COGNAC – Fraunhofer lighthouse project “Cognitive Agriculture”

In Short

In the lighthouse project “Cognitive Agriculture”, eight Fraunhofer institutes have joined forces to conduct fundamental research on how to produce agricultural products in a way that is not only environmentally-friendly and highly-efficient but also gentle on resources.

In Detail

The aim is to automatically record relevant data on complex interrelationships in crop production and to process it to generate profit. The information is intended to support decision-making processes, such as the precise and needs-based use of pesticides, that concern all the relevant agricultural players.

The focus is on the following areas of innovation:

Agricultural data space: open data exchange in a secure, digitally-networked ecosystem designed specifically for the agricultural sector, where    complex agricultural data concerning topics such as soil conditions or the market situation can be used and linked in different ways;

Innovative sensor systems: automated interpretation and decision-making support based on high resolution measurement data from airborne   or terrestrial systems using multi-channel information;

Innovative automation concepts: autonomous field robot consisting of swarms of small robots and drones in order to integrate the innovative   sensor solutions, thus enabling important crop parameters to be recorded and crop-specific field work to be carried out.

Pilot applications in test fields are intended to demonstrate that monitoring the agrosphere and cultivating specific crops in fields can increase productivity without causing subsequent ecological damage.

The analysis of highly-complex interactions between the biosphere and production can be used to advantage in an ecosystem of networked data and services (“Agricultural Data Space”). This digital platform - which meets strict security and data protection requirements - will help farmers, government authorities, environmental organizations, cooperatives and machine manufacturers to make the right decisions.

More information on the website of Fraunhofer IESE

Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF

Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS

Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation – Advanced System Technology (AST) branch of the institute IOSB

Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA

Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM

Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM

Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems IVI