Water Percept

Problem Addressed

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.

Technology

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. 

Advantages

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.

Possible Applications

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