NEWS
The irruption of ICTs has transformed production systems and provided the leverage required to advance in terms of applying innovation plans that allow us to increase competitiveness in such diverse fields as transport, industry or the agro-food business.
The use of Internet-derived technologies and of 4.0 concepts has brought about more sensoring techniques focused on data acquisition, processing and analysis.
Based on interconnecting several objects equipped with smart technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) allows different devices to interact with each other and their environment.
In addition to other applications, IK4-TEKNIKER is working on research projects whose aim is to transfer IoT to the agro-food sector to upgrade productivity, use resources more efficiently and improve the quality of the end product.
Specifically, the technology centre is currently involved in a European initiative called the Internet of Food and Farm 2020, a project with more than 70 partners working to build an innovation ecosystem to encourage people to incorporate digital technologies in the agro-food business.
Nineteen cases are being looked into within the framework of the project itself in fields such as porcine and poultry meat production, fruit and vegetable farming or dairy product processing.
IK4-TEKNIKER is working together with another three partners on a case whose goal is to improve production efficiency in the field of chicken meat production and animal wellbeing.
Specifically, work will focus on the real-time monitoring and analysis of all the key parameters involved in chicken farming, i.e.: the amount of food and water required, weight changes, ammonia levels, temperature, humidity, etc.
A number of key parameters will be monitored during transport to abattoirs by environmental sensors and wearable devices. The latter will record animal loading and in-transport environmental data will be obtained to be analysed together with the abattoir's quality entries to identify critical points that have to be improved to obtain a much better end product in terms of quality.
As far as the agro-food business is concerned, the use of digital technologies could give rise to additional improvements in the form of more efficiency, production, higher quality and improved animal wellbeing. They will also serve to reduce and therefore optimise the utilization of resources.
