Final Report Summary - AGROSENSE (Wireless sensor networks and remote sensing - foundation of a modern agricultural infrastructure in the region)
Sensing and monitoring systems will have a large impact on future precision agriculture methodologies, as well as on forestry and environmental protection. The AGROSENSE project focused on the application of sensing and monitoring systems in precision agriculture, which will have a large impact on future agriculture methodologies.
The consortium of the AGROSENSE project is composed of six institutions, each of them a leader in its field Faculty of Technical Sciences (FTS), University of Novi Sad, Serbia (coordinator); University of Florence, Department of Electronics and Telecommunications (DET), Italy; Institute Jozef Stefan (JSI), Slovenia; Faculty of Agriculture (FANS), Novi Sad, Serbia; Institute Mihajlo Pupin (IMP), Belgrade, Serbia; Provincial Secretariat for Agriculture, Water Economy and Forestry of Vojvodina (PSAWF), Serbia.
Within the project the following activities have been performed:
- Purchasing of equipment (unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), thermal camera, WSN kits, sensors, satellite images etc.) and hiring new researchers (total of 11 new researchers have been hired solely for the purpose of this project)
These activities reinforced human potential of the Western Balkan countries (WBC) centres, their scientific and technological (S&T) research capacities as well as of the partners from convergence region through free usage of the upgraded equipment. They also ensured sustainable development of the working groups at WBC universities and institutes.
- Trainings
A total of 16 trainings have been held by JSI and DET. Staff from WBC was trained in areas of expertise of the project partners from the EU and region of convergence. They have also been acquainted with practical issues concerning deployment and utilisation of WSNs and RS systems.
- Placements enabled WBC staff to gain access to resources existing at EU and region of convergence partner institutions. They have also been used to perform feasibility studies for the development of new infrastructures.
- Networking was used to develop strong partnerships with existing centres of excellence established in Slovenia, Italy, Serbia and other WBC in the field of precision agriculture and to gain international experience and contacts.
- Dissemination
Partners have promoted results of the project and disseminated knowledge, influencing scientists, wider population and representatives of the law-making institutions both within and outside the project consortium.
All the activities conducted within the AGROSENSE project ensured the successful completion of all tasks. All foreseen milestones and objectives have been successfully reached. Taking into account the reputation and strength of the BioSense Center which have grown over the past three project years beyond the state and even regional borders, it is clear that the full accomplishment of this Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) call has been reached. Serbian research centres have become internationally recognised for its human resources and procured equipment. The BioSense Center has become a meeting place of experts and knowledge expertise in various research areas. With four new FP7 projects, over six other international projects and three national strategical development projects and a wide network of partners from all over the world, the BioSense Center, IMP and FANS have ensured its place in present and future European research area. Furthermore, partners form the region of convergence and EU gained valuable partners from WB countries with whom they will continue to cooperate in the future.
Project context and objectives:
Sensing and monitoring systems will have a large impact on future precision agriculture methodologies, as well as on forestry and environmental protection. Sensors can be distributed throughout the field in a form of wireless sensor network (WSN) where they can monitor soil conditions, crop growth and other relevant bio-parameters. On the other hand, remote sensing (RS) system based on an autonomous UAV can provide valuable information which is hard to obtain from the ground. Such increased use of autonomous sensors linked into a GPS system for real-time monitoring and the use of low-cost RS sensing systems have the potential to significantly improve current trends and methods in the agricultural production, forestry and environmental protection.
The AGROSENSE project focuses on the application of sensing and monitoring systems in precision agriculture, which will have a large impact on future agriculture methodologies.
Objectives of the AGROSENSE project are:
- Reinforcement of WBC research potential
Improving of MeTeP@ Centre material and human resources, expanding the research topics and the number of research activities of the MeTeP@ Centre, widening its impact to a larger geographical area, covering the entire agricultural region of the province of Vojvodina and the WBC region. Reinforcement of WBC research potential was to be realized through the following activities:
- Upgrade of the existing equipment - To purchase the equipment that will complement the existing equipment and enable MeTeP@ Centre to produce research results comparable with those of EU networking partners.
- Recruitment of new researchers - To hire researchers that will increase the human potential of MeTeP@ and Institute Mihajlo Pupin (IMP).
- Reinforcement of WBC and the region of convergence research potential
Trainings - Trainings delivered by participants from the EU covering topics important for precision agriculture, corresponding to specific complementary expertise of participating institutions. Trainings and practical placements are also foreseen for the staff from the region of convergence participating institution.
Exchange and practical placements of staff among the consortium members - Placements of researchers in other project partner's institutions will allow them to acquire specific scientific and technical knowledge in the fields of interest.
- Promoting closer S&T cooperation opportunities between Europe and WBC
Brain-gain environments are being favoured through trans-national two-way exchanges of research staff between centres established in the EU, EU's convergence regions and in the WBC. Networking, training and placements expose WBC researchers to advanced working environments and help them gain international experience, contacts and access to the state of the art knowledge and technology.
- Support to WBC participation in Framework Programmes
By acquiring experience through this project, WBC partner institutions will position themselves better for future participation in Framework Programmes, and will also be able to advise other research institutions in WBC region on all aspects of successful preparation, negotiation, management and finalization of future projects.
- Contribution to sustainable research development of the WBC centres
Reinforcement of MeTeP@ Centre foreseen in this project aims at ensuring its sustainability. In the future, the Centre will be able to conduct state of the art research at the European level, as well as to contribute to the agricultural infrastructure in the region. Mobilisation of human and material resources combined with the dissemination and networking activities will raise the reputation of the MeTeP@ Centre and its Serbian partners to a level that will ensure a long term development. Furthermore, it will reinforce the employment capacity of the centre and stimulate young researchers to continue living in Serbia and working in the field of high-tech agriculture.
- Dissemination of the project results
The most important results of the project have been presented to the wider scientific community through participation in high impact conferences.
Project results:
During the first project year state-of-the-art equipment has been purchased, where the most notable pieces are four UAVs, two multispectral cameras and a whole range of WSN kits. Detailed list of equipment is available on the project site found at http://www.agrosense.org in deliverable D2.1.
