Russia Builds Autonomous Refueling Station for Agricultural Drones
A student-designed innovation can refill three drones at once—no human operator required.
Russia has unveiled its first fully automated refueling station for agricultural drones, offering what developers call a world-first step toward large-scale labor automation in farming. Created by students at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, the system allows three drones to refuel simultaneously with chemical solutions in under five minutes—entirely without human assistance.
Farming’s Next Autonomous Leap
Each drone docks automatically with the station’s hoses, while intelligent sensors monitor fluid levels and stop refueling once the tank is full. The system integrates directly with flight management software, calculating the required refill volume based on liquid consumption and battery charge. When a drone returns to base, it arrives with an empty tank—just in time for a battery swap—streamlining flight cycles and minimizing downtime.
Unlike existing mobile refueling systems that rely on on-site operators, the Russian model is completely autonomous, dramatically cutting labor costs and field processing time.
The prototype was successfully tested in Barnaul, a city in southwestern Siberia, and developers expect global interest from agricultural universities, farms, and service providers.
By merging robotics and precision agriculture, this student-built project shows how automation could soon handle some of farming’s most repetitive—and time-sensitive—tasks, reshaping how drones fuel the next generation of agriculture.
