HYDRA SENTINEL

Our Idea

Hydra Sentinel is a precision viticulture irrigation control system that optimizes grape quality according to the Origin Denomination rules while preventing economic and water losses due to over-hydration or drought.

As we have found in different media channels and personal contact with people from the field, the main problem in the sector is that vine growers still rely on manual estimation for irrigation, leading to some inefficiencies. Excessive water reduces wine quality and creates grape surpluses that exceed regulatory limits, resulting in wasted production costs and increased disease risk. Whereas, a lack of water during drought periods can also result in dehydration of the grape, meaning that they do not meet the regulation. 

The solution we propose is to combine ground-based Grove Beginner Kit for Arduino sensors, which compose the hardware elements of our products, with satellite data and advanced weather forecasting into an AI-based application. The system intelligently decides whether to advise the farmer to irrigate based on the grapevine's specific phenological stage, real-time soil moisture, and imminent rainfall predictions, automating water savings and ensuring premium harvest quality. We have used this GitHub repository to create the code that the Arduino sensors will use. 

The user interface will be simple to navigate and with easy and direct vocabulary in order to allow users from all backgrounds to have an easy and smooth experience. The installation process of the sensors will also be simple, eliminating the necessity of an installation team. There is a first prototype of the user interface attached in the image named UserInterfaceProto.

Target clients

Our target clients are cooperatives, wineries and medium farmers with difficult accessibility or extensive vineyards for whom automating or reducing the human involvement in the irrigation process can be a real game-changer. The product will be sold following this strategy: firstly, the main pack with sensors, installation guide and a year’s subscription to the app; secondly, each year the farmer will have to renew the subscription. 

EU Space Technologies

Our project integrates three important elements of the European space ecosystem:

-Copernicus (Sentinel-1 & 2): We use Sentinel-1 (SAR) to obtain consistent soil moisture data regardless of cloud cover or nighttime conditions. Sentinel-2 data is used to monitor vegetation vigor (NDVI) and map plot variability, allowing us to identify the "critical points" for physical sensor placement.

-Galileo: It is essential for high-precision geopositioning of our Arduino sensors, especially in complex terrains. This ensures accurate mapping and data synchronization within our mobile application.

-IRIS and Copernicus (ECMWF): We leverage ECMWF predictive models (fed by Copernicus satellites) for atmospheric forecasting. In remote areas lacking terrestrial connectivity, the IRIS constellation ensures our sensors can transmit data to the cloud from any location.

EU Space for Water challenge

With this project, we are addressing the challenge Securing equitable and efficient access to water. Our contribution focuses on the preservation and access of water resources in order to produce the perfect grapes according to the regional wine boards and avoid wasting product. This first idea focuses on the Spanish vine-growing sector, but we believe that it can also be expanded to other countries or even other sectors.

Team

The team is formed by five aerospace engineering students. Although we all have similar backgrounds, we want to specialize in different areas: 

-Raquel Villacián (CEO): Team coordinator and point of contact with the wine industry, because she grew up in a family in contact with the wine industry.

-Antonio Hernández (CFO): Focused on the market and business strategy, he is responsible for studying the market and how we could sell our product to the target clients.

-Irina Mon (CTO): Satellite specialist in charge of coordinating the data obtained from the European satellites and linking them with the sensor placement.

-Víctor Peralta (CIO): Code strategist involved in the software development of the Arduino sensors.

-Èlia Serra (COO): Logistics manager in charge of the organization’s aspects and ensuring that all the clients receive their products correctly and with all warranties.

We think that we can boost our project in these early stages; however, we also know that in case the idea succeeds, we will expand our team and include more specialized people from the viticulture industry.