Agriculture cultivation system using digital twin

Abstract

The present invention provides an agriculture cultivation system using a digital twin, the system comprising: a real space part for the growth of a real specific plant; and a virtual space part which is the realization of a virtual identical model of the real space.

Description

Agricultural farming system using digital twins

[0001] The present invention relates to an agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin, and more specifically, to an agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin that can monitor an agricultural cultivation environment in real time in a real space, analyze changes in the environment to enable prompt response, and also adjust expected future shipment times and harvest amounts.

[0002] When running a farm in an area far from one's residence, it is difficult to grasp the local climate or changes in the local landscape in real time, and it is difficult to predict how these changes will affect the actual farming process. It is also difficult to respond quickly and accurately to problems that may arise, making it difficult to smoothly supply and demand crops, such as when they are shipped or the amount of harvest, and in many cases, even leading to crop failure for the entire year.

[0003] Recently, technologies utilizing digital virtual environments are being widely applied and studied across industries, including agriculture and manufacturing. As part of these efforts, research and development on digital twins are rapidly progressing across various fields. Digital twins create realistic 3D models and connect the real and virtual worlds based on data. This interaction between the real and virtual worlds, as if they were twins, is called a digital twin. However, most research has focused on industrial productivity, such as smart factories. To date, there are no reports on technologies that apply this concept to remote farm management, enabling stable year-round farm management and balanced crop supply and demand, ultimately enhancing farm productivity.

[0004] Accordingly, the present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to provide an agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin that can monitor the agricultural cultivation environment in real time in real space, analyze changes in the environment, and respond quickly, while also controlling expected future shipment times and harvest amounts.

[0005] The technical problem of the present invention as described above is achieved by the following means.

[0006] (1) An agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin, including a real space section that performs actual growth of a specific plant; and a virtual space section that implements the real space as a virtual identical model.

[0007] (2) In the above (1),

[0008] An agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin, characterized by further including a reconstructed space section that reconstructs the simulation results of the virtual space section into an actual identical environment.

[0009] (3) In the above (2),

[0010] An agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin, characterized in that the virtual space section receives feedback on the experimental results from the reconstructed space section, performs a re-simulation, stores the results, and transmits the stored results to the control section of the real space section.

[0011] (4) In the above (2),

[0012] An agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin, characterized in that the virtual space receives real-time parameter information from the real space, specifies location information of a sector in the real space where a parameter change is required, transmits the location information to a mobile terminal in the real space, and displays it on a screen using augmented reality.

[0013] (5) In the above (4),

[0014] An agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin, characterized in that when a change exceeding the allowable standard of a real-time image occurs in the real-time space section, the changed image and location information are transmitted to the virtual space section, and a reproduced image including the changed information is displayed through the screen of the virtual space section.

[0015] The agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin according to the present invention monitors the agricultural cultivation environment in real time in real space, analyzes changes in the environment, and enables prompt response, while also allowing adjustment of expected future shipment times and harvest amounts, thereby maximizing agricultural production and contributing to the income of farmers.

[0016] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an agricultural farming system using a digital twin according to the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 is a configuration diagram of a monitoring terminal forming a real space section according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 3 is a configuration diagram of an environment control server forming a virtual space according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 4 is a configuration diagram of another embodiment of an agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin according to the present invention.

[0020] Figure 5 is a configuration diagram of a simulation management server forming a reconstructed space section according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of implementing virtual reality or augmented reality using the system of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 7 is an example diagram of the operation process of the system of the present invention.

[0023] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The detailed description set forth below, together with the accompanying drawings, is intended to explain exemplary embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. The following detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.

[0024] In some cases, to avoid obscuring the concept of the present invention, well-known structures and devices may be omitted or illustrated in block diagram form focusing on the core functions of each structure and device.

[0025] Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "comprising" or "including" a certain component, this does not mean that other components are excluded, but rather that other components can be included, unless specifically stated otherwise. In addition, the term "part" described in the specification means a unit that processes at least one function or operation. In addition, the words "a" or "an," "one," "the," and similar related words may be used in the context of describing the present invention (especially in the context of the claims below) to include both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context.

