MÉTODOS PARA MEDIR UMA ALTURA DE CULTURA E UM PARÂMETRO BIOFÍSICO DE UM PRODUTO AGRÍCOLA, DISPOSITIVO PORTÁTIL, E, MEIO DE ARMAZENAMENTO LEGÍVEL POR COMPUTADOR NÃO TRANSITÓRIO

Abstract

METHODS FOR MEASURING CROP HEIGHT AND A BIOPHYSICAL PARAMETER OF AN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT, PORTABLE DEVICE, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT. A method and device for measuring the crop height of an agricultural product by positioning the portable device above the agricultural product, determining a first distance between the portable device and the ground based on a video feed acquired with a camera on the portable device, determining a second distance between the portable device and the agricultural product based on the video feed, and determining the crop height based on the first and second distances determined. According to this approach, two distances are continuously determined from a video feed. A first distance refers to the ground, while a second distance refers to the (top) of the agricultural product.The height of the product can then be easily determined as the difference between these distances (i.e., the first distance minus the second distance).

Description

16 METHODS FOR MEASURING CROP HEIGHT AND A BIOPHYSICAL PARAMETER OF AN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT, PORTABLE DEVICE, AND NON-TRANSIENT COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[001] The invention relates to a device and method for determining the state of a plant. More particularly, the invention relates to a device and method for determining the height of an agricultural product. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[002] For many agricultural crops, it is desirable to determine plant height, biomass, or other biophysical parameters in a non-invasive way while the crop is growing. Possible applications include yield predictions before harvest, as well as optimization of the rate and timing of fertilizer and agrochemical application. For example, the biomass of a rapeseed crop before winter is known to be a valuable indicator of spring nitrogen demand.

[003] Measuring the height of other agricultural products, such as leafy vegetables, for example, lettuce and cabbage, cereals, for example, wheat, corn, etc., is also important to monitor crop development and adjust agricultural operations, such as fertilizer and pesticide applications, irrigation.

[004] In the case of pasture, it is understood that leaf production for pasture is maximized by grazing between 3.5 and 4 cm of residual height. By maintaining the pasture in a growing state, higher quality grass will be produced on a base of green leaves. The pre-grazing height may, for example, be between 8 and 9 cm, corresponding to approximately three leaves. If such grass is grazed between 3.5 and 4 cm, growth is expected to be 16,000 kg DM / ha. Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, p. 7 / 27 / 16

[005] Recently, electronic systems have been developed for determining crop height, which are based on image acquisition for measurement. For example, document WO2018 / 122237 describes a device that includes a sensor (e.g., a mobile phone) mounted on a stick at a predetermined distance from the ground. A digital stereo image of part of a plant is recorded, and the plant height can be determined from these images through image analysis. While the prior art device often provides satisfactory results, it would be desirable to have an even more versatile device. In particular, it would be desirable to avoid the joystick and operate the device hand-free without the need for additional hardware.

[006] Other electronic systems for determining crop height are described in documents WO2013 / 087052 and DE102008009753. Document WO2013 / 0870520 describes a device that includes a built-in stereo camera to determine a plant parameter. This stereo camera is, however, a dedicated device that is not present in most mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablets. Document DE102008009753 describes a dedicated ultrasound sensor for determining other plant parameters. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to enable a user to perform the determination with a state-of-the-art camera, without stereoscopic capabilities, such as those present in mobile devices today. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[007] It is an object of the present invention to provide an even more versatile method and device for measuring the height of an agricultural product, such as rapeseed. It will be appreciated that the method can also be used to determine the height of other agricultural products, such as cabbage, maize (sprout maize), grass or other crops. Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, p. 8 / 27 / 16

[008] According to a first aspect of the present invention, this and other objectives are achieved by a method for measuring the height of an agricultural crop above the ground using a handheld device, positioning the handheld device above the agricultural crop, determining a first distance between the handheld device and the ground based on a video feed acquired with a camera on the handheld device, determining a second distance between the handheld device and the agricultural crop based on the video feed, and determining the height of the crop based on the first and second distances determined.

