Cropscout II, a modular mini field robot for precision agriculture

In this paper a small agricultural robot named Cropscout II is described. Besides the objective to participate in the annual Field Robot Event competition Cropscout II operates as a modular test bed for autonomous robot control using sensor fusion techniques and artificial intelligence. The main challenge in this aspect is to cope with the poorly structured environment and the variation in shape, size and color of biological objects encountered in the open field. The very flexible and modular design of the system in both the electrical and mechanical way proofed to have many advantages. Unless some of the tasks to complete were solved very well the final conclusion is that it is still a big challenge to build a robot for the wide variety of different and unpredictable outdoor conditions. Future research on all aspects is essentia

Farm level optimal water management: Assistant for irrigation under Defecit (FLOW-AID)

Flow-aid is an on-going 6th Framework European project (2006-2009) with the objective to contribute to sustainable irrigated agriculture by developing an irrigation management system that can be used for crop production in cases with limited water supply and marginal water quality. The project integrates innovative sensor technologies into a decision support system, taking into consideration boundary conditions and constraints for a number of practical growing systems in the Mediterranean. It focuses on innovative, simple and affordable, hard- and software concepts for deficit irrigation; particularly a maintenance free tensiometer, a wireless and low-power sensor network; an expert system to assist annual farm zoning and crop planning in view of expected water availability and quality; and an irrigation scheduler for allocation of water for multiple plots at farm level. The system is being evaluated at four sites located in Italy, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. The sites are chosen in such a way that they differ in the type of constraints, irrigation structures, crop types, water supplies (availability of amount and quality), the local goals, and their complexity. This paper describes the overall concept and briefly the progress of the first year research

A Surface Relief Meter Based on Trinocular Vision

The concept for the relief meter being developed, appears to function well, when used with the artificial images. The described matching criterion leads to high matching percentages, and accurate results. The percentage of mismatches is reduced to practically zero for the tested scenes. Future work will involve evaluation of the algorithm with real agricultural scenes (soil images) and implementation of special hardware for fast execution of the algorith

A more homogenous greenhouse climate with small wireless sensors

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Root Zone Sensors for Irrigation Management in Intensive Agriculture

Crop irrigation uses more than 70% of the world’s water, and thus, improving irrigation efficiency is decisive to sustain the food demand from a fast-growing world population. This objective may be accomplished by cultivating more water-efficient crop species and/or through the application of efficient irrigation systems, which includes the implementation of a suitable method for precise scheduling. At the farm level, irrigation is generally scheduled based on the grower’s experience or on the determination of soil water balance (weather-based method). An alternative approach entails the measurement of soil water status. Expensive and sophisticated root zone sensors (RZS), such as neutron probes, are available for the use of soil and plant scientists, while cheap and practical devices are needed for irrigation management in commercial crops. The paper illustrates the main features of RZS’ (for both soil moisture and salinity) marketed for the irrigation industry and discusses how such sensors may be integrated in a wireless network for computer-controlled irrigation and used for innovative irrigation strategies, such as deficit or dual-water irrigation. The paper also consider the main results of recent or current research works conducted by the authors in Tuscany (Italy) on the irrigation management of container-grown ornamental plants, which is an important agricultural sector in Italy

Innovatienetwerk Nieuwe Energiesystemen - Gelderland- INES-Gelderland

Binnen het “Innovatie netwerk Nieuwe Energie Systemen in Gelderland” hebben 22 glastuinders gedurende twee jaar kennis gemaakt met nieuwe duurzame technologieën voor energiegebruik en -opwekking. Zij hebben een aantal innovatieve Nederlandse tuinbouwbedrijven bezocht en presentaties bijgewoond van experts. De onderwerpen werden ingebracht door de telers zelf, en gezamenlijk hebben zij hun eigen innovatie-ambities kunnen verduidelijken. Het netwerk heeft in tien bijeenkomsten acht innovatiekansen uitgewerkt tot een voorstel voor onderzoek of een pilot. Tijdens een kennisdag zijn de resultaten openbaar gemaakt. Telers en toeleverende bedrijven vinden vooral de toepassingen van energiezuinige ontvochtiging, diffuus licht, warmtepompen en het creatief oogsten van laagwaardige warmte interessant. De telers onderschrijven het succes van het netwerk en zouden graag door willen gaan. Niet alleen hebben zij inzicht verworven in 12 nieuwe energiesystemen, er is ook meer elan. Een zevental telers heeft concrete stappen genomen en is met de innovaties aan de slag gegaan. Daarboven heeft het netwerk geleid tot nieuwe ideeën. Hun advies is om het netwerk uit te breiden met meer telers, nieuwe thema’s, en aansluiting te zoeken met andere regionale of landelijke netwerken. De business cases moeten concreet uitgewerkt en geïmplementeerd worden, en de provincie zou meer ondersteuning moeten bieden aan kleinschalige innovaties. Under the "Innovation Network New Energy Systems", 22 Dutch horticulturists from the province of Gelderland got acquainted with innovative technologies for sustainable energy use and generation. They visited a number of innovative Dutch greenhouses and attended presentations by experts. The growers themselves determined the agenda of the meetings, and as such were able to clarify their innovation ambitions. In ten meetings, the network discussed eight innovation opportunities and elaborated a proposal for research or a pilot. The results were disseminated at a symposium for a wider audience of growers, entrepreneurs, scientists and governmental organisations. Growers and companies mainly favour applications of energy efficient dehumidification, diffuse light, heat pumps and creative harvesting of low-grade heat. Growers endorse the success of the network and would like to continue. Not only have they gained insight into twelve new energy innovations, there is more momentum. Seven growers have taken steps to take up innovative ideas. Moreover, the network has led to new ideas. Their advice is to expand the network with more growers, new themes, and link up with other regional or national networks. Business cases must be concretised and implemented, and authorities should give support to small-scale innovations