Apart from the equipment purchased, our research potential was reinforced through the recruitment of new researchers. Three people were hired at FTS (two researchers with MSc degree and one technician) and two at IMP (two MSc researchers). The work of researchers at FTS concentrated on setting up the new equipment, system integration and training in RS and WSN systems, while the work of researchers at IMP focused on WSN, with special emphasis in training supervised by a senior advisor from FTS.
As an efficient mean of reinforcing research potential, trainings present a very important part of the AGROSENSE project and they are delivered by experts primarily from the EU and convergence region partner institutions to WBC staff. Trainings were devoted to specific S&T aspects and topics such as: design of architectures and solutions for environmental monitoring applications, simulation tools and embedded device programming of WSNs, integration of wireless technologies with remote sensing devices and coordination of research projects. The most important introductory training to WSN was given by Prof. Romano Fantacci from DET. The goal of this training was to bring the knowledge of all trainees to the same level, thus preparing them for further specialized trainings foreseen for the beginning of the second project year. More details on trainings in the first year of the project can be found in deliverable D3.1 at http://www.agrosense.org online. Apart from training devoted to specific S&T aspects, a series of three trainings related to usage of new equipment were organized within the first project year.
To expand the WBC staff's knowledge on some specific topics a total of four placements at partners' institutions were organized during the first project year. Two senior researchers from FTS were hosted by DET for one month, one researcher from FTS was at JSI for two weeks and one researcher from DET was at FTS for two weeks. The placements served as a mean for establishing better connections between partners and learning about the practices of other partners. This promotes closer S&T cooperation opportunities between Europe and WBC, and fosters successful collaboration during the rest of the project.
One of the most important and most intensive activities of the first project year was networking, with the main goal to promote communication and provide access to information and cross-fertilisation of ideas. The networking deals with organising the meetings, the information transfer, the contacts with industry and public and to governmental institution. Numerous networking activities were organised both within the consortium and with potential partners outside the AGROSENSE consortium, with total of 17 official and a number of unofficial meetings held within the first year. As a direct consequence, several proposals for joint research projects were submitted under different programs and a solid base was formed for future cooperation and joint research work in the fields related to the AGROSENSE project. The networking activities lead to closer S&T cooperation opportunities between Europe and WBC and present a good support to future WBC participation in Framework Programmes. More details on the networking activities during the first year of the AGROSENSE project can be found in deliverable D4.1.
Another objective of the AGROSENSE project is to promote results of the project and disseminate knowledge, to influence representatives of the law-making institutions both within and outside the project consortium, to present and promote the application of precision agriculture to student and non-scientific community (agricultural industry, farmers) in WBC, and to create the identity of the project through promotional package including the new website. During the first year of the project, numerous dissemination activities were conducted including attendance on high-impact conferences and agricultural fairs and publication of a number of interviews and news articles. A recognizable identity of the AGROSENSE project is created through the design of the AGROSENSE logo and promotional package containing items with AGROSENSE motive: flyers, folders, notepads, waterproof stickers, t-shirts, caps, posters, pencils, web site and power point slide background. More details about the specific items of the promotional package can be found in deliverable 5.1.
Apart from this, live demo is deployed at the project website where visitors can see the current reading of remotely installed WSN measuring different bio-parameters. This has proved to be very convincing method of dissemination which leaves very strong impressions on people potentially interested in deployment of this technology in agriculture, forestry and environmental protection.
All the activities conducted in the first year of the AGROSENSE project provide a good basis for further development and reinforcement of WBC partners, and for further dissemination of the project result. Already, academic staff from other related fields (such as ecology, water management etc.) as well as people from the industry showed great interest in the AGROSENSE project, especially in taking part in further development of systems based on sensing technologies like WSN and remote sensing. Therefore, we expect that by the end of this project, a world-recognised centre for application of sensing technologies in agriculture, as well as in forestry, water management and environmental protection will be founded.
The first months of the second project year were characterised with work on preparation and submission of the annual report to EC. The report was submitted both in a hard copy and electronic version in July 2009. Together with the report, deliverables D1.1 D2.1 D3.1 D4.1 D5.1 and D5.2 were submitted in electronic form. All partners submitted their financial statements. The scientific part of the report was approved in September 2009 and the financial in October 2009.
The Grant Agreement was amended twice. The first change was due to changes in banking details of the project coordinating institution. The compliance by EC with the first amendment was received in October 2009. The second change was due to termination of subcontracting at JSI. The compliance by EC with the second amendment was received in February 2010.
Within WP2, an additional piece of equipment was purchased - a thermal camera by FLIR model SC620 Researcher instead of the planned VTOL UAV as agreed with the Project Officer. The research potential was reinforced through the recruitment of new researchers. Both FTS and IMP faced difficulties in keeping employees for a period longer that a year due to legal obstacles in Serbia. New persons have been hired at FTS in June 2009 and September 2009 and at IMP new researchers were hired in April 2009 and November 2009.
Total of 11 trainings have been held within the period from month 13 to month 24. Apart from that, one candidate from IMP was sent to training to SENIOT Summer School in Betorino, Italy during July and August 2009. Also, one researcher from FTS attended the training course for usage of FLIR Thermal Camera in December 2009.
Five placements of senior researchers from DET and JSI were hosted at FTS. The placements also served as a mean for establishing better connections between partners and learning about the practices of other partners.
The networking within WP4 dealt with organising the meetings, the information transfer, contacts with industry, public and governmental institution. Total of 30 official and a number of unofficial networking meetings have been held within the period from month 13 to month 24 both within the consortium and with potential partners outside the AGROSENSE consortium. As a direct consequence, several proposals for joint research projects were submitted under different programs and a solid base was formed for future cooperation and joint research work in the fields related to the AGROSENSE project.
The central dissemination activity of the whole reporting period was the workshop on sensing technology in agriculture, forestry and environment 'BioSense09' held in Novi Sad on 14 and 15 October 2009. All project partners gave significant contribution to the successful organisation of the workshop. Total of 23 papers and plenary talks were presented. The workshop enrolled 15 experts from United States (US), Canada and EU, as well as 26 from WBC region. Project partners also participated in 10 international conferences during the reporting period. They used this opportunity to gain access to state-of-the-art research and ideas and to promote the project results to a wider scientific community.
