For5G – Digitally twinning cherry trees

The heart of the For5G project is the generation and analysis of a digital twin for fruit trees

As part of the For5G project, a practical 5G application is being developed for cherry farming. The core of the project, which is located in the Franconian Switzerland region of Bavaria, is the generation and analysis of a digital twin for fruit trees via a 5G campus network. In the future, the insights obtained will then be transferred to other use cases. Fraunhofer IIS, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (HWST) and its Horticultural Institute, and Forchheim District Council are collaborating on the implementation. The project has received funding of 1.4 million euros from the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport.

Widely cultivated in the region, the sweet cherry was selected as the first use case. The digital cherry tree twin is designed to support farmers in predicting harvests, recognizing when trees are stressed and in planning and implementing care measures, thus contributing to a more efficient and more sustainable orchard management.

The expertise brought together for the project in the areas of 5G and phenotyping (Fraunhofer IIS), robotics and visualization (FAU) and fruit cultivation (HWST / Forchheim District Council) complement each other ideally for the successful execution of the project.