switch nothing complicated like piloting the drone or setting flight paths. This wasn’t about drone racing tricks, it
was about useful monitoring.
The First Test: Proving It Works
- Dad was understandably skeptical. So we picked one routine task that happens every morning – Workers gather in the drying yard for attendance and job allocation.
- We asked:
Can the drone fly there by itself each morning, hover, and give a video clear enough for dad to count workers? Because this happens at the same place and time every day, it was perfect for testin
- We asked:
Mapping Out the Mission
We programmed a simple mission:
- Drone lifts off from home.
- Climbs to a safe height.
- Flies to the drying yard.
- Comes down to a good viewing height.
- Hovers long enough for attendance check.
- Goes back up safely.
- Returns home and lands on its own.
- While hovering, the live video was streamed back so dad could see exactly who was there.
What We Learned (and Fixed) in Real Life
As with anything in the field, the first tries weren’t perfect. But each issue had a simple, practical fix:
a) Rolling Terrain and Obstacles The plantation land wasn’t flat trees and hills meant the drone needed extra clearance.
Fix: We set the drone to climb just above the tallest obstacles before flying forward.
b) Shaky Landing Approach In early tests, when the drone came down too fast, it wobbled which worried everyone watching.
Fix: We slowed the descent so it looked smooth and confident, like a bird landing softly
c) Not Enough Time to Count People Initially, the drone hovered only a short while not enough for dad to count workers.
Fix: We increased the hover time so dad could comfortably verify attendance.
d) Return-to-Home Crashes At first, the drone was set to return at 35m altitude but if it started lower, it tried to climb diagonally over uneven land and once crashed.
Fix: We changed the logic:
- After the hover, the drone first goes straight up to 35 m,
- Then starts heading home.
This made its path predictable and safe.
Making It Simple for Dad
We wanted dad to never worry about buttons, screens, or maps. So we made the controls as basic as possible:
- No manual flying at all
- One switch ON to start the mission, OFF to stop.
- No menu’s or confusing controls Result: Dad could operate it with zero training and no fear of breaking something.
Making It Simple for Dad
The Proof of Concept worked!
- The autonomous drone replaced dad’s need to be there physically.
- Live video was clear enough to count workers and see what was happening.
- Dad and others felt confident using the system daily.
He accepted it as a real, practical tool for running the plantation
What’s Next (Future Upgrades)
We’re not stopping here. The next version will make this even smarter
1. Intelligent Onboard Brain
A Raspberry Pi on the drone that controls the mission by itself no start button needed
2. Smart Vision
Computer vision to automatically
- Detect and count workers
- Save screenshots
- Log attendance data after every flight
3. Online Dashboard
A simple web portal where dad can:
- Watch live or recorded video
- See flight logs
- View attendance summaries
This would turn the drone from a watcher into a smart helper
