VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND LTD

New sensor technologies for drone agriculture applications

Tehoa maatalouteen droneilla, 21.3.2016, SaloHeikki Saari, VTT Microspectrometers

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ContentsWhy new drone sensors are needed in agriculture? State-of-the-art of drone assisted crop precision farming –

Example Sequoia Drone imaging system Novel drone multi- and hyperspectral imaging systems Hyperspectral iPhone demo Cubic inch size MEMS-FPI based hyperspectral imager with

mobile camera module Drone multispectral imager with 12 channels based on four RGB

cameras. RFID sensors with drone used for the remote readoutWhat can be done to create Finnish drone system products for

agriculture? Conclusions

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Why new drone sensors are needed in agriculture? Climate change. How to prevent crop losses in rapidly changing growth

conditions - new plant diseases, unprecedented weather conditions. Human chemical exposure. How grow effectively with drastically reduced use

of fertilizers and pesticides (natural and organic food). In general there is a need for integration of existing Precision Farming (PF)

equipment, sensor modules, Digital Support System (DSS). There is a need for improved DSS for variable-rate-technology fertilization including

sensor data AND economic costs for Drone based PF approaches. There has been lots of research efforts on drone based sensors that has been

shown to provide useful information on nutritional status, water stress and plant health. The biggest problem of existing solutions is the cost of advanced drone sensors

used in research for example hyper- and multispectral imagers. Focus of this presentation is to provide a short introduction what new

technologies there are for cost effective multi- and hyperspectral agriculture drone sensors

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Sequoia 4 channel multispectral sensor for drone agriculture applications

Ref. http://www.parrot.com/usa/companie

s/sequoia/Ref.https://www.pix4d.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Sequoia_Flyer.pdf

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Sequoia 4 channel multispectral sensor for droneagriculture applications

Ref. https://www.pix4d.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Sequoia_Flyer.pdf

• In Sequoia systemthere are four camerasproviding images at 4 spectral bands in Green, Red, Red-Edgeandd VNIR

• The selected fourspectral bands provideuseful information butfor more accuratedetection of plantdiseases, watershortage, nitrogen and biomass content morespectral bands arerequired.

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State-of-the-art of drone assisted crop precision farming

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Novel drone multi- and hyperspectralimaging systems

MEMS-FPI based hyperspectral cameras based on smart phonecamera modules (ref. Rissanen et.al. ”MEMS FPI-basedsmartphone hyperspectral imager”, SPIE 9855 to be published).MEMS-FPI based hyperspectral imager with mobile phone

camera module in cubic inch size.Multispectral cameras based on multi passband filters and RGB

image sensors.

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Hyperspectral iPhone demo

Tunable MEMS FPI chipsWavelength ranges:

• 450 – 550 nm/ single chip• 450 - 700 nm/ tandem

• 800 – 1050 nm

Mobile application potential:• Counterfeit identification

• Authentication• Vis/NIR food sensing

• Heath/Wellness

Future for ubiquitous sensing • Software programmable• Cloud-based data• Novel applications through

mobile app developers

MEMS Diagnostics Environment

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MEMS-FPI based hyperspectral imager with mobile phone camera module

1 Mpix hyperspectral imagerconcept

One MEMS-FPI between mobile camera lenses

FOV defined by the hyperspectralimager lens

Size of the module would bearound cubic inch (25 x 25 25 mm)

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VTT multispectral imager based on multipassband filters and RGB camera

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3 Mpix multispectralimager concept

Multi passband filteroptimised for Red Edge measurement.

The Multi passbandfilter can beoptimised for anyrange inside 400 –1000 nm.

Red edge multi passbandfilter transmission

Quantum efficiencies of R-, G- and B-pixels

Combined sensitivities of multi passband filter and of R-, G- and B-pixels

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VTT multispectral imager based on multi passbandfilters and RGB camera Multispectral imager for three spectral bands can be built using multi passband filter and

long&short pass filters with RGB camera. Optics can be built based on three low cost microvideo objectives.

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Concept for a 12 band multispectral imager basedfour diffrent multi passband filter camera modules It is possible to build a 12 channel multispectral camera based on four 3 cahnnel multispectral

cameras. The size of the system with a single board PC is around 65 mm x 125 mm x 125 mm and the

weight is < 750 g

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RFID sensors with drone used for remotereadout

There are new sensor technologiesthat can be used for the developmentof sensors with RFID type readoutfrom drone. A new vision for smart objects and the

Internet of Things wherein drones interact with wirelessly-powered, long-range, ultra-high frequency radio frequency identification (UHF RFID) tags outfitted with sensing capabilities. http://arxiv.org/pdf/1507.02373.pdf The challenge is how to develop

disposable sensors with dronereadout

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RFID sensors with drone used for remotereadout In a paper recently posted

on arXiv, a team of researchers has proposeda hybrid approach usinglong-range UHF RFID sensors that are dirt cheapand require no powersource, combined with a adrone that can talk to them. Is this feasible? Ref.

http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/adding-uhf-rfid-sensors-to-iris-for-aerial-farm-management

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What can be done to create Finnish dronesystem products for agriculture?

The whole value chain from a farmer to sensor module producermust be involved in the definition economic constraints i.e. what arethe benefits versus cost of a drone based service. How to organisethis? The drone sensor market is global but to enter the market there is a

need for national piloting – How can we get this done in Finland? Is it possible to define the most promising Finnish agriculture

applications of drone systems? What sensoring is required for these applications? Is it possible to develop disposable sensors that can be read fro

drones for soil parameters and/or plant diseases?

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Conclusions

There are lots of new sensor technologies that can be used in drone based precision farming. VTT has solutions for cost effective hyper- and multispectral

drone imaging systems that could developed as tools for droneassited agriculture. An other promising sensor approach is RFID sensors with drone

used for remote readout.

Contactsheikki.saari@vtt.fi, +358 40 5891254