TISAS 2025 Abstracts

Area 1 - Trustworthy and Intelligent Smart Agriculture Systems: AI, Blockchain, and IoT Convergence

Full Papers

Paper Nr:	5
Title:	Integrated Approaches to Monitoring GIAHS Territories: Requirements, Telematics, Sensorization and Intelligent Management Solutions
Authors:	Joel Soares, Carlos Teixeira and Ramiro Gonçalves
Abstract:	Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) are models of sustainability, as they ensure a balance between human activity and ecosystem conservation. The Barroso region in Portugal is part of this network, as it follows traditional natural resource management and resilience practices by local communities. Given the threats posed by environmental degradation, it is urgent to adopt technological solutions for monitoring these conditions. Thus, throughout this article, the main threats to the integrity of these territories will be analyzed, and various methodologies and solutions for environmental monitoring will be presented. Based on the knowledge acquired, we will present an architecture for a digital solution that includes sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT), processing units, and platforms for real-time data visualization and alarm management.
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Paper Nr:	7
Title:	Smart Urban Tree Valorization: An AI-Blockchain-Based Application for the Preservation of Remarkable Trees
Authors:	Hajer Nabli, Issra Jegham, Yasmine Zorgati, Rania Ajmi, Raoudha Ben Djemaa and Layth Sliman
Abstract:	Urban trees contribute significantly to the well-being of city dwellers by improving air quality, reducing heat, and offering psychological and cultural value. Among them, remarkable trees-due to their rarity, size, age, or symbolic importance-deserve special attention, yet they often remain poorly documented or undervalued. This paper introduces a smart application that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to enhance public awareness and long-term recognition of these trees. The system features an AI-driven chatbot that interacts with users by asking questions about tree types or suggesting trees based on their desired benefits-such as relaxation, biodiversity, or carbon absorption-thus guiding users toward relevant and meaningful discoveries. In parallel, each remarkable tree is assigned a blockchain-based digital certificate in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT), ensuring that its identity, characteristics, and location are securely recorded and verifiable. By combining participatory exploration with digital certification, this approach offers a novel tool for cities to promote biodiversity, support environmental education, and foster citizen involvement in urban green heritage. The proposed system fills a gap between static tree mapping platforms and dynamic, secure, and intelligent urban biodiversity applications.
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Paper Nr:	8
Title:	AgriTrustChain: A Decentralized Certification and Edaphic Data Traceability Framework with Zero-Leak for Sustainable Farming Using Blockchain
Authors:	Wafa Ben Slama Souei, Mohamed Amine Hattab, Layth Sliman, Raoudha Ben Djemaa and Faiza Khebour Allouche
Abstract:	Agriculture relies heavily on the storage and management of Electronic Land Records (ELRs), which are usually maintained in centralized datacenters and shared among farmers, government agencies, and soil experts. However, these traditional storage methods suffer from several limitations, including risks of tampering, unauthorized disclosure of confidential data, and challenges in efficient data retrieval caused by inconsistent formats across institutions. Centralized systems are also vulnerable to fraudulent activities, such as falsification of soil information and land certifications, manipulation to secure unjustified subsidies, and non-compliant export operations. These infractions lead to significant financial losses for governments, distort agricultural funding distribution, undermine the credibility of certification frameworks, and and can result in restrictive trade measures or penalties. To overcome these challenges, this work proposes AgriTrustChain, a blockchain-based platform that enables the secure storage and retrieval of Electronic Land Records (ELRs), including terrain and soil data as well as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). This facilitates enhanced interoperability among diverse agricultural institutions. All land-related information is extracted from the blockchain and displayed in real time through an interactive map. Additionally, it provides a reliable mechanism to generate land certificates based on the NDVI for agricultural land suitable for planting olive trees . Our platform leverages IPFS, interactive soil visualization, and NFT-based certification to enable secure, transparent, and efficient agricultural land certification. The evaluation confirms that AgriTrustChain securely protects land and soil information, ensuring zero data leakage in soil data management while providing a reliable solution for modern agricultural data handling.
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Paper Nr:	9
Title:	Witness Byzantine Fault Tolerance with Signature Tree and Proof-of-Navigation for Wide Area Visual Navigation
Authors:	Nasim Paykari, Taylor Clark, Ademi Zain, Damian Lyons and Mohamed Rahouti
Abstract:	This paper presentsWitness Byzantine Fault Tolerance (WBFT), a novel consensus protocol designed forWide Area Visual Navigation (WAVN) systems, where cooperative robots share visual imagery in GPS-denied environments and reach agreement on navigation data via blockchain. WBFT addresses the limitations of traditional Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) methods, particularly the high communication overhead of protocols like PBFT, by introducing a lightweight, secure, and signature-based consensus mechanism optimized for resource-constrained robotic networks. The protocol integrates a Proof-of-Stake-based leader election system, named Proof-of-Navigation (PoN), with a signature aggregation approach using Ed25519 cryptography and a Merkle tree structure, reducing verification complexity to O(logt) and achieving consensus with only O(n) message complexity. WBFT tolerates up to f ≤ ⌊(n−1)/3⌋ Byzantine faults and demonstrates superior resilience, scalability, and communication efficiency compared to existing BFT variants. Experimental results validate WBFT’s performance across multiple metrics and network sizes, confirming its suitability for highfrequency, decentralized robotic coordination.
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Short Papers

Paper Nr:	6
Title:	Design and Field Evaluation of a Robotic Cotton Harvester with Improved Structural Balance and Suction Mechanism
Authors:	Van Patiluna, Joe Mari Maja, Aashish Karki and Edward Barnes
Abstract:	Mechanization in the cotton industry increased efficiency and productivity by reducing reliance on manual labor and improving overall output. Automation and robotics have been increasingly integrated into cotton production in the United States to address various challenges and enhance agricultural efficiency. Using robotics and automation in agriculture is a widespread idea whose technical feasibility has already been proven in several studies. The objective of this study is to design and implement a new robotic cotton harvester addressing the problems encountered with the previous design. It featured a redesigned finger roller and an optimized chassis to improve balance and structural integrity. The new design utilizes the same Amiga robotic platform that is capable of heavy loads such as the header assembly and power generators. A field experiment assessed harvesting efficiency under three different duty cycles corresponding to the speed of front finger rollers. During the experiment, the new design experienced clogging of the eductor inlet hindering the movement of cotton bolls to the collecting bin, which reduced harvesting efficiency. Although the harvesting efficiency was lower than ideal, it was still slightly better than the previous design. Adjusting the speed of the front finger rollers has no significant effect on the boll and trash collected, suggesting that lower speeds are ideal. The static stress simulation of the chassis revealed a better balance and structural integrity than the previous design. Overall, the new design of the cotton harvesting robot had better structural integrity, however, it requires further improvements to address clogging of the eductor inlet to move the fibers from the header assembly to the collecting bin, minimize the trash content and improve harvesting efficiency.
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