Today's Edition
Mays Ibrahim (ABU DHABI)
UAE-made innovative solutions for sustainable agriculture stole the limelight at the Abu Dhabi International Food Exhibition (ADIFE), hosted at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre as part of Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Security Week.
Nano-Drones Revolutionise Indoor Farming Efficiency
In an interview with Aletihad, Lorenzo Bellone, a senior researcher at the Autonomous Robotics Research Centre in the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), introduced their nano-drones.
These ultra-small, palm-sized robots are designed to enhance the efficiency of indoor agriculture through improving plant monitoring and health diagnostics.
Unlike standard drones, which require extensive safety measures due to their size and power, nano-drones can fly close to plants and humans without causing harm, Bellone explained.
"Nano-drones can gather critical data from plants, such as humidity, temperature, CO2 levels, and even detect diseases or pests," Bellone said. "We're working on optimising these drones to detect the ripeness of fruits like strawberries and blueberries - vital for ensuring harvests are picked at the optimal time."
He noted that the automation of tasks like monitoring plant health and ripeness reduces human error and labour costs, making large-scale indoor farming more efficient.
Tactile Sensors and AI for Ripeness Testing
Another remarkable innovation was spotted at Khalifa University's booth, where research associate Mashood Mohammad Mohsan introduced a wearable tactile sensor designed to replicate human palpation to assess fruit ripeness.
The device, worn on the thumb, uses AI to digitise human tactile feedback. "The challenge with traditional methods is that they are destructive, like the penetrometer used to puncture fruits to test their hardness," Mohsan said. "Our solution allows farmers to assess fruit quality without harming the produce."
The same technology has been integrated into robotic systems, by building a gripper with a tactile sensor, according to Mohsan.
This allows autonomous sorting and packaging robots to evaluate fruit ripeness with the same sensitivity as human hands, optimising post-harvest processes, he added.
Autonomous Pollination Robots
The UAE's extreme summer heat poses significant challenges for traditional pollination, especially for crops grown in greenhouses.
Mohsan pointed out that honeybees, which play a crucial role in pollination, struggle to survive in the UAE's high temperatures.
To overcome this issue, Khalifa University has developed an autonomous pollination robot that mimics the behaviour of natural bees.
Mohsan explained that this robot, equipped with a brush and a camera, autonomously detects and targets female plants in the greenhouse. It then uses vibrations to transfer pollen, effectively automating the pollination process.
Khalifa University is also exhibiting its drone-based yield estimation system, designed to monitor and assess crop yields in large-scale greenhouses. The drones can fly over rows of crops, such as blueberries, and use advanced imaging technology to count the number of fruits and assess their ripeness stages.
This technology helps farmers accurately estimate yields, optimise harvesting schedules, and improve resource management in large agricultural operations, Mohsan said.
Nanomaterials for Climate Control and Efficiency
TII's nanomaterials team, led by Afra Alketbi, showcased two innovative solutions aimed at improving sustainability in agriculture.
The first is a thermal management coating that helps regulate the temperature in greenhouses.
The coating, which can be applied as paint or a transparent layer, reduces the temperature inside structures by reflecting excess heat, creating a more comfortable microclimate for plants, Alketbi explained in an interview with Aletihad.
This solution is particularly important in the UAE, where high temperatures and energy consumption for cooling are constant challenges in agriculture, she noted.
"By reducing the temperature under greenhouse roofs, this coating helps mitigate the need for excessive air conditioning, leading to lower energy consumption and reduced emissions," Alketbi said.
TII also demoed a multifunctional anti-soiling coating designed to keep surfaces clean by repelling dust and water.
This transparent, nanoscale coating has wide applications, from protecting solar panels (which suffer significant efficiency losses due to dust accumulation) to maintaining the cleanliness of greenhouse roofs, Alketbi said.
By reducing dust buildup, the coating improves light penetration into greenhouses, optimising plant growth conditions while also enhancing the efficiency of solar panels, she added.
