Horticulture is progressively data - ride , and it is ever - more using innovative digital technologies , such as cloud computing , the Internet of Things , simple machine learning , and robotics , pen Cor Verdouw with Mprise Agriware .
At the Greentech in Amsterdam , this was very evident . For good example , all but one of the nominated innovations were digital data solution . Berry , a harvest home robot for strawberries , won the concept award . Other nominees were a sensor mesh of digital insect traps ( Trap - Eye ) , an autonomous cultivation system of rules for indoor husbandry ( Gronos ) , and a software putz to calculate CO2 foodprints ( HortiFoodPrint estimator ) . Many digital solutions were also being promoted at the booths . A pocket-sized extract : glasshouse drones ( PATS , Corvus ) , Lycopersicon esculentum harvesting golem ( the succeeder of the Robot Challenge GRoW , en EGA Matic ) , sensors for measuring plant accent ( Vivent ) and foliage temperature ( Sigrow ) , sensing system for digital phenotyping ( Hiphen ) , yield foretelling base on electronic computer vision ( YieldComputer , ecoation ) , autonomous grow systems ( Blue Radix , ioCrops , Koidra ) , and much more .
Remote growing with Digital TwinsThese technical development are radically transfer horticultural production . rather of experienced growers personally monitor the stipulation of the harvest ( ' direction by walk around ' ) , polish decisiveness can be based on substantial - meter information and thinking algorithmic program .
raiser can monitor and control operations remotely , enable by so - called Digital Twins . Such a practical similitude is a digital written matter of , for example , a glasshouse that is linked to the real greenhouse and continuously updated .
A Digital Twin can be enrich with sassy algorithm , and machines or golem can be connect . Thus , growers receive alerts via the Digital Twin if there are ( expected ) problem , and they can check the situation in the glasshouse from behind their desk or smartphone by digitally see the plants or machine involve . They can also use the Digital Twin to digitally simulate the effects of interventions in advance , then take the best action remotely and afterwards suss out whether the problem has really been solved .
What are Digital Twins?The terminal figure Digital Twin was introduced by NASA in 2012 for ' mirroring ' the exact state of a real space vehicle during a mission . So , in essence , a Digital Twin is a practical , digital representation of a strong-arm object link to it in ( nigh ) existent - clock time . This representation can be basic , for example , an overview of a nursery with lively datum . It can also be a realistic environs , where , for example , you may virtually take the air through the greenhouse and inspect 3D plants . But all Digital Twins have these five characteristic : :
Digital Twins in horticulture currently focus on cultivationAlthough the term Digital Twin seems to be a new buzzword , I consider it to be a continued development of smart , data - driven gardening . In practice , Digital Twins already exist , although they are often not yet called such . A lit critical review by one of my educatee at Wageningen University show that most are still comparatively ' canonic ' Digital Twins that focus on distant monitoring and control . However , more ' advanced ' Digital Twins , such as for ( near ) actual - metre predictions , are emerge .
Another conclusion of the field is that Digital Twins in gardening now mainly focalise on cultivation management in the greenhouse with respect to climate , vim , and ignition . There is still little research on Digital Twins for individual plants , although that level of detail is important for raising , for example . altogether absent in the recap were Digital Twins for the business processes and the performance of horticultural companies as a whole .
Integrated Digital Twins for business and cultivationHowever , Digital Twins are not an end in themselves , but a means to improve concern resultant role . For the future , I , therefore , envision a superimposed Digital Twin that fuse the ship’s company , cultivation , and even single plants . The point of divergence would be a direction cockpit with the actual and expected business enterprise performance , such as lead time , ware quality , wastage , price prices , and manner of speaking reliability .
These index number combine various data from different author , including ERP system , automation in the nursery or field , and external data . fresh algorithms will allow for the feigning of wait functioning , e.g. , by requirement forecasts base on contrived intelligence . One can practise down into the details for specific business processes , locating , multifariousness , production wads , etc .
For the culture cognitive process , you then zoom into , for instance , the Digital Twin of a greenhouse , of which the bear yield is miserable than planned . In this digital greenhouse , the grower check the climate and other cultivation conditions for the lots concerned . They can also look at the flora ’s physiologic characteristics ( e.g. , focus ) and even the genetic visibility in the Digital Twin of a citation plant in these lots .
The various Digital Twins support this analysis with smart determination support tools . These tools advise a grower on the measures to be occupy , for case , the use of 8,000 extra predatory pinch against spider mites in compartments A and B of greenhouse Z. After approval by the grower , the Digital Twin instructs a poke to release the accurate act of predatory mites at the ripe spots .
By the way , the Greenhouse Digital Twin will autonomously make do most of the refinement operations based on predetermined norms . This allow for growers to centre on exceptions and the job side of refinement .
No ' layered ' Digital Twins without desegregate business softwareThe virtualization of horticulture with Digital Twins now seems to be gaining impulse and will have a major impact on productivity , efficiency , quality , and sustainability . In my opinion , the successful Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge is very monitory . In this case , the participating teams control the cultivation in their compartment to the full remotely based on sensor information and smart algorithms .
The net profit of the winner this yr ( lettuce ) was almost 30 % higher than the reference group of experient growers . In fact , last twelvemonth ( cherry tree tomatoes ) , all teams performed significantly better , and the winner ’s last net income was more than doubly as high !
Digital Twins can also capture the knowledge of experienced horticultural expert , thus contribute to address the scarceness of unripened personnel . Moreover , Digital Twins are a promising tool for setting up , scaling up , and contend outside output sites .
I expect Digital Twins to become increasingly embedded in business sector management in the close future tense . As a resultant role , they will more often consist of multiple interlink levels from company to plant . However , this is only potential if the underlie datum are intelligent .
For a ' layered ' Digital Twin from farm to plant , this not only means cultivation and plant information but also business data point and external information . A well - integrate business management system , which seamlessly get together with the mechanisation in the greenhouse and in the field , is , therefore , a all-important precondition .
