Natural Intelligence
robotic monitoring of habitats
mission
Global warming and pollution are threatening the survival of one million over the eight million species on the planet. European answer to these threats is contained in the European Green Deal that recognizes the paramount importance of environmental monitoring, which today is entirely executed by human operators.
Natural Intelligence H2020 project aims to serve the European Green Deal with robots able to accomplish monitoring of natural habitats.
approach
The NI approach is composed of three interconnected components: environment, body and mind. The environment, central for the NI research agenda, will provide in one side, requirements for the technologies composing the body and the mind, and on the other side the field against which such technologies will be validated.
The field validation will be carried out through the testing of three integrators on four habitats: dunes, grasslands, forests, and screes. . The whole process will generate metrics, protocols and testbeds to benchmark the technologies developed within the project.
use-cases
dunes
Shifting dunes along the shoreline with Ammophila arenaria. The coverage rate of vegetation can reach the 50-70%.
Conservation Status Key Indicators:
Range: the habitat may be of areal (small extension), linear or point type
Structure and functions: vegetation coverage; area, shape, and connections among patches
Typical Species: Ammophila arenaria
grasslands
Semi-natural grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates. One of the richest and most present habitats, its existence is strongly connected with grazing.
Conservation Status Key Indicators:
Range: the habitat is of areal type
Structure and functions: vegetation coverage; area, shape, and connections among patches
Typical Species: target species at regional level (Important Orchid Sites)
forests
Apennine beech forests with Taxus and Iles. This habitat is characterized by a stratification of
different levels of vegetation at different heights.
Conservation Status Key Indicators:
Range: the habitat is of areal type
Structure and functions: vegetation coverage; size and distance among patches, dendritic parameters
Typical Species: Fagus sylvatica, Taxus baccata, Ilex aquifolium
screes
Alpine screes. Fixed and mobile screes with pioneering and persistent vegetation.
Conservation Status Key Indicators:
Range: the habitat may be of areal, much less frequently, linear or point type
Structure and functions: vegetation coverage; size and distance among patches; debris mobility
Typical Species: target species at regional level
