Crop delivery system

Abstract

This crop delivery system comprises a communication device used by a user, and an unmanned aerial vehicle. The communication device comprises: an input unit that accepts, from the user, input of instruction information relating to a harvesting place of a crop and a delivery destination of the crop as a delivery instruction; and a transmission unit that transmits the instruction information to an information processing device. The unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with: a reception unit that receives the instruction information from the communication device via the information processing device; and a movement control unit that moves, from the harvesting place to the delivery destination, an accommodating means accommodating one or a plurality of crops corresponding to the crop for which the delivery instruction has been accepted, in accordance with the instruction information.

Description

Agricultural product delivery system

[0001] The present invention relates to agricultural produce delivery systems.

[0002] In recent years, the aging of farmers and labor shortages have become more serious. Patent Document 1 describes a technology for optimizing work when harvesting or thinning fruits using an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0003] Special table 2019-528216 publication

[0004] In the technology described in Patent Document 1, fruits harvested by an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle such as a drone are placed in collection containers and accumulated in a field where the fruits are sorted according to quality standards. The technology described in Patent Document 1 does not take into consideration the shipping of the harvested fruits. For farmers, shipping agricultural products is just as time-consuming as harvesting, and with the recent rise in fuel costs, transportation costs also become a significant burden.

[0005] The agricultural produce delivery system of the present disclosure comprises a communication device used by a user and an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the communication device comprises an input means for accepting instruction information from the user regarding the harvest location of the agricultural produce and the delivery destination of the agricultural produce as a delivery instruction, and a transmission means for transmitting the instruction information to an information processing device, and the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a receiving means for receiving the instruction information from the communication device via the information processing device, and a movement control means for moving a storage means containing one or more agricultural produce corresponding to the agricultural produce for which the delivery instruction has been received from the harvest location to the delivery destination in accordance with the instruction information.

[0006] The information processing device of the present disclosure includes: an acquisition means for acquiring instruction information from a communication device indicating the harvest location of agricultural products for which a delivery instruction has been received from a user and the delivery destination of the agricultural products; and a transmission means for transmitting the instruction information to an unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0007] The communication device according to the present disclosure includes an input means for receiving instruction information from a user, as a delivery instruction, regarding a harvest location for the agricultural products and a delivery destination for the agricultural products, and a transmission means for transmitting the instruction information to an information processing device.

[0008] The agricultural produce delivery support method disclosed herein includes one or more computers receiving input of instruction information regarding the location where the agricultural produce is to be harvested and the delivery destination of the agricultural produce as delivery instructions from a user, transmitting the instruction information to an information processing device, receiving the instruction information from the user via the information processing device, and, in accordance with the instruction information, causing an unmanned aerial vehicle to move a storage means containing one or more agricultural produce corresponding to the agricultural produce for which the delivery instructions have been received from the harvest location to the delivery destination.

[0009] The recording medium in the present disclosure is a computer-readable recording medium that stores a program for causing a computer to execute an acquisition process for acquiring instruction information indicating the harvest location of agricultural crops for which a delivery instruction has been received from a user and the delivery destination of the agricultural crops from a communication device, and a transmission process for transmitting the instruction information to an unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0010] The recording medium in the present disclosure is a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing an input process for accepting input of instruction information regarding the harvest location of the agricultural products and the delivery destination of the agricultural products from a user as delivery instructions, and a transmission process for transmitting the instruction information to an information processing device.

[0011] According to the present disclosure, a crop delivery system is provided that supports operations from harvesting to delivery of crops.

[0012] 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example system configuration of a crop delivery system according to the present disclosure. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example configuration of a communication device according to the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example configuration of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example processing operation of a crop delivery system according to the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example configuration of an information processing device according to the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another example processing operation of a crop delivery system according to the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of a computer that realizes each device of a crop delivery system according to the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example data structure of instruction information. FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram illustrating another example configuration of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to the present disclosure during harvesting. FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating another example configuration of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another example processing operation of a crop delivery system according to the present disclosure. FIG. 11 is a diagram conceptually illustrating another example system configuration of a crop delivery system according to the present disclosure. FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram illustrating another example configuration of an information processing device according to the present disclosure. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example data structure of harvest target information. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of an order screen. FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram illustrating another example configuration of an information processing device according to the present disclosure. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of candidate information; Fig. 2 is a diagram showing another example of the data structure of instruction information; Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram showing another example of the configuration of an information processing device according to the present disclosure; Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of flying object information; Fig. 5 is a diagram showing another example of the data structure of instruction information.

[0013] Hereinafter, in this disclosure, the drawings relate to one or more embodiments. In all drawings, similar components are denoted by similar reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be omitted as appropriate. In each of the following drawings, configurations of parts that are not related to the essence of this disclosure are omitted and are not shown.

[0014] In the present disclosure, "acquisition" includes at least one of the following: a device going to retrieve data or information stored in another device or storage medium (active acquisition); and a device inputting data or information output from another device (passive acquisition). Examples of active acquisition include making a request or inquiry to another device and receiving a response, and accessing and reading information from another device or storage medium. Examples of passive acquisition include receiving information that is distributed (or transmitted, push notification, etc.). Furthermore, "acquisition" may also mean selecting and acquiring data or information from received data or information, or selecting and receiving distributed data or information.

[0015] <System Overview and Functional Configuration Example> The agricultural produce delivery system 1 provides a service of harvesting agricultural produce from a harvesting site 10 on behalf of a farm producer 20 and delivering the produce to a delivery destination 40 designated by a user 30 .

[0016] As shown in Fig. 1, the agricultural produce delivery system 1 includes a communication device 100 and an unmanned aerial vehicle 200. As shown in Fig. 2, the communication device 100 includes an input unit 102 and a transmission unit 104. As shown in Fig. 3, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 includes a receiving unit 202 and a movement control unit 204.

[0017] In the communication device 100, the input unit 102 accepts input of instruction information regarding the harvest location 10 of the agricultural products and the delivery destination 40 of the agricultural products as delivery instructions from the user 30. The transmission unit 104 transmits the instruction information to the information processing device 300. In the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, the receiving unit 202 receives the instruction information from the communication device 100 via the information processing device 300. The movement control unit 204 moves, in accordance with the instruction information, a storage container 50 (storage means) containing one or more agricultural products corresponding to the agricultural products for which the delivery instruction has been received, from the harvest location 10 to the delivery destination 40.

[0018] <Operation Example> The agricultural produce delivery system 1 operates as shown in the flowchart of Figure 4. First, in the communication device 100, the input unit 102 accepts instruction information regarding the agricultural produce harvest location 10 and the delivery destination 40 of the agricultural produce as a delivery instruction from the user 30 (step S101). The transmission unit 104 transmits the instruction information to the information processing device 300 (step S103). Then, in the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, the receiving unit 202 receives the instruction information from the communication device 100 via the information processing device 300 (step S107). In accordance with the instruction information, the movement control unit 204 moves a storage container 50 (storage means) containing one or more agricultural produce corresponding to the agricultural produce for which the delivery instruction has been received from the harvest location 10 to the delivery destination 40 (step S109).

[0019] According to this agricultural produce delivery system 1, the input unit 102 of the communication device 100 accepts, as delivery instructions, input of instruction information regarding the agricultural produce harvest location 10 and the delivery destination 40 of the agricultural produce from the user 30. The transmission unit 104 of the communication device 100 transmits the instruction information to the information processing device 300. The reception unit 202 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 receives the instruction information from the communication device 100 via the information processing device 300. The movement control unit 204 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 moves, in accordance with the instruction information, a storage container 50 (storage means) containing one or more agricultural produce corresponding to the agricultural produce for which the delivery instruction has been received, from the harvest location 10 to the delivery destination 40. In this way, the agricultural produce delivery system 1 can support tasks from harvesting to delivery of the agricultural produce.

[0020] <Example of functional configuration> Furthermore, the information processing device 300 according to the present disclosure has an acquisition unit 312 and a transmission unit 304, as shown in FIG. 5 . The acquisition unit 312 acquires, from the communication device 100, instruction information indicating the harvest location 10 of the agricultural produce for which a delivery instruction from the user 30 has been received and the delivery destination 40 of the agricultural produce. The transmission unit 304 transmits the instruction information to the unmanned aerial vehicle 200. Note that the acquisition unit 312 and the transmission unit 304 of the information processing device 300 correspond to the transfer means of the information processing device according to the present disclosure. In other words, the information processing device 300 transfers the instruction information received from the communication device 100 using the acquisition unit 312 to the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 using the transmission unit 304.

[0021] <Operation Example> The information processing device 300 operates as shown in Fig. 6. The flow in Fig. 6 further includes step S121 in addition to the processing of the flow in Fig. 4. That is, in the information processing device 300, the acquisition unit 312 acquires, from the communication device 100, instruction information indicating the harvest location 10 of the agricultural products for which a delivery instruction has been received from the user 30 and the delivery destination 40 of the agricultural products, and the transmission unit 304 transmits the instruction information to the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 (step S121).

[0022] According to this information processing device 300, the acquisition unit 312 acquires from the communication device 100 instruction information indicating the harvest location 10 of the agricultural produce for which a delivery instruction has been received from the user 30 and the delivery destination 40 of the agricultural produce, and the transmission unit 304 transmits the instruction information to the unmanned aerial vehicle 200. When combined with the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 described above, the information processing device 300 can support tasks from harvesting to delivery of the agricultural produce.

[0023] A detailed example of the agricultural produce delivery system 1 will be described below.

[0024] (First embodiment) <System overview> As described above, the agricultural produce delivery system 1 provides a service of harvesting agricultural produce from a harvesting site 10 on behalf of a farm producer 20 and delivering the produce to a delivery destination 40 specified by a user 30.

[0025] The agricultural produce delivery system 1 includes at least a communication device 100 and an unmanned aerial vehicle 200. The communication device 100 is a device used by a user 30, and is, for example, a computer such as a personal computer, smartphone, or tablet terminal. The unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is an aircraft that cannot be ridden by a person due to its structure, and can be flown by remote control or automatic piloting. The unmanned aerial vehicle 200 may be, for example, a drone, or may also be a multicopter with multiple rotors. The unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is equipped with a communication device consisting of a computer. The unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is controlled by automatic piloting using a program or remotely by an external control device (in the present disclosure, this is an information processing device 300, but it may also be the communication device 100 or another controller).

[0026] When a user 30 uses a service provided by the agricultural produce delivery system 1 on the communication device 100, the user 30 installs and launches a predetermined application on the communication device 100, or accesses a predetermined website using a browser or the like. To use the service, the user 30 preferably registers as a user, obtains an account, and logs in to the agricultural produce delivery system 1 from the application or website on the communication device 100, but the user 30 may also be able to log in to the agricultural produce delivery system 1 using user information from another SNS (Social Networking Service).

[0027] The information processing device 300 is a server computer, a personal computer, or the like. The functions of the information processing device 300 may be realized by installing an application program on the computer and starting the program. Alternatively, the information processing device 300 may be a web server, and the functions of the information processing device 300 may be realized by a website that provides the services of the agricultural produce delivery system 1. Alternatively, the functions of the information processing device 300 and the communication device 100 may be realized in a form provided to the user 30 by accessing a server computer on a cloud via a network 3 such as the Internet from the communication device 100, such as an operation terminal (for example, SaaS (Software as a Service)).

[0028] The farm produce delivery system 1 does not have to include the information processing device 300. In this case, the information processing device 300 may be a computer managed by an entity separate from the farm produce delivery system 1.

[0029] The information processing device 300 includes a storage device 320. The storage device 320 may be provided inside or outside the information processing device 300. In other words, the storage device 320 may be hardware that is integrated with the information processing device 300, or may be hardware that is separate from the information processing device 300.

[0030] <Hardware Configuration Example> The control device (not shown) of the communication device 100 and unmanned aerial vehicle 200 according to the present disclosure is realized by a computer 1000 shown in Fig. 7. The information processing device 300 of Fig. 1 and the automatic harvesting robot 60 of Fig. 14 described later are also realized by the computer 1000 shown in Fig. 7. Furthermore, the functions of the communication device 100, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, the information processing device 300, and the automatic harvesting robot 60 may be shared and realized by at least one computer 1000. Various combinations of the functions are conceivable and are not limited to the embodiments described below.

[0031] The computer 1000 has a bus 1010 , a processor 1020 , a memory 1030 , a storage device 1040 , an input / output interface 1050 , and a network interface 1060 .

[0032] The bus 1010 is a data transmission path for transmitting and receiving data among the processor 1020, memory 1030, storage device 1040, input / output interface 1050, and network interface 1060. However, the method of connecting the processor 1020 and the like to each other is not limited to bus connection.

[0033] The processor 1020 is implemented by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or the like.

[0034] The memory 1030 is a main storage device realized by a RAM (Random Access Memory) or the like.

[0035] The storage device 1040 is an auxiliary storage device realized by a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a memory card, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like. The storage device 1040 stores program modules that realize the functions of the communication device 100 (e.g., the input unit 102, the transmission unit 104, etc.), the functions of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 (e.g., the reception unit 202, the movement control unit 204, the harvesting unit 206, the image capture unit 208, the transmission / reception unit 210, etc.), the functions of the information processing device 300 (e.g., the control unit 302, the transmission unit 304, the notification unit 308, the acquisition unit 312, the presentation unit 314, etc.), and the functions of the automatic harvesting robot 60. The processor 1020 loads and executes each of these program modules into the memory 1030, thereby realizing the functions corresponding to the program modules. The storage device 1040 may also function as the storage device 320 of the information processing device 300.

[0036] The program module may be recorded on a recording medium. The recording medium on which the program module is recorded may include a non-transitory, tangible medium usable by the computer 1000, and the program code readable by the computer 1000 (processor 1020) may be embedded in the medium.

[0037] The input / output interface 1050 is an interface for connecting the computer 1000 with various input / output devices. The input / output interface 1050 also functions as a communication interface for performing short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and NFC (Near Field Communication). Furthermore, the input / output interface 1050 also functions as a communication interface for performing mobile wireless communication via a mobile communication network or the like.

[0038] The network interface 1060 is an interface for connecting the computer 1000 to the communication network 3. This communication network 3 is, for example, a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN). The network interface 1060 may be connected to the communication network 3 wirelessly or by wire.

[0039] The computer 1000 then connects to necessary equipment (e.g., the display, touch panel, operation buttons, touchpad, keyboard, mouse, speaker, microphone, camera, controller, camera, speaker, microphone, etc. of the communication device 100 or the information processing device 300, the controller, camera, speaker, microphone, etc. of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, the controller, camera, speaker, microphone, etc. of the automatic harvesting robot 60) via the input / output interface 1050 or the network interface 1060.

[0040] Each component of the communication device 100, unmanned aerial vehicle 200, and information processing device 300 according to the present disclosure in each figure is realized by any combination of hardware and software of the computer 1000 in Figure 7. Those skilled in the art will understand that there are various variations in the realization methods and devices. The functional block diagrams showing the communication device 100, unmanned aerial vehicle 200, and information processing device 300 according to the present disclosure in each figure show blocks of logical functional units, rather than configurations of hardware units.

[0041] Furthermore, the information processing device 300 of the present disclosure, which will be described later, may be realized as a single chip or device, or may be realized in a form that can be attached to another device (for example, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200). This configuration is envisioned, for example, when a farm producer 20 uses the communication device 100 to instruct the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 to harvest and deliver agricultural produce.