[009] According to this approach, two distances are continuously determined from a video feed from the handheld device's camera. A first distance refers to the ground, while a second distance refers to the (top) of the agricultural product. The height of the product can then be easily determined as the difference between these distances (i.e., the first distance minus the second distance).

[0010] The term “video feed” here refers to a continuous stream of image frames acquired by the camera. The frame rate is typically at least five or at least ten frames per second (fps), and for a typical mobile phone, it might be, for example, 30 fps or 60 fps.

[0011] With this continuous measurement approach, a user can determine the height of the moving agricultural product simply by holding the device above the product. The use of a video feed allows the user to walk through a field continuously. According to the method described previously (WO2018 / 122237), the user was required to stop while the device acquired images of the agricultural product. The present invention thus allows for faster measurement of a given terrain or field. Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, page 9 / 27 / 16

[0012] To determine the distance to the ground, it is necessary that the “bare” soil be at least occasionally visible between specimens of the agricultural product. The method is therefore particularly useful for products that are not very dense.

[0013] According to one embodiment, each distance is acquired from a distance tracking module of the handheld device, which distance tracking module is configured to continuously determine one or more distances between the handheld device and objects in the camera's field of view, based on the video feed. By identifying the ground and the agricultural product in the field of view (i.e., in the video image), the first and second distances can be identified.

[0014] Such a tracking module can estimate distances based on the content of a plurality of consecutive images (frames), but may additionally include other sensors, such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a time-of-flight camera.

[0015] The tracking module can additionally be configured to store, at regular time intervals, certain distances in a designated memory area, from which the first and second distances can be acquired after identifying the soil and the agricultural product in the video image.

[0016] Such tracking modules and memory areas are known in the art, and an example, compatible with the present invention, is the Google ArCore® library. The Google ArCore library was originally developed for mobile phone applications using virtual reality. However, it was found that the same library could be used in the present invention.

[0017] In some embodiments, the method includes storing a record containing data representative of crop height. Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, page 10 / 27 / 16 determined in a memory of the portable device and / or in a database in communication with the portable device. Thus, the measured height is available for inspection and / or later use.

[0018] The method may also include determining a position of the handheld device, using a built-in position determination unit, such as a GPS unit, and storing representative position data in the log. Thus, the log may contain representative data of the determined height of the agricultural product and the location where the height was determined.

[0019] The height of the product can be determined at a plurality of locations to create a product height pattern in an area. In this case, the method may additionally include estimating the height of the agricultural product for additional positions within a geographic area based on the height determined at the plurality of measured positions. Such estimation may include the use of interpolation and / or extrapolation. The geographic area can be selected by the user. The height of the agricultural product can, for example, be interpolated between the heights at measured locations. The height of the agricultural product between a measured position and the perimeter of the geographic area can, for example, be estimated by extrapolation. Alternatively, or additionally, the height of the agricultural product can be estimated by averaging the individual heights determined.

[0020] According to another aspect of the invention, a biophysical parameter of an agricultural product within an area can be estimated by determining the crop height of the agricultural product as described above and calculating the biophysical parameter of the agricultural product based on the determined height. Examples of biophysical parameters include, for example, dry matter biomass, leaf angle, leaf size, leaf area index, and canopy cover. The biophysical parameter, for example, dry matter biomass in kg Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, page 11 / 27 / 16 or kg / ha, can, for example, be determined from the height determined by a factor determined by an empirical model. The calculation can be done in a portable device processing unit or in a remote processing unit.

[0021] According to a further aspect of the present invention, this and other objectives are achieved by a portable device comprising a camera and a processing unit configured to: - Determine an initial distance between the handheld device and the ground above which the communication device is held, based on a video feed acquired with the camera; - determine a second distance between the handheld device and an agricultural product above which the communication device is held based on said video feed; and - Determine the height of the agricultural product based on the first and second distances determined.

[0022] According to yet another aspect of the present invention, this and other objectives are achieved by a computer program product including portions of software code configured to, when executed on the processing unit of a portable device that has been positioned above ground above an agricultural product, execute a method according to the first aspect. The computer program product may be prepared to operate under, for example, the Android operating system, the Apple iOS operating system and / or the Windows operating system.

