scholarly journals Can Commercial Low-Cost Drones and Open-Source GIS Technologies Be Suitable for Semi-Automatic Weed Mapping for Smart Farming? A Case Study in NE Italy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1869
Author(s):  
Pietro Mattivi ◽  
Salvatore Eugenio Pappalardo ◽  
Nebojša Nikolić ◽  
Luca Mandolesi ◽  
Antonio Persichetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Weed Detection ◽  
Management Scenario ◽  
Weed Mapping ◽  
Weed Distribution

Weed management is a crucial issue in agriculture, resulting in environmental in-field and off-field impacts. Within Agriculture 4.0, adoption of UASs combined with spatially explicit approaches may drastically reduce doses of herbicides, increasing sustainability in weed management. However, Agriculture 4.0 technologies are barely adopted in small-medium size farms. Recently, small and low-cost UASs, together with open-source software packages, may represent a low-cost spatially explicit system to map weed distribution in crop fields. The general aim is to map weed distribution by a low-cost UASs and a replicable workflow, completely based on open GIS software and algorithms: OpenDroneMap, QGIS, SAGA and OpenCV classification algorithms. Specific objectives are: (i) testing a low-cost UAS for weed mapping; (ii) assessing open-source packages for semi-automatic weed classification; (iii) performing a sustainable management scenario by prescription maps. Results showed high performances along the whole process: in orthomosaic generation at very high spatial resolution (0.01 m/pixel), in testing weed detection (Matthews Correlation Coefficient: 0.67–0.74), and in the production of prescription maps, reducing herbicide treatment to only 3.47% of the entire field. This study reveals the feasibility of low-cost UASs combined with open-source software, enabling a spatially explicit approach for weed management in small-medium size farmlands.

scholarly journals LOW-COST TECHNOLOGICAL IMPLEMENTATIONS RELATED TO INTEGRATED APPLICATION EXPERIMENTS

2019 ◽  
Vol XLII-2/W17 ◽  
pp. 241-248
Author(s):  
C. Palestini ◽  
A. Basso
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Application Development ◽  
New Methods ◽  
The Cost

Abstract. Thanks to the development of new Cuda technologies applied to graphics cards and to a more accessible and growing use by professionals in various commercial, artistic and research sectors, the latest generation digital instruments have implemented new methods of photogrammetric surveying and remote sensing, progressively reducing the cost of the instruments and that related to the application development of the different SfM algorithms, now widely used also in numerous open source software. The research presented in the article compares two of the most recently used free programs with the most satisfactory results in the field of 3D photogrammetric survey and photomodelling: Meshroom, developed by AliceVision and Regard3D, an open source software, compiled in 2015 by the Swiss IT engineer freelance Roman Hiestand. The test case study will concern the photo-modelling, through the free tools previously discussed, of medium size complex decorative details, one of the monumental gates of the ancient Roman city of Sepino, an archaeological site in Molise (IT) located at the foot of the Matese and extending over the Tammaro valley, so as to be able to fully test the capture characteristics and the trend and structure of the pipeline of the two software examined.

scholarly journals Merging a Remote Microscope and Virtual Worlds: Teaching Kingdom Plantae on Basic Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (04) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Porto Antonio ◽  
João Paulo Lima ◽  
João Bosco Alves ◽  
Juarez Bento Silva ◽  
José Pedro Simão
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Science Teaching ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Educational Tool ◽  
Plant Parts

This paper presents an educational tool based on open source software and low cost hardware to supplement science teaching, merging concepts of remote experiment, virtual worlds and virtual learning environment. Using an avatar, students can move around in an enriched environment and access a remote microscope that enables visualization of plant parts and interaction with the available samples.

Geographic Information System for Pigweed Distribution in the US Southeast

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reginald S. Fletcher ◽  
Krishna N. Reddy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Precision Agriculture ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Southeastern United States ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
County Level ◽  
Support Tool

AbstractIn the southeastern United States, Amaranthus, or pigweed species, have become troublesome weeds in agricultural systems. To implement management strategies for the control of these species, agriculturalists need information on areas affected by pigweeds. Geographic information systems (GIS) afford users the ability to evaluate agricultural issues at local, county, state, national, and global levels. Also, they allow users to combine different layers of geographic information to help them develop strategic plans to solve problems. Furthermore, there is a growing interest in testing free and open-source GIS software for weed surveys. In this study, the free and open-source software QGIS was used to develop a geographic information database showing the distribution of pigweeds at the county level in the southeastern United States. The maps focused on the following pigweeds: Palmer amaranth, redroot pigweed, and tall waterhemp. Cultivated areas and glyphosate-resistant (GR) pigweed data were added to the GIS database. Database queries were used to demonstrate applications of the GIS for precision agriculture applications at the county level, such as tallying the number of counties affected by the pigweeds, identifying counties reporting GR pigweed, and identifying cultivated areas located in counties with GR pigweeds. This research demonstrated that free and open-source software such as QGIS has strong potential as a decision support tool, with implications for precision weed management at the county scale.

