Fruit surface temperature estimation device, fruit surface temperature estimation method, and program

Abstract

To provide a fruit surface temperature estimation device, a fruit surface temperature estimation method and a program that are able to estimate the fruit surface temperature more simply.SOLUTION: A fruit surface temperature estimation device includes: an acquisition unit configured to acquire information allowing recognition of the size of a fruit and temperature information; and an estimation unit configured to estimate the fruit surface temperature based on the size of the fruit and the temperature information. The estimation unit estimates the fruit surface temperature by inputting the temperature indicated by the temperature information into, e.g., a function depending on to the size of the fruit and returning a value increasing as the temperature rises.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a fruit surface temperature estimation device, a fruit surface temperature estimation method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] When the fruit temperature becomes high, high-temperature disorders such as sunburn and poor coloring occur. Due to the rising temperature accompanying recent global warming, this has become a problem for many tree species. If a high-temperature disorder occurs, the appearance and quality of the fruit deteriorate, leading to a decrease in commercial value. Therefore, in order to prevent the occurrence of high-temperature disorders, research has been conducted mainly targeting apple sunburn to estimate the fruit temperature from meteorological information such as air temperature (Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0003]

Non-Patent Document 1

Non-Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the conventional technology, in order to estimate the fruit temperature, it was necessary to prepare many parameters and solve a complex calculation formula, so the work was complicated and the introduction cost tended to be high. Therefore, there were no fruit farmers who could introduce it. The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and one of the purposes is to more simply estimate the surface temperature of fruits.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The fruit surface temperature estimation device, the fruit surface temperature estimation method, and the program according to the present invention employ the following configurations. A fruit surface temperature estimation device according to one aspect of the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires information capable of recognizing the size of a fruit and air temperature information, and an estimation unit that estimates the fruit surface temperature based on the size of the fruit and the air temperature information. A fruit surface temperature estimation method according to one aspect of the present invention is a fruit surface temperature estimation method in which a fruit surface temperature estimation device acquires information capable of recognizing the size of a fruit and air temperature information, and estimates the fruit surface temperature based on the size of the fruit and the air temperature information. A program according to one aspect of the present invention is a program that causes one or more processors included in a fruit surface temperature estimation device to acquire information capable of recognizing the size of a fruit and air temperature information, and to estimate the fruit surface temperature based on the size of the fruit and the air temperature information. The size of the fruit is represented by, for example, the fruit diameter or the weight of the fruit, but it may be represented by other aspects such as the size of the circumscribed rectangle instead.

Advantages of the Invention

[0006] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a fruit surface temperature estimation device, a fruit surface temperature estimation method, and a program that can more simply estimate the fruit surface temperature.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, a first embodiment of the fruit surface temperature estimation device, the fruit surface temperature estimation method, and the program of the present invention will be described.

[0009] <First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration and usage environment of the fruit surface temperature estimation device 100. The fruit surface temperature estimation device 100 communicates with the terminal device 200 and the weather information server 400 via, for example, the network NW. Further, the fruit surface temperature estimation device 100 acquires an image by communicating with, for example, the camera 300.

[0010] The terminal device 200 is a terminal connected to the network NW by wire or wirelessly. The terminal device 200 is, for example, a PC, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a wearable terminal.

[0011] The camera 300 is a camera that can share an image with the fruit surface temperature estimation device 100 as needed. The camera 300 may transmit the image via the network NW, or may capture the image into the fruit surface temperature estimation device 100 using an external storage device. The camera 300 is, for example, a digital camera or the like.

[0012] The weather information server 400 is, for example, a server that distributes weather information and is operated by an external organization. The weather information server 400 stores, for example, mesh data 410 and distributes weather information in such a way that the mesh data 410 is referred to. The mesh data 410 is data in which weather information is recorded for each location divided into sections of, for example, 1 [km] × 1 [km].

