PHOTO: PETER ROEK ILLUSTRATION: MISSET
DEEP LEARNING ▶▶▶ Artificial brains for hire
Robovision develops and hires out artificial ‘brains’. These make it very easy for companies to automate complex production systems and machinery, such as a combine harvester. We spoke to Jonathan Berte, the (human!) brain behind the Belgian company Robovision.
BY GEERT HEKKERT T
he new generation of smart software, with neural net- works and algorithms that are able to partially imitate the human brain, is creating an agricultural revolution. Jonathan Berte, founder of Robovision says: “Smart ma-
chines with artificial intelligence (AI) will supersede dumb imple- ments.” This is already a reality, in his view. “Farmers with smarter, more efficient machines have a competitive advantage, but these smart implements require large investments. The size of a com- bine makes no difference to an artificial brain. Or rather, you will see a return on it sooner with a very large combine than with a small one. This technology will therefore become profitable sooner on large farms, which will continue to drive scaling up in agriculture.”
What is what?
Algorithm: a process or set of rules to be followed in calcu- lations or other operations by a computer. Artificial intelligence: the theory, and development, of computer systems able to perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition and decision-making. Neural network: A computing system set up to mimic a biological brain and how it functions. Just like the brain, the network can make spontaneous connections and improve without coding. Deep learning: A computer making use of AI and neural networks to analyze input and discover unseen patterns that will help to achieve a specific goal. Computer vision: Essentially the science of teaching com- puters to ‘see’ – interpreting images captured by cameras, to understand what they show, and enable autonomous decision-making based on what has been learned.
60 ▶ FUTURE FARMING | 22 May 2020
Ideal in agriculture Berte graduated from Ghent University as a engineering physicist and spent a year studying applied neurology at the University of Zurich. The insights he developed there became the blueprint for the artificial mini-brains that Robovision is now road testing. Jon- athan explains why AI and machine learning is such a major ad- vance. “Take autonomous driving: a computer has to simultane- ously process a huge amount of information and make decisions in countless different situations. A programmer would then have to write a new algorithm for each situation, and that’s impossible. The imitation brain is able to create and use its own algorithms.” Robovision, which is based near Ghent in Belgium, was estab- lished in 2008 and it operates in three markets: agriculture, indus- try (detecting production faults) and media & security (automatic human detection). A major manufacturer of tractors and imple- ments was recently added to its customer base for the automa- tion of combines. “Modern combines already have their own kind of nervous system (electronic control unit) with senses (sensors), so it’s a logical step to connect an artificial brain,” says Berte.
Jonathan Berte, oprichter van het Belgische Robovision.
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