Review of Open Source Software (OSS)

2012 ◽  
pp. 26-40
Author(s):  
Bhasker Mukerji ◽  
Ramaraj Palanisamy
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Source Code ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Large Pool ◽  
Public Sector Organizations

The popularity of Open Source Software (OSS) in developing countries is quiet evident from its widespread adoption across government departments and public sector organizations. The use of OSS saves economic resources of cash starved countries, provides an opportunity to promote e-government, and to utilize their resources in other sectors. Many developing countries have a large pool of skilled developers who can modify the source code of the OSS at a very low cost. Many governments in developing and developed countries have switched to OSS which probably encourages others to follow the trend. It was not possible to follow the adoption trend in all the developing countries but the usage of OSS in countries like India, Brazil, and Venezuela provides us an insight. The successful adoption of OSS requires thorough analysis of its advantages as well as the issues associated with it. This chapter will provide an overview of OSS, characteristics of OSS developers, and their motivation to volunteer by contributing in OSS projects, followed by the advantages and issues associated with OSS.

scholarly journals Software-Based Three-Dimensional Deconvolution Microscopy of Cytoskeletal Proteins in Cultured Fibroblast Using Open-Source Software and Open Hardware

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Kazuo Katoh
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Cytoskeletal Proteins ◽  
Laser Scanning Microscopy ◽  
Confocal Laser ◽  
Actual Measurement ◽  
Open Hardware

As conventional fluorescence microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy generally produce images with blurring at the upper and lower planes along the z-axis due to non-focal plane image information, the observation of biological images requires “deconvolution.” Therefore, a microscope system’s individual blur function (point spread function) is determined theoretically or by actual measurement of microbeads and processed mathematically to reduce noise and eliminate blurring as much as possible. Here the author describes the use of open-source software and open hardware design to build a deconvolution microscope at low cost, using readily available software and hardware. The advantage of this method is its cost-effectiveness and ability to construct a microscope system using commercially available optical components and open-source software. Although this system does not utilize expensive equipment, such as confocal and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopes, decent images can be obtained even without previous experience in electronics and optics.

scholarly journals Weed Density Detection Method Based on Absolute Feature Corner Points in Field

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Yanlei Xu ◽  
Run He ◽  
Zongmei Gao ◽  
Chenxiao Li ◽  
Yuting Zhai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weed Management ◽  
Detection Method ◽  
Digital Camera ◽  
Weed Detection ◽  
Position Information ◽  
Weed Density ◽  
Harris Corner ◽  
Weed Distribution ◽  
First Time ◽  
Precision Spraying

Field weeds identification is challenging for precision spraying, i.e., the automation identification of the weeds from the crops. For rapidly obtaining weed distribution in field, this study developed a weed density detection method based on absolute feature corner point (AFCP) algorithm for the first time. For optimizing the AFCP algorithm, image preprocessing was firstly performed through a sub-module processing capable of segmenting and optimizing the field images. The AFCP algorithm improved Harris corner to extract corners of single crop and weed and then sub-absolute corner classifier as well as absolute corner classifier were proposed for absolute corners detection of crop rows. Then, the AFCP algorithm merged absolute corners to identify crop and weed position information. Meanwhile, the weed distribution was obtained based on two weed density parameters (weed pressure and cluster rate). At last, the AFCP algorithm was validated based on the images that were obtained using one typical digital camera mounted on the tractor in field. The results showed that the proposed weed detection method manifested well given its ability to process an image of 2748 × 576 pixels using 782 ms as well as its accuracy in identifying weeds reaching 90.3%. Such results indicated that the weed detection method based on AFCP algorithm met the requirements of practical weed management in field, including the real-time images computation processing and accuracy, which provided the theoretical base for the precision spraying operations.

scholarly journals Use of Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) in the U.S. Department of Defense

2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 (01) ◽  
pp. 0102
Author(s):  
Terry Bollinger
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Department Of Defense ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Source Code ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Cyber Attacks ◽  
Software Analysis ◽  
The U.S

