Oct 9, 2017: With a kick-off meeting at ATB, partners of the project Corona-PRO started their joint research efforts in developing a spatially adaptive method for the application of plant protection agents in commercial fruit-growing orchards.
Efficient plant protection requires a precise dosage of the plant protection agents to the existing leaf area. The precise recording of the leaf surface in so-called spatial cultures such as apple or plum orchards is hardly possible in practice.
Researchers in the project Corona-PRO therefore are particularly focusing on how the existing leaf area can be precisely recorded in spatial cultures. For this purpose, they will develop a methodology using a flight robot, they will use photogrammetric methods to record tree specific leaf densities, develop digital models of crown volume for application maps, and develop new methods of small space navigation for creating of spatial aerial photographs.
The aim is to realize a precise application of plant protection agents, thus reducing the applied amount of plant protection products and enabling to minimize entry into the environment but also into the food chain.
Within the framework of the project Corona-PRO, a practical methodology will be developed which is intended to enable the user or service provider to create 3D models of individual trees or fruit wall sections using UAV-assisted aerial single-images. The offline concept in the project shifts the evaluation and analysis of sensor information to a service provider, which as a result will provide an application card.
The interaction between user and expert platform is validated in field trials at different orchard sites, also at ATB's research site Marquardt.
The joint project "Entwicklung einer flugrobotergestützten Expertenplattform für einen präzisen Pflanzenschutz im Erwerbsobstbau (Corona-PRO) - Teilprojekt 1" is funded by the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) supported by its funding agency BLE with 260.000 Euro.
Partner in the project are ATB, Kompetenzzentrum Obstbau-Bodensee (KOB) and CiS GmbH, Bentwisch.
Contact ATB: Dr. Michael Pflanz