Event will take place in virtual format due to the pandemic of Covid-19

The Feevale university student group that won the national stage of the Renault Experience challenge is preparing themselves for the international stage of the event, Renault's Global Twizy Challenge Contest. Because of Covid-19 pandemic, the event, which would take place in person in France, will be held in virtual format in December, with a date yet to be confirmed. Academics are conducting mentoring with Renault professionals and with professors of the Institution.

The prototype of the FarmTwizy team, which would be presented in person in France, will be developed virtually, through a 3D model with virtual reality, so that it is visualized in a more realistic way. The group is committed to developing the first prototype of the solution, which has an integrative software, responsible for assisting farmers in the management of the crop. The main tools of the project are a drone and a mini laboratory, which provide the data to the software to process and interpret the information, in order to guide the producer in decision making.

Made possible by the Innovation Board and the Institute of Creative and Technological Sciences (ICCT), through Feevale’s Design Center, the group is integrated by Niklaus Lauxen and Gustavo Siebel, from the Electronic Engineering course, Paulo César Junior, from the Production Engineering course, and Vinicius Wilbert, graduated in Product Design from Feevale. In addition, the FarmTwizy team is looking for new professionals to expand the project, providing vacancies for agronomists and software developers. Anyone who is interested should contact us by e-mail farmtwizy@gmail.com.

Lauxen says that the participants defined phases for the beginning of the project execution – in the first stage, they contemplate pest detection through leaf analysis and the production of a user interaction software with farmers – and are seeking investors for the startup. "Our intention is, at last, to present ourselves as a company. We are working to present a successful project with a solid foundation and a well-developed end product," Niklaus concludes. The team was incubated at Softex, a Civil Social Organization of Public Interest (Oscip), which has been working for 24 years to promote Brazilian digital transformation and is in pre-incubation proceedings at Feevale Techpark.

The developed project
Guided by professors Juan Almada and Fabiano Nunes, the participants had the idea of developing FarmTwizy, an electric vehicle that brings to the agribusiness market an innovative solution, with the purpose of increasing productivity in agriculture. In addition, intelligently, the product provides mobility and crop management. With modern technology and in a sustainable way, the vehicle offers the farmer tools for soil analysis, leaf analysis and visual monitoring of the entire plantation, assisting him in combating pests and guiding him in the actions necessary to obtain the best results.