The U.S government is planning to use drones to plant trees

The U.S government is planning to use drones to plant trees. They requested bids in March 2015, and today the bid submission dateline has ended. There are a total of three companies who submitted a bid for manufacturing a drone that can plant trees. The companies also provided fully functional prototype models.

You are working in a management team that is responsible for investment decisions on new technology on behalf of the government.

The best time to plant a tree is when they have enough time to establish roots before they’re exposed to stressors like high heat, low temperatures, or not enough water. Thus, in majority of USA, Fall is the best season for planting trees. (Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/plants-trees/best-time-to-plant-trees/#ixzz3rgpb35SF)

Each alternative drone performs different in various weather conditions. The following table presents the total number of trees that each drone-type can approximately plant under different possible climate conditions in a week. These numbers were estimated by complex experiments that considered the battery life of the drone under various weather conditions such as the speed of the wind, amount of rainfall, the temperature, the pressure, etc.

Table 1-Expected Number of Trees to be planted in a Week

Another factor is the survival rate. The following table shows the expected rate of survival after planting. The drones were experimented in a laboratory study. 20 trees were planted by each drone under the exact same weather and soil conditions. The only cause of the variance was detected to be the planting method and process utilized by each drone.

Table 2-Survival Rate of Plants for each Drone

• Based solely on the information given, determine which drone to recommend to the government.
• Explain how you came up with that decision. Show your calculations and analysis completely.