A few weeks after Yiannis Ampatzidis started working at the University of Florida in 2017, Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc on the Florida peninsula and its citrus groves. Growers needed to count their trees with precision to get crop insurance, but it was a laborious, time-intensive task.
The storm served as a turning point for him, as it highlighted the urgent need to find innovative solutions to address challenges in agriculture — for pests, diseases and insurance.
“Tree-crop growers came to me with a clear need: a faster, more accurate and cost-effective way to create tree inventories,” said Ampatzidis, a UF/IFAS associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center.
The tree inventory inefficiency led Ampatzidis and his lab to develop Agroview, artificial intelligence-based technology that was named a UF Innovation of the Year award winner in 2020.
Read more at UF News.
ABOUT UF/IFAS
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
About AI at UF
The University of Florida is making artificial intelligence the centerpiece of a major, long-term initiative that combines world-class research infrastructure, cutting-edge research and a transformational approach to curriculum. UF is committed to building the nation’s first AI University by offering artificial intelligence courses to all students in its 16 colleges through our AI Across the Curriculum program. Our faculty and students can analyze vast amounts of data that can impact our country’s biggest challenges with HiP
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