Building an Aerial-Ground Robotics System for Precision Farming: An Adaptable Solution

The application of autonomous robots in agriculture is gaining increasing popularity thanks to the high impact it may have on food security, sustainability, resource use efficiency, reduction of chemical treatments, and the optimization of human effort and yield. With this vision, the Flourish research project aimed to develop an adaptable robotic solution for precision farming that combines the aerial survey capabilities of small autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with targeted intervention performed by multi-purpose unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). This paper presents an overview of the scientific and technological advances and outcomes obtained in the project. We introduce multi-spectral perception algorithms and aerial and ground-based systems developed for monitoring crop density, weed pressure, crop nitrogen nutrition status, and to accurately classify and locate weeds. We then introduce the navigation and mapping systems tailored to our robots in the agricultural environment, as well as the modules for collaborative mapping. We finally present the ground intervention hardware, software solutions, and interfaces we implemented and tested in different field conditions and with different crops. We describe a real use case in which a UAV collaborates with a UGV to monitor the field and to perform selective spraying without human intervention.Comment: Published in IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 29-49, Sept. 202

Advances in Computational Social Science and Social Simulation

Aquesta conferència és la celebració conjunta de la "10th Artificial Economics Conference AE", la "10th Conference of the European Social Simulation Association ESSA" i la "1st Simulating the Past to Understand Human History SPUHH".Conferència organitzada pel Laboratory for Socio­-Historical Dynamics Simulation (LSDS-­UAB) de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.Readers will find results of recent research on computational social science and social simulation economics, management, sociology,and history written by leading experts in the field. SOCIAL SIMULATION (former ESSA) conferences constitute annual events which serve as an international platform for the exchange of ideas and discussion of cutting edge research in the field of social simulations, both from the theoretical as well as applied perspective, and the 2014 edition benefits from the cross-fertilization of three different research communities into one single event. The volume consists of 122 articles, corresponding to most of the contributions to the conferences, in three different formats: short abstracts (presentation of work-in-progress research), posters (presentation of models and results), and full papers (presentation of social simulation research including results and discussion). The compilation is completed with indexing lists to help finding articles by title, author and thematic content. We are convinced that this book will serve interested readers as a useful compendium which presents in a nutshell the most recent advances at the frontiers of computational social sciences and social simulation researc

Effetti di un taglio fitosanitario contro lo scolitide Ips acuminatus in pinete di pino silvestre del Cadore

Nello studio si valuta l' effetto di un taglio fitosanitario condotto in 2007-2008 in Cadore (BL) contro l'Ips acuminatus. Si sono svolte attività di censimento dei nuclei colpiti, controllo fenologia popolazione con trappole a feromoni, stima della performance attraverso dispositivi di sfarfallamento negli anni 2007-2008. L'intervento fitosanitario si è dimostrato efficace seppur concomitante con una diminuzione naturale del livello della popolazione

Pulsed DC High Field Measurements of Irradiated and Non-Irradiated Electrodes of Different Materials

Beam loss occurs in Radio Frequency Quadrupoles (RFQ), and has been observed in the H⁻ linear accelerator Linac4 (L4) at CERN. To determine if beam loss can induce breakdowns, and to compare the robustness of different materials, tests have been done using pulsed high-voltage DC systems. Electrical breakdown phenomena and conditioning processes have been studied using these systems. Cathodes of different materials were irradiated with 1.2x10¹⁹ H⁻ p/cm², the estimated beam loss of the L4 RFQ over 10 days. The irradiated electrodes were installed in a system to observe if the irradiated area coincided with the breakdown locations, with pulsing parameters similar to the RFQ. Tests of irradiated and non-irradiated electrodes of the same material were done for comparison. The main difference observed was an increase in the number of breakdowns during the initial conditioning that returned to non-irradiated sample values with further running. Visual observations after irradiation show the beam centre and a halo the same diameter of the beam pipe. Breakdown clusters occur in the centre and halo regions, suggesting irradiation is not the only factor determining the breakdown probability

Microscopy Investigation on Different Materials After Pulsed High Field Conditioning and Low Energy H−^{-} Irradiation

During operation the RFQ (Radio-Frequency-Quadrupole) of the LINAC4 at CERN is exposed to high electric fields which can lead to vacuum breakdown. It is also subject to beam loss that can cause surface modification, including blistering, which can result in reduced electric field handling and an increased breakdown rate. An experimental study has been made to identify materials with high electric field capability and robustness to low-energy irradiation. In this paper we briefly discuss the selection criteria, and we analyse these materials investigating their metallurgical properties using advanced microscopic techniques such as Scanning Electron Microscope, Electron Back Scattered Diffraction, Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy and conventional optical microscopy. These allow to observe and characterize the different materials on a micro and a nanoscale and to compare results before and after irradiation and breakdown testing

Building an Aerial-Ground Robotics System for Precision Farming: An Adaptable Solution

The application of autonomous robots in agriculture is gaining increasing popularity thanks to the high impact it may have on food security, sustainability, resource-use efficiency, reduction of chemical treatments, and optimization of human effort and yield. With this vision, the Flourish research project aimed to develop an adaptable robotic solution for precision farming that combines the aerial survey capabilities of small autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with targeted intervention performed by multipurpose unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). This article presents an overview of the scientific and technological advances and outcomes obtained in the project. We introduce multispectral-perception algorithms and aerial and ground-based systems developed to monitor crop density, weed pressure, and crop nitrogen (N)-nutrition status and to accurately classify and locate weeds. We then introduce the navigation and mapping systems tailored to our robots in the agricultural environment as well as the modules for collaborative mapping. We finally present the ground-intervention hardware, software solutions, and interfaces we implemented and tested in different field conditions and with different crops. We describe a real use case in which a UAV collaborates with a UGV to monitor the field and perform selective spraying without human intervention.ISSN:1070-9932ISSN:1558-223

Advances in Computational Social Science and Social Simulation

Aquesta conferència és la celebració conjunta de la "10th Artificial Economics Conference AE", la "10th Conference of the European Social Simulation Association ESSA" i la "1st Simulating the Past to Understand Human History SPUHH".Conferència organitzada pel Laboratory for Socio­-Historical Dynamics Simulation (LSDS-­UAB) de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.Readers will find results of recent research on computational social science and social simulation economics, management, sociology,and history written by leading experts in the field. SOCIAL SIMULATION (former ESSA) conferences constitute annual events which serve as an international platform for the exchange of ideas and discussion of cutting edge research in the field of social simulations, both from the theoretical as well as applied perspective, and the 2014 edition benefits from the cross-fertilization of three different research communities into one single event. The volume consists of 122 articles, corresponding to most of the contributions to the conferences, in three different formats: short abstracts (presentation of work-in-progress research), posters (presentation of models and results), and full papers (presentation of social simulation research including results and discussion). The compilation is completed with indexing lists to help finding articles by title, author and thematic content. We are convinced that this book will serve interested readers as a useful compendium which presents in a nutshell the most recent advances at the frontiers of computational social sciences and social simulation researc