Forest worker safety is the focus of a new project featuring INESC TEC

With expected impact in reducing operational costs, increasing workers’ safety and creating specialised employment, the SMARTCUT.v2 project aims to improve safety for forest workers. 

After previously contributing to the development of intelligent modules – created in an earlier phase of the project – for machine sensing used in forestry operations, as well as in safety and monitoring, INESC TEC now joins the SMARTCUT.v2 project. In this new phase, the main goal is to create a technological demonstrator that can prove, in real-world conditions, the effectiveness and implementation potential of the solutions developed so far. 

Building on remote diagnostic and visual inspection tools, as well as augmented reality simulators used in the training of operators and technical staff, the project now explores cyber-physical systems, intelligent sensing, safety and monitoring solutions, interoperability, and automation applied to forestry machinery. The development of advanced simulation mechanisms is also planned, aimed at training workers, thus enabling more effective remote interventions and increasing on-site efficiency. 

Specifically, INESC TEC will contribute to SMARTCUT.v2 through two research infrastructures: the Robotics and IoT Laboratory for Smart Precision Agriculture and Forestry (TRIBE Lab) and the MASSIVE Virtual Reality Laboratory – stemming from the partnership established between the Institute and the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD). 

In the first case, and according to Filipe Neves Santos, researcher at the Institute, the work will involve “the development and prototyping of a modular solution designed for integration into forestry machinery, toward ensuring a safety perimeter for the operator and for anyone present in the work area.” Moreover, the solution will also incorporate “monitoring and forestry surveying capabilities, enabling the automatic generation of productivity maps and terrain inventory.” 

As for the participation of MASSIVE, this will include the design, development and validation of an “immersive simulator based on multisensory virtual reality technologies” – both for “training operators and maintenance technical staff”, and for “remote diagnostics and support for interventions on forestry machinery”, mentioned INESC TEC researcher Miguel Melo. 

The project, led by Cutplant Solutions, S.A. and lasting 18 months, is expected to have an impact on the “modernisation of the Portuguese forestry sector”, with direct effects on the “reduction of operational costs, increased operator safety and the creation of skilled jobs in low-density regions”. The consortium also includes the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), the University of Porto (UP), the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco (IPCB), and Arménios-Exploração Florestal Lda. 

The researchers mentioned in this news piece are associated with INESC TEC, the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto and the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro