challenge, recycling, horticulture, circular economy, Yianni Monahan, interview, grodan

How Grodan and Walker Environmental Solved a Waste Management Challenge

Learn more
Medicinal crops whitepaper

Whitepaper: The future of medicinal crop cultivation

Read here
Medicinal crops whitepaper

Whitepaper: How Grodan and Fluence are mastering the art of growing medicinal crops

Read here
Medicinal crops article: How Perfect Plants converted the crisis into new opportunities

Whitepaper: Optimal irrigation strategy for large-scale production of medicinal crops

Read here
Sustainable Growing

From space with love: the launch of imaging technology into the greenhouse

Rasit Abay

Did you know that technologies used in space science can also be used in high tech greenhouses? That’s right. Our partner Rasit Abay, space situational awareness researcher and founder of Futurifai, is currently exploring how imaging technology can be used for crop registration and yield prediction. With this technology, a grower only needs to take a few photos of his greenhouse, and a machine will be able to help the grower count and measure the health of his crops. This is not a science fiction scenario in the far future; in fact according to Rasit Abay, this exciting technology could already be used by the end of this year.

1. What is imaging technology? Why is it relevant?

“With this technology, a machine can analyze a set of photos and give the grower advice, based on the information those photos provide. This helps the grower take critical decisions about, for example, his irrigation management, lighting, and harvesting. The interesting thing about this technology, is that the machine learns from previous experiences through advanced deep learning algorithms. Every time the machine analyzes a set of photos, the machine gets to know the greenhouse better, and develops customized advice for that specific greenhouse. Different machines in various greenhouses can also interact with each other and learn from each other. In that way, prediction models can be developed to help growers cultivate even more efficiently.”

2. You worked on imaging technology for the space sector first. What made you change to the horticulture sector?

“I believed it was time to introduce technologies from AI space research to the practical challenges of our daily lives. Many people find AI and new technologies quite intimidating and fear it will take away their jobs. I wanted to take away that fear. Technologies are already part of our daily lives and can actually help us with things we do not like to do (for example crop counting). We have robots on assembly lines and autonomous cars, and they all depend on AI and imaging technology to a certain degree. So why not use these technologies to bring fresh and sustainable food to the table? That’s why I decided to transfer my knowledge from space to the horticulture industry and started working with companies like Grodan.”

20200423 GR PHO 5182

Grodan, e-Gro
Download the whitepaper about the start of data-driven growing

Download the whitepaper about the start of data driven growing and read more what data-driven growing is and how it can help you.

Download the whitepaper
PDF
2.2 MB
Grodan
Download the whitepaper about the impact of data-driven growing

Download the whitepaper about the impact of data driven growing and read more what data-driven growing is and how it can help you.

Download the whitepaper
PDF
2.5 MB

3. What are the main challenges of using imaging technology?

“Machine learning is sensitive to data, so the quality and quantity of data is critical. There are many people who call themselves “AI experts”, but they do not have enough AI expertise and / or domain knowledge to transform the raw data to curated data before feeding to the machine. So partner only with experts who have a rich experience with this AI technology and domain expertise. Other than that, I don’t see many risks. I actually think AI and imaging technology will become part of our daily work and will help us make better decisions. By 2023, greenhouses could already be fully autonomous.”

4. If a grower wants to start using imaging technology, what is the first step to take?

“Key is that you can’t just install a machine, and AI will do the work for you. For these machines to work properly, you need “domain knowledge” (for example, define what healthy tomatoes look like). These technologies are expensive, and require serious hardware power. Companies like Grodan and Futurifai have the expertise to insert this domain and hardware knowledge into the software. So my advice is: work together with an expert to install this kind of technology in your greenhouse. Did you know that Grodan is also participating in developing this innovative technology further? It will be part of the e-Gro platform, so keep watching that space!

For more information about Futurifai, please visit: https://futurifai.com/

This story is part of the Gro-Hacks series, in which we ask partners and friends of Grodan about the lessons we can learn from their innovative entrepreneurial stories.

Download our whitepapers

20200410 GR ILL 5062

Download the whitepaper about the start of data-driven growing

Download the whitepaper about the start of data driven growing and read more what data-driven growing is and how it can help you.

Download

20200410 GR ILL 5061

Download the whitepaper about the impact of data-driven growing

Download the whitepaper about the impact of data driven growing and read more what data-driven growing is and how it can help you.

Download

Latest blogs

water properties, 7 strenghts, waterfall, rocks
Water Management
Sustainable Growing

World Water Day 2023

This year, the focus of the United Nations observance is how to accelerate the change needed to solve the water and sanitation crisis. The global campaign is called “Be the change”. The aim is to encourage society to take action and change the way we use, consume and manage water. As Grodan, being an active member in this society, our aim is to provide the best solutions and provide high-end services that can support growers to “Grow more, with less” and change towards a sustainable way of growing while respecting natural resources.

Read more
challenge, recycling, horticulture, circular economy, Yianni Monahan, interview, grodan
By Yianni Monahan
Sustainable Growing

Is Stone Wool Recyclable? Yes! How Grodan and Walker Environmental Solved a Waste Management Challenge

Solving agricultural recycling challenges: Learn how post-harvest Grodan stone wool substrate is turned into clean growing media for better agricultural waste management.

Read more
Grodan, egro, release update
e-Gro

e-Gro: Optimized Yield Forecaster, advanced crop registrations for more insights and an improved user experience

Being part of the greenhouse sector, we are well aware of the fact that the current season came with multiple challenges and uncertainties in your greenhouse. Gas, energy, the significantly increased inflation, and the changing climate asks for even more flexibility and creativity to adapt to this changing environment.

Read more
Grodan, e-Gro, Grodan101, MJ
e-Gro

e-Gro Q2 2022 release: Better growing with the launch of Crop Analytics, support centre and pepper crop optimizations

We know many of you are facing a number of challenges in your greenhouse. With harvest season right around the corner, you could likely use some extra hands! Unfortunately, with the current staff shortages, extra labor is not easy to find. Additionally, gas prices are higher than ever which makes it even more important to use your energy as efficiently as possible. At the same time, consumers are increasingly demanding high quality crops with sustainability playing an increasingly important role.

Read more

We are a global leader in the supply of innovative stone wool substrate solutions for the professional horticultural based on Precision Growing principles.

Select your language