[0013] The fruit surface temperature estimation device 100 includes, for example, a communication unit 110, an acquisition unit 120, a control unit 130, an estimation unit 150, a notification unit 160, and an image analysis unit 140. These components are realized, for example, when a hardware processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executes a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including a circuit unit; circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or may be realized by the cooperation of software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device having a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and may be installed by mounting the storage medium on a drive device.

[0014] The communication unit 110 is, for example, a communication interface for connecting to the network NW. The communication unit 110 is, for example, a network card.

[0015] The acquisition unit 120 acquires information from the outside. The acquisition unit 120 acquires, for example, weather information or the like from an external institution via the communication unit 110, or acquires the size of the fruit. The weather information includes, for example, the weather and the temperature. The weather information may be current information or information at any future time point. The size of the fruit is represented by, for example, the fruit diameter or the weight of the fruit. The size of the fruit may be acquired, for example, by analyzing an image captured by the camera 300 described later, or numerical values measured with a caliper or a ruler may be acquired.

[0016] The control unit 130 controls the camera 300 to measure the size of the fruit. The camera 300 is controlled by the control unit 130, and the captured fruit image is transmitted to the image analysis unit 140.

[0017] The image analysis unit 140 analyzes the image captured by the camera 300 to derive the size of the fruit. The image analysis unit 140 extracts, for example, edge points that are candidates for the contour of the fruit by edge extraction processing or the like, and extracts edge points that are continuous with a predetermined size as the contour of the fruit. Then, the size of the fruit that can be quantitatively evaluated is derived by obtaining a circumscribed circle, an approximate circle, etc.

[0018] The estimation unit 150 estimates the fruit surface temperature. The estimation unit 150 estimates the fruit surface temperature from the size of the fruit and the temperature at the location where the fruit tree exists. The estimation method will be described later.

[0019] The notification unit 160 notifies, for example, the terminal device 200 of the fruit surface temperature for each fruit. The communication unit 150 has, for example, a web server function and notifies in the form of a website.

[0020] Hereinafter, the function of the estimation unit 150 will be described. The estimation unit 150 estimates the fruit surface temperature by inputting the temperature into a function (estimation formula) according to the size of the fruit. The temperature is information acquired from the weather information server 400, and may be the current temperature or may be estimated based on the future temperature.

[0021] The function is, for example, represented by formula (1) and is a linear function that increases as the temperature rises. Both αk and βk in the formula are coefficients with positive values, and the coefficients vary depending on the type and size of the fruit. Instead of the linear function, other functions that have a tendency to increase as the temperature rises (such as quadratic functions, exponential functions, etc.) may be used.

[0022] (Fruit surface temperature) = αk × Temperature + βk …(1)

[0023] Hereinafter, it will be explained that it is effective to perform the above processing. Figure 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the sunshine duration, direction, and the apple fruit surface temperature. The graph in Figure 2 is obtained by preparing a total of 6 apples, 3 small fruits of small-sized apples and 3 fruits of average size, on a sunny day in summer, installing them respectively on nails attached at a height of 1.2 [m] so as to be horizontal to the ground, and measuring the temperature at 1-minute intervals using a thermocouple thermometer for the surface temperature at a position corresponding to an elevation angle of 60° from the equatorial plane of the fruit for each direction, and then making it into a graph. The fruit surface temperature reached the maximum at 14 - 15 o'clock in the southwest and west directions for apples. Also, the fruit surface temperature of fruits with an average size was higher than that of small fruits.

[0024] Figure 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the maximum temperature and the maximum fruit surface temperature for apples and oranges. In Figure 3, in addition to the maximum temperature and the maximum fruit surface temperature on multiple sunny days in summer, the values of the fruit size are shown as a scatter plot. The right graph is for apples, and the circular symbols represent apples with a transverse diameter of 60 [mm] or more, and the triangular symbols represent apples with a transverse diameter of less than 60 [mm]. The left graph is for oranges, and the circular symbols represent oranges with a transverse diameter of 30 [mm] or more, and the triangular symbols represent oranges with a transverse diameter of less than 30 [mm]. A sunny day is defined as a day with a total daily solar radiation amount of 10 [MJ / m 2 or more. For both apples and oranges, the larger the fruit, the higher the maximum fruit surface temperature tends to be.

