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  5. Cost effective robots for smart precision spraying - SCORPION (DIT.AD007.042)
Research project

Cost effective robots for smart precision spraying - SCORPION (DIT.AD007.042)

Thematic area

Engineering, ICT and technologies for energy and transportation

Project area

Robotica e Automatica (DIT.AD007)

Structure responsible for the research project

Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie per l'Energia e la Mobilità Sostenibili (STEMS)

Project manager

DANILO RABINO
Phone number: 0113977718
Email: danilo.rabino@cnr.it

Abstract

Spraying in agriculture represents a societal challenge due to its negative impact in human and animal health and in environment. Increasing spraying efficiency towards the objective of "right time, right amount, right place", involves reduction of losses and, consequently, amount of phytopharmaceuticals used, water usage, and human and animal exposure to pesticides, and the increase of the spraying system availability while reducing labor costs.
Furthermore, adoption of new ecological spraying treatments to increase both yield and treatment efficiency is desirable. Agriculture in rough terrain is also challenging, due to the steepness of some terrain, lack of space to manoeuvre, difficulties of communications due to natural obstacles and harsh atmospheric conditions associated.
To cope with these challenges a consortium with complementary precision farming actors was formed for SCORPION project, bringing together steep slope vineyards associations (CERVIM, INNOVI), robotics and agricultural machinery RTD institutions (INESC, EUT, and STEMS, WUR), SMEs and large company (TEYME, Deimos, SPI), and an institution devoted to innovation in the sector (IPN).

Goals

SCORPION's solution will be a safe and autonomous precision spraying tool integrated into a modular unmanned tractor (robotics platform). It will focus on steep slope vineyards but with impact in other high-value permanent crops. SCORPION' will develop a GNSS receiver (considering Galileo triple frequency (E1, E5 and E6) including the full E5 AltBOC signal, Open Service - Navigation Message Authentication (OS-NMA) and High Accuracy Service (HAS)). This EGNSS receiver will be fused with other sensors, to increase the solution reliability, accuracy and safeness, to enable autonomous ultraviolet light treatments (to eliminate partial need of phytopharmaceuticals) and to allow high precision spraying in permanent crops.
SCORPION will bring the TRL of the technologies involved from 5 to 7. This increment is driven by five main RTD topics: localization and navigation systems; advanced sprayer tool with Variable Rate Technology; safety systems; compliance and interoperability; and modularity.
SCORPION will contribute to build up its market segment aligned to the European Strategic Robotics Agenda and create new business opportunities and reduce the fertiliser usage in agriculture.

Start date of activity

01/01/2021

Keywords

agriculture, robots, spraying treatments

Last update: 20/09/2024