SmartLarva: Smart monitoring and real-time analysis of black soldier fly larval development with computer vision and sensor solutions

The urgent need for sustainable protein sources, driven by global population growth and climate concerns, is increasing interest in insect farming, particularly Black Soldier Fly (BSF) production. Despite advancements, the industry is still nascent, facing efficiency and scalability challenges due to limited technological solutions and biological insights. Current practices rely on manual assessments for production decisions, which are inadequate, leading to reduced efficiency, increased waste, and heightened environmental impact. Additionally, the lack of reliable phenotyping tools hinders the implementation of genetic improvements crucial for robust production.

SmartLarva addresses these challenges by delivering two TRL7 solutions to optimize production, reduce waste, and enhance yield consistency: a distributed wireless in-crate vision system for tracking larval growth and behavior, and a phenotyping platform for real-time ranking of candidates for selective breeding and larval sex classification. The project integrates off-the-shelf camera and sensor technologies with innovative system architecture and algorithms through iterative steps of requirements definition, prototype development, and testing in lab and farm environments. These solutions will be deployed at Enorm, enabling improvements in real production conditions, while user interfaces will enhance control systems, paving the way for a marketable BSF monitoring and phenotyping solution at an industrial scale.