In the rapidly evolving world of precision agriculture, timing, accuracy, and productivity are not optional—they are critical. That’s where PixelScout™ delivers. Designed by Sentera to support the most advanced high resolution image analytics, PixelScout is a high-performance imaging system that delivers scalable, high-resolution data with exceptional spatial accuracy. It provides agronomists, retailers, and growers with incredible new tools to make informed, field scale decisions during the most critical parts of the growing season.
What Is PixelScout?
PixelScout is a high-performance drone imaging payload purpose-built for SMARTSCRIPT™ workflows, like weed detection, emergence performance, and mid-season crop development insights. Available as a payload-only kit, PixelScout integrates:
- Dual 65MP RGB digital global shutter ultra high resolution cameras
- Real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS
- High accuracy inertial measurement unit
- Dual laser rangefinders
Unlike traditional wide area drone mapping systems, PixelScout doesn’t require image stitching. Instead, it uses a direct georeferencing architecture that delivers real-time spatial precision—instantly matching each image pixel to the correct spot in the field at the moment of capture. Because it doesn’t require overlapping images to perform this task, DGR means fewer images to cover a field and faster processing at the edge or in the cloud. It is a perfect companion for advanced Deep Learning-powered insights.
What Does PixelScout Do?
PixelScout captures high-throughput, plant-level imagery that fuels SMARTSCRIPT™’s weed pressure maps, targeted herbicide prescriptions, and other agronomic insights. In real-world use, it enables:
- 15x the field imaging productivity of traditional drone systems
- 20x faster map processing due to direct georeferencing
- In-season collection of detailed data on weed species, density, size, and location
This translates to rapid, accurate insights—ready for action within 24 hours.
Key Benefits
- Speed and Scalability
PixelScout captures 1.5mm per pixel imagery of up to 140 acres per hour, and lower resolution images even faster. It’s a scalable solution that supports tens of thousands of acres per season. It’s ideal for ag retailers, large-scale growers, and service providers who need results fast and want to gather data efficiently and affordably. - No Image Stitching = Fewer Pictures, Faster Results
By removing the need for orthomosaics, PixelScout reduces data volume and eliminates hours—or days—of processing time. Each pixel is mapped instantly to the field with high geographic accuracy. Images are ready for deep learning and computer vision processing as soon as they are captured, at the edge or in the cloud. There’s no need to wait for time-consuming uploads of redundant images or image stitching to complete.
Why It Matters
Timing: The speed at which PixelScout captures and make imagery analysis ready enables teams to be ready-to-execute faster — teams can make recommendations on chemistries, nutrition, tank loads, and equipment deployment faster and more effectively. Instead of holding the operation back, digital tools enable optimization.
Economic Efficiency: Labor cost and availability is a critical issue for customers. PixelScout’s productivity and precision make differentiating product offers like selective spraying, seed and CP performance, and late season insights practical at scale while making in-field human labor much more efficient. By meeting performance thresholds, PixelScout makes it possible for Sentera customers to map at field scale quickly and produce the insights and prescriptive action recommendations that can drive a more profitable agronomy services offer and improved grower outcomes.
Q&A: Behind the Technology with Ryan Nelson, GM of Remote Sensing
To understand what makes PixelScout unique, we spoke with Ryan Nelson, who leads the Sentera team responsible for the system’s design and development.
What were the key design goals behind PixelScout? What technical challenges did you solve to meet them?
“PixelScout was designed to deliver ultra-high-resolution, accurately georeferenced imagery at scale, optimized specifically for SMARTSCRIPT workflows. Our primary goals were to maximize area coverage, produce images with high resolution and spatial accuracy, and perform reliably across varied environments. We faced technical challenges related to system productivity and navigation which had yet to be solved for drone systems in this class. Leveraging our extensive expertise in sensor design and direct georeferencing technology, we were able to construct a system that met all program targets.”
How were you able to achieve such high system productivity?
“We knew that to detect small weeds down to ¼” in size we’d need to feed highly detailed images into our SmartScript workflow, specifically images where each pixel measures around a 1.5mm square of the ground. Further, to meet scalability objectives, PixelScout would need to capture these detailed pictures at an unprecedented rate. Our 65R camera is already the most productive RGB camera in its class, but to meet these aggressive demands we outfit the PixelScout system with twin 65R cameras, to effectively double the coverage rate. With both cameras capturing in tandem, the PixelScout system captures 130 megapixels of imagery three times per second, enabling 140 acres of land to be imaged each hour at 1.5mm resolution.”
How are you able to quickly turn those pictures into an accurate weed map?
“That was a significant challenge of PixelScout and arguably the piece that most significantly sets it apart from other remote sensing systems. Getting the pictures required to detect the weeds is only half of the problem. Once we have the pictures and our computer vision tools have detected every weed, we then need to accurately identify where those weeds are located to generate the selective application prescription. This is where PixelScout really stands out. Traditional methods require a time-consuming orthomosaic process, which could take days in this case, to accurately translate those pictures to geographic space. PixelScout completely eliminates this processing step. By equipping our PixelScout system with highly accurate position, orientation, and range measurement sensors, detected weeds can instantly be mapped to their accurate geographic latitude/longitude coordinates to generate a precise weed prescription.”
Why was it so important for PixelScout to meet these performance targets?
Below a certain productivity level, it’s just not practical or cost effective to deploy drones for this purpose at scale. The added costs of equipment and pilots can’t be realistically offset by the savings generated and the weed maps may not be delivered quickly enough to react effectively. By achieving the PixelScout coverage metrics, we unlock cost savings and rapid weed pressure knowledge. Armed with precise weed maps by the next morning, growers can begin making more efficient use of their chemistry and making informed decisions on equipment deployment and tank fill.
What drone systems are compatible with PixelScout 4.0?
“PixelScout 4.0 is currently compatible with DJI M300 & M350 aircraft and will soon be compatible with DJI M400 and the Inspired Flight IF800.”
Summary
PixelScout combines speed, resolution, and geospatial accuracy in a compact, high-output package. It’s designed to meet the real-world demands of modern precision agriculture—turning imagery into agronomic action with no delays and no guesswork. Whether you’re an ag retailer or a grower optimizing your own operation, PixelScout makes smarter spraying possible.
Learn More
Explore how PixelScout and SMARTSCRIPT™ can power your weed management strategy at www.sentera.com.
Sentera | Insight First. Action Next.