Activities conducted in the second project year provide a more intensive continuation of activities performed within the first project year. Thus, all foreseen milestones and objectives for the reporting period have been successfully reached. Already, academic staff from other related fields (such as ecology, water management etc.) as well as people from the industry showed great interest in the AGROSENSE project, especially in taking part in further development of systems based on sensing technologies like WSN and remote sensing. As a consequence, the MeTeP@ Center at FTS was renamed to BioSense Centre to take advantage of the success of the AGROSENSE project and BioSense09 workshop.
The first months of the third project year (May to June 2010) were characterised by preparation and submission of the annual report to the EC. The task was carried out by all members of the management board with project manager and project coordinator as leaders of the activity. The report was submitted both in a hard copy and electronic version in due time. Together with the report, the deliverables D3.2 and D4.2were submitted in electronic form. All partners submitted their financial statements (forms C) and FTS provided a certificate on financial statement.
In June 2010, Bojan Paji, president of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina officially opened the new BioSense Center by activating WSN pilot site at Green House in Rimski Sancevi. This event has been followed by a great number of press representatives and resulted in significant publicity for the BioSense Center.
With Serbian research centres reinforced and all foreseen equipment purchased, project partners brought another two WPs to conclusion. WP3 - Trainings and placements has been finalised with trainings No. 6, 7 and 8 provided by DET and trainings No. 5 provided by JSI. Placements of JSI and FTS staff at institutions within the project consortium resulted in better coordination of research activities. JSI and IMP were able to resolve problems occurred in the development of new types of WSN. While IMP faced difficulties in the deployment of communication protocols, researchers at JSI had problems to port the operating system into their new hardware. Placements of Milo Rovanin from FTS at IMP in September 2010 and at JSI in November 2010 resulted in necessary knowledge transfer between IMP, FTS and JSI, filling the gap in missing expertise and leading to a successful completion of the ongoing research activities. Placement of Denis Krabl from JSI at FTS in May 2010 was a continuation of the second year training 'Theory and hands on experience flying model aircraft'. During his stay at FTS Mr Krabl assisted FTS staff in perfecting their UAV steering skills. His great practical knowledge proved useful in overcoming technical difficulties in obtaining aerial images. The less experienced FTS staff was then able to take images with greater accuracy, reliability and safety.
The WP4 - Networking was concluded in 2010. Performed networking activities in the third project year led to closer S&T cooperation opportunities between Europe and WBC. Total of 20 meetings have been held. New contacts and network of partners have proven to be fruitful and resulted in two new FP7 projects awarded to the BioSense Center as the coordinator. More details on the networking activities during the third project year is provided in the deliverable D4.3.
Final activities related to dissemination and hiring of researchers lasted until the very end of the project. Project partners participated at several international conferences during the reporting period. They used this opportunity to gain access to state-of-the-art research and ideas and to promote the project results to a wider scientific community. The central dissemination event in the reporting period was the official opening of the multidisciplinary BioSense Center in June 2010. The Project partners have prepared and held the second workshop called EcoSense 2011 in Belgrade on 6 and 7 April 2011. With over 15 submitted regular papers and 7 invited spokesmen, workshop gathered experts from 20 countries around the world.
All the activities conducted in the third year of the AGROSENSE project ensured the successful completion of all tasks. All foreseen milestones and objectives for the period have been successfully reached. Taking into account the reputation and strength of the BioSense Center which have grown over the past three project years beyond the state and even regional borders, it is clear that the full accomplishment of this FP7 call has been reached. Serbian research centres have become internationally recognised as competent both in uman resources and procured equipment. The BioSense Center has become a meeting place of experts and knowledge expertise in various research areas. With four new FP7 projects, over six other international projects and three national strategical development projects and a wide network of partners from all over the World, the BioSense Center, IMP and FANS have ensured its place in present and future European research area. Furthermore, partners form the region of convergence and EU have gained valuable partners from WBC with whom they will continue to cooperate within joint projects and initiatives.
Potential impact:
Dissemination of project results had a separate dedicated WP within this project.
The objectives of this WP were:
- to promote results of the Project and disseminate knowledge;
- to influence representatives of the law-making institutions both within and outside the project consortium;
- to present and promote the application of precision agriculture to student and non-scientific community (agricultural industry, farmers) in WBC;
- to allow free access to newly purchased equipment at the BeioSense Centre to all partners and other interested institutions in WBC region;
- to promote project partners as regional leaders in the area of precision agriculture;
- to present project results on high impact conferences;
- to upgrade the existing website;
- to create promotional packages for WBC partners.
The following activities have been performed within three years to ensure wide dissemination and full achievement of the impact of this project.
During the first year of the AGROSENSE project, a number of different dissemination activities were conducted. The response we received from the targeted audience was very favourable in all cases. Application of information technologies in agriculture was generally recognised as a subject of great importance and with an outstanding impact. The approach taken in the AGROSENSE project, including the focus on two major areas of remote sensing and wireless sensor networks, as well as the choice of the equipment to be bought within the project, was recognised as very promising and in line with recent efforts in this field worldwide.
Potentials and results of AGROSENSE project were disseminated on three levels: national (Serbia), regional and international. Apart from attractive and informative web-site and promotional package, every opportunity was to inform wider community about the AGROSENSE. Apart from the conferences where attending was funded by AGROSENSE, we have also used other conferences and meetings funded from other sources to spread knowledge about the goals of the AGROSENSE project, its team and recent accomplishments.
Newly deployed website of AGROSENSE project is very attractive and informative. It has been very frequently visited and quickly it became the first AGROSENSE hit on the Google, although there are numerous entities with the same name worldwide. Visitors can get insight in the project details: consortium, people, equipment, objectives, work packages and project related events. Demo application accessible through website gives the opportunity to the users and visitors to check environmental parameters at University of Novi Sad at different locations in real-time. In due time, the same system will provide similar information from the agricultural fields, vineyards and forests. Apart from the dissemination purposes, website is also used for management for management and document exchange.
Promotional package consisting of various items with AGROSENSE visual identity is carefully designed and distributed. AGROSENSE logo that appears in the whole package is very easy to remember and can be associated with different notions in agriculture. In a short period of time it became very successful and helped a lot in the efficient project dissemination.
