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Efficient management of soil nutrients is essential for optimizing crop production, ensuring sustainable agricultural practices, and addressing the challenges posed by population growth and environmental degradation. Smart agriculture, using advanced technologies, plays an important role in achieving these goals by enabling real-time monitoring and precision management of nutrients. In open-field soil cultivation, spatial variability in soil properties demands site-specific nutrient management and integration with variable-rate technology (VRT) to optimize fertilizer application, reduce nutrient losses, and enhance crop yields. Hydroponic solution cultivation, on the other hand, requires precise monitoring and control of nutrient solutions to maintain optimal conditions for plant growth, ensuring efficient use of water and fertilizers. This review aims to explore recent trends in soil and solution nutrient sensing technologies for open-field soil and facilitated hydroponic cultivation, highlighting advancements that promote efficiency and sustainability. Key technologies include electrochemical and optical sensors, Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled monitoring, and the integration of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) for predictive modeling. Blockchain technology is also emerging as a tool to enhance transparency and traceability in nutrient management, promoting compliance with environmental standards and sustainable practices. In open-field soil cultivation, real-time sensing technologies support targeted nutrient application by accounting for spatial variability, minimizing environmental risks such as runoff and eutrophication. In hydroponic solution cultivation, precise solution sensing ensures nutrient balance, optimizing plant health and productivity. By advancing these technologies, smart agriculture can achieve sustainable crop production, improved resource efficiency, and environmental protection, fostering a resilient food system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technology (ICT) components, especially actuators in automated irrigation systems, are essential for managing precise irrigation and optimal soil moisture, enhancing orchard growth and yield. However, actuator malfunctions can lead to inefficient irrigation, resulting in water imbalances that impact crop health and reduce productivity. The objective of this study was to develop a signal processing technique to detect potential malfunctions based on the power consumption level and operating status of actuators for an automated orchard irrigation system. A demonstration orchard with four apple trees was set up in a 3 m × 3 m soil test bench inside a greenhouse, divided into two sections to enable independent irrigation schedules and management. The irrigation system consisted of a single pump and two solenoid valves controlled by a Python-programmed microcontroller. The microcontroller managed the pump cycling 'On' and 'Off' states every 60 s and solenoid valves while storing and transmitting sensor data to a smartphone application for remote monitoring. Commercial current sensors measured actuator power consumption, enabling the identification of normal and abnormal operations by applying threshold values to distinguish activation and deactivation states. Analysis of power consumption, control commands, and operating states effectively detected actuator operations, confirming reliability in identifying pump and solenoid valve failures. For the second solenoid valve in channel 2, with 333 actual instances of normal operation and 60 actual instances of abnormal operation, the model accurately detected 316 normal and 58 abnormal instances. The proposed method achieved a mean average precision of 99.9% for detecting abnormal control operation of the pump and solenoid valve of channel 1 and a precision of 99.7% for the solenoid valve of channel 2. The proposed approach effectively detects actuator malfunctions, demonstrating the potential to enhance irrigation management and crop productivity. Future research will integrate advanced machine learning with signal processing to improve fault detection accuracy and evaluate the scalability and adaptability of the system for larger orchards and diverse agricultural applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geometric feature characterization of fruit trees plays a role in effective management in orchards. LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology for object detection enables the rapid and precise evaluation of geometric features. This study aimed to quantify the height, canopy volume, tree spacing, and row spacing in an apple orchard using a three-dimensional (3D) LiDAR sensor. A LiDAR sensor was used to collect 3D point cloud data from the apple orchard. Six samples of apple trees, representing a variety of shapes and sizes, were selected for data collection and validation. Commercial software and the python programming language were utilized to process the collected data. The data processing steps involved data conversion, radius outlier removal, voxel grid downsampling, denoising through filtering and erroneous points, segmentation of the region of interest (ROI), clustering using the density-based spatial clustering (DBSCAN) algorithm, data transformation, and the removal of ground points. Accuracy was assessed by comparing the estimated outputs from the point cloud with the corresponding measured values. The sensor-estimated and measured tree heights were 3.05 ± 0.34 m and 3.13 ± 0.33 m, respectively, with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.08 m, a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.09 m, a linear coefficient of determination (r2) of 0.98, a confidence interval (CI) of −0.14 to −0.02 m, and a high concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) of 0.96, indicating strong agreement and high accuracy. The sensor-estimated and measured canopy volumes were 13.76 ± 2.46 m3 and 14.09 ± 2.10 m3, respectively, with an MAE of 0.57 m3, an RMSE of 0.61 m3, an r2 value of 0.97, and a CI of −0.92 to 0.26, demonstrating high precision. For tree and row spacing, the sensor-estimated distances and measured distances were 3.04 ± 0.17 and 3.18 ± 0.24 m, and 3.35 ± 0.08 and 3.40 ± 0.05 m, respectively, with RMSE and r2 values of 0.12 m and 0.92 for tree spacing, and 0.07 m and 0.94 for row spacing, respectively. The MAE and CI values were 0.09 m, 0.05 m, and −0.18 for tree spacing and 0.01, −0.1, and 0.002 for row spacing, respectively. Although minor differences were observed, the sensor estimates were efficient, though specific measurements require further refinement. The results are based on a limited dataset of six measured values, providing initial insights into geometric feature characterization performance. However, a larger dataset would offer a more reliable accuracy assessment. The small sample size (six apple trees) limits the generalizability of the findings and necessitates caution in interpreting the results. Future studies should incorporate a broader and more diverse dataset to validate and refine the characterization, enhancing management practices in apple orchards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress by unfavorable environmental conditions, including temperature, light intensity, and photoperiod, significantly impact early-stage growth in crops, such as cucumber seedlings, often resulting in yield reduction and quality degradation. Advanced machine learning (ML) models combined with image-based analysis offer promising solutions for precise, non-invasive stress monitoring. This study aims to classify environmental stress symptom levels in cucumber seedlings using ML models by extracting critical color, texture, and morphological features from RGB images. In a controlled plant factory setup, two-week-old cucumber seedlings were subjected to varied environmental conditions across five chambers with differing temperatures (15, 20, 25, and 30 °C), light intensities (50, 250, and 450 µmol m−2 s−1), and day-night cycles (8/16, 10/14, and 16/8 h). A cost-effective RGB camera, integrated with a microcontroller, captured images from the top of the seedlings over a two-week period, from which sequential forward floating selection (SFFS) and correlation matrices were used to streamline feature extraction. Four ML classifiers: Support Vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Naïve Bayes (NB), and Random Forest (RF), were trained to detect stress symptoms based on selected features, highlighting that stress symptoms were detectable after day 4. KNN achieved the highest accuracy at 0.94 (94%), followed closely by SVM and RF, both at 93%, while NB reached 88%. Findings suggested that color and texture features were critical indicators of stress, and that the KNN model, with optimized hyperparameters, provided a reliable classification for stress symptom monitoring for seedlings under controlled environments. This study highlights the potential of ML-driven stress symptom detection models for controlled seedling production, enabling real-time decision-making to optimize crop health and productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LiDAR sensors have great potential for enabling crop recognition (e.g., plant height, canopy area, plant spacing, and intra-row spacing measurements) and the recognition of agricultural working environments (e.g., field boundaries, ridges, and obstacles) using agricultural field machinery. The objective of this study was to review the use of LiDAR sensors in the agricultural field for the recognition of crops and agricultural working environments. This study also highlights LiDAR sensor testing procedures, focusing on critical parameters, industry standards, and accuracy benchmarks; it evaluates the specifications of various commercially available LiDAR sensors with applications for plant feature characterization and highlights the importance of mounting LiDAR technology on agricultural machinery for effective recognition of crops and working environments. Different studies have shown promising results of crop feature characterization using an airborne LiDAR, such as coefficient of determination (R2) and root-mean-square error (RMSE) values of 0.97 and 0.05 m for wheat, 0.88 and 5.2 cm for sugar beet, and 0.50 and 12 cm for potato plant height estimation, respectively. A relative error of 11.83% was observed between sensor and manual measurements, with the highest distribution correlation at 0.675 and an average relative error of 5.14% during soybean canopy estimation using LiDAR. An object detection accuracy of 100% was found for plant identification using three LiDAR scanning methods: center of the cluster, lowest point, and stem–ground intersection. LiDAR was also shown to effectively detect ridges, field boundaries, and obstacles, which is necessary for precision agriculture and autonomous agricultural machinery navigation. Future directions for LiDAR applications in agriculture emphasize the need for continuous advancements in sensor technology, along with the integration of complementary systems and algorithms, such as machine learning, to improve performance and accuracy in agricultural field applications. A strategic framework for implementing LiDAR technology in agriculture includes recommendations for precise testing, solutions for current limitations, and guidance on integrating LiDAR with other technologies to enhance digital agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boundary contour determination during seedling image