[0042] <Example of Functional Configuration> First, the communication device 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2 , the communication device 100 has an input unit 102 and a transmission unit 104. The input unit 102 accepts instruction information 130, which is input from a user 30 as a delivery instruction, regarding the harvest location 10 of the agricultural products and the delivery destination 40 of the agricultural products. As shown in FIG. 8 , for each delivery instruction received, the instruction information 130 includes identification information (represented as a reception ID in the figure) that can identify the delivery instruction, identification information (represented as a user ID in the figure) that can identify the user 30, information indicating the harvest location of the agricultural products, information that can identify the agricultural products, the ordered quantity of the agricultural products, and information that can identify the delivery destination of the agricultural products. The delivery instruction may be for multiple types of agricultural products. In this case, the instruction information 130 includes, for each of the multiple agricultural products, information that can identify the agricultural product and the ordered quantity.

[0043] The identification information that can identify the delivery instruction may be a uniquely assigned number or the like, or may be information including the date and time when the delivery instruction was received. The identification information that can identify the user 30 may be, for example, information indicating the name of the user 30, or the user name of the user 30 that has been registered.

[0044] The user 30 is a customer (or consumer) who purchases agricultural products provided by a farm, but in other examples, the user 30 may be the farm producer 20 himself or herself, his or her family, or a person requested by the producer 20. For example, the farm producer 20 may harvest agricultural products from his or her own farmland using the agricultural product delivery system 1 and transport them to a predetermined delivery destination (for example, to deliver the agricultural products as merchandise to a roadside station or the like).

[0045] The information indicating the location where the crops will be harvested is information that can identify the location where the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 will harvest the crops to be delivered or obtain the crops harvested by the automatic harvesting robot 60 described below. The information indicating the location where the crops will be harvested may be an address, location information indicated by latitude and longitude (and altitude), coordinate information indicating a relative position within a specified area (for example, a specified section of a field or a greenhouse), or a combination of these.

[0046] The information that can identify the agricultural product is information that indicates the type of agricultural product, and is at least one of the name of the agricultural product, the product name of the agricultural product, and a product code that is uniquely assigned to the product. The order quantity for each agricultural product is a value that indicates the quantity of the agricultural product, and the unit of quantity may differ for each agricultural product. For example, the quantity of radishes is specified per stalk, but the quantity of strawberries may be specified in grams or volume units.

[0047] The information indicating the delivery destination of the agricultural products is information indicating the delivery destination, i.e., an address, specified by the user 30. In another example, the information indicating the delivery destination may be a delivery destination specified on a map, in which case it may be location information indicated by latitude and longitude.

[0048] 2 , the transmission unit 104 transmits the instruction information 130 to the information processing device 300. The communication device 100 is connected to the information processing device 300 via a communication network 3 such as the Internet. The transmission unit 104 of the communication device 100 transmits the instruction information 130 to the information processing device 300 via the communication network 3.

[0049] Next, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3 , the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 has a receiving unit 202 and a movement control unit 204. The receiving unit 202 receives instruction information 130 from the communication device 100 via the information processing device 300. The receiving unit 202 can connect to a communication network 3 such as the Internet by performing mobile wireless communication via a mobile communication network or the like using the input / output interface 1050, for example, and communicate with the information processing device 300 (or the communication device 100). In this way, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is connected to the information processing device 300 via the communication network 3. The receiving unit 202 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 receives instruction information 130 from the communication device 100 from the information processing device 300 via the communication network 3.

[0050] In accordance with the instruction information 130, the movement control unit 204 moves a storage container 50 (storage means) containing one or more agricultural products corresponding to the agricultural products for which a delivery instruction has been received from the harvesting location 10 to the delivery destination 40. Specifically, the movement control unit 204 first moves the machine to the harvesting location 10 included in the instruction information 130. Then, the movement control unit 204 uses a holding means (not shown) to hold the storage container 50 containing the quantity of agricultural products instructed to be transported, which is included in the instruction information 130. Then, the movement control unit 204 moves the machine to the delivery destination 40 included in the instruction information 130.

[0051] The storage means (storage vessel 50) is, for example, a basket, box, container, bag, etc. capable of storing agricultural products. The storage means is not particularly limited as long as it can safely transport the stored agricultural products when the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is in flight. However, in order to safely transport the agricultural products, it is preferable that the storage means has a mechanism (such as a lid) that seals the contents to prevent the agricultural products from falling during transport, and a mechanism (such as a cushion or partition) that prevents the agricultural products from moving inside and being damaged.

[0052] The unmanned aerial vehicle 200 may be equipped with storage means (storage container 50) for storing one or more of the harvested crops. However, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 does not have to be equipped with storage means. The unmanned aerial vehicle 200 only needs to have a mechanism for holding the storage means.

[0053] <Operation Example> The following will be explained using Figure 4. The flow of the communication device 100 in Figure 4 starts when the user 30 performs an input operation for a delivery instruction using the communication device 100. The timing at which the flow of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 in Figure 4 starts is exemplified below, but is not limited to these. (1) When instruction information 130 from the communication device 100 is sent to the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 via the information processing device 300. (2) When the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 periodically inquires of the information processing device 300 about the presence or absence of new delivery instructions and receives a delivery instruction. Note that, because the flight time of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is limited by weather, sunlight hours, etc., it is preferable that the processing of step S109 be executed at a time when the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 can return from the delivery destination 40 to its waiting location within the flight time.

[0054] First, in communication device 100, input unit 102 accepts instruction information 130, which is input from user 30 as a delivery instruction, regarding harvest location 10 of the agricultural products and delivery destination 40 of the agricultural products (step S101). Transmitting unit 104 transmits instruction information 130 to information processing device 300 (step S103). Then, in unmanned aerial vehicle 200, receiving unit 202 receives instruction information 130 from communication device 100 via information processing device 300 (step S107). Movement control unit 204 moves storage container 50 (storage means) containing one or more agricultural products corresponding to the agricultural products for which the delivery instruction was received from harvest location 10 to delivery destination 40 in accordance with the instruction information (step S109).

[0055] As described above, according to this embodiment, the communication device 100 includes an input unit 102 and a transmission unit 104, and the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 includes a reception unit 202 and a movement control unit 204. The input unit 102 of the communication device 100 accepts instruction information regarding the crop harvest location 10 and the delivery destination 40 of the crops as a delivery instruction from the user 30. The transmission unit 104 of the communication device 100 transmits the instruction information to the information processing device 300. The reception unit 202 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 receives the instruction information from the communication device 100 via the information processing device 300. The movement control unit 204 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 moves, in accordance with the instruction information, a storage container 50 containing one or more crops corresponding to the crops for which the delivery instruction has been received, from the harvest location 10 to the delivery destination 40. In this way, the crop delivery system 1 can support tasks from crop harvesting to delivery.

[0056] Second Embodiment The unmanned aerial vehicle 200 of Figure 9 according to the present disclosure is the same as the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 of Figure 3 except that it further includes a harvesting unit 206. Note that each element of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 of Figure 9 may be combined with each element of one or more embodiments to the extent that it does not cause a contradiction.

[0057] <Example of functional configuration> The unmanned aerial vehicle 200 in Fig. 9 includes the same receiving unit 202 and movement control unit 204 as the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 in Fig. 3, and further includes a harvesting unit 206. The harvesting unit 206 harvests agricultural products. The storage container 50 stores the agricultural products harvested by the harvesting unit 206.

[0058] 10 , as an example, the harvesting unit 206 has an arm that grips the crops. The harvesting unit 206 grips the harvested crops using the arm (step S201). The movement control unit 204 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 moves the arm of the harvesting unit 206, still holding the crops, above the storage container 50 (step S203). The harvesting unit 206 then releases the arm from gripping the crops and stores the crops in the storage container 50 (step S205).

[0059] In this way, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 harvests the crops using the harvesting unit 206 and moves the crops using the movement control unit 204 to store them in the storage container 50.

[0060] The harvesting work by the harvesting unit 206 may be performed autonomously by the harvesting unit 206, or may be performed remotely by receiving a control signal from the information processing device 300, as described below. Alternatively, the harvesting work by the harvesting unit 206 may be performed remotely using another communication device or controller used by the farm producer 20.

[0061] As described above, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 of this embodiment has a harvesting unit 206. The harvesting unit 206 harvests agricultural products and stores the harvested agricultural products in the storage container 50. In this way, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 of this embodiment not only achieves the same effects as the above-described embodiments, but also allows the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 to consistently perform agricultural product delivery work, including harvesting work, thereby achieving efficient work.

[0062] (Third embodiment) The agricultural produce delivery system 1 according to the present disclosure is the same as the agricultural produce delivery system 1 of Fig. 1 except that it has a configuration in which the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 of Fig. 11 performs harvesting work by remote control from the information processing device 300 of Fig. 12. Note that the elements of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 of Fig. 11 and the information processing device 300 of Fig. 12 may be combined with the elements of one or more embodiments to the extent that no contradictions arise.

[0063] As shown in FIG. 11 , the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 has a transceiver unit 210 instead of the receiver unit 202 of FIG. 9 , and also has the same movement control unit 204 and harvesting unit 206 as the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 of FIG. 9 , as well as an imaging unit 208. The imaging unit 208 photographs the crops to be harvested in accordance with the instruction information 130 and generates an image. The imaging unit 208 includes an imaging element such as a lens and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor. The imaging unit 208 may also include mechanisms for controlling the lens orientation, adjusting the angle of view, zooming, focusing, and the like. The image generated by the imaging unit 208 may be temporarily stored in memory 1030 or storage device 1040.

[0064] The transmission / reception unit 210 transmits the image generated by the imaging unit 208 to the information processing device 300 via the communication network 3. Like the receiving unit 202, the transmission / reception unit 210 can also connect to the communication network 3 such as the Internet by performing mobile wireless communication via a mobile communication network or the like using the input / output interface 1050, and communicate with the information processing device 300 (or the communication device 100). In this way, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is connected to the information processing device 300 via the communication network 3.

[0065] The images generated by the imaging unit 208 are preferably captured in real time and transmitted to the information processing device 300 by the transmission / reception unit 210. However, the images transmitted to the information processing device 300 by the transmission / reception unit 210 do not have to be transmitted in real time, and may be images delayed by a predetermined time. The images captured by the imaging unit 208 may be temporarily stored in another storage device, and the information processing device 300 may read them from the storage device sequentially or at predetermined intervals. Here, the other storage device may be the memory 1030 or storage device 1040 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, or may be another storage device other than the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 and the information processing device 300. Furthermore, the images transmitted to the information processing device 300 are preferably video (moving images), but may also be frame images transmitted at predetermined intervals or still images.

[0066] As shown in Fig. 12, the information processing device 300 according to the present disclosure has at least a control unit 302. However, the information processing device 300 in Fig. 12 may further include the acquisition unit 312 and transmission unit 304 of the information processing device 300 described using Fig. 5. The control unit 302 remotely controls the harvesting unit 206 using video captured by the imaging unit 208 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200. Upon receiving video from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, the control unit 302 processes the image.

[0067] Here, image processing includes various analytical processes of image data, such as pattern recognition based on predetermined conditions, comparison with a reference value to determine pass / fail, recognition of an object by matching with a predetermined object feature, measurement of the size of the object, etc. Typical algorithms for deriving feature values ​​in image recognition include SIFT (Scale-Invariant Feature Transform) and HOG (Histograms of Oriented Gradients).

[0068] However, the image processing performed in at least one of the information processing device 300, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, and the harvesting robot 60 described below may also be performed by an image processing device (not shown) that is another computer 1000 other than the information processing device 300, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, and the harvesting robot 60.

[0069] The control unit 302 can recognize crops through image analysis, identify crops that need to be harvested, and instruct the harvesting unit 206 to harvest. Crops that need to be harvested are those whose growth or maturity has reached a state suitable for harvesting, and the method for determining this varies depending on the type of crop. The control unit 302 identifies crops that need to be harvested from images of the size, color, and condition of the crops (such as the degree of drooping and withering of leaves and stems). The control unit 302 may input the images into a machine learning model that has learned the appropriate harvest time for each crop, thereby identifying the crops that need to be harvested.

[0070] <Example of operation> As shown in Figure 13, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 and the information processing device 300 operate as follows: The flow in Figure 13 shows the processing from step S107 of the flow in Figure 4 or Figure 6, after the transceiver unit 210 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 receives the instruction information 130, to step S109 in Figure 4 or Figure 6.

[0071] When the transceiver 210 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 receives the instruction information 130 in step S107, the imaging unit 208 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 transmits the image of the crops captured by the imaging unit 208 to the information processing device 300 in accordance with the instruction information 130 (step S113). The control unit 302 of the information processing device 300 then remotely controls the harvesting means using the image received from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 (step S111). Here, the harvesting means may be the harvesting unit 206 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 or the harvesting robot 60 described below.

[0072] The harvesting unit 206 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 harvests the crops (or acquires the crops harvested by the harvesting robot 60) by remote control from the information processing device 300, and stores them in a storage means (storage container 50) (step S115). Then, the movement control unit 204 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 moves the storage container 50 containing the crops from the harvesting site 10 to the delivery destination 40 in accordance with the instruction information 130 (step S109).

[0073] As described above, in the agricultural produce delivery system 1 of this embodiment, the transmitter / receiver 210 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 transmits images of the agricultural produce to the information processing device 300 in accordance with the instruction information 130, and the control unit 302 of the information processing device 300 remotely controls the harvester 206 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 or the harvesting robot 60. As described above, the agricultural produce delivery system 1 of this embodiment not only achieves the same effects as the above-mentioned embodiments, but also allows the harvesting work to be performed remotely based on the images of the agricultural produce from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, thereby improving the efficiency of the harvesting work. The unmanned aerial vehicle 200 only needs to transmit images from the imaging unit 208 to the information processing device 300, and does not need to perform image analysis processing to perform the agricultural produce harvesting work, thereby reducing the processing load.

[0074] (Fourth embodiment) The crop delivery system 1 of FIG. 14 according to the present disclosure is the same as the crop delivery system 1 of FIG. 1 except that the crops are harvested by an automatic harvesting robot 60. The information processing device 300 of FIG. 15 according to the present disclosure is the same as the information processing device 300 of FIG. 12 except that it has a configuration for transmitting information to the automatic harvesting robot 60. Note that the devices of FIG. 14 and the elements of the information processing device 300 of FIG. 15 may be combined with the elements of one or more embodiments to the extent that no contradictions arise. The information processing device 300 of FIG. 15 may further include the acquisition unit 312 of the information processing device 300 described using FIG. 5.

[0075] <System Overview> The agricultural produce delivery system 1 in Figure 14 harvests agricultural produce using an automatic harvesting robot 60. However, the automatic harvesting robot 60 may be included in the agricultural produce delivery system 1, may not be included in the agricultural produce delivery system 1, or a combination thereof may be used. The automatic harvesting robot 60 is often specialized for a particular type of agricultural produce. Therefore, for example, among multiple types of agricultural produce, certain types of agricultural produce may be harvested using the automatic harvesting robot 60, and other types of agricultural produce may be harvested using the harvesting unit 206 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 without using the automatic harvesting robot 60.

[0076] <Example of Functional Configuration> The harvest robot 60 identifies the harvest target using harvest target information that can identify the harvest target, harvests the crops corresponding to the harvest target, and stores them in a storage container 50 (storage means). The crops stored in the storage container 50 are transported to the delivery destination 40 by the unmanned aerial vehicle 200.

[0077] Here, the harvest target information is information generated based on the instruction information 130, and is transmitted from the information processing device 300. However, the harvest target information may be transmitted from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, or from another communication device. Details of the harvest target information will be described later. The process of identifying the harvest target is performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 or the information processing device 300, and details will be described later.

[0078] The automatic harvesting robot 60 has at least a gripping unit capable of grasping agricultural products to harvest them. The gripping unit preferably operates in cooperation with an arm mechanism to reach the location of the agricultural products. The gripping unit may further include a mechanism for separating the agricultural products from their stems and roots for harvesting, a mechanism for digging the agricultural products out of soil or other culture medium, and a mechanism for recovering the agricultural products. The automatic harvesting robot 60 may also have a mobile unit (not shown) and a rotating unit (not shown) capable of moving within a predetermined area of ​​the farmland. However, the automatic harvesting robot 60 may also be installed in a fixed position without moving. The automatic harvesting robot 60 may also have a lift unit (not shown) capable of raising and lowering the gripping unit to match the height of the agricultural products. The automatic harvesting robot 60 has a camera (not shown) that captures the agricultural products using the camera to generate images, and processes the images to identify the agricultural products and further determine the condition of the agricultural products.

[0079] The automatic harvesting robot 60 may be one that autonomously performs the harvesting work of agricultural crops, or one that is remotely controlled by receiving control signals from the information processing device 300, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, or another communication device. Furthermore, the automatic harvesting robot 60 may be one that is remotely controlled by a wireless controller operated by an operator such as a farm producer 20.

[0080] The unmanned aerial vehicle 200 of the agricultural product delivery system 1 in Figure 14 has at least the same transmitter / receiver unit 210, movement control unit 204, and imaging unit 208 as the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 in Figure 11, and may or may not have the harvesting unit 206 in Figure 11.

[0081] The automatic harvesting robot 60 stores one or more harvested crops in a storage container 50 (storage means). The storage container 50 may be provided in the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, or may be separate from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 and have a mechanism for being held and transported by the unmanned aerial vehicle 200.

[0082] As shown in Figure 15, the information processing device 300 has the same control unit 302 as the information processing device 300 in Figure 12, and also has a transmission unit 304. As described above, the information processing device 300 may also have the acquisition unit 312 of the information processing device 300 in Figure 5. The transmission unit 304 transmits harvest target information 140, which is information acquired from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 and can identify the harvest target, to the automatic harvesting robot 60. In this configuration, the harvesting robot 60 is remotely controlled by the control unit 302 of the information processing device 300 using the information acquired from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200.

[0083] However, the harvesting operation of the harvesting robot 60 may be remotely controlled from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 to the harvesting robot 60.

[0084] The information that the information processing device 300 acquires from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 in accordance with the instruction information 130 includes information indicating the detailed location of the identified crops to be harvested, as well as captured images of the crops or feature information extracted from the captured images. After arriving at the harvesting site 10, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 searches for the crops to be harvested in accordance with the instruction information 130. That is, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 photographs the crops at the harvesting site 10 using the imaging unit 208 and processes the generated images to find crops suitable for harvesting from among the multiple crops at the harvesting site 10. The unmanned aerial vehicle 200 then uses a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving function to identify the detailed location of the crops identified as suitable for harvesting within the harvesting site 10 and generate location information. Furthermore, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 may include information indicating the altitude of the crops, measured using an altimeter or the like, in the location information of the crops.

[0085] The transmitter / receiver unit 210 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 transmits information to the information processing device 300, including at least one of an image (or characteristic information extracted from the image) of the agricultural product captured using the imaging unit 208 and the above-mentioned location information.

[0086] 16, harvest target information 140 is linked to identification information (hereinafter referred to as a reception ID) that can identify the delivery instruction in instruction information 130. Harvest target information 140 includes, for each reception ID, information that can identify the harvest location of the harvest target crop, information that can identify the harvest target crop (shown as the crop name in the figure), and an image of the harvest target crop or feature information extracted from the image, all of which are associated with each other.

[0087] As described above, in the agricultural produce delivery system 1 of this embodiment, the harvesting of agricultural produce is carried out by the harvesting robot 60. In this way, the agricultural produce delivery system 1 of this embodiment not only achieves the same effects as the above-described embodiment, but also reduces the processing load on the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 and the information processing device 300 because the harvesting work is carried out by the harvesting robot 60.

[0088] Fifth Embodiment A crop delivery system 1 according to the present disclosure is the same as the above-described crop delivery system 1, except that it has a configuration for accepting orders for crops from users 30. Note that each element of each device according to the present disclosure may be combined with each element of one or more embodiments to the extent that no contradiction occurs.

[0089] 2, the input unit 102 further receives input including the type and quantity of agricultural produce from the user 30. The transmission unit 104 transmits instruction information 130 further including the type and quantity of agricultural produce to the information processing device 300.

[0090] When a user 30 launches the application for the agricultural produce delivery system 1 or accesses the website using the communication device 100 and opens the order page from the operation menu, an order screen 500 shown in Figure 17 is displayed on the display of the communication device 100. In the agricultural produce delivery system 1, after harvesting, the agricultural produce is transported directly to the delivery destination 40 by the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, so the distance between the harvest site 10 and the delivery destination 40 is limited to the flight distance of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200.

[0091] Therefore, when accepting an order for agricultural products, it is preferable that candidate harvest locations 10 available for the order be presented to the user 30. As shown in FIG. 18 , the information processing device 300 according to the present disclosure includes the same acquisition unit 312 and transmission unit 304 as the information processing device 300 in FIG. 5 , and further includes a presentation unit 314. The presentation unit 314 identifies candidate locations where the agricultural products can be harvested based on the location information of the delivery destination 40 indicated in the instruction information 130, and causes the communication device 100 to present the candidate locations so that the user 30 can select them. The transmission unit 304 includes information indicating the candidate harvest location 10 for the agricultural products selected by the user 30 in the instruction information 130 and transmits the information to the unmanned aerial vehicle 200.

[0092] The presentation unit 314 identifies candidate locations where the agricultural products can be harvested based on the location information of the delivery destination 40, with reference to the farmland information 150 shown in FIG. 19 . The presentation unit 314 identifies candidate farmlands based on the flight distance of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200. In this example, the presentation unit 314 is configured to identify candidate farmlands based on the location information of the delivery destination 40 of the user 30, and accept orders from among the agricultural products that can be harvested on the farmlands. In another example, the presentation unit 314 may identify farmlands where the agricultural products desired by the user 30 can be harvested, and further identify candidate farmlands to which delivery can be made from among the identified farmlands based on the location information of the delivery destination 40 of the user 30, and present candidate farmlands (production areas) to the user 30.

[0093] The distance that the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 can fly may, for example, be a fixed value for each type of unmanned aerial vehicle 200, or it may be a value calculated for each unmanned aerial vehicle 200 based on its performance (such as the remaining battery capacity) and / or for each order based on the total weight of the ordered items, etc.

[0094] As shown in Figure 19, the farmland information 150 includes, for each farmland (harvesting location 10), information that can identify the farmland (shown as farmland ID in the figure), information indicating the location of the farmland (harvesting location 10), information that can identify the crops that can be harvested on the farmland (shown as crop ID in the figure), the name of the crop, information indicating the weight of each sales unit of the crop, and inventory quantity that indicates the harvest of the crop and the number of orders that can be accepted.

[0095] The information indicating the location of the farmland (harvesting location 10) may include the name of the production area, the address, and the name of the producer 20. The information indicating the location of the farmland (harvesting location 10) may further include information that can identify detailed plots or areas of the farmland. It is preferable that the inventory quantity be updated periodically. The information processing device 300 manages the farmland information 150 and stores it in the storage device 320.

[0096] As shown in FIG. 20 , the candidate information 170 includes, for each user 30, information indicating candidate locations for the harvest location 10 of the agricultural produce identified for the specified delivery destination 40. The candidate information 170 may further include, for each user 30, information indicating the specified delivery destination 40 in association with the information indicating the candidate location. The information processing device 300 stores candidate locations where the identified agricultural produce can be harvested as candidate information 170 in the storage device 320. The presentation unit 314 then refers to the candidate information 170 and presents candidate harvest locations 10 on a production area selection screen (not shown) so that the user 30 can select them. The presentation unit 314 presents information on the agricultural produce corresponding to the harvest location 10 selected on the production area selection screen on an order screen 500 (described later) based on the farmland information 150.

[0097] 17 includes an input instruction field 502, an order acceptance field 503, a recalculation button 512, a total weight display field 514, a total price display field 515, an order button 516, and a cancel button 518. A message prompting the user 30 to input order details (for example, "Please enter the product name and quantity") is displayed in the input instruction field 502.

[0098] The order acceptance field 503 includes multiple input user interfaces (UIs) for accepting detailed input of order details. The order acceptance field 503 includes selection acceptance fields 504 and 508 for accepting the selection of a product name that can identify a crop, and input acceptance fields 505 and 509 for accepting the input of the order quantity of the product. The order acceptance field 503 also includes weight display fields 506 and 510 for displaying the weight calculated from the information accepted by the selection acceptance fields 504 and 508 and the input acceptance fields 505 and 509, and subtotal price display fields 507 and 511 for displaying the subtotal. In this example, the selection acceptance fields 504 and 508 are UIs such as drop-down lists or drum rolls to allow selection from multiple products. The input acceptance fields 505 and 509 may also be UIs such as text boxes for accepting quantities, or UIs such as drop-down lists or drum rolls. Furthermore, the unit of quantity (piece, book, gram, bundle, box, etc.) may be displayed on or around the input receiving sections 505 and 509.

[0099] In the illustrated example, order details have been input into selection receiving section 504 and input receiving section 505, and therefore information about the ordered products is displayed in weight display section 506 and subtotal amount display section 507. On the other hand, order details have been input into selection receiving section 508 and input receiving section 509, and therefore information about the ordered products is not displayed in weight display section 510 and subtotal amount display section 511.

[0100] When order details are entered into selection acceptance section 508 and input acceptance section 509 of order acceptance column 503, information about the ordered products is displayed in weight display column 510 and subtotal amount display column 511, and a new selection acceptance section, input acceptance section, weight display column, and subtotal amount display column are additionally displayed. When recalculation button 512 is pressed, a process is executed to calculate the total weight and total amount of the products according to the order details accepted in order acceptance column 503, and these are displayed in total weight display column 514 and total amount display column 515, respectively.

[0101] When the input unit 102 receives a press of the order button 516, it accepts the order details entered on the order screen 500. When the input unit 102 receives a press of the cancel button 518, it cancels the order details entered on the order screen 500 and does not accept the order.

[0102] The input unit 102 stores the information received on the order screen 500 by including it in the instruction information 130. In this example, as shown in Fig. 21 , the instruction information 130 further includes information indicating the total weight of the ordered items in addition to the information included in the instruction information 130 in Fig. 8 .

[0103] As described above, in the agricultural produce delivery system 1 of this embodiment, an order for the purchase of agricultural produce from a user 30 is accepted using the communication device 100, and the transmission unit 304 of the information processing device 300 transmits instruction information 130 to the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 according to the order content. The presentation unit 314 of the information processing device 300 also causes the communication device 100 to display an order screen 500. For example, a configuration is possible in which candidate harvest locations 10 are selected based on the location information of the delivery destination 40, and then the order is accepted. Thus, the agricultural produce delivery system 1 of this embodiment not only achieves the same effects as the above-described embodiment, but also allows candidate harvest locations 10 to be selected and presented to the user 30 according to the order content of the user 30, thereby enabling the acceptance of appropriate orders. For example, this prevents problems such as accepting an order for agricultural produce from a harvest location 10 located far from the delivery destination 40, beyond the flight distance of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, and thus making it impossible to deliver the ordered agricultural produce. Furthermore, when a predetermined amount of agricultural produce is harvested and delivered to a store, and the produce is sold at the store, unsold produce may be discarded, but with the agricultural produce delivery system 1, the produce can be harvested and sold according to the order of each user 30, thereby reducing food waste.

[0104] 1 or 14 except that the agricultural produce delivery system 1 according to the present disclosure has a configuration for notifying the communication device 100 of the user 30 of the arrival time of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 at the delivery destination 40. Note that each element of each device of the agricultural produce delivery system 1 according to the present disclosure may be combined with each element of one or more embodiments to the extent that no contradiction occurs.

[0105] <Example of functional configuration> As shown in Fig. 22 , an information processing device 300 according to the present disclosure includes the same acquisition unit 312 and transmission unit 304 as the information processing device 300 in Fig. 5 , and further includes a notification unit 308. Note that the information processing device 300 may further include the same control unit 302 as the information processing device 300 in Fig. 12 described above. The notification unit 308 calculates the arrival time of the produce at the delivery destination 40 and notifies the communication device 100 of the calculation result.

[0106] The information processing device 300 stores the air vehicle information 160 shown in Fig. 23 in the storage device 320. The air vehicle information 160 includes, for each unmanned air vehicle 200, information capable of identifying the unmanned air vehicle 200 (shown as drone ID in the figure), information indicating the waiting location of the unmanned air vehicle 200, information indicating the current position of the unmanned air vehicle 200, status information indicating the current state of the unmanned air vehicle 200 (shown as status in the figure), and information indicating the scheduled time of return to the waiting location if the unmanned air vehicle 200 is in flight, all associated with each other.

[0107] The waiting location of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is information indicating the location where the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 waits before carrying out the delivery process. The waiting location of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is indicated by at least one of location information indicated by an address, latitude and longitude (and also altitude), and coordinate information indicating a relative position within a specified area (for example, the area of ​​the waiting location, or a specified section therein).

[0108] Information indicating the current location of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is obtained by the acquisition unit 312 of the information processing device 300 periodically receiving location information from the GPS receiver mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 and recording it in the aerial vehicle information 160. The status information of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is information indicating the current state of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, from among "waiting," "moving to farmland," "searching for crops," "harvesting," "moving to delivery destination," and "returning," etc.

[0109] The status information of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 may be acquired from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 by the acquisition unit 312 of the information processing device 300. Alternatively, the information processing device 300 may identify the location and direction of movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 based on the history of location information of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 acquired from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, and further identify the status information of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 by identifying the state of the harvesting work by performing image processing on the video received from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200.

[0110] The status information of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 in the aerial vehicle information 160 is updated each time a change in status is detected or periodically.

[0111] The information processing device 300 calculates information indicating the scheduled time of return to a waiting location when the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is in flight from the status information and location information of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, and records the information in the aerial vehicle information 160. It is preferable that the information indicating the scheduled time of return is updated periodically. Furthermore, in the case of an unmanned aerial vehicle 200 that has already returned, the aerial vehicle information 160 may further include information indicating the next available time of departure after maintenance work such as inspection or maintenance of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200. This time is specified by input by the operator performing the maintenance work into a setting menu provided by the information processing device 300.

[0112] The notification unit 308 acquires status information indicating the current state from the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 and notifies the communication device 100 of the status information. The status information of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 can be acquired from the aerial vehicle information 160 described above.

