Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CHAMELEON (A Holistic Approach to Sustainable, Digital EU Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock and Rural Development based on Reconfigurable Aerial Enablers and Edge Artificial Intelligence-on-Demand Systems.)
Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2023-12-31
Climate change is hurting food security, especially in Asia where 64% of 815 million hungry people live. To feed nine billion people by 2050, we need to increase food production by 50%, but resources like land and water are running out. Climate adaptation is vital for agriculture, while declining biodiversity and ecosystem disruptions are causing problems. Deforestation from wildfires and illegal construction is harming conservation areas, and illegal activities like hunting and logging are hurting rural communities' well-being and income.
In this context, ICT-driven tools and technologies needed to enhance decision making through accurate, reliable and timely information have an important role to play. Agriculture, Forestry, and Livestock ecosystems must look towards emerging technologies for solutions to overcome some of the challenges they face. To achieve this, CHAMELEON proposes the utilization of on-demand bundles optimized per mode of information, and operational scenarios. To address the challenges identified in the scope of this topic, CHAMELEON will utilize agriculture, livestock and forestry related AI-empowered near-real-time decision-making bundles that exploit information stemming from heterogeneous monitoring equipment that will be able to be setup for the scenario identified.
The CHAMELEON project aims to enhance sustainable smart farming, forestry, and rural communities by leveraging drones and other remotely piloted aircraft systems. The drone inspection and monitoring market is rapidly growing, projected to increase from $9.1 billion in 2021 to $33.6 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 15.7%. CHAMELEON's platform offers advanced inspection and monitoring capabilities, reducing the need for human inspectors and enabling remote data access. This technology can cut operational costs and improve the monitoring and maintenance of agricultural and forest sites, providing better coverage and attention to detail.
Furthermore, the Agricultural Drones market is expected to reach $5.89 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 29.75% from 2021. Climate change is affecting the environment, plants, crops, and livestock, necessitating adaptation in agriculture. CHAMELEON, using UAVs and ICT-driven tools, enhances decision-making with precise, timely information to strengthen plant and livestock health, as well as agri-environmental monitoring.
The CHAMELEON project aims to achieve long-term impacts, such as the development of innovative governance models for sustainability and resilience, leveraging Environmental Observation data to support the Green Deal, and contributing to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Additionally, it works to enhance the EU and international science-policy interfaces, furthering progress toward the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.
In this context, ICT-driven tools and technologies needed to enhance decision making through accurate, reliable and timely information have an important role to play. Agriculture, Forestry, and Livestock ecosystems must look towards emerging technologies for solutions to overcome some of the challenges they face. To achieve this, CHAMELEON proposes the utilization of on-demand bundles optimized per mode of information, and operational scenarios. To address the challenges identified in the scope of this topic, CHAMELEON will utilize agriculture, livestock and forestry related AI-empowered near-real-time decision-making bundles that exploit information stemming from heterogeneous monitoring equipment that will be able to be setup for the scenario identified.
The CHAMELEON project aims to enhance sustainable smart farming, forestry, and rural communities by leveraging drones and other remotely piloted aircraft systems. The drone inspection and monitoring market is rapidly growing, projected to increase from $9.1 billion in 2021 to $33.6 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 15.7%. CHAMELEON's platform offers advanced inspection and monitoring capabilities, reducing the need for human inspectors and enabling remote data access. This technology can cut operational costs and improve the monitoring and maintenance of agricultural and forest sites, providing better coverage and attention to detail.
Furthermore, the Agricultural Drones market is expected to reach $5.89 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 29.75% from 2021. Climate change is affecting the environment, plants, crops, and livestock, necessitating adaptation in agriculture. CHAMELEON, using UAVs and ICT-driven tools, enhances decision-making with precise, timely information to strengthen plant and livestock health, as well as agri-environmental monitoring.
The CHAMELEON project aims to achieve long-term impacts, such as the development of innovative governance models for sustainability and resilience, leveraging Environmental Observation data to support the Green Deal, and contributing to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Additionally, it works to enhance the EU and international science-policy interfaces, furthering progress toward the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.
The technical work performed from month 1 to month 18 can be divided into the following groups as follows:
Pilot use cases surveys:
CHAMELEON organized meetings with end users in the pilot cases where the demos will be conducted. Through these interactions with stakeholders, the identified needs were prioritized. Based on the identified needs of the stakeholders and their associated requirements and operational objectives, the project defined system requirements and technical specifications.
