Forest planning is quite literally, from especially the scale of the task, a very difficult job. A handful of planners are required to cover massive lengths of ground, capturing the health of the forest, noting down aspects of its biodiversity, and basically capturing the forest on paper, so its protection can be done with utmost efficiency. It’s a tough, thankless job that requires months of work, and a human is expected to cover massive ground… but what if technology could do that?
The Humla Forestry Drone was built for this task. Small enough to be carried around on your person, the Humla sits strapped to your chest, and can be detached and deployed from anywhere. Three hubless propellers allow the Humla to fly around unencumbered, preventing them from getting stuck in branches, or worse, harming animals, and three strategically placed cameras can capture events from every single angle. Designed to aid forest planners with documenting every aspect of the forest, the Humla helps in completing menial tasks, like marking borders and protected areas. I suppose it could extend its use further and also be used as a forest patrol drone, to help rangers take care of their forests! When not in use, the Humla docks on a chest-mounted power-pack which charges it.
The Humla Forestry Drone is a winner of the iF Design Talent Award for the year 2018.
Designers: Anders Sandström & Engin Güzel (Umeå Institute of Design)
