... been published in Twitter and Facebook. Here there are some examples: Forest Bioenergy: http://www.forestbioenergyre
Newsletter
Edition 3
PROJECT OVERVIEW
BUDGET
The SLOPE project will integrate information from remote sensing Total
estimated
eligible
cost:
and on-field surveying systems, to support analysis to characterize 5.269.650,50 euros forest resources. Spatial information will be integrated with multisensor data in a model for Sustainable Forest Management and for optimization of logistics during forest operations.
Total requested EU contribution: 3.702.704 euros
CONSORTIUM
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
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ADVANCES
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM MEDIA
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success its progress in the development of the
SLOPE MEETINGS
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integrated system, from forest information system to
FORMEC
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logistic transportation, to improve forest operations.
EVENTS
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DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT
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SLOPE project, funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme, presented with
The mid-term review meeting was held in Brussels on the 2nd of July 2015. During the event, the consortium
CONTACT
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had the opportunity to present its achievements from image processing techniques to mechanical design, simulation and visualization. This newsletter summarizes some of the main milestones completed, and the most significant dissemination activities carried out to spread the project goals to a wider community.
The SLOPE Project TEAM
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ADVANCES FROM THE PROJECT
Early version of the 3D Harvesting Planner presented SLOPE Project has created the 3D Harvesting Planner, an innovative and useful prototype that would achieve a Sustainable Forest Management and optimal planning and logistics management of forest operations. The 3D Harvesting Planner (nowadays Alpha 1.3, an early access preview) integrates spatial information together with multi-sensor data and resources from existing databases and forest management plans. In order to improve planning of timber and biomass harvesting in steep terrain, SLOPE has started to develop this planning tool to inspect and improve the wood supply network in terms of storage places, infrastructure (cable lanes, forest roads) and sinks (saw and paper mills, biomass plant). A remarkable effort has been done in the design of a cable crane planning interface to simulate and evaluate possible configurations of cable lines among the harvesting area. This process is extremely important for the harvesting process as the number of intermediate supports should be minimized and the cable should be placed in a configuration that maximizes the harvested trees below the line. As additional result, the system will also generate useful information for forest road development and maintenance. 3D visualization of forest landscapes will be used to visualize stand succession, landscape transformation, and regional planning, and to improve decision-making processes and understanding of forest management in general. Finally, information about material origin, quality and availability will be integrated in a unique system, accessible online and available in real time to a series of operators.A sneak peek of the 3D Harvesting Planner functionalities is available at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fOhVAgvUyk
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ADVANCES FROM THE PROJECT
Innovative Human-machine technology in progress For further improvement of harvesting operations in mountainous forests, the planning tool previously mentioned, will be matched with an innovative humanmachine technology delivering a more optimized control of harvesting tools and machines used in mountain areas. Following an analysis of SLOPE requirements, a suitable harvester was purchased (ARBRO 1000S) and assembled on Liebherr 310 B excavator; later, a reverse engineering was started for mechanical 3D model, electronic circuits and hydraulic circuits. On the same context, NIR sensors have been bought and are going to be tested in the lab before being positioned on the head processor near the cutting bar. Special care will be taken in processing steps to assure full traceability of wood and at the same time maximize the wood usage. At this point, the logistic optimization model is a success, even tested in Austria, which is a very important step because of its function in determining an optimal forest logistic network to respond future demands. On the other hand, SLOPE Project is still working on the RFID tags and the sensors that could classify the wood in order to provide the owner all the information related to
Compolab prototype.
the process. SLOPE aims at adding value to the mountain forest production, thanks to the integrated use of novel sensing technologies. At the end, the goal is to improve log/biomass segregation, update forest inventories and refine stand growth and yield models.
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HIGHLIGHT FROM MEDIA Slope Projects has been referenced in the European media. Also project advances and events has been published in Twitter and Facebook. Here there are some examples: Forest Bioenergy:
Geomedia:
http://www.forestbioenergyreview.com/h-h/item/218-mhg-systemsdevelops-a-forest-information-systems-for-slope
https://www.google.es/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=60&v ed=0ahUKEwi57srjyIPKAhUD2hoKHZnECls4MhAWCGAwCQ&url=http%3A %2F%2Fmediageo.it%2Fojs%2Findex.php%2FGEOmedia%2Farticle%2Fv iewFile%2F1118%2F1033&usg=AFQjCNGl6cji_aT4OcVHTatdMZUSlUkUcQ &sig2=eFEyEx1DmQVWNDwcvwSoPg&bvm=bv.110151844,d.ZWU&cad=rj a
Forest 2015 Blog: https://forests2015.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/slope-project-intelligentforest-management/
Twitter
Facebook
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SLOPE MEETINGS Phase 2 site meeting at Annaberg (Austria) A case study was held in Annaberg (Austria) in October. The objective was to test the capability of the slope 3D simulator. COASTWAY leaded this activity, which involved the participation of all the partners in a “demo” meeting. An area of the forest was selected to take different photos with the unmanned aerial vehicles. Also CNR took some samples of the trees in the area. Aerial survey in RGB and multispectral imagery of over 400 hectares of Alpine forestry in the Austrian Alps was successfully captured on behalf of the SLOPE Consortium.
