AUTOFARM: Automating UAV Technology for Orchards to Focus Agricultural Resource Management

AUTOFARM：果园自动化无人机技术，专注于农业资源管理

• 批准号: 10108599
• 金额: $ 12.05万
• 依托单位: OUTFIELD TECHNOLOGIES LTD
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Launchpad
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10108599
• 关键词: AUTOFARM; Automating; UAV; Technology; Orchards

Global food systems are facing ever increasing pressures. A growing population with increasing demand for high nutrition food is being limited by food poverty, resource scarcity, climate risk and environmental concerns. The recent report "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World" from the UNFAO highlighted the urgent need for data-driven decision making on both a macro- and micro-scale to drive efficiency throughout the food production ecosystem. This is the only way that humanity can balance the economic and environmental costs of food production with the growing risk of food insecurity on both a national and international level. Outfield is already providing the first piece of this data solution to fruit growers internationally, allowing them to understand the state of their orchards/vineyards to increase yields and reduce resource demands. Our world-leading system allows growers to launch off-the-shelf drones to survey their crops and make precise interventions, increasing efficiency and productivity whilst mitigating the effects of ever variable weather. Exciting recent advances in drone technology, combined with upcoming changes in UK drone regulations, mean that for the first time it will be possible for this data to be gathered by Drone In A Box (DIAB) systems - self-flying drones launched automatically from a drone dock stationed permanently on the farm. This not only drastically reduces the labour effort required from growers to survey and assess their crops, but also enables continuous monitoring of the crops throughout the season, increases the sampling resolution, and has the potential to enable intelligent custom sampling in future projects. In this project, Outfield will deploy a DIAB system onto a commercial apple farm in the East of England, the first time this has been done in the UK. We will establish the operational procedures to install and operate this novel system safely, and build a business case for deploying these systems on UK farms. While all drone flights in the project will be strictly supervised, the project will prepare for fully remote operations in the future. Outfield’s existing crop surveying system has shown that high temporal frequency data can be game changing for efficient management of farms, and this project will give UK fruit growers better access to that data. Outfield will be ready to deploy AUTOFARM internationally in 2025 in collaboration with UK-based hardware developer Idroneimages. This has the potential to increase the fruit production of any orchard or vineyard by 10% immediately whilst slashing chemical use and waste in the supply chain. Along with the future potential for the technology, this project can make a huge impact on the global food systems we all rely on.

全球粮食系统面临着越来越大的压力，人口不断增长，对高营养食品的需求不断增加，但粮食贫困、资源稀缺、气候风险和环境问题却限制了这一趋势。联合国粮农组织强调，迫切需要在宏观和微观层面上进行数据驱动的决策，以提高整个粮食生产生态系统的效率，这是人类平衡粮食生产的经济和环境成本与环境成本的唯一途径。国家和国际粮食不安全的风险日益增加Outfield 已经向国际果农提供了该数据解决方案的第一个部分，使他们能够了解其果园/葡萄园的状况，以提高产量并减少资源需求。无人机技术的最新进展，加上英国无人机法规即将发生的变化，意味着这将首次成为可能。对于这个数据通过盒中无人机 (DIAB) 系统收集 - 从永久驻扎在农场的无人机码头自动发射的自动飞行无人机，这不仅大大减少了种植者调查和评估作物所需的劳动力，而且还能够实现。在整个季节对农作物进行连续监测，提高采样分辨率，并有可能在未来的项目中实现智能定制采样。在该项目中，Outfield 将在英格兰东部的第一个商业苹果农场部署 DIAB 系统。这件事在英国已经完成了。我们将建立安全安装和操作这一新颖系统的操作程序，并构建在英国农场部署这些系统的业务案例。虽然该项目中的所有无人机飞行都将受到严格监督，但该项目将为在英国农场进行完全远程操作做好准备。 Outfield 现有的作物测量系统表明，高时间频率数据可以改变农场的高效管理，该项目将使英国水果种植者更好地获取这些数据，Outfield 将准备于 2025 年在全球范围内合作部署 AUTOFARM。和英国硬件开发商 Idroneimages 有望立即将任何果园或葡萄园的水果产量增加 10%，同时减少供应链中的化学品使用和浪费，以及该技术的未来潜力。对我们所依赖的全球粮食系统产生巨大影响。