I’ve been running a small marketing agency since I was 19 (now 26), but I’ve always wanted to transition into something more technical and hands-on. About 8months ago, I took the leap into drone technology, and after meeting some great people, we identified a real pain point among farmers in Central California: pest control inefficiencies.
What We’re Building
We’re developing an automated drone system designed to deter pests by flying pre-configured routes with randomized parameters to prevent habituation. The drone will autonomously take off, execute its flight path, land, and recharge—with the long-term goal of expanding into broader agronomic automation solutions.
Current Progress
- MVP launches next month for initial trials on a few farms (Super simple quadcopter with GPS, Ardupilot). - Farmers are excited, and all feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive. - We’re considering applying for YC Summer 2025 if early results validate our approach.
What We Need Help With
Right now, we feel like we’re in an echo chamber of positive feedback, and we want realistic, critical insights from experienced founders and engineers.
- What are common pitfalls in autonomous drone deployments we should anticipate (Related to ArduPilot)? - What challenges might we face as we scale beyond early adopters? - If you were in our position, what red flags would you be looking for before pushing forward?
We’re new to the drone space but moving fast, and any brutally honest feedback is hugely appreciated.
Thanks for your time!
by Andrey
Azimov