segmentation is critical for accurate object detection and morphological characterization in agricultural machine vision systems. The traditional manual annotation for segmentation is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and prone to errors, especially in controlled environments with complex backgrounds. These errors can affect the accuracy of detecting phenotypic traits, like shape, size, and width. To address these issues, this study introduced a method that integrated image features and a support vector machine (SVM) to improve boundary contour determination during segmentation, enabling real-time detection and monitoring. Seedling images (pepper, tomato, cucumber, and watermelon) were captured under various lighting conditions to enhance object–background differentiation. Histogram equalization and noise reduction filters (median and Gaussian) were applied to minimize the illumination effects. The peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and the structural similarity index measure (SSIM) were used to select the clip limit for histogram equalization. The images were analyzed across 18 different color spaces to extract the color features, and six texture features were derived using the gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) method. To reduce feature overlap, sequential feature selection (SFS) was applied, and the SVM was used for object segmentation. The SVM model achieved 73% segmentation accuracy without SFS and 98% with SFS. Segmentation accuracy for the different seedlings ranged from 81% to 98%, with a low boundary misclassification rate between 0.011 and 0.019. The correlation between the actual and segmented contour areas was strong, with an R2 up to 0.9887. The segmented boundary contour files were converted into annotation files to train a YOLOv8 model, which achieved a precision ranging from 96% to 98.5% and a recall ranging from 96% to 98%. This approach enhanced the segmentation accuracy, reduced manual annotation, and improved the agricultural monitoring systems for plant health management. The future direction involves integrating this system with advanced methods to address overlapping image segmentation challenges, further enhancing the real-time seedling monitoring and optimizing crop management and productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread use of plastic seedling pots has been attributed to their light weight and durable characteristics. However, these pots have limitations in facilitating efficient root establishment. Recent studies indicate that biodegradable seedling pots not only enhance seedling resilience but are also environmentally sustainable through natural decomposition. This study presents a kinematic analysis of a cabbage transplanting mechanism specifically under development for biodegradable seedling pots, focusing on position, velocity, acceleration, and power. The optimization of link combinations within the transplanting mechanism was analyzed to enhance the transplantation process, focusing on achieving precise depth and spacing for potted seedlings. A kinematic model of the mechanism was developed and simulated using commercial mechanical design and simulation software, followed by validation through performance tests. The proposed transplanter comprised a four-bar-linkage mechanism consisting of a driving link, a driven link, a connecting link, and a guide bar. Simulation trials were conducted by varying the main arm link length while keeping machine forward speed and mechanism driving speed fixed. Results indicated that the optimal mechanism parameters included a driving link of 50 mm, a connecting arm of 120 mm, a guide bar of 120 mm, and an end-effector link of 220 mm. A dibbling hopper length of 153 mm was identified as the most effective for operation. With these recommended link lengths, validated velocities of the end hopper in the 'X' and 'Y' directions were 284 mm/s and 1379 mm/s, respectively, while corresponding accelerations were measured at 1241 mm/s2 and 8664 mm/s2. The driving power requirement was calculated to be 17.4 W. These findings suggest that the developed mechanism provides effective planting performance, evidenced by a high degree of seedling uprightness and minimal soil disturbance. This study supports the use of biodegradable pots in mechanized transplanting as a viable alternative to conventional plastic pots, with potential benefits for both agricultural efficiency and environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand and market value for pennywort largely depend on the quality of the leaves, which can be affected by various ambient environment or fertigation variables during cultivation. Although early detection of defects in pennywort leaves would enable growers to take quick action, conventional manual detection is laborious and time consuming as well as subjective. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop an automatic leaf defect detection algorithm for pennywort plants grown under controlled environment conditions, using machine vision and deep learning techniques. Leaf images were captured from pennywort plants grown in an ebb-and-flow hydroponic system under fluorescent light conditions in a controlled plant factory environment. Physically or biologically damaged leaves (e.g., curled, creased, discolored, misshapen, or brown spotted) were classified as defective leaves. Images were annotated using an online tool, and Mask R-CNN models were implemented with the integrated attention mechanisms, convolutional block attention module (CBAM) and coordinate attention (CA) and compared for improved image feature extraction. Transfer learning was employed to train the model with a smaller dataset, effectively reducing processing time. The improved models demonstrated significant advancements