SOUP (Soilless Culture Upgrade) is a collaborative research project exploring the synergy of machine vision and robotics in soilless tomato cultures, aiming in the on-time identification of diseases and the abolishment of additives through automated intervention.
Greenhouse cultivations represent one of the most significant production sectors of Greece, with an estimated annual turnover of 900m Euros. Despite their economic importance, greenhouse cultivations are still a labour-intensive activity, with workforce and pest-management expenses making up a large percentage of the production costs. Additional problems associated with greenhouse cultivations relate to personnel health and safety issues, as well as increased environmental footprint, both arising from the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and the need for product quality assurance. In this context, project SOUP aims to modernize Greek greenhouse cultivations, by reducing their dependence
on manual labour and agrochemicals, through the following technologies:
- Automated monitoring systems that analyze the plants’ growth through the use of sensor networks,
advanced image processing and state-of-the-art deep learning techniques. - Robotic mechanisms to automate labor-intensive tasks such as pest management and harvesting.
Co‐financed by the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH – CREATE – INNOVATE Project SOUP: SOilless culture UPgrade, T1EDK-04171
