What is it about?
In the context of the potential future use of unmanned ground vehicles for forest inventories, we present the first experiences with SPOT, a legged robot equipped with a LiDAR instrument and several cameras that have been used with a teleoperation approach for single-tree detection and measurements.
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Why is it important?
Forest tree monitoring and assessment are rapidly evolving as new information needs arise and new techniques and tools become available. However, the exploitation of the latter, as well as their implementation within operative management processes, should be evidence-based . From this perspective, based on this first experience with SPOT and from the comparison with a traditional forest survey, some pros and cons clearly emerged so far.
Perspectives
In the near future, we will continue to explore SPOT capabilities for forest inventory support with a different TLS system connected to payload docks, capable of implementing a better SLAM procedure. Furthermore, the SPOT’s capabilities could be further explored for monitoring and analysis of forest tree plantations, both in stands for industrial timber production (e.g., hybrid poplar plantations) and in short-rotation forestry.
Piermaria Corona
CREA Research Centre for Forestry and Wood
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Robotics in Forest Inventories: SPOT’s First Steps, Forests, October 2023, MDPI AG,
DOI: 10.3390/f14112170.
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