UNAIR NEWS - Dani Ali, an Alumni of Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) who is also the owner of PT Lentera Alam Nusantara and his team developed an Internet of Things (IoT) based application. The application, called Swallow Headquarters, is claimed to be the first application in Indonesia that is used to help farmers calculate their swallow population.

Launching from brin.go.id, it all started with Dani's concern about the pattern of swallow rearing in the community, which has been done conventionally. He conveyed this concern on the occasion of a Talkshow on the topic of Research-Based Entrepreneurs (PPBR) in the Soekarno Science and Technology Area, Cibinong, Thursday (8/8/2024). This activity is a series of Indonesia Research and Innovation Expo 2024 which was held from August 8 to 11, 2024.

PT Lentera Alam Nusantara is one of the PPBRs established in 2019, they use research results to develop their business in the field of swallow farming. According to Dani, swallow farmers do not know the accurate number of swallows they have. “Swallow house owners have not been able to know the exact number of their swallow population. They find it difficult to get an exact figure,” said Dani.

To find out the condition of the swallow house, farmers usually enter the swallow house and check the condition during the day when the birds are out. This makes it difficult to get an actual picture of the swallow population. “With this application, we can find out how many swallows enter and leave the house,” he added.

The alumni of the Faculty of Science and Technology explained that managing swallow farms must be careful, because swallow nests have high economic value. Moreover, the demand for swallow nests continues to increase every year. “The demand for swallow's nest in the world continues to increase, and is expected to increase between 10 to 20 percent every year. But until now, swallow farmers have never known the condition of their swallows in detail, from the number of populations to the health condition of their cages,” he explained.

Comes with Artificial Intelligence
The application that Dani developed with his team has used Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the form of a swallow population counter using the deep learning method. Deep learning itself is a computer learning that classifies swallow images or sounds directly.

He believes that this method can provide quality results and reduce operational costs. This will help map the swallow's potential and behavior scientifically. In his development, Dani participated in a funding scheme that he obtained from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN). The scheme is the Research-Based Start-up Entrepreneur funding and he secured it in 2023.

Through this scheme, Dani revealed that he received various assistance from BRIN researchers in developing the Swallow Headquarters application. “BRIN has many roles in the development of this application, including helping to manage image processing,” he said.

In addition, BRIN also helps with licensing and funding. Through cooperation with BRIN, Dani hopes that the Markas Swallow application can be maximally useful in managing swallows. Therefore, it can increase the productivity of breeders which in turn can improve the economy.

Author: Ragil Kukuh Imanto

Source : https://unair.ac.id/alumni-unair-ciptakan-aplikasi-beternak-walet-digital/