Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ATLAS (Agricultural Interoperability and Analysis System) Reporting period: 2019-10-01 to 2021-03-31 Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project Modern farming is switching to a data-driven approach. A multitude of digital solutions, e.g. software systems, sensors, or other agricultural equipment is already available and used by farmers, and farmers have good reasons to use a specific tool. However, the interconnection of multiple tools, i.e. the exchange of data between these tools, can be very cumbersome due to the lack of interoperability. Connectivity and interoperability of systems and equipment used in agriculture are crucial factors in the digital transformation of the sector. The adaption of the most advanced digital technology in agriculture is the key for a more sustainable and productive food production, ensuring the supply of food and simultaneously reducing the environmental impact.The overall objective of ATLAS is the development of an open interoperability network for agricultural applications based on services, and to build up a sustainable ecosystem for innovative data-driven agriculture using this network. The solutions developed in ATLAS will provide the means to interconnect agricultural software systems, agricultural machines, sensor systems and data analysis tools to establish the flow of data between them. ATLAS follows the approach of making well established and specialized tools interoperable, providing the possibility to decide which tool to use to the end-user. The development of the ATLAS Interoperability Network is a bottom-up initiative involving stakeholders from all important agricultural domains, focusing on a technical interoperability which enables the exchange of information between different existing systems. As each of these participating systems is independent and built upon its own technical infrastructure, this leads to a distributed, non-centralized network of systems. In a nutshell, the ATLAS Interoperability Network will provide the means to interconnect different agricultural software systems and equipment and to establish the flow of data between them. Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far The following key-topics have been in focus of the work within the reporting period: - Detailed definition of the use cases, including the related user-stories. From these use cases, the technical and functional requirements of the system architecture were derived- Specification of the ATLAS Interoperability Architecture- Implementation and Deployment of the ATLAS Interoperability Network's central components: Service Registry and Participant Portal- Specification and implementation of various data analysis services for fertilization management, satellite data analysis, livestock monitoring, irrigation management- First sensor networks (soil moisture / soil water content, weather stations) have been set upon the piot sites- Specification and construction of the Multisensor-System, first tests with a tractor have been conducted in April 2021- Specification and construction of a video surveillance system for livestock behavior analysis, specification implementation of the according data management software- First round of Open Calls finished, six applicants where selected and are now integrating their solutions into the ATLAS Interoperability Network- Second round of the Open Calls has been started in May 2021 Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far) The work in ATLAS has laid out the foundation of a comprehensive interoperability of digital agricultural systems. The ATLAS interoperability architecture specifies the building blocks for interoperability between a multitude of different technical agricultural systems: machines, sensor networks and data platforms. Compared to existing solutions on the market, the approach is a decentral network of services using open standards for data exchange. To a large extend, the technical implementation is based on REST APIs and oauth2 flows. This results in a scalable and open system of systems with low entry barriers for new participants. Novel algorithms and services have been developed in the field of terrain estimation based on multi-sensor data fusion, robotics, crop- and plant monitoring, satellite-derived temperature estimations as well as in soil moisture and ground water monitoring.The technology developed in ATLAS will lead to a greatly improved interoperability and usability of digital farming systems. It is very likely that ATLAS gains more attention of the various stakeholders involved in the digital agriculture community, and that already existing or future digital platforms are offering their services also through ATLAS. This will lead to a sustainable ecosystem of digital services around the European agriculture, with innovative services offering a high level of usability. Improved interoperability and usability of digital farming systems are expected to increase the attractivity of farming-related activities to the young generation. The developed technology is furthermore designed to enable a reduction in the use of pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics etc., leading to a more sustainable agriculture. atlas-system-v3-less-detail-svg.png
