Consilium Technology's world-first vineyard maps, with satellite/AI; merger with elmTEK in Adelaide in 2022
Consilium Technology's GAIA agritech product had its capabiility broadened by buying Adelaide-based Measurement Engineering Australia and its Green Brain software.
Image courtesy Consilium Techology
Adelaide-based Consilium Technology merged with elmTEK in 2022, creating a larger company with experience across disciplines including software engineering, systems integration, digital sensors, simulation and Al (artificial intelligence).
Consilium Technology in 2020 broadened the capabilities of its world-first GAIA (Geospatial Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture) software that had attracted international interest by using artificial intelligence and satellite imagery to map every vineyard in Australia.
GAIA mapped all 75,961 Australian vineyard blocks and showed how many vine rows were planted. This allowed planting densities by GI (Geographical Indication) region and sub-region to be assessed for the first time. It gave information for emergency biosecurity responses and insights into vine health from effects of weather.
Funded by Wine Australia, the Consilium Technology scan was the first of its kind in the world and replaced the old Australian Bureau of Statistics paper-based sector survey, last published in 2015. Digital Globe, an American company selling the space imagery and geospatial data, and the University of South Australia, with research and development, have been partners in the GAIA product.
In 2020, Consilium bought another Adelaide-based company Measurement Engineering Australia and its Green Brain software. Measurement Engineering Australia, founded in 1984 by Dr Andrew Skinner, designed and built hardware and software products to support farm monitoring and irrigation decisions. Its Green Brain integrated well with Consilium’s GAIA that, in 2019, won all three categories in the South Australia/Northern Territory division of the Australian Information Industry Association iAwards.
Consilium Technology was founded in 2013. Besides agritech, it also developed high-tech software solutions for the defence and mining industries. The company, specialising in modelling and simulation, data analytics, mixed reality, human sciences and machine learning, employed computer programmers, scientists, engineers and analysts.
The business won more than 20 active defence contracts and has secured more than 10 mining and energy contracts. Its defence product, a gaming simulation-based offering called Infinite Studio, was developed with the Australian department of defence science and technology. For mining companies, its exploration data enabled machine-learning-based decisions.