Important Innovations

Portable, in the Field Gadget, for Healthy Plants & Spot Disease Source:  North Caroline State University new tech for plant health First of its Kind Device to Detect Plant Disease in Minutes A new, smartphone powered device detects disease in plants.  For the first time, plant disease can be detected by a portable device, used by a farmer in the field and the analysis is done on the spot within minutes.  Up until now, plant analysis had to be done in a lab and that could take days or weeks.  This smartphone powered device reads gas concentrations in a plant in the farm field real-time. That analysis tells farmers that they are dealing with the presence of disease in plants and that they should take action. Portable, Down on the Farm Device This significant innovation was developed by a team at North Carolina State University.  The device is designed to attach to a farmer's smart phone above the phone's camera for quick crop analysis....

UK's 5G Connected Dairy Cows Source:  Cisco's 5G collars on UK dairy cows Cisco Testing 5G Infrastructure Down on the Farm 50 dairy cows in rural United Kingdom are connected with 5G a lot sooner than most of us.  Cisco Systems is developing and testing its 5G infrastructure for mobile and wireless performance.  The cows are equipped with 5G collars that control robotic milking machines. There's a lot more technology deployed. The purpose is to track the ability of 5G to send data from sensors much faster.  For a great news blog on this, go to Important Innovations Collection: 5G Internet Pioneers: 50 Connected Cows : Very Connected Dairy Cattle Source:  Cows with Cisco's 5G collars Cisco Systems UK Tests 5G connected cows are engaged in testi...

New Agritech from UK Provides Massive Data at the Crop Level Autonomous Robots on the Farm A new robot powered by artificial intelligence autonomously collects massive amounts of data on crops.  It's called Mamut and was just developed by Cambridge Consultants in the UK.  Crop data is routinely collected by aerial drones.  The flying drones can miss produce hidden under leaves or trees.  The Mamut works on the ground to provide a more complete look. It's designed for farms, including massive industrial farms, orchards and vineyards. Mamut The 4-wheeled autonomous robot is loaded with sensors and AI to gather crop health and yield data as it roams the fields.  It integrates stereo cameras,  LIDAR, a compass, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and wheel odometers.  The onboard AI integrates all the sensor data inputs.  The system provides the farmer easy access to the data to maximize production. No GPS The autonomous robot doesn't use G...

Sensor Backpack that Rides on Bumblebees Source:  University of Washington Small, Sensing Biosystem for Farms & The Environment This is extraordinary innovation at the cutting edge to monitor the environment and farms.  It's from computer scientists and engineers at the University of Washington.   They've invented a sensor system small enough to ride on the back of a bumblebee to gather data on the health and quality of farm plants. Better Than Drones Farmers are using drones to monitor temperature, humidity and crop health over their fields.  There are big limits caused by power needs of drones.  The drones can't go very far without a recharge every 10 to 20 minutes. Bees on Patrol with Backpacks Bees fly on their own, so the system needs only a tiny rechargeable battery.  It lasts 7 hours for data collection and can be recharged wirelessly when the bees return to their hives.  The scientists download the data when the bees return t...