HEKTOR

Project name: Heterogeneous autonomous robotic system in viticulture and mariculture
Project acronym: HEKTOR
Dates: 13.03.2020 - 31.03.2023
Total budget: 5.794.060,14 HRK
Funding: ESI ERDF - European Regional Development Fund
Website: http://hektor.fer.hr/

 


The main objective of the HEKTOR project is to provide a systematic solution for the coordination and cooperation of smart heterogeneous robots/vehicles (marine, land, and air) capable of autonomously collaborating and distributing tasks in open unstructured space/waters.

HEKTOR is conceived as a modular and autonomous system, adapted for various missions in viticulture and mariculture with the anticipated possibility of human intervention while performing various work, inspection, and intervention tasks.

The purpose of the project in the part of viticulture is to try for the first time in Croatia to incorporate "robotic systems" in the wine-growing technology, especially on extremely steep, demanding terrains where only manual labor has been applied so far.

The purpose of the project in the mariculture discipline is to attempt for the first time in Croatia to include in the process of fish cage farming "robotic systems" for the automated monitoring of fish cages. This job now requires the long work of divers in all, even the harshest of weather conditions. In addition, the obligation of environmental protection and constant monitoring of the status around and below the cage in mariculture necessarily requires measurements of all relevant parameters and sampling from the bottom (sediment) and in the water column. The proposed HEKTOR robotic system will enable these activities to reduce the need for divers, thus increasing the safety of the production process and directly protecting the health of workers.

The results achieved in both of these disciplines would contribute to the faster development of sparsely populated areas (island, karst, etc.) and stop population migration while contributing to sustainable development and environmental protection.

The project is a joint action of three institutions. The University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing is the project coordinator, and project partners are the University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture and Institute for Marine and Coastal Research of the University of Dubrovnik.


News

HECTOR in Science&Wine blog

HEKTOR was featured in a blog article on the Science&Wine website. The article describes the project and its objective and disseminates the most important advancements achieved by the project thusfar.

Author: Barbara Arbanas Pascoal Ferreira
Christmas robot party

The Advent fever did not bypass the robots and drones that occupied the Maksimir Center for Culture and Information at Švarcova 18 on Wednesday, December 22, from 1 pm to 8 pm, and served visitors hot drinks and Christmas treats!

Our lab members introduced visitors to robots Franka, Pepper, Kinova, and Schunk in the Advent house in front of the Center who rolled up their sleeves to warm the visitors in these cold days and brighten the upcoming holidays.

Robots prepared and served hot drinks and Christmas treats, and at the same time in front of the Center, there were presentations of robots intended for primary and secondary school students where they learned firsthand how robots can communicate with plants and learn how to fly drones.

Pupils could also drive robots and make a 2D map or find out how artificial intelligence can warn us in a cheap and environmentally friendly way about the quality of air, soil, and water in our environment. They also learned how robots and plants communicate with each other and how a 3D model of a building model can be made with a drone.

Four parallel workshops were conducted during the entire day: LIDAR workshop, WatchPlant workshop, ASAP/ENCORE workshop, HEKTOR workshop.

More photos from the event are available in the gallery.

Author: Barbara Arbanas Pascoal Ferreira
VIV Field Experiments

Our robot VIV conducted a series of experiments in Jazbina, an agricultural field complex. An experiment was also conducted in a vineyard near the village of Sv. Ivan Zelina, which, with a slope of 50%, is an excellent terrain for testing the ground component of the HEKTOR project. Data on the robot's movements were collected and its autonomy was tested. The robot proved capable of dealing with such steep terrain.

Author: Ana Golec
HEKTOR's Researchers at BtS 2021

UNIZG FER’s researchers Zdenko Kovačić, Nadir Kapetanović, and project partners Nikša Glavić and Nenad Antolović from the Institute for Marine and Coastal Research attended the 13th International Workshop of Maritime Robotics – Breaking the Surface (BtS) held in Biograd na Moru from September 26 to October 3, 2021, and had a project meeting on October 1, 2021 to discuss joint activities and results, including the demonstration of the research platform Korkyra, which was also successfully tested during the workshop, and in the week of experiments and testing after the workshop.

