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MoBile Robotic PlAtforms for ACtive InspeCtion and Harvesting in AgricUltural AreaS

Project description

Smart robotic system for automated harvesting in agriculture

Food demand is increasing due to the growth of the global population and the challenges posed by climate change, leading agriculture to advanced technology in order to secure quality and quantity of production. Precision agriculture is rising, combined with smart robotic technologies such as smart harvesting that benefit both productivity and working conditions. However, robotic systems are not fully prepared to replace all human actions, thus preventing the transition to fully automated harvesting. The EU-funded BACCHUS project proposes a smart robotic system utilising autonomous mobile platforms with dual manipulators for active inspection and selective harvesting of high value crops, replacing farmer work. The new system will be tested in a vineyard environment monitoring the state of different types of vines and harvesting grapes of different varieties in a human-like manner.

Objective

With the growing population and climate change, agricultural productivity growth is unlikely to meet the increased demand for food. Besides the increasing pressure to produce more, there is an overall need for higher quality and sustainable cultivation. Precision agriculture combined with intelligent robotic technologies can push to that direction. The incorporation of such technologies into agricultural production not only benefits productivity but also improves the working conditions of farmers and labourers. Intelligent systems are becoming the go-to solution to push towards precision agriculture, while a large number of farmer operations are already transitioning to full autonomy. Smart, automated and selective harvesting, in particular, can provide considerable improvement in production leaving the unripe product in the field to mature. However, in order to achieve such automation significant progress is required regarding the cognitive and mechatronic capabilities of the robotic agents replacing the human workers in these tasks, especially in cases where human-like actions are required by the robots. BACCHUS intelligent mobile robotic system promises to reproduce hand harvesting operations, while at the same time take the manual legwork out by autonomously operating in four different levels: i) performing robot navigation with quality performance guarantee in order to inspect the crops and collect data from the agricultural area through embedded sensorial system; ii) performing bi-manual harvesting operations with the needed finesse using a modular robotic platform, iii) employing additive manufacturing for adjusting the robot gripper to the geometry of the different crops, iii) presenting advanced cognitive capabilities and decision making skills. The envisioned system will be demonstrated and evaluated in the challenging vineyard environment inspecting different types of vines and harvesting bunches of grapes of different varieties in a human-like manner.

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Topic(s)

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RIA - Research and Innovation action

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-ICT-2018-20

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Coordinator

ARISTOTELIO PANEPISTIMIO THESSALONIKIS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 177 500,00
Address
KEDEA BUILDING, TRITIS SEPTEMVRIOU, ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
546 36 THESSALONIKI
Greece

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Region
Βόρεια Ελλάδα Κεντρική Μακεδονία Θεσσαλονίκη
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 177 500,00

Participants (7)

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