As the agricultural sector rapidly transforms, Artificial Intelligence is playing an increasingly vital role in responding to the continuous changes. The SkyScanAgro start-up, developed by Atanas, Filip, Dimitar, Aleksandar, and their teacher Pavlina from the Vocational High School of Computer Modelling and Computer Systems in Bulgaria’s Black Sea capital Varna is a great example of how AI can serve as both a technological and educational tool.
The SkyScanAgro startup, developed by the 16 to 17 years old students during their participation in the DTTI Action in Food project, focuses on the agricultural area of weed detection in corn fields using artificial intelligence. Their project addresses the widespread issue of inefficient weed management in small to medium-sized farms by offering an affordable, AI-powered solution. Using computer vision, the system autonomously identifies and classifies plants as either corn or weeds through image analysis, helping farmers monitor infested areas and assess yield impact.
The AI tool behind SkyScanAgro is built using Teachable Machine and trained on custom image datasets of corn and common weeds. It offers a dual-phase approach: real-time diagnostics via a camera integrated with an embedded system, and personalized agronomic recommendations based on detected weed coverage. The project’s key features include its affordability, field applicability, and potential for educational use in agrarian schools. With practical implementation plans, pilot testing through a partner, and outreach strategies like demonstrations and agricultural expos, SkyScanAgro shows promise both as a commercial product and a learning platform for future agri-tech innovation.
SkyScanAgro was part of a showcase event for the DTTI Action in Food project during JA Bulgaria’s annual Company of the Year Competition held in Burgas on May 30-31, 2025. This gave them the opportunity, without having been part of the Company Programme, to go through all the elements of the competition, including on-stage presentation, exhibition stands, and jury interviews. The exhibition was held open-air and the team was approached by an agricultural producer who visited the event by chance. One important insight they got from him is that their solution needs to be able to detect weeds at the earliest stages of crop development. They showed their prototype which they have assembled within just a couple of weeks’ time – it consists of a box with a camera, a GPS module and a Raspberry Pi computer. This unit transmits the data to an online platform
built by the team. This simple device scans the plant in real time and sends the data and GPS coordinates to the website which, thanks to its built-in AI model, immediately returns information on whether the plant is a weed or not.
Future applications of the AI solution include the ability to successfully recognize and classify various types of weeds for various types of agricultural crops and to provide AI-powered advice on how to handle them. The device itself can be mounted on a drone, for example. It can also be mounted on a tractor, which represents an opportunity for future experiments to make sure the vibrations generated from the tractor’s movement don’t interfere with the ability to make clear, usable photos.
The team is now excited to continue developing the project in the next school year – as a student company. This will give them the opportunity to delve deeper into the entrepreneurial aspects, as well as enough time to improve the AI model and the solution as a whole.
The case study of SkyScanAgro shows how the DTTI Action in Food programme, supported by EIT Food and Intel, broadens the scope of interdisciplinary teaching in schools on two levels:
- Teachers from various subjects collaborate to provide the best possible preparation for the student teams – in the case of SkyScanAgro, Pavlina Linova who is an IT teacher was supported by Yordanka Nikolova – an economics teacher at the school and the main engine behind the school’s massive participation in the JA Company Programme.
- The students themselves also come from different majors, forming a strong, all-rounded team – just like in real life. Only Georgi is majoring in “AI programming” in their high school, while the other team members study “E-commerce” and “Computer Equipment and Security Systems”. They are united by their interest in AI as an emerging technology, while the DTTI Action in Food project challenges them to apply this technology to an unknown area for them, which is in sharp need of innovation for sustainability. This way they will learn a lot about agriculture and food production and will contribute to solving some of humanity’s greatest food-related challenges at the moment.
Mainstreaming interdisciplinary teaching is a much needed priority for education in Bulgaria and while barriers exist with respect to the legislative basis and the decades-long culture of studying subjects in separate silos without making the connections between them, DTTI Action in Food is the proof that with the right amount of mindset and willingness to try something innovative, teachers and students together, supported by JA, EIT Food and Intel, can turn the tide and create an inspiring and motivating cross-curricular educational experience.
