Project description
Advanced technologies to support wild berry pickers
It is estimated that less than 10 % of annual wild berry production in Nordic countries is harvested manually from forests. Due to the short season, most pickers are migrant labourers with limited knowledge of the language, culture and forests. As such, their working conditions represent the main challenge in manual forest harvesting. The EU-funded FEROX project will improve the working conditions of the wild berry pickers through advanced technologies. The project will employ autonomous drones equipped with various sensors to acquire data used to build AI models and 3D models of the forests to precisely estimate berries’ locations, amounts and types. FEROX will demonstrate the solution in the Finnish forests.
Objective
Wild berries and mushrooms are considered to be a national treasure of Nordic countries. These food products require zero resources to cultivate as they grow naturally in the forests. It is estimated that less than 10% of the total annual wild berry crop is harvested from the forests. The main challenge in collecting wild berries lies in the manual forest harvesting, namely pickers’ working conditions. Due to the short season, the majority of the work is conducted by foreigners with limited knowledge of the language, culture and forests. The FEROX project aims to utilize advances in AI, data, and robotics to improve the working conditions of the wild berry pickers. The project will employ autonomous drones equipped with various sensors to acquire data, build 3D models of the forests and, therefore, accurately estimate berries’ locations, amount and types. The collected data will be used to build AI models to help workers locate the berries and optimize their operations. In addition, FEROX will provide wild berry pickers with navigation and locating services and physical support to improve their working conditions and boost their trust and confidence. The holistic solution of FEROX will contribute to the overall safety of the workers by automatically monitoring the pickers and providing aid where it is needed. As a consequence, FEROX is expected to attract locals and hiking enthusiasts to work during summer in collecting wild products, hence, increasing the overall yield of the wild berries. These outcomes will open business opportunities for EU companies to adapt the solutions developed for industrialized cultivation as well as support global sustainability as technology providers for safe and sustainable berry harvesting. To demonstrate the solution, FEROX will conduct its tests in the forests in Finland with the support of the wild berries and mushroom ‘Arktiset Aromit’ (Arctic Flavours) Association.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticsautonomous robotsdrones
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculture
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation ActionsCoordinator
38122 Trento
Italy