Cedar cones will be blown away by air jets from drones

Tomsk has found a way to increase the collection of useful products to 40 percent

A drone that can knock down cedar cones with a jet of air is being developed by scientists at Tomsk State University. Thanks to the invention, they will help industrialists produce 40 percent more useful product.

As TSU reported, wild plants are still collected mainly by hand – cones are shaken off tall cedar trees, stuffed into bags, and only then taken to a processing factory. To collect more, harvesters, for example, in the Ongudai and Ust-Kansky districts of the Altai Territory are waiting for windy weather. After strong gusts of wind, the cones fall to the ground in large quantities, and without them the harvest is only 5-10 percent of the average seasonal harvest.

The essence of the scientists’ development is simple – a special device will produce a stream of air right near the crown of the tree, blowing off the cones from there. The main advantage of technology (after economic benefits) is the absence of harm to nature. It will increase the yield by up to 40 percent.

Altai companies collecting pine cones note that in addition to improving the technology for collecting them, it is planned to create a large-scale production of pine nut kernels in Siberia. Until now, raw materials are taken to China and sold from there throughout the world.

In addition to blowing cones from trees, TSU is developing technologies for quickly and conveniently collecting them from the ground, as well as transporting them using exoskeletons.