Dissemination at national level
Kick-off meeting of the project was a good to opportunity to attract the attention of media, policy makers and other colleagues from the university working in similar fields. Large number of participants at the ceremonial part of kick-off meeting had an opportunity to get a closer insight into the AGROSENSE project objectives, instruments and potential impacts. Assistant minister of S&T development of Republic of Serbia was present, as well as a number of other officials from the local government and university.
Prof. Vladimir Crnojevi had an invited talk at the annual meeting of Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) network Serbia where he presented AGROSENSE project. Since this network consists of a number of leading Serbian institution in the field of ecosystem monitoring, this was a very good opportunity for other researchers to see the possibilities of information technology applied in the fields of agriculture, forestry and environmental protection. Researchers from LTER network showed great interest in establishing cooperation with AGROSENSE project staff and taking part in future projects.
Dissemination through electronic and printed media was performed on several occasions. There were several newspaper articles about the AGROSENSE project (Gradjanski list, Veerenje novosti, Politika) and one short TV interview. The most important one is the article in the oldest and very influential newspapers Politika, where one UAV purchased within the AGROSENSE project is presented as well as the part AGROSENSE team in the field.
PSAWF enabled the project promotional package to be presented at the International Fair of Agriculture which was held in the period from 9 to 16 May 2009 in Novi Sad, Serbia. It was an important promotional step which demonstrated not only the availability of state-of-the-art technology in Serbia, but also the support of the regional government to the AGROSENSE project and application of WSN and remote sensing in agriculture.
Several meetings have been held with partners from Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia and Austria. These meeting were excellent opportunities to promote FTS as a regional leader in sensing technologies in agriculture. The results of these promotions were numerous invitations for joint proposal submissions listed in the description of the WP4 of this report.
Dissemination at regional level
As a part of regional dissemination in other WBC, Prof. Vladimir Crnojevi visited Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Montenegro, Podgorica on 22 April. He had a meeting with Prof. Ljubia Stankovi, Prof. Srdjan Stankovi, Prof. Milo Dakovi and Vesna Popovi from Time-Frequency Signal Analysis group, where he presented the results and potentials of AGROSENSE project. This meeting was of special importance since the group of Prof. Stankovi is world recognised name in communications and signal processing, and possible cooperation with them would lead to further convergence of research potentials in WBC. Since Montenegro is also agricultural country, especially with respect to wine production, new opportunities for deployment of AGROSENSE project results were discussed.
Dissemination at international level
Project partner's researchers have visited numerous international conferences which were a good opportunity to spread excellence and project results. Over 50 conference attendances and over 50 networking meetings have been performed both at regional and international level.
Central events of the dissemination were two workshops and official opening of the new BioSense Center. The first workshop within the project called 'BioSense09' was held on 14 and 15 October 2009. The workshop was devoted to sensing technologies application in agriculture, forestry and environmental protection. All project partners gave significant contribution to the successful organisation of the workshop. The workshop was hosted at FTS, Serbia. Five plenary talks were held by invited spokesman, 18 papers were submitted and presented at the workshop. The workshop enrolled 15 experts from US, Canada and the European Union (EU, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Slovenia and Hungary) and 26 from WBC region (Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina). Indirectly, the workshop also included co-authors of papers from Spain, Austria and Ukraine, and through the programme committee it also included experts from the Czech Republic and Portugal.
The second international workshop on sensing technologies in agriculture, forestry and environment called 'EcoSense09' aimed to be a forum where researchers and practitioners address the challenges in the design, development and evaluation of different biosensing systems, with specific focus on practical aspects. Aside 7 plenary talks held by invited spokesman, 14 regular papers were submitted and presented at the workshop. The workshop enrolled 15 experts from Europe, US, Asia and 25 from Serbia.
Bojan Pajti, the president of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina opened the new BioSense Center at the University of Novi Sad by activating the latest wireless sensor network at the green house pilot site in Rimski Anevi near Novi Sad. The event has been covered by all major national television and radio networks and by a great number of press representatives.
Taking into account the reputation and strength of the BioSense Center which have grown over the past three Project years beyond the state and even regional borders, it is clear that the full accomplishment of this FP7 call has been reached. Serbian research centres have become internationally recognised for its human resources and procured equipment. The BioSense Center has become a meeting place of experts and knowledge expertise in various research areas. With four new FP7 projects, over six other international projects and three national strategical development projects and a wide network of partners from all over the world, the BioSense Center, IMP and FANS have ensured its place in present and future European research area. Furthermore, partners form the region of convergence and EU gained valuable partners from WBC with whom they will continue to cooperate in the future.
Project website: http://www.agrosense.org
Contact details:
Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad
Ass. Prof. Vladimir Crnojevi
Department of Power Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications
Trg Dositeja Obradovia 6
21000 Novi Sad
Serbia
Email: crnojevic@uns.ac.rs
Telephone: +38-121-4852520
Fax: +38-121-475 2997
Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, University of Florence
Prof. Romano Fantacci
Department of Electronics and Telecommunications
via di S. Marta 3
Florence
I-50139 Italy
Email: romano.fantacci@unifi.it
Telephone: +39-055-4796270
Fax: +39-055-494569
Josef Stefan Institute
Prof. Gorazd Kandus
Department of Communication Systems
Jamova 39
Ljubljana
1000 Slovenia
Email: gorazd.kandus@ijs.si
Telephone:+38-614-773608
Fax: +38-614-773111
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad
Prof. Branko Marinkovi
Institute for Field and Vegetable Crops
Trg Dositeja Obradovia 6
21000 Novi Sad
Serbia
Email: branko@polj.ns.ac.yu
Telephone: +38-121-4853200
Fax: +38-121-470731
Institute Mihailo Pupin
Dr Goran Dimi
Telecommunications Department
Volgina 15
11000 Belgrade
Serbia
Email: gdimic@kondor.imp.bg.ac.yu
Telephone: +38-111-2775159
Fax: +38-111-2772953
Provincial Secretariat for Agriculture, Water Economy and Forestry, Executive Council of AP Vojvodina
Mr Borislav Brunet
Bulevar Mihaila Pupina 16
21000 Novi Sad
Serbia
Email: borislav.brunet@vojvodina.sr.gov.yu
Telephone: +38-121-4874405
Fax: + 38-121-456040
The consortium of the AGROSENSE project is composed of six institutions, each of them a leader in its field Faculty of Technical Sciences (FTS), University of Novi Sad, Serbia (coordinator); University of Florence, Department of Electronics and Telecommunications (DET), Italy; Institute Jozef Stefan (JSI), Slovenia; Faculty of Agriculture (FANS), Novi Sad, Serbia; Institute Mihajlo Pupin (IMP), Belgrade, Serbia; Provincial Secretariat for Agriculture, Water Economy and Forestry of Vojvodina (PSAWF), Serbia.