[0023] It will be appreciated that any of the aspects, features and options described in view of the method apply equally to the portable device, system, media and computer program product and vice versa. It will also be evident that any one or more of the aspects, features and Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, page 12 / 27 / 16 options above can be combined. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, showing exemplary embodiments of the invention currently preferred.

[0025] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a communication device maintained over rows of agricultural products.

[0026] Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0027] Figure 3 shows the device of Figure 2 displaying a user interface according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0028] Figure 4 is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0029] Figure 5 shows the device from figure 1 displaying a current field of view of the camera.

[0030] Exemplary embodiments are given by way of non-limiting illustration. It is mentioned that the figures are merely schematic representations of embodiments of the invention which are given by way of non-limiting example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] Figure 1 represents an agricultural product in the form of plants 1 of a crop (e.g., corn) planted in rows 2, with the underlying soil 3 visible between the rows 2. The height of the plants is indicated by h. A portable device 10 is shown in a position above the plants, at a first distance hg from the ground and at a second distance hc from the crop, i.e., from the upper parts of the plants 1.

[0032] In figure 1, the portable device 10 is illustrated as “floating” in the air, but in reality it would be held or carried by a Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, page 13 / 27 / 16 user. Alternatively, the device 10 can be mounted on a support at a suitable distance from the ground. The support can, for example, be a shoe, a walking stick, a user's vehicle, a post, a gate, a fence, a mobile robot, a drone aerial vehicle, an animal, or similar. Optionally, the support can be configured to support the device in a plurality of different positions, i.e., at different distances from the ground. The different mounting positions can be associated with different measurement ranges. A first measurement range could, for example, be for agricultural product heights from 0 to 2 cm. A second measurement range could, for example, be for agricultural product heights from 1 to 30 cm. A third measurement range could, for example, be for agricultural product heights from 20 to 100 cm. However, other measurement ranges are possible.

[0033] The portable device 10 is generally illustrated here as a smartphone, but the components and properties of a portable device according to the invention will be discussed in more detail with reference to Figure 2. The device includes a camera 11 configured to acquire video feed (i.e., a sequence of image frames). The video feed may have a frame rate of 10 fps (frames per second) or more. As an example, the frame rate of a typical smartphone is 30 fps or 60 fps. The video data currently acquired may be referred to as the camera's "field of view". The device also comprises a display 12, for example, a touch screen, typically with an operating mode in which it is configured to display the field of view in real time. The device also includes a set of processing circuits (processor) 13 and a working memory 14.

[0034] The device is additionally provided with a distance tracking module 15 - possibly incorporated by the processor 13 or as an additional circuitry (separate or embedded) Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, pp. 14 / 27 / 16 configured to determine a distance to a set of n points in the field of view. The set of n points (x, y, z coordinates) are continuously made available in a portion 14a of the working memory of the device 14. The identified points P can be indicated in the field of view (see Figure 3). Such a distance tracking module 15 with associated memory 14a is known in the art, and an example is the Google ArCore® library, running on the Android® operating system. Distance estimation is performed primarily based on video data, i.e., a continuous stream of image frames. To allow distance estimation based on such an image stream, the images need to be slightly different, i.e., the camera 11 needs to move at least slightly. Additional sensors 16, such as a gyroscope and / or accelerometer, may also be involved in the distance estimation process.

[0035] In addition, device 10 herein is provided with a GPS 19 or similar location device, configured to provide the device's position in world coordinates. Device 10 additionally preferably has a wireless communication interface 17, in communication with a remote database 18.

[0036] According to some embodiments, representative data of a land area where the height of the agricultural product is to be determined can be stored in local storage (e.g., in memory 14) or in a remote database 18. It is possible, for example, to mark the land area on a map on a screen, such as a touch screen, of the handheld device. Such marking may include drawing a perimeter outline around the land area, for example, on the map or aerial photograph. Alternatively, or additionally, it may be possible to demarcate the land area by physically moving the handheld device along the perimeter of the land area and storing locations, such as coordinates. Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, page 15 / 27 / 16 GPS perimeter. Alternatively, or additionally, representative perimeter data of the land area can be downloaded or uploaded to the handheld device or database. This allows for the identification of a land area, for example, a predetermined pasture, where the height of the agricultural product needs to be determined. It would be appreciated if the aforementioned record(s) could include an indication of the land area, for example, a name and / or number.

