[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/9595\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ERobochop makes garden trimming a snip\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGardening is proven to be healthful and joyful, but as more of us discover the joys of working in the garden for the first time, some basic knowledge about plants, landscaping and soil is required to get started. What, where and when should you plant, for instance?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese were some of the core questions co-founder of the start-up \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dmag.fr\/en\/\u0022\u003EDraw Me A Garden (DMAG)\u003C\/a\u003E, Florent De Salaberry, realised were standing in the way of more people digging in to the subject.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIKEA-like\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Many people want to garden, but lots of us just don\u2019t have the expertise or confidence to begin,\u2019 said the French tech entrepreneur.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDMAG is \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dmag.fr\/en\/\u0022\u003Ean app and website\u003C\/a\u003E service which offers tailored 3D-plans for garden design. It helps budding gardeners to transform any plot into a beautiful, sustainable garden with ease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe inspiration behind the company\u2019s name comes from the children\u2019s book \u2018Le Petit Prince\u2019 in which the prince requests the narrator to \u2018draw me a sheep\u2019 to start a conversation and build a relationship.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDe Salaberry says \u201cDraw Me A Garden\u201d uses digital tools in a similar way to help people build a relationship with nature in their gardens.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe DMAG service helps customers envisage their dream garden by providing creative ideas, planting tips and, most important of all, delivering all the plants to their door.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGiving customers ownership of their creations is what distinguishes DMAG from traditional landscaping, argues De Salaberry. \u2018We know that if you just pay people to landscape your garden, not only is that really expensive but it\u2019s also hard to feel pride in it,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018DMAG is about making gardening easy and affordable, and providing the resources to enable customers to be at the heart of their own projects.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGarden varieties\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECustomers locate their garden online via a satellite map. Next, they list any pre-existing features such as a terrace or a child\u2019s play area, then select a preferred garden style, such as for example English cottage garden or Mediterranean.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003EMany people want to garden, but lots of us just don\u2019t have the expertise or confidence to begin\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EFlorent de Salaberry, Draw Me A Garden\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBehind the scenes, DMAG\u2019s algorithm whirrs away using these inputs together with local knowledge (soil type, elevation, sun direction) to map out the perfect garden design. Customers can visualise the design using 3D mapping tools on the DMAG website.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA qualified landscaper supports the design process and the customer receives a number of planning options to mull over.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGreen thumbs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResults come back almost instantaneously. \u2018The idea was always to enable customers to do this wherever or whenever they wanted and it takes just a few seconds to get the first design back,\u2019 said De Salaberry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce further small refinements are made, a 3D view is rendered, and customers can sit back and wait for all plants and growing instructions to be delivered.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA typical delivery might consist of between 200 - 300 plants. These come with biodegradable cardboard scaffolds cut to the exact garden size and instructions to help the gardeners plant them out.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo far, the DMAG team have supplied to gardeners of all kinds in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, with average expenditure of around \u20ac1 500.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDe Salaberry likens his turnkey garden concept to how IKEA has revolutionised kitchen design.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs they look to scale-up this work in new EU countries and the US, they hope many more people will soon be asking them to start their gardening journey and \u201cdraw me a garden.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGlade runner\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf DMAG can help gardeners create the ideal future garden space, then the TrimBot2020 might be the answer to help maintain it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe brainchild of computer vision and robotics\u2019 expert, Professor Bob Fisher of the University of Edinburgh, TrimBot2020 is one of the first robot gardening devices that promises to do more than simply mow the lawn.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022The TrimBot2020 \u00a9 TrimBot2020 Consortium, 2020\u0022 data-entity-type=\u0022file\u0022 data-entity-uuid=\u0022bb9eea4d-7a08-46fc-93ab-803a432f329d\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/IMCEUpload\/TBvehicle.png\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EThe TrimBot2020 \u00a9 TrimBot2020 Consortium, 2020\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBased on a modified commercially available robot lawnmower, the autonomous vehicle prunes roses, trims hedges and shapes topiary, all while auto-navigating garden terrain.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo achieve this, the robot uses a ring of cameras to draw a 3D map of the garden, some robotic snippers and hefty dose of computer processing power.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018There are ten cameras which work together to build up a 3D model of the garden, just like our eyes do,\u2019 said Fisher.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETogether, these cameras help the robot gain a 360-degree view of the complex terrain of the garden. The robot also matches what it sees to a hand drawn map supplied by the users.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUpon command, the TrimBot springs into life by rolling up to the bush and scanning it to build up a computer-vision model of that particular plant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Once it has an idea of where all the stems are, its robotic arm comes out with the cutter and it starts snipping away,\u2019 said Fisher.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERobochop\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor the TrimBot team, the commercial target market is horticultural businesses responsible for maintaining parks, gardens, and recreational areas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn such cases, they believe the robot can take on pruning duties while the human gardener does something more challenging.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the commercial future of TrimBot is yet to be determined, the real benefits may yet come through incorporating the technology into the \u201cbrains\u201d of next-generation of garden robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Outdoor robotics is notoriously hard,\u2019 said Fisher. Typical challenges include constant lighting changes, the many different shades of green and variations in the terrain.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurrent robot lawnmowers usually require users to mark out an exact area to mow and to position a robot in the right place to start. TrimBot\u2019s technology should enable robots of tomorrow to work that out themselves.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018With the TrimBot project we\u2019ve really demonstrated what might be possible in the future,\u2019 said Fisher.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5\u003EResearch in this article was funded by the EU. 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