Drones have successfully made their way into various industrial applications over the past few years. Advances in research have led to significant achievements in translating drone technology for practical industrial uses. However, the current deployment of drones in industry remains primarily limited to the manual piloting of single agents, often supported by Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Despite the progress, fully autonomous missions, especially involving multi-drone systems, are still largely absent even in research contexts. For drones to become reliable, efficient tools in everyday industrial operations, substantial research and development efforts are required.
The FruitScope project will develop an automated, contactless method using multiple drones equipped with wireless signal technologies to predict fruit ripeness accurately. Fruit ripeness is a critical factor influencing the quality of fruits. Traditional methods of ripeness assessment are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and subjective. FruitScope will leverage cutting-edge drone technology to automate and enhance the accuracy of ripeness prediction, paving the way for more efficient orchard management and higher-quality fruit production (e.g., wine, apples, berries, etc.).
Research will mainly focus on the following four issues within the specific content of ripeness assessment in orchards: (1) resilient localization and control, (2) intelligent interaction with the environment, (3) multi-agent autonomy and coordination, and (4) data usage and transmission. With this focused research effort, we seek to pave the way for multi-drone systems to become an indispensable tool in smart agricultural operations across various sectors (and beyond).
Stay tuned, more details coming soon..
