Resumen
Wild berries and mushrooms are considered to be a national treasure of Nordic countries. These food
products require zero resources to cultivate as they grow naturally in the forests. It is estimated
that less than 10% of the total annual wild berry crop is harvested from the forests. The main
challenge in collecting wild berries lies in the manual forest harvesting, namely pickers' working
conditions. Due to the short season, the majority of the work is conducted by foreigners with
limited knowledge of the language, culture and forests. The FEROX project aims to utilize advances
in AI, data, and robotics to improve the working conditions of the wild berry pickers. The project
will employ autonomous drones equipped with various sensors to acquire data, build 3D models of the
forests and, therefore, accurately estimate berries' locations, amount and types. The collected
data will be used to build AI models to help workers locate the berries and optimize their
operations. In addition, FEROX will provide wild berry pickers with navigation and locating
services and physical support to improve their working conditions and boost their trust and
confidence. The holistic solution of FEROX will contribute to the overall safety of the workers by
automatically monitoring the pickers and providing aid where it is needed. As a consequence, FEROX
is expected to attract locals and hiking enthusiasts to work during summer in collecting wild
products, hence, increasing the overall yield of the wild berries. These outcomes will open
business opportunities for EU companies to adapt the solutions developed for industrialized
cultivation as well as support global sustainability as technology providers for safe and
sustainable berry harvesting. FEROX will conduct its tests in the forests in Finland with the
support of the wild berries and mushroom
'Arktiset Aromit' (Arctic Flavours) Association.