[0026] When describing embodiments of the present invention, detailed descriptions of known functions or configurations will be omitted if they are deemed to unnecessarily obscure the gist of the invention. Furthermore, the terms described below are defined in light of their functions in the embodiments of the present invention and may vary depending on the intent or custom of the user or operator. Therefore, their definitions should be based on the overall content of this specification.

[0027] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.

[0028] Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of an agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin according to the present invention. The agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin according to the present invention includes a real space section (100) and a virtual space section (200).

[0029] In the present invention, the real space section (100) constitutes a space for performing cultivation of a specific plant.

[0030] In the embodiment of the present invention, the real space unit (100) includes a monitoring terminal (110) capable of data communication with the virtual space unit (200) through a communication network (400).

[0031] As shown in Fig. 2, the above monitoring terminal (110) includes an information receiving unit (111), an information transmitting unit (112), an image acquisition unit (113), a control command execution unit (114), and a controller (120).

[0032] The above monitoring terminal (110) may be a personal computer system such as a desktop, laptop, tablet, or handheld computer, and may also be a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, smart phone, digital broadcasting terminal, PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), PMP (Portable Multimedia Player), navigation, or a fixed home appliance such as a digital TV.

[0033] The above information receiving unit (111) receives cultivation information transmitted from the virtual space unit (200). The cultivation information includes not only general management information but also warning information for the occurrence of a specific situation or control signals for performing necessary actions for the situation.

[0034] The above information transmission unit (112) transmits information such as a cultivation image showing a real-time cultivation situation, information on factors affecting cultivation, such as soil factors or climate factors, as well as result reports including measures for abnormal situations, to the virtual space unit (200) via a communication network.

[0035] The above control command execution unit (114) executes necessary actions (or operations) in response to control signals received from the virtual space unit (200). For example, it executes actions such as water supply, fertilizer application, pesticide spraying, light irradiation, temperature control, and moisture control.

[0036] The controller (120) analyzes the control signal received from the virtual space unit (200) and controls the operation of each device required for the corresponding action. For example, in a situation where a specific fertilizer must be supplied to a specific sector, the controller (120) operates a fertilizer supply unit (not shown) to supply the required fertilizer.

[0037] In the present invention, the virtual space section (200) constitutes a space that implements the real space section as a virtual identical model.

[0038] In the embodiment of the present invention, the virtual space unit (200) includes an environment control server (210) capable of data communication with the real space unit (100) through a communication network.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 3, the above environmental control server (210) includes an information receiving unit (211), an information transmitting unit (212), an information analysis / prediction unit (213), and a controller (220).

[0040] The above environmental control server (210) may be a personal computer system such as a desktop, laptop, tablet, or handheld computer, and may also be a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, smart phone, digital broadcasting terminal, PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), PMP (Portable Multimedia Player), navigation, or a fixed home appliance such as a digital TV.

[0041] The above information receiving unit (211) receives information such as real-time cultivation images transmitted from the real space unit (100), information on factors affecting cultivation, such as soil factors or climate factors, as well as result reports including measures for abnormal situations, through a communication network.

[0042] The above information transmission unit (212) transmits cultivation information to the real space unit (100). The cultivation information includes not only general management information but also warning information for the occurrence of a specific situation or control signals for performing necessary actions for the situation.

[0043] The above information analysis / prediction unit (213) receives information from the real space unit (100) and operates the algorithm execution unit (10) to produce situation analysis and prediction results.

[0044] In the embodiment of the present invention, the algorithm execution unit (10) analyzes the farming images and influencing factors provided in real time to understand the current situation and at the same time performs a prediction of a situation that will occur in the future.

[0045] To this end, the image analysis unit (11) performs pixel analysis on the main part of the crop, for example, the image of the leaf, of the received cultivation image to determine whether a specific disease has occurred by determining changes in color (yellow, white, colorimetric, etc.) and changes in shape.

