AI4FS in Imagine-B5G Open Call #1

AI4FS, stands for (Artificial Intelligence for Forest Surveillance), is a Vertical Experiments project for the IMAGINE-B5G Norwegian test-facility from the partners Local AI and iLink. It is one of 15 projects that were selected for the first Open Call of Imagine-B5G.

In the scope of the first OC of the B5G IMAGINE Project, we have designed a UC that promotes an advanced forestry monitoring methodology. More specifically, tree counting, tree health, and optimized forest monitoring will be implemented through aerial and ground sensors. For this reason, ground sensors will measure environmental variables and directly transmit those to the edge server. Additionally, a UAV equipped with multispectral and RGB cameras will provide real-time video streaming to the same edge server where the CV models will be deployed.

The proposed solution will impact IMAGINE-B5G in different ways: 

• At the management level, AI4FS will optimize resource usage efficiency and offer additional capabilities to vertical users through open interfaces enabling more efficient implementation of use cases (e.g., AI for networks vs. network for AI at the application level).
• At the societal level, the validation process is designed to demonstrate significant improvements in key parameters, contributing to societal advancements and aligning with priority Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The key parameters for societal impact are, Energy Consumption, Safety, Coverage and Access, Cost and Affordability, Trustworthiness, Security, and Privacy. 
• At the technical level, the project will be carried out from an end-to-end perspective, with representative technologies covering the full value chain, including devices, connectivity, and service delivery. Our solution needs the ultra-low latency and the high throughput that 5G/6G networks offer since all the data will be gathered and sent to our decision-making modules in real time. Since the 5G/6G networks are expanding in Europe, there will be space for our solution to be applied in more and more forests in the EU and upgrade the overall forest health monitoring process.
• At the vertical areas level, AI4FS will provide i) Standard contributions (CRs and WI/SI, 3GPP, O-RAN, other ETSI ISGs, TMF, etc.), ii) Involvement in 6G-IA standard WG disseminations, and iii) Any contributions to open source.

AI4FS tool will be released to the AIOD platform under the Open Source Copyleft License. Other developers and entities can use and improve the product, but any improvements and adaptations of the tools will also need to be released under the Open Source Copyleft License.

In that way, other developers can adapt the AI4FS tool so it can produce valuable results in new geographies, while at the same time assuring new adaptations will remain open source to enable continuous improvement of the tools. We are also planning to make the algorithms we will develop for our AI solution public on the AIoD platform. The raw data will be used in the model training but will not be available on the AIOD platform.

This project has already started its work in the IMAGINE-B5G first open call. If you want to learn more about this and the other selected projects stay tuned to our website and our social media channels.