¿Cuál fue el desafío/problema abordado??

A pheromone trap is a type of insect trap that uses pheromones to attract insects. A pheromone-impregnated lure is encased in a conventional trap. El uso de trampas de feromonas es uno de los métodos fundamentales de pronóstico de plagas en huertos y viñedos. It is also required by the agro-environmental measure of the Common Agriculture Policy (EU) that farmers use insect traps according to a certain density of land (por ejemplo, una trampa por dos hectáreas) y lea los resultados de la captura con regularidad, por ejemplo, once a day.

La tierra agrícola está fragmentada en muchos países de la región de Europa central y sudoriental, por lo que las parcelas de granjas económicas suelen estar bastante dispersas., lo que significa que es un recurso muy – humano, hora, costo – tarea ardua para visitar físicamente y leer los resultados de captura de todas las trampas ubicadas por separado con regularidad, para seguir la gradación de insectos.

A simple, cost effective, fuente abierta, community based solution was developed and piloted in Hungary to overcome these difficulties and provide farmers and their advisors with an ICT based tool that let them follow the gradation in fruit plantations online, from their computer. The solution is based on a simple and cheap android device (p.ej. a used smartphone) and open source web technologies.

The concept and prototype of an insect trap online monitoring device was developed jointly by two Hungarian advisory centers with the principle objectives of functionality and economy.

The components of the device include an entry level android smart phone, a plastic box with wooden looks to accommodate the phone, a delta-shape sex pheromone trap with transparent plastic sheets and the pheromone. The prototype was developed with a community approach in mind so that anyone can assemble and operate it following the public guidelines. Attention was taken to avoid high cost, such as insurance of the device, using expensive solar cell and other risks.

The technical task of the ‘android trap’ is to shot one picture a day about the sticky surface of the trap, and upload it to the web server via FTP connection. The IMEI number of the sim card, the date-time and battery level is sent with the image, prefijado al nombre del archivo. Thanks to optimized phone power settings an unexpectedly long operation time can be reached without recharge (20-40-180 días por batería interna-externa normal extendida). Users may browse images and related data online in a user friendly web-application.

¿Cuáles son los factores de éxito para resolver el problema??

– Community based, the process of setting up hardware and software components is documented and published; Open source software are used both in android and web server technology

– Using existing components, both hardware and software; Cheapest android smart phone is suitable (under appr 100 euro) thus the price performance ratio is unprecedented; Easy to use web interface linked to farm logbook application

– Realistic solution for use by small and medium size family farms (as opposed to many fancy and pricy precision agriculture solutions available / at the time of development)

¿Cuáles fueron los principales desafíos durante el proceso de innovación??

Battery life

-special setting s had to be used to minimize battery consumption, to keep the phone switched off most of the time, going online only for few minutes while taking photo and sending the image via FTP connection

– the battery level is sent in the image (picture) filename and displayed on the online interface, to let the users to prepare and conduct recharge

– using enhanced battery solutions, internally or externally

Protecting the device from thefts

– putting the phone in a wooden looking plastic case hiding it in the natural environment

Counting the images and keeping track of the gradation process

– putting a grid pattern on the sticky paper of the trap

– adding a logbook function to each trap to enable the recording of catch results (entering manually by user, based on looking at the images and manual counting)

– automatic calculation of catch results (planificado, in progress) based on the graphic evaluation of the image grey scale coverage (needs uniform light conditions, taking picture during the night with flash)

¿Qué papel juega el asesor o servicio de asesoramiento con el caso práctico??

Conciencia de conocimiento e intercambio, Consultivo, consultoría y respaldo dirigido a resolver problemas complejos, que se proporcionará durante el proceso de innovación y se basa en las demandas de los actores y la co-construcción de soluciones, Articulación de la demanda, para permitir que los actores tengan acceso a nuevas ideas, Identificar sus necesidades, Definir sus objetivos y expresar demandas claras a otros actores

Para compartir experiencia del caso práctico, Para cualquier duda y consulta sobre las próximas clases de excelencia

Attila Nagy

gazdatanacsadas@gmail.com