Скачать или смотреть Balloon sensors used to communicate with grapes

(9 Oct 2017) LEADIN:
Italian wine producers are experimenting with camera and sensor fitted balloons in an attempt to communicate with their grapes.
The balloons hover over the vines recording visual quality and gathering data, such as temperature, before transmitting the information back to the producers.
It's hoped the technology could help winemakers to stop crops spoiling and reduce the amount of pesticides used in production.
STORYLINE:
These scientists are still testing their invention – their tools include an orange balloon, a small polystyrene box and a few pieces of adhesive tape.
Their mission is to improve Italian wines.
For the past year a group of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Turin have been working on a technology that allows vines to communicate with their producers.
After placing a few sensors in a vineyard, a balloon is launched with a radio transmitter to listen to what the plants have to say.
"You need to imagine that the data gatherer which is positioned on the balloon is an antenna, in charge of receiving and listening to everything the transmitters are telling us. The sensors positioned on the field speak," explains Mattia Poletti, one of the researchers who has been working on the project.
"What language do they speak? The data language. They gather a bunch of information like temperatures, physical quantities, and they send this information through an antenna up to 20, 30, 40 kilometres away, depending on the case, to the gatherer. The only condition for this to happen is for the sensor and the gatherer to have a line of sight. So if you imagine that you are on the balloon you should be able to see the sensors on the vines, in that way the connection can happen as far as 40km."
The radio transmitter positioned on the balloon gathers the data, which can then be analysed and used to cure the vines efficiently.
Agrometeorology can reduce the use of chemical treatments and save resources to improve quantity and quality of crops.
However small producers can sometimes be reticent to make big investments in such technology.
"We decided to use the idea of a balloon because it is something flexible," says Daniele Trinchero, Professor in charge of the research group.
"Setting itself apart form a trellis, which is quite ugly to see, the balloon is an item I can move from one day to the other - we demonstrated that the radius that can be covered is 50 kilometres, this means that in order to cover the entire territory of Piedmont, which is quite a vast wine producing region, wine is produced everywhere, we would only need 10 balloons."
Trinchero estimates only two sensors per hectare would be needed, at a cost of 100 euros per sensor.
Wine producer Bruno Cerutti owns four and a half hectares of vineyards in the region.
He first heard about the experiment on the local news channel and believes this technology would be a great opportunity for all his wines, including his Moscato and his Barbera.
"In some years, it (chemicals) can become quite a problem - we can either use preventive measures by continuously applying treatments to the plants or cure them once the harm is done, which can cost a lot and can be harmful to ones health. If we were able to know as much as possible about the plant and apply the most efficient treatment at the right time it would be very good and one would of course save money on treatments, pollute less, and offer more safety in terms of intoxications, it would of course be very interesting."
Furthermore, Bonino estimates he has used half as many chemicals than he has in previous years.

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