[0113] Examples of notification methods include, but are not limited to, the following. A combination of the following methods may also be used: (1) Notification is sent via SMS (Short Message Service) to the mobile phone number of the communication device 100 registered by the user 30. Alternatively, notification is sent via email to the email address registered by the user 30. The message may include a link to the uniform resource locator (URL) of the delivery status confirmation page (3) below. (2) If the user 30 is using the services of the agricultural produce delivery system 1 from an application on the communication device 100, notification is sent using the notification function of the application. Examples of notification methods include batch display, notification center display, notification display on the home screen, message display on the application screen, and display of status information on the delivery status confirmation screen. (3) If the user 30 is using the services of the agricultural produce delivery system 1 on a website, a message or an icon indicating the status is displayed in the notification section of the homepage of the website. Alternatively, status information may be displayed on the delivery status confirmation page.

[0114] As described above, in the agricultural produce delivery system 1 of this embodiment, the information processing device 300 is equipped with a transmission unit 304 that notifies the communication device 100 of the user 30 of the estimated time of arrival of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 at the delivery destination 40. Furthermore, the transmission unit 304 can also notify the communication device 100 of status information of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200. In this way, the agricultural produce delivery system 1 of this embodiment can achieve the same effects as the above-mentioned embodiments and further improve convenience for the user 30.

[0115] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, these are merely examples of the present invention, and various other configurations can also be adopted.

[0116] (Other embodiments) As another embodiment of the agricultural produce delivery system 1 of the above embodiment, the agricultural produce delivery system 1 may further include functions for performing the following processes: <Process for determining harvesting work time> The transmission unit 304 of the information processing device 300 determines a harvesting work time for the agricultural produce based on the available delivery time specified by the user 30, and includes the harvesting work time in the instruction information 130 and transmits it to the unmanned aerial vehicle 200.

[0117] The hours during which the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 can fly are limited, excluding nighttime hours. Furthermore, after receiving an order, the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 travels to the harvesting site 10, harvests the crops, and then travels from the harvesting site 10 to the delivery destination 40, so each of these tasks takes time. Furthermore, the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is also affected by weather. For example, the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is restricted during times of rain, snow, hail, etc. Furthermore, the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is restricted if the wind exceeds a certain level. Alternatively, the movement speed of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 changes depending on the relationship between the movement direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 and the wind direction and wind speed.

[0118] The transmission unit 304 of the information processing device 300 calculates the travel time to the harvesting location 10 for the agricultural products ordered by the user 30, the harvesting work time for the agricultural products, and the travel time from the harvesting location 10 to the delivery destination 40, using information such as weather forecasts. The transmission unit 304 then determines the harvesting work time for the agricultural products from the time when the delivered products specified by the user 30 can be received (available delivery time).

[0119] As shown in Figure 24, the transmitting unit 304 further includes information indicating the available reception time (shown as available reception time in the figure) and the harvesting work time (shown as harvesting work time in the figure) in addition to the information contained in the instruction information 130 in Figure 19, and transmits this information to the unmanned aerial vehicle 200.

[0120] With this configuration, the harvesting time is determined taking into account the flight time of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, which increases the likelihood of avoiding problems such as a decrease in the freshness of agricultural products due to the long time it takes between harvesting and delivery.

[0121] <Selection process of unmanned aerial vehicle 200> In the information processing device 300, the transmission unit 304 selects an unmanned aerial vehicle 200 from among multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 200 based on the harvest location 10 and delivery destination 40 indicated in the instruction information 130, and transmits the instruction information 130 to the selected unmanned aerial vehicle 200.

[0122] Specifically, the transmitting unit 304 uses the location information of the harvesting location 10 and delivery destination 40 indicated in the instruction information 130 and the location information of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 (current location, harvesting time, available delivery time, etc.) to determine at least one of the delivery route and time. The transmitting unit 304 then identifies and selects the most appropriate unmanned aerial vehicle 200 from among the multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 200. In this case, the transmitting unit 304 may acquire weather information corresponding to the harvesting location 10 and delivery destination 40 and the harvesting time or available delivery time indicated in the instruction information 130, and select the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 taking the weather into consideration. The transmitting unit 304 may also identify an appropriate terminal from among multiple waiting locations (terminals) for the unmanned aerial vehicles 200, and select the unmanned aerial vehicle 200 from among the multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 200 waiting at that terminal. The transmitting unit 304 may also acquire the remaining charge of the storage battery of the unmanned aerial vehicle 200, and use this information in selecting the unmanned aerial vehicle 200.

[0123] According to this configuration, an appropriate unmanned aerial vehicle 200 can be selected from multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 200 and instruction information 130 can be sent, thereby improving the efficiency of delivery work.

[0124] Another example of the present disclosure may be a program that causes at least one computer to execute the above-disclosed method, or a computer-readable recording medium having such a program recorded thereon. This recording medium includes a non-transitory tangible medium. The computer program includes computer program code that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the crop delivery method on an information processing device, a communication device, or an unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0125] Any combination of the above components, and conversion of the present disclosure into a method, device, system, recording medium, computer program, etc., are also valid aspects of the present disclosure.

[0126] Furthermore, the various components of the present disclosure do not necessarily have to be independent entities, but may be formed as a single member by multiple components, one component may be formed from multiple components, one component may be a part of another component, or part of one component may overlap with part of another component, etc.

[0127] Furthermore, although the methods and computer programs disclosed herein describe a number of steps in a sequential order, the order in which the steps are performed does not limit the order in which the steps are performed. Therefore, when implementing the methods and computer programs disclosed herein, the order of the steps can be changed as long as it does not cause any problems in terms of the content.

[0128] Furthermore, the steps of the method and computer program disclosed herein are not limited to being executed at different times, and may be executed while one step is being executed, or may be executed partially or entirely overlapping with another step, etc.

[0129] Although the present disclosure has been described above with reference to the embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present disclosure within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, each embodiment can be combined with other embodiments as appropriate. Note that when information about users is acquired and used in the present disclosure, this must be done lawfully.

[0130] In addition, although the flowcharts used in the above description show a sequence of steps (processes), the order of steps executed in each embodiment is not limited to the sequence shown in the flowcharts. In each embodiment, the order of steps shown in the diagrams can be changed as long as it does not cause any problems in terms of the content.