Within the project the following activities have been performed:
- Purchasing of equipment (unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), thermal camera, WSN kits, sensors, satellite images etc.) and hiring new researchers (total of 11 new researchers have been hired solely for the purpose of this project)
These activities reinforced human potential of the Western Balkan countries (WBC) centres, their scientific and technological (S&T) research capacities as well as of the partners from convergence region through free usage of the upgraded equipment. They also ensured sustainable development of the working groups at WBC universities and institutes.
- Trainings
A total of 16 trainings have been held by JSI and DET. Staff from WBC was trained in areas of expertise of the project partners from the EU and region of convergence. They have also been acquainted with practical issues concerning deployment and utilisation of WSNs and RS systems.
- Placements enabled WBC staff to gain access to resources existing at EU and region of convergence partner institutions. They have also been used to perform feasibility studies for the development of new infrastructures.
- Networking was used to develop strong partnerships with existing centres of excellence established in Slovenia, Italy, Serbia and other WBC in the field of precision agriculture and to gain international experience and contacts.
- Dissemination
Partners have promoted results of the project and disseminated knowledge, influencing scientists, wider population and representatives of the law-making institutions both within and outside the project consortium.
All the activities conducted within the AGROSENSE project ensured the successful completion of all tasks. All foreseen milestones and objectives have been successfully reached. Taking into account the reputation and strength of the BioSense Center which have grown over the past three project years beyond the state and even regional borders, it is clear that the full accomplishment of this Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) call has been reached. Serbian research centres have become internationally recognised for its human resources and procured equipment. The BioSense Center has become a meeting place of experts and knowledge expertise in various research areas. With four new FP7 projects, over six other international projects and three national strategical development projects and a wide network of partners from all over the world, the BioSense Center, IMP and FANS have ensured its place in present and future European research area. Furthermore, partners form the region of convergence and EU gained valuable partners from WB countries with whom they will continue to cooperate in the future.
Project context and objectives:
Sensing and monitoring systems will have a large impact on future precision agriculture methodologies, as well as on forestry and environmental protection. Sensors can be distributed throughout the field in a form of wireless sensor network (WSN) where they can monitor soil conditions, crop growth and other relevant bio-parameters. On the other hand, remote sensing (RS) system based on an autonomous UAV can provide valuable information which is hard to obtain from the ground. Such increased use of autonomous sensors linked into a GPS system for real-time monitoring and the use of low-cost RS sensing systems have the potential to significantly improve current trends and methods in the agricultural production, forestry and environmental protection.
The AGROSENSE project focuses on the application of sensing and monitoring systems in precision agriculture, which will have a large impact on future agriculture methodologies.
Objectives of the AGROSENSE project are:
- Reinforcement of WBC research potential
Improving of MeTeP@ Centre material and human resources, expanding the research topics and the number of research activities of the MeTeP@ Centre, widening its impact to a larger geographical area, covering the entire agricultural region of the province of Vojvodina and the WBC region. Reinforcement of WBC research potential was to be realized through the following activities:
- Upgrade of the existing equipment - To purchase the equipment that will complement the existing equipment and enable MeTeP@ Centre to produce research results comparable with those of EU networking partners.
- Recruitment of new researchers - To hire researchers that will increase the human potential of MeTeP@ and Institute Mihajlo Pupin (IMP).
- Reinforcement of WBC and the region of convergence research potential
Trainings - Trainings delivered by participants from the EU covering topics important for precision agriculture, corresponding to specific complementary expertise of participating institutions. Trainings and practical placements are also foreseen for the staff from the region of convergence participating institution.
Exchange and practical placements of staff among the consortium members - Placements of researchers in other project partner's institutions will allow them to acquire specific scientific and technical knowledge in the fields of interest.
- Promoting closer S&T cooperation opportunities between Europe and WBC
Brain-gain environments are being favoured through trans-national two-way exchanges of research staff between centres established in the EU, EU's convergence regions and in the WBC. Networking, training and placements expose WBC researchers to advanced working environments and help them gain international experience, contacts and access to the state of the art knowledge and technology.
- Support to WBC participation in Framework Programmes
By acquiring experience through this project, WBC partner institutions will position themselves better for future participation in Framework Programmes, and will also be able to advise other research institutions in WBC region on all aspects of successful preparation, negotiation, management and finalization of future projects.
- Contribution to sustainable research development of the WBC centres
Reinforcement of MeTeP@ Centre foreseen in this project aims at ensuring its sustainability. In the future, the Centre will be able to conduct state of the art research at the European level, as well as to contribute to the agricultural infrastructure in the region. Mobilisation of human and material resources combined with the dissemination and networking activities will raise the reputation of the MeTeP@ Centre and its Serbian partners to a level that will ensure a long term development. Furthermore, it will reinforce the employment capacity of the centre and stimulate young researchers to continue living in Serbia and working in the field of high-tech agriculture.
- Dissemination of the project results
The most important results of the project have been presented to the wider scientific community through participation in high impact conferences.
Project results:
During the first project year state-of-the-art equipment has been purchased, where the most notable pieces are four UAVs, two multispectral cameras and a whole range of WSN kits. Detailed list of equipment is available on the project site found at http://www.agrosense.org in deliverable D2.1.
Apart from the equipment purchased, our research potential was reinforced through the recruitment of new researchers. Three people were hired at FTS (two researchers with MSc degree and one technician) and two at IMP (two MSc researchers). The work of researchers at FTS concentrated on setting up the new equipment, system integration and training in RS and WSN systems, while the work of researchers at IMP focused on WSN, with special emphasis in training supervised by a senior advisor from FTS.