Nikša Glavić also participated in the programme of the workshop with a presentation on Robotic Systems in Mariculture.

Author: Ana Golec
Hektor Researchers at MIPRO 2021

Hektor researchers, Prof. Zdenko Kovačić and Ivan Hrabar, presented two papers at the 44th International Convention on Information, Communication and Electronic Technology, held September 27 - October 1 in Opatija, Croatia. The paper Towards Autonomous Navigation of a Mobile Manipulator in a Steep Slope Vineyard (I. Hrabar, J. Goričanec, Z. Kovačić) was presented by Ivan Hrabar, and the paper Collecting Information for Biomass Estimation in Mariculture with a Heterogeneous Robotic System (M. Rezo, K. Čagalj, I. Ušljebrka, Z. Kovačić) was presented by Prof. Kovačić. The papers were presented at the Robotics Technologies and Applications conference session.

Author: Ana Golec
Visit to CROMARIS

From 27 to 29 June 2021, HEKTOR team members paid another visit to the project end-user CROMARIS fish farm (Ugljan, Croatia) to collect new datasets for the estimation of sea bream and sea bass biomass in fish cages. They also collected a dataset for biofouling and net damage detection algorithms. The data was collected using DJI Phantom, ARIS sonar and Blueye Pro ROV.

Author: Ana Golec
First joint meeting of HEKTOR...

On Thursday, November 12, 2020, the first joint meeting of all researchers of the HEKTOR project was held. The meeting was held online and the project partners presented the activities of their institutions. Newly employed researchers presented in more detail the activities carried out in the first six months of project implementation. Project leader, prof. Zdenko Kovačić concluded that the activities are being carried out according to the plan and that successful cooperation is expected in the coming period.

Author: Ana Golec
Project task – CROMARIS

On October 8, 2020, members of the project team visited CROMARIS fish farm (Kali, Ugljan) to collect field data needed for the development of algorithms using the equipment procured within the project (BlueEye ROV underwater vehicle).

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) recorded visual data from the air, and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) visual and sonar data on the appearance of cages under the sea. The data collected by the UAVs will be used to solve the problem of biomass estimation in cages, detection of damage or displacement of cages, rope damage, etc. after storms, while the AUV will collect data to further solve the problem of estimating fish mortality, dissolved oxygen concentration, pH values, detection of damage to the network and fouling on the networks, cleaning of the networks, inspection of anchors and ropes, etc.

Photos available in the HEKTOR website gallery.

Author: Ana Golec
Project task – vineyard survey

On Tuesday, July 21, 2020, members of the project team (members of LARICS) performed test flights by drone in the vineyard to try out the creation of a 3D map of the vineyard using several types of sensors (LiDAR, cameras). The test vineyard in Zagreb served as an excellent location for the project task, which was successfully completed and the first project results were achieved.

More photos are available in the HEKTOR website gallery.

Author: Ana Golec
ESIF project HEKTOR has commenced

The new project “Heterogeneous autonomous robotic system in viticulture and mariculture (HEKTOR)” commenced on 13 March 2020. It is a three-year project funded by European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), and coordinated by the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing with Prof. Zdenko Kovacic as Project Leader. Project partners are University of Dubrovnik (Institute for Marine and Coastal Research) and University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture. Two UNIZG-FER laboratories are involed in the implementation of the project – Laboratory for Robotics and Intelligent Control Systems (LARICS) and Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies (LABUST).

The main objective of HEKTOR project is to provide a systematic solution for the coordination and cooperation of smart heterogeneous robots/vehicles (marine, land and air) capable of autonomously collaborating and distributing tasks in open unstructured space/waters. HEKTOR is conceived as a modular and autonomous system, adapted for various missions in viticulture and mariculture with the anticipated possibility of human intervention while performing various work, inspection and intervention tasks.

Author: Ana Golec