ISF Institute for Intelligent Systems and Smart Farming

Security of the food supply
Among other things, solutions are to be developed to reduce the import quota and dependencies and thus make the food supply more resilient. Another aim is to improve food per se and, in this context, to introduce traceability in the supply chain, for example.

Sustainability, energy efficiency and resource conservation
As part of this field of action, the aspect of the circular economy and the optimisation of the value chain, for example by reducing food waste, should also be addressed.

Economic efficiency of the companies
The aim of this field of action is to develop the businesses economically. This includes the development and implementation of new business models, the efficient organisation of processes and the automation and technical support of administrative processes. This topic particularly affects agricultural businesses.

The institute focuses on sustainable cooperation and process models, intelligent systems and assistance systems as well as information and data analyses.

Intelligent Systems

• Our intelligent cyber-physical systems are designed, implemented, commissioned, and tested to optimize and enhance production and transportation processes. They are unique in their ability to operate indoors and outdoors, such as throughout the entire farm-to-food chain.
• Apply cutting-edge fundamental research results to reduce the workload of human operators in tasks like navigation, production monitoring, and decision-making.
• Integration and further development of existing machines and systems into intelligent assistance systems with partial or complete independence.

Smart Farming:

• Precision farming: localization and detection of culture plants, animals, weeds and pests.
• Monitoring the growth and condition of fields and meadows.
• Introduce and deploy prototype systems to improve production and transportation processes.
• Utilization of innovative technologies for system control, data analysis, and method selection.

At ISF, we have deep expertise in machine perception, systems engineering, indoor and outdoor navigation, software engineering, and data processing. These competencies provide the foundation for efficient and effective solutions in sensor and data fusion, high-precision localization, and control for ground and aerial systems, all within a single location.

At ISF, we tackle a wide range of tasks in close collaboration with other OST institutes across technology, business, and social sciences, as well as with external partners. This collaborative approach allows us to deliver timely, cost-effective, and user-oriented solutions that are backed by a wealth of expertise.

One of the key aspects of the Tänikon site is its connection to Agroscope and the Swiss Future Farm.

Sustainable plant protection

The fenaco cooperative is realising an Innosuisse project to combat weeds using drones and agricultural robots together with Agroscope, the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, Sunrise UPC and Huawei. The five partners are pooling their expertise to utilise smart technologies for greater sustainability in Swiss agriculture.

To the external project page (fenaco)

The future of agriculture

What will agriculture look like in 2050? Will drones and agricultural robots take over? Agronomist Thomas Anken and Professor of Mechanical Engineering Dejan Šeatović take a look ahead and explain how they want to unravel the secrets of the soil.

To the online article

SQAT

The aims of this project are

• Improving access to better soil data in agriculture and optimising the use of this data to make agriculture more efficient and profitable
• The combination of advanced technologies ensures the accuracy, quality and cost-effectiveness of high-resolution ground data (including the unique benefits of Copernicus and Galileo satellite data)
• The use of new types of data enables new applications in precision agriculture
• Creation and market launch of project results

To the external project page SQAT

Functioning and practical laboratories are essential for applied and industry-orientated research. The ISF's Living Lab is run as a showcase for a smart farm. The Smart Farming Laboratory and 80 hectares of test areas are used here, where applied research and development can be carried out on site and the results tested under real conditions.

The Tänikon research centre offers ideal conditions with its existing research partners Agroscope and Swiss Future Farm as well as the jointly used test halls and premises. Here, the competences of the industry partners and the university are implemented using concrete examples. The benchmarks and tests developed in the Living Lab enable an objective assessment of new systems and provide industry, politics and society with a sound basis for decision-making.