Smart Droplets Athens Hackathon: Computer Vision for Smart Plant Protection Products (PPPs) Management

Smart Droplets partner, Agricultural University of Athens, invites students, researchers, and professionals to participate in an innovative hackathon focused on advancing sustainable agriculture through Artificial Intelligence.

Join us for the Smart Droplets: AUA Hackathon | Computer Vision for Smart Plant Protection Products (PPPs) Management, where you will have the opportunity to develop and refine cutting-edge solutions. This event is a key part of our mission to promote smarter, more efficient resource use in farming.

Event Mission: Advancing Computer Vision for Sustainable PPPs Application

Participants will tackle a significant real-world challenge by using computer vision and AI to detect diseases and/or weeds. Your mission is to develop a computer vision pipeline that delivers high precision in detection of the agricultural object of interest. This hackathon offers a unique chance to apply advanced AI concepts from the EU-funded Smart Droplets project to a pressing agricultural issue.

Hackathon Overview: Key Information 

Dates & Duration

• Event Period: Monday, November 3rd, 2025 – Monday, November 10th, 2025

Format: Hybrid Event (In-Person & Online)

• We are pleased to offer a hybrid format to ensure broad participation.

In-Person Kick-Off Event:

• Date & Time: Monday, November 3rd, 2025, commencing at 19:00 EET.
• Venue: Agricultural University of Athens, Ktirio Roussopoulou, Iera Odos 86, Athens, Greece
• Please note for in-person attendees:

• When registering, please indicate if you plan to attend in person (look for the relevant field in the registration form).
• Attendees should bring their own laptops. Online compute resources (e.g., Colab, Kaggle) can be utilised.

Kick-Off Agenda (November 3rd, Lumen 1):

Online Participation:

• The kick-off event can also be joined online via the following link: Meeting link
• Wednesday, November 5th, there will be two online sessions to clarify any doubts. 
  • 14:00 – 15:00 EET: https://meet.google.com/nrq-tvqg-qrv
  • 18:00 – 19:00 EET: https://meet.google.com/fpi-acdw-dce
• Participants submit their solutions online throughout the week-long event. The main challenge will unfold online. Participants will submit their solutions via email. Further details will be announced to all registered participants shortly.

Who Should Participate?

We invite participants who share a passion for technology and agriculture, including:

• Students (MSc, PhD) in fields such as Computer Science, Agricultural Sciences, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, or related disciplines.
• Researchers interested in agri-tech, machine learning, and sustainable innovation.
• Professionals and developers eager to apply their AI expertise to real-world agricultural challenges.
• Individuals with experience or strong interest in computer vision and its applications.

Benefits of Participating

By participating in this hackathon, you will:

• Tackle a Real-World Agricultural Challenge: Contribute to the Smart Droplets project’s mission of advancing sustainable farming practices.
• Build Practical, High-Demand Skills: Move beyond theory and gain hands-on experience in AI and computer vision through real-world applications.
• Connect & Collaborate: Join a dynamic community of innovators, exchange ideas with top AI and Agri-Tech experts from the Agricultural University of Athens, and engage directly with key members of the Smart Droplets consortium.
• Earn Recognition & Prizes: Showcase your innovative solutions! Outstanding projects will be rewarded with gift card prizes: €100 for the winner, €75 for the runner-up, and €50 for the most original submission.

Technical Foundation & Your Toolkit

Get ready to dive into the core of the challenge with our comprehensive Jupyter Notebook – this is your primary technical guide! While it will be formally shared with all registered participants at the November 3rd kick-off, you can get a head start and explore its contents on GitHub. You can find the notebook here and it will soon be updated with relevant information.

Please Note These Key Rules:

• This is a two teams member challenge; all submissions must show team work.
• Success depends on using only the provided notebook. No external data sources are permitted.

The complete and definitive set of rules is detailed in the GitHub notebook and adherence is mandatory.

Solution Submission: Information regarding the submission and accessing the live leaderboard will be shared with all registered participants by November 7th.

Registration: Join the Challenge!

We invite you to be part of this exciting event. Registration is now open!

➡️ Register for the Hackathon Here

Further Information

Registered participants will receive all key communications, including timely reminders to consult the Jupyter Notebook on GitHub (your primary guide for all technical details, setup, and rules). Updates on the online submission platform (November 3rd) and other important information will also be shared directly. For specific questions regarding the Agricultural University of Athens Hackathon, please contact the organizers at the Agricultural University of Athens: Borja Espejo-Garcia (), Olga Kriezi ( and Manos Christakis ().

We look forward to your participation and the innovative solutions you will bring to the Smart Droplets AUA Hackathon!

The Smart Droplets Project Team