Bioristor Dubai2020

Bioristor: an in-vivo sensor for well-being of plants and optimization of water resources
Regione Emilia-Romagna

completed project [2021-2022]
Project Leader: Nicola Coppedè (nicola.coppede@imem.cnr.iit) - IMEM-CNR
Head of IMEM activities: Nicola Coppedè (nicola.coppede@imem.cnr.iit)

What is Bioristor

Bioristor is a biocompatible and flexible electrochemical sensor that can be inserted into the stem of the plant without any rejection and allows real-time monitoring of the characteristics of its sap.

Bioristor features

Il Bioristor è uno strumento che presenta caratteristiche uniche:

in vivo (First sensor directly operable in the plant stem)
Biocompatible (Bioristor it is composed by a special material that ensure any rejection from the plant tissues)
Real-time (The sap stream is monitored continuously every 15 minutes to provide an early detection of health problems)
IoT (A dedicated control unit readout the sensors and send data to a remote server in cloud)

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Bioristor in Expo Dubai 2020

Thanks to a project promoted by the Emilia Romagna region, IMEM CNR was able to present the Bioristor technology inside the Italy pavilion at Expo Dubai 2020.

Bioristor in giardino Italia

Thanks to the collaboration with the CNR, it was possible to insert a permanent structure inside the Italian pavilion, containing the main Mediterranean and desert plants, 4 control units and 16 Bioristor devices, which monitored the plants for the duration of the expo.

Thanks to the permanent presence of the Bioristor in the plants of the Italian garden, the guides were able to illustrate the Bioristor technology and its main applications to the visitors of the Italian pavilion. In the Italian pavilion, more than one and a half million visitors saw the Bioristor technology in action live.

Bioristor installato nel giardino del padiglione Italia, il sensore è stato installato in diverse piante (vite, fico, limone, cedro, acacia del deserto, ulivo)

Final presentation event

At the end of the presence of the Bioristor in the Italian garden, a presentation event of the Bioristor technology was held in the Italian pavilion in Dubai. The presentation event was broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of the Italian Pavilion.

Foto dell'evento di presentazione tecnologica del bioristor al padiglione Italia

Within the presentation, a vertical "Hedera" part was shown which contains a vertical support system for the plants, with dedicated irrigation and lighting, in which the Bioristor monitoring units were inserted. The vertical part allowed the monitoring of indoor plants.

A round table was held on the theme of innovation in agriculture 4.0 with international guests, including: Sara Roversi (President of the Future Food Institute), Silvia Marchelli (President of Parma Alimenta), Francesco Cellini (Director of ALSIA), Stefano Caselli ( UNIPR, POSITIVE project manager), Dua Weraikat (Rochester Institute of Technology DUBAI). Click here to see the full video. Click here for full video

Thanks to this initiative, the Bioristor technology has had international visibility, arousing great interest. Articles have been written in trade journals (https://agronotizie.imagelinenetwork.com/agricoltura-economia-politica/2022/04/28/analizzare-la-linfa-delle-piante-per-una-irrigazione-e-una-nutrizione-di-precisione/74764).