ForestTECH News Issue 45

Welcome to the latest issue of Foresttech.News.

Two major forestry events, HarvestTECH 2021 and Forest Safety & Technology 2021, officially launch in Rotorua, New Zealand in just under a week. Over 350 harvesting contractors, harvest planners, log transport operators, foresters, H&S Managers and equipment and technology suppliers into the log transport and harvesting industries will be enjoying the opportunity to learn, to network and to catch up with their industry colleagues.

This will be one of the world’s largest forest industry gatherings for this part of the industry worldwide forest industry gathering worldwide since the start of Covid-19. New Zealand and, to a lesser degree Australia, is in the unusual position of being world leaders in face-to-face industry events. As well as the HarvestTECH and Forest Safety events above, last November we saw over 300 foresters attend the ForestTECH 2020 event in Rotorua with virtual delegates joining in from 20 different countries.

A quick look at the international forestry trade shows planned for this year which have played such an important part in updating ourselves on new and emerging technologies unfortunately doesn’t make good reading. Events like Ligna, Elmia Wood, Forexpo and DEMO International have all been postponed to late 2021 or well into 2022. We are seeing some glimmer of hope but until international borders are opened, we are happy right now to be able to work with you and the local industry to fill that void.

In this month’s newsletter, “Recent Trends in Four Lidar Technologies,” is an article well worth a read. The biggest change in airborne Lidar is in cloud-based data processing, digital twins and specific applications like bushfire management. ‘Handheld’ short-range Lidar using SLAM is another key trend, where companies like Emesent (Hovermap) are making huge strides.

Last month, the leading business magazine, Fast Company, published its list of the 10 most innovative companies in robotics. The top two companies, DroneSeed and Skydio, are well known in forestry circles. DroneSeed, who spoke at ForestTECH 2020, use drone swarms to plant trees and are quickly expanding as more forestry companies show interest. Skydio is a USA alternative to DJI drones and also won a Best of Innovation award at the CES 2021.

Check out these stories and more below!

Remember, you can also send through any contributions, stories or links that we can pass onto the wider community.