SLOPE WP4 technical meeting (Italy) The SLOPE WP4 technical meeting between BOKU, CNR and GraphiTech on the development of the sensor technology for the processor head took successfully place at CNR Ivalsa premises in San Michele all'Adige, Italy. The partners clearly defined the final working steps needed to come up with algorithms and the implementation of sensors on the processor head. Hereby Dr. Jakub Sandak presented a prototype of the sensor arm.
SLOPE Technical Workshop in Linz (Austria) A technical workshop was held in Linz (Austria) from 6th to 7th of October 2015, just close to the demonstration area for testing the developed tools and prototypes of FORMEC, located in Sankt Johann im Pongau.
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FORMEC 48th International Symposium on Forestry Mechanization (FORMEC 2015). Austria, 4-8 October 2015 FORMEC brought together 300 researchers, practitioners and government officials from more than 40 different countries to share state-of-the-art knowledge of harvesting operations, with a focus on steep terrain. The meeting consisted of a two day technical conference on new developments in forest engineering, followed by an optional one or two-day visit to AUSTROFOMA machine exhibition to watch innovative harvesting technology. SLOPE partners gave four presentations showing the results of the SLOPE project:
Evaluation of RFID UHF tags for electronic marking of standing trees (Gianni Picchi, Martin Kühmaier, Juan De Dios Diaz);
Survival test of RFID UHF tags in timber harvesting operations (Gianni Picchi, Martin Kühmaier, Juan De Dios Diaz);
SLOPE, a 3D forest virtual system to support harvesting operations in mountain areas (Daniele Magliocchetti, Federico Prandi, Giulio Panizzoni, Davide Lotto, Raffaele De Amicis);
Real-time managing of timber and biomass procurement, harvesting and supply based on multiple end-users demands in mountain forests (Seppo Huurinainen).
FORMEC enhanced the quality of the project by sharing the knowledge in timber harvesting operations in mountain forests and by discussing preliminary results with the scientific forest engineering network.
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EVENTS NIR 2015 The application of the NIR spectroscopy within the SLOPE project was presented by CNRIVALSA during 17th International Conference on Near Infrared Spectroscopy 2015. NIR 2015 is organized under the auspicious of the International Council for Near Infrared Spectroscopy (ICNIRS) and was held in Foz do Iguassu, Brazil, from 18th to 23rd October, 2015. The oral presentation “NIR as a toll for determination of log/biomass quality index in mountain forests – SLOPE project approach” authored by Anna Sandak, Jakub Sandak and Katharina Böhm was presented during session “Handheld instruments”.
TEDXTRENTO Fondazione GraphiTech presented the SLOPE project and its results during the TEDxTrento event, which took place in the Social Theater in Trento on 28 November 2015. The goal was to involve and engage the territory and key actors of innovation sector in order to create new projects and communities of innovators.
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Edition 3 EUROPEAN DATA FORUM 2015 This event took place in Luxembourg on 16-17 November 2015. The European Data Forum is a meeting place for industry, research, policymakers and community initiatives to discuss the challenges of Big Data and the emerging Data Economy, as well as to develop suitable action plans for addressing these challenges. GraphiTech presented a poster of the SLOPE project in the European Data Forum that is taking place in Luxembourg.
TECHNICAL ARTICLES SLOPE project obtained a peer-review publication
appeared
last
October:
Paper: Gianni Picchi, Martin Kühmaier,
Juan de Dios Díaz Marqués (2015). Survival Test of RFID UHF Tags in Timber Harvesting Operations. Croatian Journal of Forest Engineering Volume 36 No.2, pp. 165-174 The
paper
is
available
online
(open
access)
at
the
journal's
web
page:
http://www.crojfe.com/articles-915#923
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PROJECT MISSION The mission of SLOPE is to develop an integrated system that allows optimization of the timber production in mountain areas. SLOPE aims at filling the current gap between more expensive, less flexible forestry operations in mountain areas and optimized cut-to-length systems commonly found in flatland forests. For this purpose, spatial information and multi-sensor data from remote sensing, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and TLS (terrestrial laser scanner) surveying systems will be integrated in a model for Sustainable Forest Management and for optimal planning and logistics management of forest operations. SLOPE also aims at adding value to the mountain forest production, through reliable stumpage price evaluation and quality control of the harvested material, thanks to the integrated use of novel sensing technologies. A methodological basis will be developed for a semi-automated and real-time grading system for the mountainous forest production, in order to:
Improve log/biomass segregation
Update forest inventories
Refine stand growth and yield models
To do so, the integration of targeted intelligent systems in the cable crane/processor head/truck, to assess a set of data that will be evaluated in the project. Traceability systems will be used, to trace the material, from the site throughout the whole supply chain. The Integration of information about the forest (topographic and geomorphological, cadastral data, road network, environmental, climatic data, etc.), harvesting data (extraction distance and direction, stand density, silviculture management, utilization amount etc.) and material origin, quality and availability in a unique system, accessible online and available in real time to a series of operators (e.g. logistic operators, brokers, forest owners, sawmills) will be addressed by the project. This will enable a series of services, ranging from stumpage price evaluation, pre-selling, forest harvest planning, logistic management, real-time information stream, timber and biomass purchasing on web platform. The integration and post-processing of data collected by SLOPE will be available for further optimization of the “mountain forest models” and finally silvicultural and harvesting routines.
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CONTACT Contact the project coordinator: Dr. Raffaele De Amicis Mail:
[email protected]
Phone office: +39 0461 283395 Address:
Fondazione Graphitech, Director Via alla Cascata, 56/C 38123 Trento – Italy
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