[0046] Furthermore, the algorithm execution unit (10) can observe the trend of changes in images by sector in the trend analysis unit (12) to determine the progression and distribution of plant diseases. For example, if changes in leaf color and shape are observed from sector 101 to sector 102 and it is determined that the plant disease is in the process of spreading to surrounding sectors, the relevant sectors should be tracked and necessary quarantine measures should be implemented.

[0047] In addition, the harvest model derivation unit (13) analyzes influencing factors, such as soil factors and climate factors, in real time to learn information on environments with a high probability of occurrence of a specific disease, or factors related to yield that cause poor growth or reduced yield under specific environmental conditions through artificial intelligence, thereby extracting related major influencing factors, and can derive a harvest model for a specific crop through analysis of correlations. Accordingly, a predetermined function can be derived based on the information received from the first sensor unit (130) and the second sensor unit (131), and real-time weather data or forecast data received from the Korea Meteorological Administration observatory, and by analyzing the cumulative change amount received and accumulated in real time in the function, information such as harvest time or yield can be derived.

[0048] The above virtual environment implementation unit (214) applies the result information derived from the information analysis / prediction unit (213) to the virtual environment to implement the same simulation environment as the real space unit (100).

[0049] That is, changes to the corresponding object are applied to the two-dimensional or three-dimensional image provided in the virtual environment, and the conditions of the influence factors received in real time are updated and reflected in the simulation environment.

[0050] The above virtual environment implementation unit (214) does not simply simulate the situation of the real-time real space unit (100), but can also implement a virtual image environment on the monitor by predicting the result information derived from the information analysis / prediction unit (213) on a daily or monthly basis according to the received conditions.

[0051] The above controller (220) generates a predetermined control signal based on the result information derived from the information analysis / prediction unit (213) and transmits it to the real space unit (100) to control the operation of each required device.

[0052] The agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin according to the present invention further includes a reconstruction space section (300) as shown in FIG. 4.

[0053] In the embodiment of the present invention, the reconstructed space section (300) is a space in which the virtual environment implemented in the virtual space section (200) is reconstructed into an actual identical environment.

[0054] In the embodiment of the present invention, the reconstructed space unit (300) includes a virtual space unit (100) and a simulation management server (310) capable of data communication through a communication network, as illustrated in FIG. 5, and the simulation management server (310) includes an information receiving unit (311), an information transmitting unit (312), a control command execution unit (313), and a controller (320).

[0055] The above information receiving unit (311) receives various data derived from the virtual space unit (200).

[0056] The above information transmission unit (312) transmits environmental information of the reconstructed space unit (300) to the virtual space unit (200). The environmental information may be real-time soil factors, atmospheric factors, etc., and may include accumulated light exposure and accumulated temperature. Through this, the virtual space unit (200) can determine whether the current environment of the reconstructed space unit (300) closely simulates the environment of the real space unit (100).

[0057] In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, the virtual space unit (200) preferably receives feedback on environmental information from the reconstructed space unit, performs re-simulation, stores the result, and transmits the stored result to the controller (120) of the real space unit.

[0058] Hereinafter, the contents of the present invention will be described as specific examples with reference to examples, but it is obvious that the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0059] In the embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the virtual space unit (200) receives real-time parameter information of the real space unit (100), specifies location information of a sector among the sectors of the real space unit (100) that requires parameter change, and transmits the location information to the mobile terminal (150) of the real space unit (100) to display it on the screen using augmented reality.

[0060] In an embodiment of the present invention, preferably, when an abnormality in the real space (100) is determined to be a plant infectious disease, the virtual space (200) compares and judges the unfolding pattern in real time and transmits a control command to the real space (100) to take quarantine measures for the relevant sector.

[0061] Preferably, the mobile terminal (150) can receive information on the description of the abnormal phenomenon, the expected range of damage, and countermeasures as an image by illuminating the sector where the abnormality has occurred through augmented reality.

