UF Digital Twin Technology Simulates Strawberry Farm, Boosts AI Tools and Cuts Costs

By Brad Buck

While strawberry production runs from November through April in Florida, digital twin technology lets scientists simulate the growth of the fruit year-round, allowing research to proceed year-round.

Digital twins are virtual replicas of objects, systems or processes that can predict system behavior as they interact in a simulated environment.

Dana Choi and her team of University of Florida scientists have now shown that that the robotic system, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), is accurate and that it saves time and labor. That’s critical for the $500 million-a-year Florida strawberry industry and could also be crucial for an industry worth $2 billion annually across the United States.

A few years ago, Choi’s team built a digital twin of a strawberry field that copies every row, leaf and berry at life-size. Within that virtual field, scientists let the robot drive around and take thousands of photos of a simulated commercial farm in Hillsborough County.