Wageninge, The Netherlands
January 22, 2020
> WUR werkt aan Digital Twins van tomaat, voeding en boerenbedrijf
Wageningen researchers are going to work on Digital Twins in the areas of tomatoes, food and farming. The projects are called Virtual tomato crops; Me, my diet and I; and Digital Future Farm. Digital Twins, one of the three investment themes of the WUR Strategic Plan 2019-2022, is a relatively new concept: computer models of individual objects or processes that are updated on the basis of real-time information.
WUR has searched for Digital Twin projects that can achieve major scientific and social breakthroughs in the Wageningen domains. Collaboration is a high priority for this investment programme, also because knowledge from different disciplines is essential for a successful Digital Twin.
Three subjects were chosen, on which groups of researchers from very diverse disciplines will work in the coming three years. Around 1.2m euros per project has been made available by WUR.
Read more about the three projects below:
Virtual tomato crops
Jochem Evers and his team are developing a digital twin of a tomato crop in a greenhouse: a 3D simulation model that is fed in real-time with sensor information from a real greenhouse. These constant updates make this digital twin more advanced than the existing simulation models. The interactions between the characteristics of the crop (the variety), the environmental factors and crop management are all simulated in the virtual crop. Because the model is linked to a real tomato crop in a greenhouse, it becomes possible to refine predictions more and more and thus make better choices for the real crop.
dr. JB (Jochem) Evers Contact person Virtual tomato crops
Digital twins – virtual versions of a product
Ever more digital renditions of real-life objects are being created. That way, 'digital twins' of living objects such as cells, plants, animals, humans and ecosystems, and of lifeless objects like food and supply chains are coming into existence.
Digital twins are constructed using sensors and new detection systems, in combination with a higher degree of data connectivity, mutually connected computer systems and artificial intelligence. They aren't just being used to understand, describe and analyse this reality, but also to predict the future of the objects in question. This technological exploration needs to be accompanied by an understanding of ethical and social boundaries of all potential applications.
More information