Project description DEENESFRITPL Robots as new farm hands Since the beginning of the 20th century, numerous attempts have been made to commercialise the work of agriculture and increase productivity. While manpower is a central element of any agricultural activity, the development of efficient data-driven technological solutions based on robotics and artificial intelligence is key for the sustainable agriculture in the future. The EU-funded CANOPIES project will explore a novel paradigm of human-robot collaboration in the field facing the concrete test case of the harvesting and pruning operations in table-grape vineyards across four years. The project will demonstrate how a team of heterogeneous robots, some with robotics arms, others with carrying capabilities, will operate alongside with farm workers, opening new perspectives on farm and crop management. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective In CANOPIES, our goal is to develop a novel collaborative human-robot paradigm addressing the challenges of Human Robot Interaction and Human-Robot Collaboration in the unstructured highly dynamic outdoor environment of permanent crop farming (Agri-Food Area). Our approach will be demonstrated through an integrated system composed by farming robots and logistics robots with a real-world validation of two economically relevant agronomic operations within a table-grape vineyard: harvesting and pruning. CANOPIES represents the first attempt to introduce a collaborative paradigm in the field of precision agriculture for permanent crops where farmworkers can efficiently work together with teams of robots to perform agronomic interventions, like harvesting or pruning in table-grape vineyards. Both operations require complex processes of perception, communication, shared planning in agreement, prediction of human intentions, interaction and action. But also, both agronomic operations should be done in real life conditions, that is, in changing illumination and cast shadows, changing agronomic situations, where the vine branches or grapes can make it difficult to harvest or prune in a safe manner, due to the robot physical proximity to the human, while operating in real time. CANOPIES ambition will be achieved by introducing: i) novel human-robot interaction methodologies for enhanced safety and coexistence, ii) novel human-robot collaboration methodologies for increased system adaptability and intuitive usability; iii) novel multi-robot coordination methodologies for improved scalability. CANOPIES impact will contribute to filling the current gap in the development of fully autonomous robotic solutions for permanent crops by introducing a novel concept of farming robots, where we leverage an effective interaction with the human workers to mitigate the greater complexity of permanent crops as compared with field crops. Fields of science agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturehorticultureviticultureengineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticsautonomous robots Keywords Multi-Robot Systems Precision Agriculture Permanent Crops Programme(s) H2020-EU.2.1.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Main Programme Topic(s) ICT-46-2020 - Robotics in Application Areas and Coordination & Support Call for proposal H2020-ICT-2018-20 See other projects for this call Sub call H2020-ICT-2020-2 Funding Scheme RIA - Research and Innovation action Coordinator UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI ROMA TRE Net EU contribution € 910 960,00 Address Via ostiense 133 00154 Roma Italy See on map Region Centro (IT) Lazio Roma Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 Participants (10) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLAN Sweden Net EU contribution € 883 125,00 Address Brinellvagen 8 100 44 Stockholm See on map Region Östra Sverige Stockholm Stockholms län Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA Italy Net EU contribution € 741 888,75 Address Piazzale aldo moro 5 00185 Roma See on map Region Centro (IT) Lazio Roma Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA Spain Net EU contribution € 577 311,25 Address Calle jordi girona 31 08034 Barcelona See on map Region Este Cataluña Barcelona Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 Third-party Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure. AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS Spain Net EU contribution € 188 518,75 Address Calle serrano 117 28006 Madrid See on map Region Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI CASSINO E DEL LAZIO MERIDIONALE Italy Net EU contribution € 739 375,00 Address Viale dell universita campus folcara 03043 Cassino See on map Region Centro (IT) Lazio Frosinone Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 TEKNOLOGISK INSTITUT Denmark Net EU contribution € 886 198,75 Address Gregersensvej 1 2630 Taastrup See on map Region Danmark Hovedstaden Københavns omegn Activity type Research Organisations Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 PALEBLUE AS Norway Net EU contribution € 797 812,50 Address Lagerveien 1 4033 Stavanger See on map Region Norge Vestlandet Rogaland Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 PAL ROBOTICS SL Spain Net EU contribution € 847 500,00 Address Calle pujades 77 79 4o 4a 08005 Barcelona See on map SME The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed. Yes Region Este Cataluña Barcelona Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 AGRIMESSINA SRL Italy Net EU contribution € 132 500,00 Address Sp 240 km 13600 snc 70018 Rutigliano See on map Region Sud Puglia Bari Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 SOCIETA ROMANA SERVIZI AMMINISTRATIVI A RESPONSABILITA LIMITATA Italy Net EU contribution € 199 750,00 Address Via reno 21 00198 Roma See on map SME The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed. Yes Region Centro (IT) Lazio Roma Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00