‘World’s first’ laser device to analyse plant health remotely

 At CES 2024, US-based Iridesense is unveiling what it calls the first 3D Multispectral LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor capable of analysing plant health and soil humidity levels remotely in real-time. This new application of LiDAR aims to improve crop yields and resource management by optimising irrigation, water and pesticides consumption. Other applications, such as industrial quality control and forest management will also be showcased.

Iridesense CEO Nadine Buard said: “Our LIDAR sensor provides a groundbreaking solution for controlling and managing the management of natural resources, helping plants and other materials alike ‘communicate’ with those working on them. Our sensors could be fit as standard on agricultural machinery in the future, to understand and react to the needs of plants in real-time.”

Prior to this sensor, no technology could measure plants health, or soil moisture levels in outdoor conditions without resorting to sampling, she claimed. “Alternative technologies can only detect these factors at a distance of 1.5m, and fail to work outdoors or in environments where lighting cannot be controlled.

“Water management in agriculture and arboriculture is a complex issue that generates conflicts of use. Appropriate calibration of the amount of water required for optimal growth and ripening of plantations could result in substantial water savings of up to 1500m3/ha. Beyond benefits to the environment, this would also be cost-effective for the farmer. Same can be said for pesticides usage.

“Separately, this device could also eliminate the manual methods used to measure moisture content of a shipment, e.g wheat or corn shipment. This usually involves taking a sample of the load or vegetation and analyzing the difference in weight before and after it has been put in an oven, to estimate the amount of water thus lost. The wastage involved in this method, and its failure to generate complete results limit its practicality, rendering the situation ripe for more effective solutions.”

Image: Reconstruction of IRIDESENSE Multispectral Lidar Point Cloud with healthy vine plants on the left and unhealthy one on the right