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Water Percept

INESC TEC

About Technology

Precise non-invasive tool for smart sprayers to measure water content in vegetation.

The Water Percept system consists of a receiver and an emitter and uses radio frequency attenuation for measuring the water content present in vegetation.

Inventors
Filipe Neves Santos
Filipe Neves Santos
Manuel Cândido Santos
Rodrigo Gomes Borges
Licensing Contacts
Marta Vranas

Problem

Effective water management is crucial for maintaining healthy crops, and identifying signs of water stress in plants is essential for sustainable and efficient agricultural processes.


That's why precision agriculture and agricultural robotics use variable-rate technologies to control agronomic inputs based on contextual features such as plant status, requirements, and location.


Currently, real-time time and remote solutions that use satellites or aerial vehicles are mostly equipped with radar scatterometers or optical-based systems. However, the accuracy of optical-based methods is negatively affected by atmospheric conditions, and water sensing is limited to the contribution of the superficial layers of the plants because only reflected information is used.


New systems, sensors, and algorithms are needed to better evaluate spraying quality in real-time and provide feedback.

Solution

Precise non-invasive tool for smart sprayers to measure water content in vegetation.

Our solution is Water Percept, a precise and non-invasive device for measuring water content in vegetation.


The system consists of a receiver and an emitter and uses radio frequency attenuation for measuring the water content present in vegetation.


This technology is unique in producing 2D or 3D images that characterize the water stress of plants.


This device can be integrated into existing equipment, handheld or with autonomous operation, such as commercial spraying machinery or specialized agricultural robots, being of value for machinery used in difficult agricultural terrains.

Unique benefits

Comprehensive analysis

Local, whole-leaf water mapping (3D models) with a resolution of a few cm2, avoiding water-sensitive paper

Real-time

Can be used to analyse the plant leaf water content during spraying operations

Weatherproof

Ready to operate in low-visibility conditions where optical and satellite-based solutions do not work

Digital information

Outputs data for analytics and support instruments control with real-time feedback

Versatility

Beam steering allows scanning of vegetation with distinct dimensions and in terrains with difficult topologies

Use Cases

For Precision Agriculture, in a variety of agriculture processes such as irrigation, treatment and fertilization, integrated into smart and sprayers with anti-drift panels

Sprayers with anti-drift panels

Precision viticulture

Technology Details

Commercial Rights
INESC TEC and U.Porto have exclusive rights
License Status
Available
Technology Area(s)

Agriculture & food

Impact Area(s)
Agro-Food
Intellectual Property