Disease detection system in olive trees using unmanned aircraft (drones) 

Details

Acronym: OLIDRON
Reference:CPP2021-008472
Partners: Universitat Politecnica de Valencia and Instituto Tecnológico y de Energías Renovables.
Duration: : 01/11/2022 – 31/10/2025 (36 months)
Budget: 449.118,2 €
Co-Financing: Strategic Lines Call 2022. State Plan for Scientific, Technical Research and Innovation 2021-2023. Ministry of Science and Innovation.  Project CPP2021-008472 is financed by the MCIN/AEI (10.13039/501100011033) and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/ PRTR. 

Overview of the project

In Europe alone, an average of 26% of the production of olive groves is lost annually due to pests and plant diseases, with a direct economic cost of more than 7,800 million euros per year, with an upward trend. Of these diseases, two are especially important due to their potential impact or their current extent: Xylella Fastidiosa and Verticillium Wilt.

Early and accurate detection and diagnosis of plant diseases are key factors for plant production and the reduction of qualitative and quantitative crop yield losses. In addition, they can lead to a localized and individualized treatment, applying the doses of phytosanitary products as strictly necessary, avoiding their massive and indiscriminate use.

In this context, the need to diagnose both diseases at an early stage through a low-cost system for producers is detected. For this reason, the OLIDRON project arises, an experimental development project that will be carried out in cooperation by the Institute of Technology and Renewable Energies (ITER), VAINSA Infraestructuras and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV).

The objective of this project is to develop a high-precision, low-cost and real-time diagnostic system for the health status of olive crops, which shows through a digital platform if the analyzed plants have the Xylella Fastidiosa disease or Verticillium Wilt and in what degree of progress they are, as well as their spatial location. The system will be based on the use of a hyperspectral camera and a thermal camera housed in an unmanned aircraft (drone) and will have the following innovations:

  1. Optimize data acquisition from drone flight parameters to improve the quality of hyperspectral and thermal images and
  2. Diagnose the health status of the olive grove, identifying diseased plants, the type of disease that affects them and the degree of progress, as well as their precise geographical locations quickly and automatically.

The specific objectives that will have to be achieved throughout the development of the project are those listed below:

  1. Design and development of a robust and low-cost remote hyperspectral and thermal imaging system.
  2. Design and development of a wireless communication system that ensures the inalterability of the data by third parties.
  3. Design and implementation of a spectral and thermal image treatment system, composed of algorithms, mathematical and statistical models, which will be capable of detecting and classifying the health status of the trees evaluated in the field.
  4. Design and development of a “cloud-based” digital platform to provide a SaaS-type service with various interfaces and different display options.
  5. Validation and demonstration with clients and in a real setting of the benefits of the final OLIDRON system. Industrial Packaging.

The innovative elements presented by the OLIDRON project can be grouped into two major innovations:

  • Optimization of data acquisition from the drone’s flight parameters to improve the quality of hyperspectral and thermal images.
  • Diagnosis of the health status of the olive grove plants, identifying diseased plants, type of disease that affects them and degree of progress, as well as their precise geographical locations in a fast and automated way.

The project OLIDRON (CPP2021-008472), coordinated by ITER’s Technology area, is financed by the MCIN/AEI (10.13039/501100011033) and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/ PRTR.

CALL TECHNOLOGY AREA