Night Owl Drones Save Peanuts with Sneaky Night Moves

Drones That Work the Graveyard Shift. Ever wonder what goes bump in the night on a peanut farm? Spoiler: it’s probably feral hogs throwing an all-night rager. But fear not, peanut lovers—Kennesaw State University’s Night Owl project is here to save the day (or rather, the night).

Led by assistant professors Taeyeong Choi and Yan Fang, this AI-powered drone system is like a nocturnal bouncer for Georgia’s peanut fields. With a cool $25,000 grant from the Georgia Peanut Commission, these drones are ready to tackle the $150 million feral hog problem with infrared sensors and some serious swagger.

Hogs Beware: The Night Owl Is Watching

Feral hogs are the ultimate party crashers, munching through peanut crops like they’re at a buffet with no RSVP. The Night Owl project flips the script with stationary cameras that spot animal movement in the dark, dispatching drones faster than you can say “get off my lawn!” These drones, armed with infrared sensors, scope out the culprits—think trampled crops or hog-sized chaos—and alert farmers to the exact trouble spots. No more midnight stakeouts with a flashlight and a grumpy dog.

Choi says “the idea came straight from farmers tired of playing hog whack-a-mole at 2 a.m.”

This tech is low-cost, practical, and lets farmers catch some Z’s while the drones handle the night shift.

Teamwork and Big Dreams

This isn’t a solo mission. Choi and Fang are teaming up with University of Georgia’s agricultural economist Ford Ramsey to make Night Owl a game-changer.

Ramsey’s crunching the numbers to show how these drones save crops and cash, comparing farms with Night Owl to those stuck in the hog danger zone. The project’s being cooked up in KSU’s College of Computing and Software Engineering, with plans to scale beyond peanuts to other crops like strawberries (watch out, mollusks, you’re next!).

Farmers are already hyped, giving thumbs-ups to a system that’s cheaper than fences and way cooler than patrolling fields in pajamas.

My Take: Drones That Outsmart Hogs? I’m In!

As a drone fanatic, I’m totally stoked about Night Owl. These AI-powered night guardians are like Batman for peanut farms—swooping in under cover of darkness to protect the goods. The fact that it’s a low-cost solution makes it even sweeter, farmers don’t need to break the bank to keep hogs at bay.

With Georgia producing nearly half of America’s peanuts, this project is a big deal for food security and farmer sanity. I’m already dreaming of Night Owl drones patrolling fields worldwide, maybe even dropping some epic one-liners like “Hog off, buddy!” Kennesaw’s proving drones aren’t just for epic sunset shots—they’re the future of farming with a side of sass.

Photographs courtesy of Kennesaw State University