The University of Cordoba is starting tests with a quadruped robot from the US company Boston Dynamics to carry out crop monitoring and tracking tasks. The initiative, pioneering in Europe and carried out by the Remote Sensing Applied to Precision Agriculture research group (AGR-124) within the framework of the HIBA+ project, aims to advance the digital transformation of the agrifood chain.

To this end, the robot, also called SPOT ground robotic platform, will be responsible for capturing LiDAR data (an acronym for Light Detection and Ranging), a remote sensing technique of the National Geographic Institute of Spain (IGN) and open access that provides three-dimensional terrain information thanks to a laser. LiDAR data, both multispectral and thermographic, and the use of Artificial Intelligence will allow informed decisions on crop management based on knowledge of the structure, vigour or water status of the crops. This data will be combined with other data captured through satellite images, unmanned aerial platforms and soil, plant and air sensors that will feed a data platform.

In this way, the initiative aims to advance the digitalisation of the field and bring technologies closer to all agents in the value chain, showing the benefits of the use of platforms of this type in the tracking and monitoring of crops.

The HIBA project began with the Interreg POCTEP Hub Iberia Agrotech project (2018-2023) aiming at the consolidation and strengthening of a network for the digitisation of the agrifood sector in Spain and Portugal. It has continued since January 2024 with HIBA+, approved by the Managing Authority (MA) of the Interreg VI-A Spain - Portugal Cooperation Programme (POCTEP) 2021-2027, in its third call. It is an initiative led by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Andalusian Regional Government, together with eleven entities, most of them involved with the Thematic Partnership on Traceability & Big Data in the agrifood value chain through its regional nodes. Both projects are situated within the framework of the Horizon Europe and Digital Europe Strategy and the policies of DG CONNECT, which is committed to a structured collaboration between the European Digital Innovation Hubs of Andalusia, Galicia, Extremadura and Portugal.

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