[0062] In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, the virtual space unit (200) receives environmental information such as soil factors (moisture content, organic matter content, electrical conductivity (EC), acidity (pH), available phosphorus content, ash requirement, etc.) and climate factors (temperature, humidity, amount of sunlight, photoperiod, etc.) from the real space unit (100). To this end, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a first sensor unit (130) for measuring soil factors and a second sensor unit (131) for measuring climate factors are mounted at predetermined locations in the real space unit (100). Preferably, the first sensor unit (130) and the second sensor unit (131) are provided for each sector (e.g., 10 m x 10 m).

[0063] The environmental information as described above is received in real time, changes are observed, and these changes are transmitted to the controller (310) that controls the reconstruction space unit (300) to be reflected. The reconstruction space unit (300) can provide actual information on how the crops react in response to the changed environment. In some cases, changes occurring in the real space unit (100) may be delayed compared to the reconstruction space unit (300), in which case the changes in the reconstruction space unit (300) can be provided as a prediction model.

[0064] In the present invention, the virtual space unit (200) analyzes environmental information received in real time from the real space unit (100) and operates a prediction algorithm to provide predicted information on the growth or production amount of crops.

[0065] For example, it is possible to predict flowering or harvest times based on information on temperature, humidity, and sunlight (hereinafter, factors that affect the result value are called parameters) up to the present time.

[0066] These information are used to create a prediction model by learning the accumulated information about each crop target object using artificial intelligence, and these prediction models are used to derive expected information about the growth, production volume, and production period of the crop target object.

[0067] In the embodiment of the present invention, when it is necessary to change the production amount or production period of the cultivation target object (for example, when the crop shipment period is expected to be too early as a result of using a prediction model, it is possible to delay the growth rate by controlling the temperature, humidity, and amount of sunlight), the parameter values ​​related thereto are derived through the prediction model, and the virtual space unit (200) transmits this information to each controller (120, 310) of the real space unit (100) and the reconstructed space unit (300) to control each parameter.

[0068] In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the prediction model according to the present invention, for example, controls the controller (120) to set the possibility of occurrence of such disease in stages in the real space (100) and warn when the value of each parameter received from the virtual space (200) approaches the threshold based on environmental information suitable for the proliferation of a specific plant disease virus, and to take corresponding measures for each stage (e.g., spraying of pesticides using a drone (140), controlling temperature and humidity, etc.).

[0069] According to this control process, the actual change in the reconstructed space (300) can be observed and compared with the simulation result of the prediction model performed in the virtual space (200) to correct the error, thereby further improving the accuracy of the prediction model.

[0070]

[0071] The above description is merely an illustrative illustration of the technical idea of ​​the present invention, and those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are intended to illustrate, rather than limit, the technical idea of ​​the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of ​​the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within a scope equivalent thereto should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the rights of the present invention.

[0072] [Explanation of symbols]

[0073] 100: Real Space Department

[0074] 150: Mobile terminal

[0075] 200: Virtual Space Department

[0076] 300: Reconstruction Space Department

Claims

1. An agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin, including a real space section that performs actual growth of a specific plant; and a virtual space section that implements the real space as a virtual identical model.

2. In paragraph 1, An agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin, characterized by further including a reconstructed space section that reconstructs the simulation results of the virtual space section into an actual identical environment.

3. In paragraph 2, An agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin, characterized in that the virtual space section receives feedback on the experimental results from the reconstructed space section, performs a re-simulation, stores the results, and transmits the stored results to the control section of the real space section.

4. In paragraph 2, An agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin, characterized in that the virtual space receives real-time parameter information from the real space, specifies location information of a sector in the real space where a parameter change is required, transmits the location information to a mobile terminal in the real space, and displays it on a screen using augmented reality.

5. In paragraph 4, An agricultural cultivation system using a digital twin, characterized in that when a change exceeding the allowed standard of a real-time image occurs in the real-time space section, the changed image and location information are transmitted to the virtual space section, and a reproduced image including the changed information is displayed through the screen of the virtual space section.

Images