Category: Business

Succesful surveying of “seaweed-islands” using orthomosaic maps

March 8, 2022

The newly started project funded by FFBI has already led to the succesful use of drones to perform an initial survey of floating eelgrass at both Vordingborg Sydhavn and at Farø. The result from Vordingborg Sydhavn can be seen here – due to it being late in the season the amount of floating eelgrass is very limited, but can be seen inside the port area in the right side of the image: 

Due to the stormy weather we had during certain periods of February 2022 we observed the formation of so-called “seaweed-islands”. Floating eelgrass and/or macro-algae is torn from the area they grow, whereafter it forms floating mats in the top of the water column, slowly floating along the direction of the current. 

These floating mats are easily detectable by the use of drone images. Drones are advantageous to use as they can be deployed easily and has a far better vantage point than if trying to spot the formation of “seaweed-islands” from the coastline. 


In this first trial we used a mapping software to automatically fly the drone in a predefined area where images were taken with 70-80% overlay. We find that it is very important to have as high an overlay as possible for a better result when later stitching together an orthomosaic map of the surveyed area. It is very tricky to stitch together images taken over water as there are no reference points where the image processing software to perform the orthomosaic image can identify an overlay. Therefore, it is important to use a software that is capable of utilising GPS data reliably alongside the overlay recognition technique. 

A next step in the monitoring and identification of the bio-resource in water is to be able to:

  • Identify the species and quality (based on the color of the bio-resource)
  • Identify the total area covered by the bio-resource, based on the Ground Sample Distance (how many cm a pixel is equal to in the image), which we can later use to calculate the actual volume of the floating bio-resource, once we know the thickness of the floating material, which again will be based on ground truthing

These data are important for companies involved in collecting bio-resource from the water, as it will make it far more efficient to collect bio-resources of a quality that is good enough for industrial purposes.

BrainBotics leads new project funded by FFBI

February 5, 2022

BrainBotics has joined forces with the University of Southern Denmark’s Biology department and Dronecenter and the companies Møn Tang and Coastgrass to ensure the utilisation of so-called beach wrack (primarily eelgrass) as a sustainable bio-resource in the future. The new project is funded by Future Food & Bioresource Innovation. 

By identifying and collecting beach wrack before it decomposes or mixes with other material, the value of the bioresource can be optimized and the value chain expanded so that more companies and municipalities get involved in utilizing this bioresource.

In the project, the partners will develop a prototype of an Early-Warning System for rapid identification of biomass in water that facilitates knowledge of when, where and how much of the bio-resource is available and which will allow for quick and efficient collection of it.

The partners will also analyze the quality and purity of collected biomass to highlight the properties in the bio-resource for use in sustainable, industrial products, when it is collected fresh and not mixed with other materials.

Beach wrack accumulate in large quantities on the coast in Denmark and the rest of the Baltic Sea region by currents, waves, tides and storms. In Denmark, the largest fraction consists of eelgrass, which is often treated as waste and is most often just left to decay on the coast, which is unpleasant for citizens and tourists.

There is currently no practical solution to the problem that takes into account the value of biomass as a component in sustainable products on an industrial scale. The partners in this new project wish to change this, and this project is the beginning of this venture.

Simulating robotic biomass collection

January 24, 2021

Sometimes it is not possible to the real-world evaluation of robotics solutions. This can be due to time, economy or in our case – the weather. In order to mitigate this, a virtual environment representing a test site was programmed in Unity which is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies. Simulation is becoming an increasingly important part of robotic application development and validating applications in simulation before deploying to the robot can shorten iteration time by revealing potential issues early. Although the simulated environment in this case is a simplified model of the real world, it can be used to compare the performance of different autonomous navigation methods.

The model of the harbor was based on a drone photo which constituted the model and the underlaying plane of the simulation environment.

The model consisted of the following objects:

  • A 3D model of a WasteShark provided by RanMarine
  • Models of biomass
  • 3D models of boats
  • 3D models of piers surrounding the harbor and boat walks
  • Virtual waypoints for navigation purpose

WasteShark. The WasteShark was modelled using a 3D CAD-model of the WasteShark-platform which was provided by RanMarine. The steering behavior was modelled to resemble the real platform, making is able to move forwards and backwards while rotating around its own axis.

Collection of algae was simulated by using Unity built-in collision detection. When the WasteShark collided with biomass, this counted as a collection of the biomass. This only happened, when the WasteShark was moving forward representing the opening of the platform which is only at one side.

The size of the WasteShark was scaled to represent the corresponding size in the harbor, based on the drone-photo. The speed of the vessel however was arbitrary, as only comparison between different navigation plans (not the absolute values) are of primary interest here.

Talk at Employment and Integration Administration in Copenhagen Municipality

January 27, 2020

Employees in the Employment and Integration Administration became more aware of digitisation and robot technology when robot and machine learning expert Søren Tranberg Hansen gave a presentation at Jobcenter Copenhagen. Søren brought the robot Pepper to demonstrate the limitations of the robots: Pepper can find answers to what he’s coded for, but if you ask him a question he’s not prepared for, you won’t get a word out of him. So the reality is far from the horror scenario that we know from the Terminator? The job centre already has good experience in the use of robotics. It’s not a physical robot like Pepper, though. Because in the autumn, the job centre was given ASTA, a programme that can quickly find relevant information in a case. This means that in the long term the job consultants can spend more time on the citizen and less time on the preparation. ASTA is only one initiative out of many in an ambitious digitisation strategy that will be implemented in management in the coming years.

Robots at the Danish Chamber of Commerce

October 3, 2018

The Danish Chamber of Commerce is the network for Trade, IT, Industry and Service in Denmark.

On October 3 2018, the Danish Chamber of Commerce opened the doors to Advisor Day 18, which focused on the future labor market and skills. In focus among other things, was n what new technologies mean for the Danish and international labor market and delve into some of the trends in the advisory industry that we are currently witnessing.

Søren Tranberg gave a tech talk on what robotics will impact advisor business.

Automation, employment, and productivity

March 11, 2017

A new analysis form McKinsey is an in-depth study on the effects of increased automation:

Advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are ushering in a new age of automation, as machines match or outperform human performance in a range of work activities, including ones requiring cognitive capabilities. In this report, part of our ongoing research into the future of work, we analyze the automation potential of the global economy, the factors that will determine the pace and extent of workplace adoption, and the economic impact associated with its potential.

Get the full report here

Kickstarting 2017 with a City Mayor, a Rock Band and a Robot

January 5, 2017

Aarhus will be European Capital of Culture in 2017 with the overall theme Rethink. As a testimonial of that, Mayor Jacob Bundsgaard greeted the guests welcome at the annual business event at Aarhus City Hall together with the robot Pepper.

At the event, it was highlighted how Aarhus continuously will work with a stronger international profile, a climate plan and how to develop and attract talent and employees.

The event was kicked off with the cool young rock band Velvet Volume. Nice way to start 2017!

A trip into the future with Pepper

December 15, 2016

Friday the 9th of December, the Danish high school Alssundgymnasiet took a trip into the future. The regular schedule was cleared and replaced by workshops and lectures on artificial intelligence and robotics.

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The Pepper robot take center stage

November 19, 2016

Pepper was the center of attention at the event Local Rock Stars in Aarhus. This one-day conference, is a partnership between companied in and around Aarhus. The purpose is to share knowledge and insights with it-professionals and students. Søren Tranberg Hansen from BrainBotics made the final keynote about robotics and AI at the event.

http://internetweekdenmark.com/2016/local-rock-stars

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