[0037] According to one embodiment of the invention, the processing unit 13 is configured to perform a method according to the flowchart in Figure 4. The method can be implemented by software code stored in memory 14 and executed by the processing unit 13. The software can, for example, be incorporated as an application running on the device's operating system, e.g., Android®, Apple iOS®, or Windows®.

[0038] Figure 3 shows a device 10 displaying the user interface of an embodiment of the invention. The user interface here includes a display area 23 and a lower portion 24 including one or more touch screen controls 25 allowing user interaction. As will be discussed below, a control may, for example, activate the determination of a crop height hc at a current location. Other controls may, for example, change the contents of the display area or activate a device calibration.

[0039] Display area 23 shows here a representation 20 of a geographical area, previously defined or selected and stored locally or remotely as mentioned above. The graphical representation 20 may, for example, include landmarks such as roads 22, to help the user identify the area in the real world. The representation 20 of the land area may, for example, be shown in Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, page 16 / 27 / 16 overlay on a map or aerial photograph.

[0040] With reference to Figure 4, first, in step S1, the software is initiated, for example, by clearing the working memory and launching (starting) module 13 and memory 14, for example, the ArCore® library from an Android® device. Then, in step S2, device 10 is placed in a position above row 2 of plants and kept in slight motion. The distance tracking module 15 will then automatically identify a set of n points (x, y) in the image plane for which a distance (z) from the image plane is determined. The distance z is determined from the video feed, i.e., the stream of image frames acquired by the camera. Additional input, from sensors 16, can also be used. As device 10 is moved, the points in the set are continuously tracked.

[0041] Figure 5 shows a fictitious screenshot, showing an instantaneous field of view with a plurality of points Pg, Pc marked on it. These points indicate the coordinates (x, y) in the image plane for which module 15 estimated a distance (z). These points are also schematically indicated in Figure 1. As is clear from Figures 1 and 5, a first subset of points Pg is located on the ground between rows 2 of plants 1, while a second subset of points Pc is located on the plants 1 themselves.

[0042] In step S3, the program control awaits user input to trigger data acquisition. User input can be a hardware button (e.g., volume control) or a touchscreen-based control 25 as discussed above. In response to receiving a trigger signal, the program control continues to step S4, where a current camera position (X, Y, Z) is obtained from the location system 19 and the current set of n points (x, y, z) are acquired (read). Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, page 17 / 27 / 16 from the ArCore® library. As mentioned above, the x and y coordinates are taken to indicate the position in the image plane, and the z coordinate is taken to represent the normal distance from the image plane to the point.

[0043] In the next step S5, the set of n points is processed to determine a first distance dg to the ground and a second distance dc to the crops (i.e., top of plants 1).

[0044] According to one approach, the distance to the ground dg and the distance to the crop dc are calculated from percentiles of all points in the image, for example: dg = P9o( Zi) dc = Pio( Zi) where Pq(Zi) is the q-th percentile of all z-values ​​in the image.

[0045] According to another possible approach, a subset of points further from the camera are chosen as Pg points located on the ground, while a subset of points closer to the camera are chosen as Pc points located on the upper parts of the plants. It may be advantageous to completely disregard the extreme points, which may be considered to be caused by errors or interference.

[0046] As an alternative to the latter, or as an additional criterion, the color of the points can be used to distinguish soil points from crop points. For example, soil points (brown) Pg can be separated from crop points (green) Pc using the RGB color values ​​of the respective pixels.

[0047] The first and second distances dg and dc can then be determined as the average of the z-coordinates of points Pg and Pc, respectively. If these z-coordinates are labeled as Zgi and Zci, respectively, for i=1,_,N, where N is the number of points in each Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, pp. 18 / 27 13 / 16 subset, dge dcsão given by: from the

[0048] Optionally, each point also includes a confidence value, c. Using the same notation, dge dcsão então deg: iCs'Zs'bn=l Xc v-

[0049] In step S6, the height of the crop is determined by taking the difference between the distance to the ground and the distance to the crops, that is, hc= dgdc.

