Recently, in the forest of Limnia in Kavala, the first of a total of four terrestrial missions of the robot-dog “Spot Robot” of the US company Boston Dynamics took place. 

The robotic system in question has navigation and data collection capabilities in difficult terrains in collaboration with a multispectral camera carrier drone deployed to capture detailed aerial photographs and provide data on the state of the forest.

The project is part of the start of the Pilot Monitoring of Forests with Cutting-edge Technology in the context of the European project DigiMedFor, with the participation of the Center for Research and Technology (CERTH HELLAS), the Director of the Technical Service of the municipality of Kavala Ilias Tsagkalidis, the coordinator of the project Maria Katsikaris and the forester- scientific manager Andreas Xiros.

The successful completion of the pilot test marks a major advance in the effort to conserve and protect Mediterranean forests, combining advanced technology with environmental sensitivity.

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According to the website Greenagenda.gr, the robotic dog can acknowledge the density of the forest and inform the user about the necessary thinning to better manage the forest. 

In essence, it scans the area and marks it on a map, while through the application, the user can upload photos and update the system, Io Chatzivaritis, scientific associate of the mayor of Kavala for European projects, points out.

The robotic dog’s next scheduled mission is next spring. 

The municipality of Kavala, through the DigiMedFor project, is moving towards achieving its environmental goals, which include:

• Digitizing Mediterranean forests: Using advanced technologies to record and monitor forests.
• Combating deforestation and other illegal practices: Improving tools and technologies to monitor and prevent illegal activities.
• Sustainable forest management and timber traceability: Developing strategies for sustainable timber management and tracking.
• Strengthening Supply Chain Management in the Mediterranean: Developing Information Systems to Support Sustainable Decisions.
• Utilization of DigiMedFor services: Market analyses, business models, necessary skills and analysis of the ethical and legal framework for the application of the new tools.

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