Opti-Beef – Commercialisation Launch Readiness

OPTI-Beans项目于2019年5月启动，通过产业战略挑战基金从英国研究和创新中心获得了120万GB的巨额资金。这项支持是一个更广泛的倡议的一部分，以支持‘多产和可持续的作物和反刍动物农业系统’。在其四年的持续时间里，OPTI-BEAR旨在创建一个增强的决策支持系统，将农场全生命周期的性能监测与精确农业技术的详细屠体测量相结合。此集成设计用于在农场和屠宰场部署。该项目成功地开发了用于个体动物监测的新的农场技术、针对活体动物和身体图像的创新参数提取算法、精确的分级预测模型以及用户友好的农场和屠宰场数据平台。然而，要过渡到商业上可行的产品，进一步的完善是必不可少的。该项目现在的重点是实时图像处理，以满足屠宰场的需求，并确保将牛的ID与快速/复杂屠宰场环境中捕获的图像可靠地联系起来。此外，为了获得商业许可，需要提高15分等级分级模型的准确性，并设计一种可靠的方法来评估脂肪覆盖率/深度。主要目标包括：*为可靠的图像和UKID链接制作全自动软件集成解决方案。*开发准确的屠体脂肪覆盖率/深度预测算法。*改进图像处理算法，以考虑实时屠宰场条件。*创建商业级算法，用于预测屠体形态、脂肪分类和屠体重量。*开发新屠体性状的预测，并探索它们在分级/定价模型中的用途。根据该项目的结论，我们的目标是拥有一个强大的屠宰场成像产品，准备好接受Defra的许可。该产品将是为数不多的通过英国屠宰场选项获得许可的产品之一。它将与最近开发的农场技术相结合，为牛肉行业提供一个宝贵的综合管理工具。这一工具旨在促进明智的决策，导致更多的动物符合屠宰场的要求，生产者更好地管理投入，减少对环境的影响，并增加饲养动物的回报。这一先进的创新解决方案满足了牛肉行业对集成决策平台的持续需求。

The OPTI-BEEF project, initiated in May 2019, was awarded substantial funding of £1.2m from UK Research and Innovation, through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. This support was part of a broader initiative to bolster 'Productive and Sustainable Crop and Ruminant Agricultural Systems'.Over its four-year duration, OPTI-BEEF aimed to create an enhanced decision support system that integrates on-farm whole-life performance monitoring with detailed carcass measurements from precision agriculture technology. This integration was designed for deployment both on-farm and in-abattoirs. The project successfully developed new on-farm technologies for individual animal monitoring, innovative parameter extraction algorithms for both live animal and carcass images, precise grading prediction models, and user-friendly on-farm and abattoir data platforms.However, to transition to a commercially viable product, further refinements are essential. The project now focuses on real-time image processing to cater to abattoirs' needs and ensuring reliable linkage of cattle IDs to images captured within the fast/complex abattoir environment. Additionally, to achieve commercial licensing, there is a need to enhance the accuracy of grading models on a 15-point scale and devise a reliable method for assessing fat coverage/depth.Key objectives include:* Crafting a fully automated software integration solution for reliable image and UKID linkage.* Developing an algorithm for accurate carcass fat coverage/depth prediction.* Refining the image processing algorithm to account for real-time abattoir conditions.* Creating a commercial-grade algorithm for predicting carcass conformation and fat classifications and carcass weight.* Develop predictions of new carcass traits and explore their use within grading/pricing models.By the project's conclusion, the goal is to have a robust abattoir imaging product ready for licensing by Defra. This product will be among the few licensed VIA options for UK abattoirs. It will synergise with the recently developed on-farm technology, offering the beef industry an invaluable integrated management tool. This tool aims to facilitate informed decision-making, leading to more animals meeting abattoir requirements, better input management by producers, reduced environmental impact, and increased returns on reared animals. The beef industry's ongoing need for an integrated decision-making platform is addressed by this advanced and innovative solution.