Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CoRoSect (Cognitive Robotic System for Digitalized and Networked (Automated) Insect Farms)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-01-01 do 2022-06-30
- Biological, technical, and economic requirements for efficient insect rearing have been identified. From these requirements, uses cases with potential for high technical and economic impact have been derived that the CoRoSect partners target in a joint effort.
- Following identified user requirements for high-quality insect rearing, suitable sensors solutions for intelligent crates were identified and studied. Prototypes of sensors were built to be integrated into intelligent crates that monitor the well-being of insects during the rearing process. Initial prototypes of sensor solutions (three intelligent crates with four sensors elements in each) with the supporting software solutions were tested.
- The CoRoSect dynamic robotic cell for insect rearing has been designed. The cell design considers pick and place positions, safety, sensorization, path ways for autonomous guided vehicles and coordination between the collaborative and industrial arms.
- An autonomous guided under crawler vehicle has been developed capable of autonomously lifting and transporting stacks of crates within insect farms. Software for autonomous navigation, path planning, localization, and mapping has been developed and will be further enhanced in the coming project period.
- Datasets for automated visual inspection of insects at different stages of the insects’ life cycles have been created at the CoRoSect insect farms. The data collected from these farms enabled the initialisation of various AI models for automatically providing crucial semantic information to the farmers (i.e. the count, the average size, and the health status of the insects reared within a crate).
- Several AI tools for safe human-robot interaction are in development
- An effective architecture to integrate the networked CoRoSect systems has been defined based on the Reference Architectural Model for Industry 4.0 (RAMI4.0). Initial versions of the shop floor manager that orchestrates the CoRoSect ecosystem and the decision support system that provides models of and insights into the processes in the insect farm have been developed. A first conference abstract on the decision support system has been published: https://www.wageningenacademic.com/doi/10.3920/jiff2022.s1
- A report has been provided that reviews and synthesizes current scientific and practical knowledge concerning environmental constraints and biologically and economically optimal conditions for rearing black soldier fly, mealworm, and house cricket. Pre-trials have been conducted in preparation of the development of sustainable insect diets from agricultural wastes and side streams.
- Ethical and legal guidelines for human-robot collaboration in industrial automation: CoRoSect works towards the development and use of legally and ethically compliant technological solutions. For this purpose, the project has carried out legal research in the field of privacy and data protection, safety and cybersecurity legislation, and the regulation of artificial intelligence and robotics.
- With its focus on the automation of insect farming, CoRoSect will contribute to insect rearing at large scale thereby helping society in securing a sustainable production of food and feed from insect proteins.
- Through the development of sustainable insect diets from agricultural wastes and side streams, CoRoSect targets the reduction of organic waste and its conversion into valuable food and feed.
- The development of robotic technology and artificial intelligence for digitalized and networked automated insect farms aims at increasing the efficiency of insect farms thereby generating substantial economic value.
- The developed CoRoSect technologies also aim at improving working conditions of human workers who, thanks to CoRoSect, will benefit from a better collaboration with robots and will gain a better understanding and control of the complex processes inside insect farms.
- CoRoSect aims at establishing new industrial standards for the orchestration of networked cyber-physical systems under the Reference Architectural Model for Industry 4.0.
- CoRoSect develops AI techniques contributing to quality management in insect farms aiming at better quality of food and feed. CoRoSect e.g. aims at developing more accurate object detection algorithms that perform even in crowded and highly occluded environments as they can be experienced when thousands of worms move inside a crate. CoRoSect also generates new data sets for insect rearing and improved annotation techniques for large-volume unlabelled data.
- The innovations in robotics, artificial intelligence, and in the orchestration of networked cyber-physical systems will be widely applicable also to other industrial areas such as in the manufacturing industry.
- CoRoSect aims to generate insights into the ethical, legal, and social implications of human-robot collaboration in industrial automation. CoRoSect research contributes to the academic and societal knowledge by clarifying and refining the rules that should govern artificial intelligence and robotics in industrial settings. CoRoSect research will also produce output with potential societal impacts by providing recommendations to law and policy makers in the area of regulation of emerging technologies.