10063641Validation of High-Definition Maps Using Agricultural and Autonomous VehiclesClosedEU-FundedHorizon Europe GuaranteeDigital technology advances for agriculture have enabled high-resolution crop performance data capture, offering great insight for improved decision-making. However, existing Agri-tech solutions have largely been developed in isolation, do not integrate with other solutions, causing frustration to end-users, slowing adoption. The project will utilise highly accurate RTK equipment to map all features within the vineyard including: entrances, roadways, drains, irrigation manifolds, sensors, posts, and vines; and convert this data into open-source maps. Key users of these maps are robotics and UAV suppliers, who rely upon detailed geospatial information to safely and reliably operate their platforms. Direct access to a single unified map would eliminate costly separate surveys. This will be a key enabler to emerging autonomous technologies and will be critical to their uptake. Although the project focuses on vineyards, this will be equally applicable in other row crops (bush fruit, strawberries, hops, orchards, high value vegetables). Unlike arable cropping which is largely 2D in nature and therefore mapped using relatively simple techniques shared via shapefiles, there are no current descriptive mapping methods for row crops. This limitation means growers are unable to easily deploy cutting-edge agri-tech to monitor crop variation and issues. The project will investigate core mapping techniques and technology collaboration, but there is scope to extend it to investigate additional methods, validating the navigational maps across more technology platforms to capture more insightful data of pests, disease or weeds, yield, and canopy structure.