Smart agriculture refers to the application of new technologies for the optimization of resources in agriculture. The Internet of Things, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, blockchain or robotics are some of the technologies that have had the greatest impact on this sector.

At AIR Institute and the IoT Digital Innovation Hub we participate in several smart agriculture projects, among them, Expand IntelWines which is supported by the European initiative EXPAND SmartAgriHubs. It is based on the development and implementation of new artificial intelligence techniques in the production process of a winery, to support decision making and improve food safety.

The application of artificial intelligence in viticulture

The wine company, Pago de Carraovejas, located in Valladolid and founded in the 1970s, has gained great recognition for its quality wines. It is currently immersed in the process of digitizing its different processes in the wine value chain, from the vineyard itself to the consumer, in order to optimize resources, reduce costs and improve quality and food safety, for which it is implementing, among others, a platform for product traceability at all stages.

However, our greatest contribution will be in improving the product palletization process. Pago de Carraovejas is looking for a solution to increase the load capacity of each pallet, thus reducing the number of pallets needed in shipments and reducing transportation costs. Such a solution should provide the optimal arrangement of boxes on each pallet for workers in the palletizing process through an interface that respects ergonomics in the work environment.

Our solution will bring among other things, a decrease in the average time spent in palletizing products and in turn a 20% decrease in the costs associated with pallet shipments, due to the reduction of the total number of packages and the reduction of their volumetric weight. Undoubtedly, a great initiative that can be replicated in other companies in the sector.