The Södra Research Foundation has decided to grant an additional SEK 6.5 million ($743.502) to research projects linked to forestry and the forest industry. Funding has been granted to nine different projects, as the company says in the press release received by Lesprom Network.
One of these projects is “Operational forest mapping with drones and artificial intelligence,” which aims to develop methods for using drones and artificial intelligence to create automatic and instantaneous maps for forestry.
“Drone technology is now highly developed, and a useful tool for forestry applications. This project is taking the next step forward by using automatic image recognition, which was originally developed for artificial intelligence, to advance the technology. This could lead to new applications in, for example, forest management plans and the documentation of conservation considerations. We are only at the beginning of the digital journey, and there are many possibilities for modern forestry,” said Göran Örlander, Chairman of the Södra Research Foundation and forestry strategist at Södra.
Funding was also granted to “Digitised energy management platform,” a project to produce methods and tools for facilitating and optimising efforts to improve energy efficiency in the pulp industry.
“Energy efficiency is an important area, and our sector has come a long way due to investments in technology and systematic energy management. A new digital platform for collecting, processing and analysing data could provide further opportunities for the industry to visualise and optimise its production processes,” said Catrin Gustavsson, Board member of the Södra Research Foundation and Head of Innovation and New Business at Södra.
Other projects granted funding span a wide range of forest industry-related topics, including how cone production can be increased in spruce seed orchards and possibilities for creating new material from cellulose-based particles.