As an efficient mean of reinforcing research potential, trainings present a very important part of the AGROSENSE project and they are delivered by experts primarily from the EU and convergence region partner institutions to WBC staff. Trainings were devoted to specific S&T aspects and topics such as: design of architectures and solutions for environmental monitoring applications, simulation tools and embedded device programming of WSNs, integration of wireless technologies with remote sensing devices and coordination of research projects. The most important introductory training to WSN was given by Prof. Romano Fantacci from DET. The goal of this training was to bring the knowledge of all trainees to the same level, thus preparing them for further specialized trainings foreseen for the beginning of the second project year. More details on trainings in the first year of the project can be found in deliverable D3.1 at http://www.agrosense.org online. Apart from training devoted to specific S&T aspects, a series of three trainings related to usage of new equipment were organized within the first project year.
To expand the WBC staff's knowledge on some specific topics a total of four placements at partners' institutions were organized during the first project year. Two senior researchers from FTS were hosted by DET for one month, one researcher from FTS was at JSI for two weeks and one researcher from DET was at FTS for two weeks. The placements served as a mean for establishing better connections between partners and learning about the practices of other partners. This promotes closer S&T cooperation opportunities between Europe and WBC, and fosters successful collaboration during the rest of the project.
One of the most important and most intensive activities of the first project year was networking, with the main goal to promote communication and provide access to information and cross-fertilisation of ideas. The networking deals with organising the meetings, the information transfer, the contacts with industry and public and to governmental institution. Numerous networking activities were organised both within the consortium and with potential partners outside the AGROSENSE consortium, with total of 17 official and a number of unofficial meetings held within the first year. As a direct consequence, several proposals for joint research projects were submitted under different programs and a solid base was formed for future cooperation and joint research work in the fields related to the AGROSENSE project. The networking activities lead to closer S&T cooperation opportunities between Europe and WBC and present a good support to future WBC participation in Framework Programmes. More details on the networking activities during the first year of the AGROSENSE project can be found in deliverable D4.1.
Another objective of the AGROSENSE project is to promote results of the project and disseminate knowledge, to influence representatives of the law-making institutions both within and outside the project consortium, to present and promote the application of precision agriculture to student and non-scientific community (agricultural industry, farmers) in WBC, and to create the identity of the project through promotional package including the new website. During the first year of the project, numerous dissemination activities were conducted including attendance on high-impact conferences and agricultural fairs and publication of a number of interviews and news articles. A recognizable identity of the AGROSENSE project is created through the design of the AGROSENSE logo and promotional package containing items with AGROSENSE motive: flyers, folders, notepads, waterproof stickers, t-shirts, caps, posters, pencils, web site and power point slide background. More details about the specific items of the promotional package can be found in deliverable 5.1.
Apart from this, live demo is deployed at the project website where visitors can see the current reading of remotely installed WSN measuring different bio-parameters. This has proved to be very convincing method of dissemination which leaves very strong impressions on people potentially interested in deployment of this technology in agriculture, forestry and environmental protection.
All the activities conducted in the first year of the AGROSENSE project provide a good basis for further development and reinforcement of WBC partners, and for further dissemination of the project result. Already, academic staff from other related fields (such as ecology, water management etc.) as well as people from the industry showed great interest in the AGROSENSE project, especially in taking part in further development of systems based on sensing technologies like WSN and remote sensing. Therefore, we expect that by the end of this project, a world-recognised centre for application of sensing technologies in agriculture, as well as in forestry, water management and environmental protection will be founded.
The first months of the second project year were characterised with work on preparation and submission of the annual report to EC. The report was submitted both in a hard copy and electronic version in July 2009. Together with the report, deliverables D1.1 D2.1 D3.1 D4.1 D5.1 and D5.2 were submitted in electronic form. All partners submitted their financial statements. The scientific part of the report was approved in September 2009 and the financial in October 2009.
The Grant Agreement was amended twice. The first change was due to changes in banking details of the project coordinating institution. The compliance by EC with the first amendment was received in October 2009. The second change was due to termination of subcontracting at JSI. The compliance by EC with the second amendment was received in February 2010.
Within WP2, an additional piece of equipment was purchased - a thermal camera by FLIR model SC620 Researcher instead of the planned VTOL UAV as agreed with the Project Officer. The research potential was reinforced through the recruitment of new researchers. Both FTS and IMP faced difficulties in keeping employees for a period longer that a year due to legal obstacles in Serbia. New persons have been hired at FTS in June 2009 and September 2009 and at IMP new researchers were hired in April 2009 and November 2009.
Total of 11 trainings have been held within the period from month 13 to month 24. Apart from that, one candidate from IMP was sent to training to SENIOT Summer School in Betorino, Italy during July and August 2009. Also, one researcher from FTS attended the training course for usage of FLIR Thermal Camera in December 2009.
Five placements of senior researchers from DET and JSI were hosted at FTS. The placements also served as a mean for establishing better connections between partners and learning about the practices of other partners.
The networking within WP4 dealt with organising the meetings, the information transfer, contacts with industry, public and governmental institution. Total of 30 official and a number of unofficial networking meetings have been held within the period from month 13 to month 24 both within the consortium and with potential partners outside the AGROSENSE consortium. As a direct consequence, several proposals for joint research projects were submitted under different programs and a solid base was formed for future cooperation and joint research work in the fields related to the AGROSENSE project.
The central dissemination activity of the whole reporting period was the workshop on sensing technology in agriculture, forestry and environment 'BioSense09' held in Novi Sad on 14 and 15 October 2009. All project partners gave significant contribution to the successful organisation of the workshop. Total of 23 papers and plenary talks were presented. The workshop enrolled 15 experts from United States (US), Canada and EU, as well as 26 from WBC region. Project partners also participated in 10 international conferences during the reporting period. They used this opportunity to gain access to state-of-the-art research and ideas and to promote the project results to a wider scientific community.
Activities conducted in the second project year provide a more intensive continuation of activities performed within the first project year. Thus, all foreseen milestones and objectives for the reporting period have been successfully reached. Already, academic staff from other related fields (such as ecology, water management etc.) as well as people from the industry showed great interest in the AGROSENSE project, especially in taking part in further development of systems based on sensing technologies like WSN and remote sensing. As a consequence, the MeTeP@ Center at FTS was renamed to BioSense Centre to take advantage of the success of the AGROSENSE project and BioSense09 workshop.
The first months of the third project year (May to June 2010) were characterised by preparation and submission of the annual report to the EC. The task was carried out by all members of the management board with project manager and project coordinator as leaders of the activity. The report was submitted both in a hard copy and electronic version in due time. Together with the report, the deliverables D3.2 and D4.2were submitted in electronic form. All partners submitted their financial statements (forms C) and FTS provided a certificate on financial statement.
In June 2010, Bojan Paji, president of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina officially opened the new BioSense Center by activating WSN pilot site at Green House in Rimski Sancevi. This event has been followed by a great number of press representatives and resulted in significant publicity for the BioSense Center.
With Serbian research centres reinforced and all foreseen equipment purchased, project partners brought another two WPs to conclusion. WP3 - Trainings and placements has been finalised with trainings No. 6, 7 and 8 provided by DET and trainings No. 5 provided by JSI. Placements of JSI and FTS staff at institutions within the project consortium resulted in better coordination of research activities. JSI and IMP were able to resolve problems occurred in the development of new types of WSN. While IMP faced difficulties in the deployment of communication protocols, researchers at JSI had problems to port the operating system into their new hardware. Placements of Milo Rovanin from FTS at IMP in September 2010 and at JSI in November 2010 resulted in necessary knowledge transfer between IMP, FTS and JSI, filling the gap in missing expertise and leading to a successful completion of the ongoing research activities. Placement of Denis Krabl from JSI at FTS in May 2010 was a continuation of the second year training 'Theory and hands on experience flying model aircraft'. During his stay at FTS Mr Krabl assisted FTS staff in perfecting their UAV steering skills. His great practical knowledge proved useful in overcoming technical difficulties in obtaining aerial images. The less experienced FTS staff was then able to take images with greater accuracy, reliability and safety.
The WP4 - Networking was concluded in 2010. Performed networking activities in the third project year led to closer S&T cooperation opportunities between Europe and WBC. Total of 20 meetings have been held. New contacts and network of partners have proven to be fruitful and resulted in two new FP7 projects awarded to the BioSense Center as the coordinator. More details on the networking activities during the third project year is provided in the deliverable D4.3.
Final activities related to dissemination and hiring of researchers lasted until the very end of the project. Project partners participated at several international conferences during the reporting period. They used this opportunity to gain access to state-of-the-art research and ideas and to promote the project results to a wider scientific community. The central dissemination event in the reporting period was the official opening of the multidisciplinary BioSense Center in June 2010. The Project partners have prepared and held the second workshop called EcoSense 2011 in Belgrade on 6 and 7 April 2011. With over 15 submitted regular papers and 7 invited spokesmen, workshop gathered experts from 20 countries around the world.
All the activities conducted in the third year of the AGROSENSE project ensured the successful completion of all tasks. All foreseen milestones and objectives for the period have been successfully reached. Taking into account the reputation and strength of the BioSense Center which have grown over the past three project years beyond the state and even regional borders, it is clear that the full accomplishment of this FP7 call has been reached. Serbian research centres have become internationally recognised as competent both in uman resources and procured equipment. The BioSense Center has become a meeting place of experts and knowledge expertise in various research areas. With four new FP7 projects, over six other international projects and three national strategical development projects and a wide network of partners from all over the World, the BioSense Center, IMP and FANS have ensured its place in present and future European research area. Furthermore, partners form the region of convergence and EU have gained valuable partners from WBC with whom they will continue to cooperate within joint projects and initiatives.
Potential impact:
Dissemination of project results had a separate dedicated WP within this project.
The objectives of this WP were:
- to promote results of the Project and disseminate knowledge;
- to influence representatives of the law-making institutions both within and outside the project consortium;
- to present and promote the application of precision agriculture to student and non-scientific community (agricultural industry, farmers) in WBC;
- to allow free access to newly purchased equipment at the BeioSense Centre to all partners and other interested institutions in WBC region;
- to promote project partners as regional leaders in the area of precision agriculture;
- to present project results on high impact conferences;
- to upgrade the existing website;
- to create promotional packages for WBC partners.
The following activities have been performed within three years to ensure wide dissemination and full achievement of the impact of this project.
During the first year of the AGROSENSE project, a number of different dissemination activities were conducted. The response we received from the targeted audience was very favourable in all cases. Application of information technologies in agriculture was generally recognised as a subject of great importance and with an outstanding impact. The approach taken in the AGROSENSE project, including the focus on two major areas of remote sensing and wireless sensor networks, as well as the choice of the equipment to be bought within the project, was recognised as very promising and in line with recent efforts in this field worldwide.
Potentials and results of AGROSENSE project were disseminated on three levels: national (Serbia), regional and international. Apart from attractive and informative web-site and promotional package, every opportunity was to inform wider community about the AGROSENSE. Apart from the conferences where attending was funded by AGROSENSE, we have also used other conferences and meetings funded from other sources to spread knowledge about the goals of the AGROSENSE project, its team and recent accomplishments.
Newly deployed website of AGROSENSE project is very attractive and informative. It has been very frequently visited and quickly it became the first AGROSENSE hit on the Google, although there are numerous entities with the same name worldwide. Visitors can get insight in the project details: consortium, people, equipment, objectives, work packages and project related events. Demo application accessible through website gives the opportunity to the users and visitors to check environmental parameters at University of Novi Sad at different locations in real-time. In due time, the same system will provide similar information from the agricultural fields, vineyards and forests. Apart from the dissemination purposes, website is also used for management for management and document exchange.
Promotional package consisting of various items with AGROSENSE visual identity is carefully designed and distributed. AGROSENSE logo that appears in the whole package is very easy to remember and can be associated with different notions in agriculture. In a short period of time it became very successful and helped a lot in the efficient project dissemination.