in accuracy and precision, with the CA-augmented model achieving the highest metrics, including a mean average precision (mAP) of 0.931 and an accuracy of 0.937. These enhancements enabled more precise localization and classification of leaf defects, outperforming the baseline Mask R-CNN model in complex visual recognition tasks. The final model was robust, effectively distinguishing defective leaves in challenging scenarios, making it highly suitable for applications in precision agriculture. Future research can build on this modeling framework, exploring additional variables to identify specific leaf abnormalities at earlier growth stages, which is crucial for production quality assurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, light, and CO2 influence plant growth, and unfavorable environmental conditions cause stress in plants, producing symptoms in their early growth stages. The increasing importance of optimizing crop management strategies has led to a rising demand for the precise evaluation of stress symptoms during early plant growth. Advanced technologies are transforming plant health monitoring through enabling image-based stress analysis. Machine learning (ML) models can effectively identify the important features and morphological changes connected with various stress conditions through the use of large datasets acquired from high-resolution plant images. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a method for classifying the early-stage stress symptoms of pepper seedlings and enabling their identification and quantification using image processing and a support vector machine (SVM). Two-week-old pepper seedlings were grown under different temperatures (20, 25, and 30 °C), light intensity levels (50, 250, and 450 µmol m−2s−1), and day–night hours (8/16, 10/14, and 16/8) in five controlled plant growth chambers. Images of the seedling canopies were captured daily using a low-cost red, green, and blue (RGB) camera over a two-week period. Eighteen color features, nine texture features using the gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), and one morphological feature were extracted from each image. A two-way ANOVA and multiple mean comparison (Duncan) analysis were used to determine the statistical significance of the treatment effects. To reduce feature overlap, sequential feature selection (SFS) was applied, and a support vector machine (SVM) was used for stress classification. The SFS method was used to identify the optimal features for the classification model, leading to substantial increases in stress classification accuracy. The SVM model, using these selected features, achieved a classification accuracy of 82% without the SFS and 86% with the SFS. To address overfitting, 5- and 10-fold cross-validation were used, resulting in MAEs of 0.138 and 0.163 for the polynomial kernel, respectively. The SVM model, evaluated with the ROC curve and confusion matrix, achieved a classification accuracy of 85%. This classification approach enables real-time stress monitoring, allowing growers to optimize environmental conditions and enhance seedling growth. Future directions include integrating this system into automated cultivation environments to enable continuous, efficient stress monitoring and response, further improving crop management and productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health monitoring of vegetable and fruit plants, especially during the critical seedling growth stage, is essential to protect them from various environmental stresses and prevent yield loss. Different environmental stresses may cause similar symptoms, making visual inspection alone unreliable and potentially leading to an incorrect diagnosis and delayed corrective actions. This study aimed to address these challenges by proposing a segmented regression model and a Mask R-CNN model for detecting the initiation time and symptoms of nutrient stress in cucumber seedlings within a controlled environment. Nutrient stress was induced by applying two different treatments: an indicative nutrient deficiency with an electrical conductivity (EC) of 0 dSm−1, and excess nutrients with a high-concentration nutrient solution and an EC of 6 dSm−1. Images of the seedlings were collected using an automatic image acquisition system two weeks after germination. The early initiation of nutrient stress was detected using a segmented regression analysis, which analyzed morphological and textural features extracted from the images. For the Mask R-CNN model, 800 seedling images were annotated based on the segmented regression analysis results. Nutrient-stressed seedlings were identified from the initiation day to 4.2 days after treatment application. The Mask R-CNN model, implemented using ResNet-101 for feature extraction, leveraged transfer learning to train the network with a smaller dataset, thereby reducing the processing time. This study identifies the top projected canopy area (TPCA), energy, entropy, and homogeneity as prospective indicators of nutritional deficits in cucumber seedlings. The results from the Mask R-CNN model are promising, with the best-fit image achieving an F1 score of 93.4%, a precision of 93%, and a recall of 94%. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the integrated statistical and machine learning (ML) methods for the early and accurate diagnosis of nutrient stress. The use of segmented regression for initial detection, followed by the Mask R-CNN for precise identification, emphasizes the potential of this approach to enhance agricultural practices. By facilitating the early detection and accurate diagnosis of nutrient stress, this approach allows for quicker and more precise treatments, which improve crop health and productivity. Future research could expand this methodology to other crop types and field conditions to enhance image processing techniques, and researchers may also integrate real-time monitoring systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the diverse environmental influences on seedling growth is critical for maximizing yields. The need for a more comprehensive understanding of how various environmental factors affect seedling growth is required. Integrating sensor data and image processing techniques offers a promising approach to accurately detect stress symptoms and uncover hidden patterns, enhancing the comprehension of seedling responses to environmental factors. The objective of this study was to quantify environmental stress symptoms for six seedling varieties using image-extracted feature characteristics. Three sensors were used: an RGB camera for color, shape, and size information; a thermal camera for measuring canopy temperature; and a depth camera for providing seedling height from the image-extracted features. Six seedling varieties were grown under controlled conditions, with variations in temperature, light intensity, nutrients, and water supply, while daily automated imaging was conducted for two weeks. Key seedling features, including leaf area, leaf color, seedling height, and canopy temperature, were derived through image processing techniques. These features were then employed to quantify stress symptoms for each seedling type. The analysis of stress effects on the six seedling varieties revealed distinct responses to environmental stressors. Integration of color, size, and shape parameters established a visual hierarchy: pepper and pak choi seedlings showed a good response, cucumber seedlings showed a milder response, and lettuce and tomato seedlings displayed an intermediate response. Pepper and tomato seedlings exhibited a wide range of growth stress symptoms, at 13.00% to 83.33% and 2.96% to 70.01%, respectively, indicating considerable variability in their reactions to environmental stressors. The suggested classification approach provides valuable groundwork for advancing stress monitoring and enabling growers to optimize environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leaf is a primary part of a plant, and examining the leaf area is crucial in understanding growth and plant physiology. Accurately estimating leaf area is key to this understanding. This study proposed a methodology for the non-destructive estimation of leaf area in pennywort plants using image processing and an artificial neural network (ANN) model. The image processing method involved a series of steps, including grayscale conversion, histogram equalization, binary masking, and region filling, achieving an accuracy of around 96.6%. The ANN model, trained with 70% of a dataset, exhibited high correlations of 97.1% in training and 96.6% in testing phases, with leaf length and width significantly impacting the model output. A comparative analysis revealed the superior performance of the ANN model over the image processing method, demonstrating higher R2 values (>0.99) and lower errors. Furthermore, it showed the impact of diverse LED light combinations and nutrient levels (electrical conductivity, EC) on pennywort plant growth, indicating that the R70:B30 LED light ratio with nutrient level 2 (2.0 dS·m−1) fostered the most favorable growth for pennywort plants. The non-destructive nature, simplicity, and speed of the ANN model in estimating leaf area based on easily obtainable measurements of length and width render it an accessible and accurate tool for plant growth assessment in controlled environments. This approach offers opportunities for future studies, tracking changes in leaf areas under varied growth conditions without harming the plant, thus enhancing precision in research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical farming has emerged as a promising solution to cope with increasing food demand, urbanization pressure, and limited resources and to ensure sustainable year-round urban agriculture. The aim of this review was to investigate the evolving technological landscape and engineering considerations, with a focus on innovative developments and future prospects. This paper presents technological trends in vertical farming, covering advances in sensing technologies, monitoring and control systems, and unmanned systems. It also highlights the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in contributing to data-driven decision-making and the optimization of vertical farms. A global perspective on vertical farming is presented, including the current status and advanced technological trends across regions like Asia, the USA, and Europe. Innovative concepts and upcoming enterprises that could shape the future of vertical agriculture are explored. Additionally, the challenges and future prospects of vertical farming are also addressed, focusing on crop production limitations, environmental sustainability, economic feasibility, and contributions to global food security. This review provides guidance on the state of vertical farming, technological advancements, global trends, challenges, and prospects, offering insights into the roles of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in advancing sustainable vertical agriculture and food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice plant numbers and density are key factors for yield and quality of rice grains. Precise and properly estimated rice plant numbers and density can assure high yield from rice fields. The main objective of this study was to automatically detect and count rice plants using images of usual field condition from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). We proposed an automatic image processing method based on morphological operation and boundaries of the connected component to count rice plant numbers after transplanting. We converted RGB images to binary images and applied adaptive median filter to remove distortion and noises. Then we applied a morphological operation to the binary image and draw boundaries to the connected component to count rice plants using those images. The result reveals the algorithm can conduct a performance of 89% by the F-measure, corresponding to a Precision of 87% and a Recall of 91%. The best fit image gives a performance of 93% by the F-measure, corresponding to a Precision of 91% and a Recall of 96%. Comparison between the numbers of rice plants detected and counted by the naked eye and the numbers of rice plants found by the proposed method provided viable and acceptable results. The R² value was approximately 0.893. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geometric feature characterization of fruit trees plays a role in effective management in orchards. LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology for object detection enables the rapid and precise evaluation of geometric features. This study aimed to quantify the height, canopy volume, tree spacing, and row spacing in an apple orchard using a three-dimensional (3D) LiDAR sensor. A LiDAR sensor was used to collect 3D point cloud data from the apple orchard. Six samples of apple trees, representing a variety of shapes and sizes, were selected for data collection and validation. Commercial software and the python programming language were utilized to process the collected data. The data processing steps involved data conversion, radius outlier removal, voxel grid downsampling, denoising through filtering and erroneous points, segmentation of the region of interest (ROI), clustering using the density-based spatial clustering (DBSCAN) algorithm, data transformation, and the removal of ground points. Accuracy was assessed by comparing the estimated outputs from the point cloud with the corresponding measured values. The sensor-estimated and measured tree heights were 3.05 ± 0.34 m and 3.13 ± 0.33 m, respectively, with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.08 m, a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.09 m, a linear coefficient of determination (r 2 ) of 0.98, a confidence interval (CI) of -0.14 to -0.02 m, and a high concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) of 0.96, indicating strong agreement and high accuracy. The sensor-estimated and measured canopy volumes were 13.76 ± 2.46 m 3 and 14.09 ± 2.10 m 3 , respectively, with an MAE of 0.57 m 3 , an RMSE of 0.61 m 3 , an r 2 value of 0.97, and a CI of -0.92 to 0.26, demonstrating high precision. For tree and row spacing, the sensor-estimated distances and measured distances were 3.04 ± 0.17 and 3.18 ± 0.24 m, and 3.35 ± 0.08 and 3.40 ± 0.05 m, respectively, with RMSE and r 2 values of 0.12 m and 0.92 for tree spacing, and 0.07 m and 0.94 for row spacing, respectively. The MAE and CI values were 0.09 m, 0.05 m, and -0.18 for tree spacing and 0.01, -0.1, and 0.002 for row spacing, respectively. Although minor differences were observed, the sensor estimates were efficient, though specific measurements require further refinement. The results are based on a limited dataset of six measured values, providing initial insights into geometric feature characterization performance. However, a larger dataset would offer a more reliable accuracy assessment. The small sample size (six apple trees) limits the generalizability of the findings and necessitates caution in interpreting the results. Future studies should incorporate a broader and more diverse dataset to validate and refine the characterization, enhancing management practices in apple orchards.

Pig farming, a vital industry, necessitates proactive measures for early disease detection and crush symptom monitoring to ensure optimum pig health and safety. This review explores advanced thermal sensing technologies and computer vision-based thermal imaging techniques employed for pig disease and piglet crush symptom monitoring on pig farms. Infrared thermography (IRT) is a non-invasive and efficient technology for measuring pig body temperature, providing advantages such as non-destructive, long-distance, and high-sensitivity measurements. Unlike traditional methods, IRT offers a quick and labor-saving approach to acquiring physiological data impacted by environmental temperature, crucial for understanding pig body physiology and metabolism. IRT aids in early disease detection, respiratory health monitoring, and evaluating vaccination effectiveness. Challenges include body surface emissivity variations affecting measurement accuracy. Thermal imaging and deep learning algorithms are used for pig behavior recognition, with the dorsal plane effective for stress detection. Remote health monitoring through thermal imaging, deep learning, and wearable devices facilitates non-invasive assessment of pig health, minimizing medication use. Integration of advanced sensors, thermal imaging, and deep learning shows potential for disease detection and improvement in pig farming, but challenges and ethical considerations must be addressed for successful implementation. This review summarizes the state-of-the-art technologies used in the pig farming industry, including computer vision algorithms such as object detection, image segmentation, and deep learning techniques. It also discusses the benefits and limitations of IRT technology, providing an overview of the current research field. This study provides valuable insights for researchers and farmers regarding IRT application in pig production, highlighting notable approaches and the latest research findings in this field., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported., (© Copyright 2024 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology.)