This report documents the results of a study by The MITRE Corporation on the use of free and open-source software (FOSS) in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). FOSS gives users the right to run, copy, distribute, study, change, and improve it as they see fit, without asking permission or making fiscal payments to any external group or person. The study showed that FOSS provides substantial benefits to DoD security, infrastructure support, software development, and research. Given the openness of its source code, the finding that FOSS profoundly benefits security was both counterintuitive and instructive. Banning FOSS in DoD would remove access to exceptionally well-verified infrastructure components such as OpenBSD and robust network and software analysis tools needed to detect and respond to cyber-attacks. Finally, losing the hands-on source code accessibility of FOSS source code would reduce DoD’s ability to respond rapidly to cyberattacks. In short, banning FOSS would have immediate, broad, and strongly negative impacts on the DoD’s ability to defend the U.S. against cyberattacks. For infrastructure support, the deep historical ties between FOSS and the emergence of the Internet mean that removing FOSS applications would strongly negatively impact the DoD’s ability to support web and Internet-based applications. Software development would be hit especially hard due to many leading-edge and broadly used tools being FOSS. Finally, the loss of access to low-cost data processing tools and the inability to share results in the more potent form of executable FOSS software would seriously and negatively impact nearly all forms of scientific and data-driven research.

scholarly journals Communicating with (Some) Canadians: Communication Rights and Government Online in Canada

2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Felczak ◽  
Richard Smith ◽  
Geoffrey Glass
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Government Programs ◽  
Online Programs ◽  
Government Websites

Abstract: A communication rights framework is used to evaluate recent government online initiatives in Canada. Through an analysis of policy documents, government websites, user experiences, and the existing and evolving computing environment, the authors argue that government online programs fail to adequately ensure the communication rights of Canadians who use free and open source software, including Canadians who seek alternatives to proprietary software, Canadians who require low-cost computing, and Canadians who access the Internet via public libraries and community centres that use free and open source software. Existing government programs also fail to ensure the communication rights of Canadians without access to the Internet, including Canadians who do not use or plan to use the Internet. The authors identify specific problem areas in the provision of government information, services, and consultations and suggest policy recommendations that address the identified shortcomings.Résumé : Dans cet article, les auteurs utilisent une perspective fondée sur le droit à la communication pour évaluer des initiatives en ligne de la part du gouvernement canadien. Au moyen de l’analyse de documents de politique générale, de sites gouvernementaux, d’expériences d’utilisateurs et de l’environnement informatique actuel dans son évolution constante, les auteurs soutiennent que les programmes gouvernementaux en ligne ne réussissent pas à protéger de manière adéquate les droits de communication des Canadiens qui utilisent des logiciels libres gratuits, y compris ceux qui désirent une alternative aux logiciels propriétaires, ceux qui dépendent de services informatiques à bas prix et ceux qui accèdent à Internet dans les bibliothèques et centres communautaires équipés de logiciels libres gratuits. En outre, les programmes gouvernementaux actuels sont incapables de protéger les droits de communication de ces Canadiens qui n’ont pas accès à Internet, c’est-à-dire ceux qui ne l’utilisent pas présentement ainsi que ceux qui n’ont pas l’intention de l’utiliser. Les auteurs identifient des problèmes spécifiques reliés à la fourniture d’informations, de services et de consultations de la part du gouvernement et recommandent des politiques qui s’adressent aux défauts identifiés.

scholarly journals OpenWeedLocator (OWL): an open-source, low-cost device for fallow weed detection

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Coleman ◽  
William Salter ◽  
Michael Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Weed Control ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Low Density ◽  
Weed Detection ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Control Community

AbstractThe use of a fallow phase is an important tool for maximizing crop yield potential in moisture limited agricultural environments, with a focus on removing weeds to optimize fallow efficiency. Repeated whole field herbicide treatments to control low-density weed populations is expensive and wasteful. Site-specific herbicide applications to low-density fallow weed populations is currently facilitated by proprietary, sensor-based spray booms. The use of image analysis for fallow weed detection is an opportunity to develop a system with potential for in-crop weed recognition. Here we present OpenWeedLocator (OWL), an open-source, low-cost and image-based device for fallow weed detection that improves accessibility to this technology for the weed control community. A comprehensive GitHub repository was developed, promoting community engagement with site-specific weed control methods. Validation of OWL as a low-cost tool was achieved using four, existing colour-based algorithms over seven fallow fields in New South Wales, Australia. The four algorithms were similarly effective in detecting weeds with average precision of 79% and recall of 52%. In individual transects up to 92% precision and 74% recall indicate the performance potential of OWL in fallow fields. OWL represents an opportunity to redefine the approach to weed detection by enabling community-driven technology development in agriculture.

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