[0025] Figure 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the fruit size and the fruit surface temperature in peaches, pears, and plums. In Figure 4, three types of peaches, pears, and plums, all of which are young fruits, were measured for the maximum air temperature and the fruit surface temperature on sunny days within 8 days and presented in a graph. Big fruit A is a relatively large fruit among the young fruits, and small fruit B is a relatively small fruit among the young fruits. It can be seen that the fruit surface temperature of all fruits of peaches, pears, and plums increases in proportion to the maximum air temperature, and the fruit surface temperature of big fruits rises more than that of small fruits.

[0026] That is, regardless of the type of fruit, the larger the fruit size, the higher the fruit surface temperature. Also, fruits on fruit trees at 14 - 15 o'clock in the south - west and west directions are likely to have a higher fruit surface temperature. The fact that the fruit surface temperature is likely to be high means that the fruit skin is likely to be sunburned. And the maximum value of the fruit surface temperature on that day can be estimated from the maximum air temperature and the fruit size of that day. The estimation unit 150 estimates the fruit surface temperature using an estimation formula applied to the maximum air temperature and the fruit size.

[0027] The estimation unit 150 may estimate the fruit surface temperature, for example, using a function (estimation formula) from the current air temperature acquired from the weather information server 400 and the fruit size. Also, the estimation unit 150 may estimate the future fruit surface temperature using the forecast of the future maximum air temperature acquired from the weather information server 400. The air temperature acquired from the weather information server 400 is the information on the air temperature in the section where the fruit trees of the mesh data 410 are located.

[0028] [Flowchart] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the first embodiment. First, the control unit 130 uses the camera 300 to photograph the fruit (step S100).

[0029] Next, the image analysis unit 140 analyzes the fruit size using the image of the fruit captured by the camera 300 (step S110).

[0030] Next, the acquisition unit 120 acquires mesh data 410 from the weather information server 400 (step S120). The weather information included in the mesh data 410 is the weather and the temperature.

[0031] Next, the estimation unit 150 determines whether the weather at the location where the target fruit is located is sunny (step S130). If the weather is sunny, the process proceeds to the next step. If the weather is other than sunny, the operation in this flowchart ends.

[0032] Next, the estimation unit 150 applies the weather information included in the mesh data 410 acquired in the process of step S120 to the estimation formula to estimate the fruit surface temperature (step S140).

[0033] Next, the notification unit 160 notifies the terminal device 200 of the estimated fruit surface temperature (step S150). The notification method may be, for example, a method by screen display in the form of a website, or a method using e-mail or the like.

[0034] According to the above-described first embodiment, the fruit surface temperature can be estimated more simply. As a result, farmers who have obtained the estimation result can take measures against sunburn of the fruit skin.

[0035] <Second Embodiment> Hereinafter, the second embodiment will be described. The configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. Assume that the mesh data 410 of the weather information server 400 includes wind speed in addition to weather and temperature. The estimation unit 150 may apply the wind speed in addition to the temperature to the estimation formula to estimate the fruit surface temperature.

[0036] The function is represented by, for example, formula (2) and is a linear function that increases as the temperature rises. Both γk and ηk in the formula are positive-valued coefficients, and are coefficients that vary depending on the type, size, and wind speed of the fruit. Instead of the linear function, other functions having a tendency to increase as the temperature rises (for example, quadratic function, exponential function, etc.) may be used.