[0050] Note that it is not always possible to determine a reliable crop height from the set of n points acquired from the ArCore library or similar module. For example, there may be an insufficient number of Pgno soil points or a very large distance from the crop.

[0051] When a reliable crop height measurement is taken, the program control proceeds to step S7, to indicate the current location (X, Y, Z) in a representation 20 of a geographic area as a “measured location” Lm. A record containing the determined crop height hcem associated with the current location can also be stored in local memory 14 or in the remote database 18.

[0052] Steps S2 - S7 are repeated until it is determined in step S8 that the data collection procedure is complete, for example. Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, page 19 / 27 / 16 after receiving another user input finalizing the process. At this moment, a plurality of measured locations Lm will be indicated in display area 23, as shown in figure 5. Note that the various measured locations may be close or distant, depending on when the user triggers data acquisition.

[0053] Continuing the process in Figure 4, the method illustrated here includes a post-processing step S9, which occurs when data collection is complete, for example, when the user indicates that a sufficient number of locations have been measured. In this post-processing step, the average crop height and / or crop biomass is calculated for the geographic area indicated by representation 20.

[0054] If necessary or advantageous, an estimated crop height for additional La, Lb locations can be determined using, for example, interpolation or extrapolation. For example, the crop height at an La location between two measured Lm locations can be estimated by interpolation. Similarly, the crop height at an Lb location between a measured location and the boundary 21 of geographic area 20 can be determined by extrapolation. Such additional locations can serve to improve the determination of the average crop height.

[0055] Based on the determined average height of the crop in the geographical area, processing unit 13 can be arranged to estimate a biophysical parameter of the agricultural product within the geographical area. For example, dry matter biomass, expressed, for example, in kg or kg / ha, can be determined by multiplying the determined height by an empirical factor. The empirical model used to determine the empirical factor can be specific to the crop variety and growth stage.

[0056] In a final S10 stage, the results for the selected geographic area, for example, including average crop height and / or biomass Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, page 20 / 27 / 16 estimated can be displayed to the user in an appropriate manner. For example, the touch screen controls 25 can be used to change the display area to show data results relevant to the geographic area.

[0057] When the height hc of the agricultural product is determined at least twice in time, the growth and / or growth rate of the agricultural product can be determined. The growth and / or growth rate can indicate whether the agricultural product is sufficiently supplied with nutrients and water and, therefore, can be used to trigger the application of fertilizers or water.

[0058] Alternatively, or additionally, the nutritional status of the agricultural product can be determined from the leaf color of the agricultural product. Since at least one image of the agricultural product is already taken in the described method, the leaf color can be determined from that image.

[0059] The portable device 10 may be in communication with an application system, such as a fertilizer system, irrigation system or similar. The nutritional status of the agricultural product or the need for a particular nutrient and / or water, or representative data thereof, may be communicated to the application system. Thus, water and / or nutrients may be supplied to the agricultural product based on the estimated nutritional status. It will be appreciated that the nutritional status may be determined depending on a position within a geographical area 20, as described above for height.

[0060] Here, the invention is described with reference to specific examples of embodiments of the invention. However, it will be evident that various modifications and changes can be made to it without departing from the essence of the invention. For the purpose of clarity and a concise description, the features are described here as part of the same embodiments or Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, pp. 21 / 27 / 16 separate modalities; however, alternative modalities having combinations of all or some of the resources described in these separate modalities are also considered.