Chameleon UAV:
A major solution provided by CHAMELEON is the creation of an innovative, modular, reconfigurable, self-building, and adaptable multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system. This system can easily adjust its configuration and size to meet various operational mission requirements in agriculture, livestock, forestry, and rural areas. Currently, market research analysis, conceptual design, and comprehensive 3D detailed design of the UAV have been completed. The development of the initial prototype is expected to be finished by the end of November.
Bundles:
Based on the identified needs that emerged from the pilot use case surveys and feedback, the required bundles to be developed and deployed on the UAV systems were identified. By the end of November and using the datasets gathered during some demos in the pilot use cases, the bundle developers will have the first versions ready.
Drone Innovation Platform:
The CHAMELEON project aims to create a flexible Drone Innovation Platform (DIP) that utilizes an open standards-based architecture to collaborate with various drone systems and connect to existing data sources, thereby promoting innovation and data security in UAV services across multiple pilot areas. As of now, the server hosting the DIP platform is operational, and a preliminary version of the user interface (UI) is available. This interface will allow end users to select, order, and deploy the most suitable bundle according to their needs.
Pilot use cases surveys:
CHAMELEON organized meetings with end users in the pilot cases where the demos will be conducted. Through these interactions with stakeholders, the identified needs were prioritized. Based on the identified needs of the stakeholders and their associated requirements and operational objectives, the project defined system requirements and technical specifications.
Chameleon UAV:
A major solution provided by CHAMELEON is the creation of an innovative, modular, reconfigurable, self-building, and adaptable multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system. This system can easily adjust its configuration and size to meet various operational mission requirements in agriculture, livestock, forestry, and rural areas. Currently, market research analysis, conceptual design, and comprehensive 3D detailed design of the UAV have been completed. The development of the initial prototype is expected to be finished by the end of November.
Bundles:
Based on the identified needs that emerged from the pilot use case surveys and feedback, the required bundles to be developed and deployed on the UAV systems were identified. By the end of November and using the datasets gathered during some demos in the pilot use cases, the bundle developers will have the first versions ready.
Drone Innovation Platform:
The CHAMELEON project aims to create a flexible Drone Innovation Platform (DIP) that utilizes an open standards-based architecture to collaborate with various drone systems and connect to existing data sources, thereby promoting innovation and data security in UAV services across multiple pilot areas. As of now, the server hosting the DIP platform is operational, and a preliminary version of the user interface (UI) is available. This interface will allow end users to select, order, and deploy the most suitable bundle according to their needs.
CHAMELEON has made significant strides across multiple architectural components, each contributing to the advancement and impact of the CHAMELEON Ecosystem. In addition, an early end-to-end system integration has been performed considering most of the architecture blocks of the CHAMELEON Platform. A synopsis of the key achievements in the first reporting period follows. The main innovations that our consortium brings in CHAMELEON project can be split into two main categories.
1) Technology Innovation: The development of a reconfigurable UAV able to change on one hand the mechanical and functional properties according to the application must serve and on the other hand to have the capacity to host on board a number of several bundles that can cover/serve different operational scenarios or business cases. Details on the status of CHAMELEON UAV can be found in D3.1.
2) Business Innovation: Establishment of Data Market. CHAMELEON will introduce a marketplace concept, with aim to support and further exploit the pilot and test validation data. At the end of the project this information will be available to third parties by following a specific pricing strategy. On the other hand third parties will have the ability to interact with CHAMELEON Data Market not only as a customer but also as a seller of their data. Details on the Drone Innovation platform and the Brokerage will be found in the WP5 deliverables.
1) Technology Innovation: The development of a reconfigurable UAV able to change on one hand the mechanical and functional properties according to the application must serve and on the other hand to have the capacity to host on board a number of several bundles that can cover/serve different operational scenarios or business cases. Details on the status of CHAMELEON UAV can be found in D3.1.
2) Business Innovation: Establishment of Data Market. CHAMELEON will introduce a marketplace concept, with aim to support and further exploit the pilot and test validation data. At the end of the project this information will be available to third parties by following a specific pricing strategy. On the other hand third parties will have the ability to interact with CHAMELEON Data Market not only as a customer but also as a seller of their data. Details on the Drone Innovation platform and the Brokerage will be found in the WP5 deliverables.