[0037] (Fruit surface temperature) = γk × Air temperature + ηk …(2)

[0038] Hereinafter, it will be explained that it is effective to perform the above processing. FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the maximum air temperature and the maximum fruit surface temperature considering the wind speed in apples and mandarins. In FIG. 7, in addition to the maximum air temperature and the maximum fruit surface temperature on a plurality of summer sunny days and weak wind days, the values of the fruit size are shown as a scatter diagram. The right graph is the graph of apples, the round symbols indicate apples with a transverse diameter of 60 [mm] or more of the fruit, and the triangular symbols indicate apples with a transverse diameter of less than 60 [mm] of the fruit. The left graph is the graph of mandarins, the round symbols indicate mandarins with a transverse diameter of 30 [mm] or more of the fruit, and the triangular symbols indicate mandarins with a transverse diameter of less than 30 [mm] of the fruit. The weak wind days are the days when the average wind speed during the day (11:00 to 16:00) is 3 [m / s] or less. In both apples and mandarins, the larger the fruit, the higher the maximum fruit surface temperature tends to be, and by adding the information of the wind speed, the maximum fruit surface temperature can be estimated more accurately.

[0039] FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship between the maximum air temperature and the maximum fruit surface temperature considering the wind speed in apples. In FIG. 7, it is a graph showing as a scatter diagram the value of the size of each fruit on a day (weak wind day) when the total daily solar radiation amount is 10 [MJ / m 2 or more and the average wind speed during the day is 3 [m / s] or less. The round symbols are apples of 100 [g] or more, and the triangular symbols are apples of less than 100 [g]. It can be seen that apples of 100 [g] or more tend to have a higher maximum fruit surface temperature. Also, it can be seen that the larger the fruit weight, the higher the maximum fruit surface temperature without depending on a specific fruit weight.

[0040] According to the above-described second embodiment, by estimating the fruit surface temperature more accurately, it becomes easier to take measures against sunburn of the fruit skin.

[0041] As described above, the embodiments for carrying out the present invention have been described using the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to such embodiments at all, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Explanation of Symbols

[0042] 100 Fruit surface temperature estimation device 110 Communication unit 120 Acquisition unit 130 Control unit 140 Estimation unit 150 Notification unit 160 Image analysis unit 200 Terminal device 300 Camera 400 Meteorological information server 410 Mesh data NW Network

Claims

1. An acquisition unit that acquires information capable of recognizing the size of a fruit and temperature information; An estimation unit that estimates the fruit surface temperature based on the size of the fruit and the temperature information; A fruit surface temperature estimation device comprising the above.

2. The estimation unit is a function corresponding to the size of the fruit, and inputs the temperature indicated by the temperature information into a function that rises as the temperature rises to estimate the fruit surface temperature. The fruit surface temperature estimation device according to Claim 1.

3. The estimation unit further estimates the fruit surface temperature based on the wind speed. The fruit surface temperature estimation device according to Claim 1.

4. The estimation unit is a function corresponding to the size of the fruit and the wind speed, and inputs the temperature indicated by the temperature information into a function that rises as the temperature rises to estimate the fruit surface temperature. The fruit surface temperature estimation device according to Claim 3.

5. The information capable of recognizing the size of the fruit is an image obtained by imaging the fruit, and further comprises an image analysis unit that derives the size of the fruit by image analysis. The fruit surface temperature estimation device according to Claim 1.

6. The acquisition unit acquires future temperature information, and the estimation unit estimates the future fruit surface temperature based on the future temperature information. The fruit surface temperature estimation device according to Claim 1.

7. The estimation unit estimates the fruit surface temperature for each location in the mesh data that acquires temperature information. The fruit surface temperature estimation device according to Claim 1.

8. A fruit surface temperature estimation method, wherein a fruit surface temperature estimation device acquires information capable of recognizing the size of a fruit and temperature information, and estimates the fruit surface temperature based on the size of the fruit and the temperature information.

9. A program for causing one or more processors included in a fruit surface temperature estimation device to acquire information capable of recognizing the size of a fruit and temperature information, and to estimate the fruit surface temperature based on the size of the fruit and the temperature information. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

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