[0061] In claims, any reference marks placed in parentheses should not be interpreted as limiting the claim. The word 'comprising' does not exclude the presence of other features or steps beyond those listed in a claim. Furthermore, the words 'a' and 'an' should not be interpreted as limited to 'only one', but rather are used to mean 'at least one', and do not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measurements are cited in mutually different claims does not indicate that a combination of these measurements cannot be used advantageously. Petition 870230095149, dated 10 / 26 / 2023, pp. 22 / 27

Claims

1 / 4 CLAIMS 1. Method for measuring the height of an agricultural product above ground using a handheld device (10), characterized in that the method includes: - positioning (step S2) the handheld device (10) above the agricultural product; - determining (steps S4, S5) a first distance (dg) between the handheld device and the ground based on a video feed acquired with a camera on the handheld device; - determining (steps S4, S5) a second distance (dc) between the handheld device and the agricultural product based on said video feed; and - determining (step S6) the height of the crop (hc) based on the first and second distances determined, wherein each distance is obtained from a distance tracking module (15) of said handheld device (10).The distance tracking module is configured to continuously determine one or more distances between the handheld device and objects in the camera's field of view, based on the video feed, and wherein the distance tracking module determines the distance to a set of n points (Pg, Pc) in said field of view, wherein a first subset of points (Pg) is located on the ground (3), while a second subset of points (Pc) is located on the agricultural product (1), wherein the color of the points is used to distinguish the ground points (Pg) from the crop points (Pc), for example, brown ground points (Pg) are separated from green crop points (Pc), and wherein said set of n points is processed to determine said first distance (dg) and said second distance (dc).

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized by Petition 870260000167, dated 02 / 01 / 2026, page 12 / 21 2 / 4 fact that said distance tracking module (15) is additionally configured to store, at regular time intervals, certain distances in a designated memory area (14a), and wherein said first and second distances are acquired by accessing said memory area.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it includes storing a record containing representative data of the determined crop height in a memory (14) of the portable device and / or in a database (18) in communication with the portable device.

4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that it includes determining a position of the portable device, using a location sensor (19), and storing representative position data in the register.

5. Method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that it includes determining the crop height at a plurality of locations (Lm) and storing a record for each of the locations.

6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that it further comprises estimating a crop height of the agricultural product at a location within a geographical area based on the height determined at a plurality of locations, for example, using interpolation and / or extrapolation.

7. Method for measuring a biophysical parameter of an agricultural product, characterized in that it includes: - determining the height of the agricultural product using a method as defined in any of claims 1 to 6; and - calculating a biophysical parameter of the agricultural product based on the determined height. Petition 870260000167, dated 02 / 01 / 2026, page 13 / 21 3 / 4 8. Method according to claim 7, characterized in that the biophysical parameter is the fresh or dry biomass of said agricultural product, which is calculated based on said height and using an empirical model.

9. Portable device, characterized in that it comprises: a camera (11), and a processing unit (13) configured to: - determine a first distance between the portable device and the ground above which the portable device is held based on a video feed acquired with the camera; - determine a second distance between the portable device and an agricultural product above which the portable device is held based on said video feed; and - determine a height of the agricultural product based on the first and second distances determined, the device further comprising a distance tracking module (15) configured to continuously determine one or more distances between the portable device and objects in the camera's field of view, based on said video feed, and wherein the distance tracking module (15) is configured to determine the distance to a set of n points (Pg,Pc) in said field of view, wherein a first subset of points (Pg) is located on the ground (3), while a second subset of points (Pc) is located on the agricultural product (1), wherein the color of the points is used to distinguish the ground points (Pg) from the crop points (Pc), for example, brown ground points (Pg) are separated from green crop points (Pc), and wherein said set of n points is processed to determine said first distance (dg) and said second distance (dc). Petition 870260000167, dated 02 / 01 / 2026, page 14 / 21 4 / 4, 10. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that said distance tracking module (15) is additionally configured to store, at regular time intervals, certain distances in a designated memory area (14a), from which said first and second distances are obtained by accessing said memory area (14a).

11. Device according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that it includes a memory (14) and / or a wireless interface (17) for communication with a database (18), wherein the processing unit (13) is additionally configured to store a record including representative data of the determined crop height in the memory and / or database.

12. Device according to claim 11, characterized in that it additionally includes a location device (19), wherein the processing unit (13) is additionally configured to store representative data of a current position associated with the crop height determined in the record.

13. Non-transient computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that it includes stored instructions which, when executed in the processing unit of a portable device that has been positioned above ground above an agricultural product, executes a method as defined in any of claims 1 to 8. Petition 870260000167, dated 02 / 01 / 2026, pp. 15 / 21

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