I am not a wine expert. I am not even a regular consumer, although when I taste a good ‘broth’ I am able to differentiate it. And since the earth always pulls, I can say that I am more from Ribera del Duero than from any other. And now that artificial intelligence (AI) is going to be applied in an AI4EU project, under the umbrella of Horizon 2020, the European Commission’s research and innovation framework program, all the more reason to follow the vintage of this a little more closely. year of three wineries –Martín Berdugo, Prado Rey and Vizcarra– of this denomination of origin.
The technology company Atos, specialized in digital transformation, is the one who has launched this pilot initiative in the three wineries located in Ribera de Duero to measure the quality of the vintage. The solution uses artificial intelligence and data analysis to extract meaningful data from vineyard images to help winemakers make key decisions such as selecting the optimal harvest time, identifying plant nutritional parameters or predicting which areas to grow. the vineyards will have an adequate production to create different types of wines. The project aims to reduce overall costs and improve the quality of wine production.
More project collaborators
Atos is also collaborating on this project with Smart Rural, an SME focused on technology for agriculture, with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the University of Athens and the DLR (German Aerospace Center).
In the pilot information is collected based on artificial vision, photos, images from drones or satellites, or data from Smart Rural. The information is incorporated into a database, where algorithms are processed and developed, to later be implemented in the Ribera del Duero wineries by Smart Rural. The solution will allow the automatic counting of fruits in each plant, evaluating its maturity and quality of the harvest.
Improve the quality of the grape
Thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, winemakers will be able to improve the production count of the number of clusters and measure the quality of the grape, so that they can decide how to use it. The pilot is currently in the development phase and its on-site validation and commissioning is scheduled for next year.
The AI4EU project aims to build the first European AI platform and ecosystem, which will facilitate the collaboration of the 28 member states for the creation of resources that promote the development and implementation of this technology.
Eight AI4EU pilots
In addition to the construction of the platform, the AI4EU project will implement eight pilots to demonstrate the capabilities of said platform, thus enabling real applications that promote adoption and innovation, solving the technical challenges posed by advanced industrial applications and stimulating an intense partnership between research and industry.
In addition to the work carried out in this project, Atos recently announced a new one to respond to the great challenge of farmers, the expansion of Jimson weed, a toxic plant that grows in many crops.
