Precision Agriculture - Fruit/Berry Sizing & Counting RESEARCH TEAM
• Volkan Isler, Primary Investigator • Lab: z.umn.edu/rsnLab • Precision Ag Work: z.umn.edu/preAg
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a video analysis technology that counts, segments, sizes and identity’s disease states for orchard fruits and berries. Utilizing computer vision algorithms to analyze the field video, this system can be implemented locally in an off-the-shelf drone or a cloud-based analytics/analysis system.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
PROBLEM: Due to very thin margins, large farms are looking to automation and precision
• 2 Patent Applications • Copyrights
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT STAGE • Prototyped, tested and validated
VALUE PROPOSITION
• Count, Size, Segment and identify disease for orchard fruits & berries.
• Enables farms and vertically integrated produce companies to better forecast harvests and optimize: • Labor • Pricing • Crop Thinning • Logistics & Processing
agriculture to increase their yields while decreasing their expenses. Through customer conversations, UMN has learned: Apple Industry1: • Has significant labor expenses that are complicated by immigration policies, competing farms and non-uniform picking schedules. • Only 2.75”-3.25” diameter apples sell at market, thus forecasting the harvest & size and expertly thinning trees to achieve the maximum revenue is a significant need. Berry Industry2, 3: • Harvests every 2 days, causing significant labor scheduling challenges • Current forecasting is very inaccurate & costly • Super market prices are determined 1 month in advance “Industry standard is that $10M/week is lost by mispricing due to poor harvest forecasts” Peaches/Plums Industry4: • Similar apple industry, but can’t freeze fresh produce, thus forecasting need is larger.
SOLUTION: The Apple Drone Image Analysis technology provides accurate counting,
segmentation, sizing and disease identification for orchards, to utilize in harvest forecasting, labor scheduling, pricing and downstream logistics planning. Technical Paper: z.umn.edu/appDronePaper Demo Videos: z.umn.edu/appDroneVid z.umn.edu/appDroneVid2
CURRENT DEVELOPMENT:
Team is currently working to: • Create user interface that enables standard drone videos to be uploaded and analyzed. • Validate algorithms on low end cameras/develop app to analyze non-drone video.
MARKET SIZE:
• Precision Agriculture is a $1.4B/yr market, with a 6.9% CAGR 5
• Yield Monitors are 17.8% of the market ($249.2M/yr)5
• Fruit & Nut Industry is a $29B/yr market
RELEVANT COMPANIES: Company PrecisionHawk Lehmann Aviation Volt Aerial Robotics Sense Fly Agribotix
Contact Chris Ghere Technology Strategy Manager Office for Technology Commercialization University of Minnesota
Product Landcaster Hawkeye Mark III LA300AG eBee Ag Enduro Quad
Website Precisionhawk.com LehmannAviation.com Voltaerialrobotics.com Sensefly.com Agribotix.com
Phone: 612.624.6797 Email:
[email protected] Thomas K. Hutton Venture Center Senior Executive Office for Technology Commercialization University of Minnesota Phone: 612.626.3429 Email:
[email protected]
1 Apple
Company* Interview 5/14/2015 – Technology Services Manager Company* Interview 5/18/2015 - Plant Physiology and Global Applied Research Manager 3 Berry Company* Interview 5/20/2015 - Director of Farming Services 4 Peach Company* Interview 5/18/2015 – CEO 5 IBIS World - Precision Agriculture Systems - http://clients1.ibisworld.com/reports/us/industry/default.aspx?entid=4422 6 IBIS World – Fruit & Nut Farming - http://clients1.ibisworld.com/reports/us/industry/ataglance.aspx?entid=25 2 Berry
*Companies Interviewed can be made available during due diligence
