University of Florida citrus researcher Reza Ehsani holds a remote control helicopter in Lake Alfred, Fla., June 9. The device, fitted with a camera, is used to monitor crops from the air.

LAKE ALFRED, Fla. — The knee-high contraption resting on a patch of dirt near an orange grove looked like a cross between a tiny helicopter and a spider.

But it’s not for kids; the helicopter is actually the latest technology in crop monitoring.

Standing nearby with a shiny silver control panel, University of Florida researcher Reza Ehsani is the pilot of the remote-controlled chopper.

Ehsani moved a toggle and the helicopter hovered some 30 feet in the air over an orange tree.

Although the idea is still in the research stage, Ehsani and other Florida researchers said it’s a promising and inexpensive way to view crops from above, giving farmers much-needed clues about what’s really happening between the leaves and branches. They’ve attached a GPS device under its domed top and expensive camera equipment to its belly.

The Florida researchers’ technology costs between $3,000 and $20,000, depending on the size of the model chopper and sophistication of the camera.

The images are then downloaded and scrutinized with computer programs.