The ‘mySense’ platform is being developed by the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD) to offer precision viticulture management solutions that help mitigate climate change or avoid pests and illnesses. Currently under development, ‘mySense’ is a prototype that gathers data across multiple projects with the goal of creating a service for the community. It brings together cutting-edge technology and agricultural solutions which is crucial for the economy in the Douro, where UTAD is situated.

As shared by Raul Morais, a researcher at UTAD's Centre for Agro-Environmental and Biological Research and Technologies (CITAB), the ‘mySense’ platform in addition to supporting the development of particular solutions based on static, mobile, proximity, or distant sensors, also offers support services for agriculture, including the identification of grape varieties and vine diseases, among other things.

As the researcher explained, “We have models for predicting some pests and diseases, we have decision support systems for irrigation, automatic processing of aerial images, climate projections (…) We have maturity in proximity monitoring using sensors on the ground, we have a complete catalogue of all drones and sensors transported by drones and we master all the data produced by satellite”.

Raul Morais defended that although the ‘mySense’ platform is accessible, it is still at the moment a tool which has only been used in one research. Still, the aim is that it will be a product that anyone outside of UTAD can utilise in the upcoming years.