Dissemination at national level
Kick-off meeting of the project was a good to opportunity to attract the attention of media, policy makers and other colleagues from the university working in similar fields. Large number of participants at the ceremonial part of kick-off meeting had an opportunity to get a closer insight into the AGROSENSE project objectives, instruments and potential impacts. Assistant minister of S&T development of Republic of Serbia was present, as well as a number of other officials from the local government and university.
Prof. Vladimir Crnojevi had an invited talk at the annual meeting of Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) network Serbia where he presented AGROSENSE project. Since this network consists of a number of leading Serbian institution in the field of ecosystem monitoring, this was a very good opportunity for other researchers to see the possibilities of information technology applied in the fields of agriculture, forestry and environmental protection. Researchers from LTER network showed great interest in establishing cooperation with AGROSENSE project staff and taking part in future projects.
Dissemination through electronic and printed media was performed on several occasions. There were several newspaper articles about the AGROSENSE project (Gradjanski list, Veerenje novosti, Politika) and one short TV interview. The most important one is the article in the oldest and very influential newspapers Politika, where one UAV purchased within the AGROSENSE project is presented as well as the part AGROSENSE team in the field.
PSAWF enabled the project promotional package to be presented at the International Fair of Agriculture which was held in the period from 9 to 16 May 2009 in Novi Sad, Serbia. It was an important promotional step which demonstrated not only the availability of state-of-the-art technology in Serbia, but also the support of the regional government to the AGROSENSE project and application of WSN and remote sensing in agriculture.
Several meetings have been held with partners from Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia and Austria. These meeting were excellent opportunities to promote FTS as a regional leader in sensing technologies in agriculture. The results of these promotions were numerous invitations for joint proposal submissions listed in the description of the WP4 of this report.
Dissemination at regional level
As a part of regional dissemination in other WBC, Prof. Vladimir Crnojevi visited Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Montenegro, Podgorica on 22 April. He had a meeting with Prof. Ljubia Stankovi, Prof. Srdjan Stankovi, Prof. Milo Dakovi and Vesna Popovi from Time-Frequency Signal Analysis group, where he presented the results and potentials of AGROSENSE project. This meeting was of special importance since the group of Prof. Stankovi is world recognised name in communications and signal processing, and possible cooperation with them would lead to further convergence of research potentials in WBC. Since Montenegro is also agricultural country, especially with respect to wine production, new opportunities for deployment of AGROSENSE project results were discussed.
Dissemination at international level
Project partner's researchers have visited numerous international conferences which were a good opportunity to spread excellence and project results. Over 50 conference attendances and over 50 networking meetings have been performed both at regional and international level.
Central events of the dissemination were two workshops and official opening of the new BioSense Center. The first workshop within the project called 'BioSense09' was held on 14 and 15 October 2009. The workshop was devoted to sensing technologies application in agriculture, forestry and environmental protection. All project partners gave significant contribution to the successful organisation of the workshop. The workshop was hosted at FTS, Serbia. Five plenary talks were held by invited spokesman, 18 papers were submitted and presented at the workshop. The workshop enrolled 15 experts from US, Canada and the European Union (EU, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Slovenia and Hungary) and 26 from WBC region (Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina). Indirectly, the workshop also included co-authors of papers from Spain, Austria and Ukraine, and through the programme committee it also included experts from the Czech Republic and Portugal.
The second international workshop on sensing technologies in agriculture, forestry and environment called 'EcoSense09' aimed to be a forum where researchers and practitioners address the challenges in the design, development and evaluation of different biosensing systems, with specific focus on practical aspects. Aside 7 plenary talks held by invited spokesman, 14 regular papers were submitted and presented at the workshop. The workshop enrolled 15 experts from Europe, US, Asia and 25 from Serbia.
Bojan Pajti, the president of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina opened the new BioSense Center at the University of Novi Sad by activating the latest wireless sensor network at the green house pilot site in Rimski Anevi near Novi Sad. The event has been covered by all major national television and radio networks and by a great number of press representatives.
Taking into account the reputation and strength of the BioSense Center which have grown over the past three Project years beyond the state and even regional borders, it is clear that the full accomplishment of this FP7 call has been reached. Serbian research centres have become internationally recognised for its human resources and procured equipment. The BioSense Center has become a meeting place of experts and knowledge expertise in various research areas. With four new FP7 projects, over six other international projects and three national strategical development projects and a wide network of partners from all over the world, the BioSense Center, IMP and FANS have ensured its place in present and future European research area. Furthermore, partners form the region of convergence and EU gained valuable partners from WBC with whom they will continue to cooperate in the future.
Project website: http://www.agrosense.org
Contact details:
Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad
Ass. Prof. Vladimir Crnojevi
Department of Power Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications
Trg Dositeja Obradovia 6
21000 Novi Sad
Serbia
Email: crnojevic@uns.ac.rs
Telephone: +38-121-4852520
Fax: +38-121-475 2997
Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, University of Florence
Prof. Romano Fantacci
Department of Electronics and Telecommunications
via di S. Marta 3
Florence
I-50139 Italy
Email: romano.fantacci@unifi.it
Telephone: +39-055-4796270
Fax: +39-055-494569
Josef Stefan Institute
Prof. Gorazd Kandus
Department of Communication Systems
Jamova 39
Ljubljana
1000 Slovenia
Email: gorazd.kandus@ijs.si
Telephone:+38-614-773608
Fax: +38-614-773111
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad
Prof. Branko Marinkovi
Institute for Field and Vegetable Crops
Trg Dositeja Obradovia 6
21000 Novi Sad
Serbia
Email: branko@polj.ns.ac.yu
Telephone: +38-121-4853200
Fax: +38-121-470731
Institute Mihailo Pupin
Dr Goran Dimi
Telecommunications Department
Volgina 15
11000 Belgrade
Serbia
Email: gdimic@kondor.imp.bg.ac.yu
Telephone: +38-111-2775159
Fax: +38-111-2772953
Provincial Secretariat for Agriculture, Water Economy and Forestry, Executive Council of AP Vojvodina
Mr Borislav Brunet
Bulevar Mihaila Pupina 16
21000 Novi Sad
Serbia
Email: borislav.brunet@vojvodina.sr.gov.yu
Telephone: +38-121-4874405
Fax: + 38-121-456040
