Fostering and Enabling AI, Data and Robotics Technologies for Supporting Human Workers in Harvesting Wild Food

野生浆果和蘑菇被认为是北欧国家的国宝。这些食品不需要任何资源来培育，因为它们在森林中自然生长。据估计，每年从森林中收获的野生浆果不到总收成的10%。采集野生浆果的主要挑战在于人工森林采伐，即采摘者的工作条件。由于季节短，大部分工作是由外国人进行的，他们对语言、文化和森林的了解有限。FEROX项目旨在利用人工智能、数据和机器人技术的进步来改善野生浆果采摘者的工作条件。该项目将使用配备各种传感器的自主无人机来获取数据，建立森林的3D模型，从而准确估计浆果的位置、数量和类型。收集到的数据将用于构建人工智能模型，以帮助工人定位浆果并优化操作。此外，FEROX将为野生浆果采摘者提供导航和定位服务以及物理支持，以改善他们的工作条件，增强他们的信任和信心。FEROX的整体解决方案将通过自动监控采摘机并在需要时提供援助，从而有助于工人的整体安全。因此，FEROX预计将吸引当地人和徒步爱好者在夏季收集野生产品，从而提高野生浆果的总体产量。这些成果将为欧盟公司提供商业机会，以适应为工业化种植开发的解决方案，并作为安全和可持续浆果收获的技术提供商支持全球可持续性。为了证明这一解决方案，FEROX将在野生浆果和蘑菇“Arktiset Aromit”（北极风味）协会的支持下，在芬兰的森林中进行测试

Wild berries and mushrooms are considered to be a national treasure of Nordic countries. These food products require zero resources to cultivate as they grow naturally in the forests. It is estimated that less than 10% of the total annual wild berry crop is harvested from the forests. The main challenge in collecting wild berries lies in the manual forest harvesting, namely pickers’ working conditions. Due to the short season, the majority of the work is conducted by foreigners with limited knowledge of the language, culture and forests. The FEROX project aims to utilize advances in AI, data, and robotics to improve the working conditions of the wild berry pickers. The project will employ autonomous drones equipped with various sensors to acquire data, build 3D models of the forests and, therefore, accurately estimate berries’ locations, amount and types. The collected data will be used to build AI models to help workers locate the berries and optimize their operations. In addition, FEROX will provide wild berry pickers with navigation and locating services and physical support to improve their working conditions and boost their trust and confidence. The holistic solution of FEROX will contribute to the overall safety of the workers by automatically monitoring the pickers and providing aid where it is needed. As a consequence, FEROX is expected to attract locals and hiking enthusiasts to work during summer in collecting wild products, hence, increasing the overall yield of the wild berries. These outcomes will open business opportunities for EU companies to adapt the solutions developed for industrialized cultivation as well as support global sustainability as technology providers for safe and sustainable berry harvesting. To demonstrate the solution, FEROX will conduct its tests in the forests in Finland with the support of the wild berries and mushroom ‘Arktiset Aromit’ (Arctic Flavours) Association