[0131] Some or all of the above embodiments can be described as, but are not limited to, the following supplementary notes. 1. A crop delivery system comprising: a communication device used by a user; and an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the communication device comprises: input means for accepting instruction information regarding a crop harvesting location and a delivery destination of the crops as delivery instructions from the user; and transmission means for transmitting the instruction information to an information processing device, and the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises: receiving means for receiving the instruction information from the communication device via the information processing device; and movement control means for moving, in accordance with the instruction information, a storage means for storing one or more crops corresponding to the crops for which the delivery instructions have been received, from the harvesting location to the delivery destination. 2. A crop delivery system according to 1., wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle further comprises harvesting means for harvesting the crops, and the storage means stores the crops harvested by the harvesting means. 3. 1. or 2. 4. A crop delivery system described in any one of 1. to 3., wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is equipped with storage means for storing one or more harvested crops. 4. A crop delivery system described in any one of 1. to 3., wherein in the communication device, the input means further accepts input from the user including the type and quantity of the crop, and the transmission means transmits the instruction information further including the type and quantity of the crop to the information processing device. 5. A crop delivery system described in any one of 1. to 4., further comprising the information processing device, wherein the information processing device comprises transfer means for receiving the instruction information from the communication device and transferring it to the unmanned aerial vehicle. 6. A crop delivery system described in 2., further comprising the information processing device, wherein the information processing device further comprises control means for remotely controlling the harvesting means using video captured by the imaging means of the unmanned aerial vehicle. 7. 3. In the agricultural product delivery system described in the above, the storage means of the unmanned aerial vehicle stores one or more agricultural products harvested by an automatic harvesting robot.8. The crop delivery system described in 7., wherein the information processing device comprises a transmission means for transmitting to the automatic harvesting robot harvest target information, which is information obtained from the unmanned aerial vehicle and can identify the harvest target. 9. The crop delivery system described in 8., further comprising the automatic harvesting robot, wherein the automatic harvesting robot identifies the harvest target using harvest target information that can identify the harvest target, harvests the crop corresponding to the harvest target, and stores it in the storage means. 10. The crop delivery system described in 5., wherein the transfer means of the information processing device transmits to the communication device candidate locations where the crop can be harvested, identified based on location information indicating the delivery destination included in the instruction information, the input means of the communication device accepts a selection by the user from among the candidates, and the transmission means of the communication device transmits the harvest location of the candidate crop selected by the user included in the instruction information to the information processing device. 11. 10. 12. The agricultural produce delivery system described in 11., wherein the information processing device further comprises a notification means for calculating an arrival time of the agricultural produce at the delivery destination and notifying the communication device. 12. The agricultural produce delivery system described in 11., wherein the notification means of the information processing device acquires status information indicating a current status from the unmanned aerial vehicle and notifies the communication device of the status information. 13. The agricultural produce delivery system described in 11. or 12., wherein the transmission means of the information processing device determines a harvesting time for the agricultural produce based on an available delivery time specified by the user, and includes the harvesting time in the instruction information and transmits it to the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0132] 14. An information processing device comprising: an acquisition means for acquiring, from a communication device, instruction information indicating the harvest location of agricultural products for which a delivery instruction from a user has been received and the delivery destination of the agricultural products; and a transmission means for transmitting the instruction information to an unmanned aerial vehicle. 15. The information processing device described in 14., further comprising: a presentation means for identifying candidate locations where the agricultural products can be harvested based on location information of the delivery destination indicated in the instruction information, and causing the communication device to present the candidate locations so that the user can select from them; and the transmission means for including information indicating the harvest location of the candidate agricultural products selected by the user in the instruction information and transmitting the information to the unmanned aerial vehicle. 16. The information processing device described in 14. or 15., further comprising: a notification means for calculating the arrival time of the agricultural products at the delivery destination and notifying the communication device of the arrival time. 17. The information processing device described in 16., wherein the notification means acquires status information indicating the current status from the unmanned aerial vehicle and notifies the communication device of the status information. 18. 16. or 17., wherein the transmission means determines a harvesting time for the crops based on a possible delivery time specified by the user, includes the harvesting time in the instruction information, and transmits the instruction information to the unmanned aerial vehicle. 19. An information processing device described in any one of 14. to 18., wherein the transmission means selects an unmanned aerial vehicle from among a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles in accordance with the harvest location and the delivery destination indicated in the instruction information, and transmits the instruction information to the selected unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0133] 20. A communications device comprising: an input means for accepting input of instruction information regarding a harvest location and a delivery destination of the agricultural crops as delivery instructions from a user; and a transmission means for transmitting the instruction information to an information processing device. 21. A crop delivery support method, in which one or more computers: accept input of instruction information regarding a harvest location and a delivery destination of the agricultural crops as delivery instructions from a user; transmit the instruction information to an information processing device; receive the instruction information from the user via the information processing device; and cause an unmanned aerial vehicle to move, in accordance with the instruction information, a storage means containing one or more agricultural crops corresponding to the agricultural crops for which the delivery instructions have been accepted, from the harvest location to the delivery destination. 22. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute: an acquisition process for acquiring, from the communications device, instruction information indicating the harvest location and delivery destination of the agricultural crops for which the delivery instructions have been accepted from the user; and a transmission process for transmitting the instruction information to the unmanned aerial vehicle. 23. 23. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute: an input process for accepting, from a user, input of instruction information regarding the location where the crops will be harvested and the delivery destination of the crops, as delivery instructions; and a transmission process for transmitting the instruction information to an information processing device.24. A program for causing a computer to execute: an acquisition process for acquiring, from a communication device, instruction information indicating the location where the crops will be harvested and the delivery destination of the crops, for which delivery instructions have been accepted from a user; and a transmission process for transmitting the instruction information to an unmanned aerial vehicle.25. A program for causing a computer to execute: an input process for accepting, from a user, input of instruction information regarding the location where the crops will be harvested and the delivery destination of the crops, as delivery instructions, and a transmission process for transmitting the instruction information to an information processing device.

[0134] Furthermore, some or all of the configurations described in Supplements 2 to 13 that are subordinate to the agricultural produce delivery system of Supplement 1 described above may also be subordinate to the agricultural produce delivery support method of Supplement 21, the communication device of Supplement 20, the recording medium for the program of the communication device of Supplement 23, and the program of the communication device of Supplement 25 in a similar subordinate relationship to Supplements 2 to 13. Furthermore, some or all of the configurations described in Supplements 15 to 19 that are subordinate to the information processing device of Supplement 14 described above may also be subordinate to the recording medium for the program of the information processing device of Supplement 22 and the program of the information processing device of Supplement 24 in a similar subordinate relationship to Supplements 15 to 19. Furthermore, without being limited to Supplement 14, Supplement 20, Supplement 21, and Supplements 23 to 25, some or all of the configurations described as Supplements may also be subordinate to various hardware, software, various recording means for recording software, or systems within the scope of each of the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0135] 1 Agricultural product delivery system 3 Communication network 10 Harvesting location 20 Producer 40 Delivery destination 50 Storage container 60 Automatic harvesting robot 100 Communication device 102 Input unit 104 Transmission unit 130 Instruction information 140 Harvesting target information 150 Farmland information 160 Air vehicle information 170 Candidate information 200 Unmanned air vehicle 200 Current unmanned air vehicle 202 Receiving unit 204 Movement control unit 206 Harvesting unit 208 Imaging unit 210 Transmitting / receiving unit 300 Information processing device 302 Control unit 304 Transmission unit 308 Notification unit 312 Acquisition unit 320 Storage device 500 Order screen 1000 Computer 1010 Bus 1020 Processor 1030 Memory 1040 Storage device 1050 Input / output interface 1060 Network Interface

Claims

1. A farm produce delivery system comprising a communication device used by a user and an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the communication device comprises an input means for receiving instruction information from the user regarding the harvest location of the farm produce and the delivery destination of the farm produce as delivery instructions, and a transmission means for transmitting the instruction information to an information processing device, and the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a receiving means for receiving the instruction information from the communication device via the information processing device, and a movement control means for moving, in accordance with the instruction information, a storage means containing one or more farm produce corresponding to the farm produce for which the delivery instruction has been received, from the harvest location to the delivery destination.

2. A crop delivery system as described in claim 1, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle further comprises a harvesting means for harvesting the crops, and the storage means stores the crops harvested by the harvesting means.

3. A crop delivery system as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is equipped with storage means for storing one or more harvested crops.

4. A farm produce delivery system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein in the communication device, the input means further accepts input from the user including the type and quantity of the farm produce, and the transmission means transmits the instruction information further including the type and quantity of the farm produce to the information processing device.

5. A crop delivery system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising the information processing device, wherein the information processing device comprises a transfer means for receiving the instruction information from the communication device and transferring it to the unmanned aerial vehicle.

6. A crop delivery system as claimed in claim 2, further comprising the information processing device, wherein the information processing device further comprises a control means for remotely controlling the harvesting means using images captured by the unmanned aerial vehicle's imaging means.

7. A crop delivery system as described in claim 3, wherein the storage means of the unmanned aerial vehicle stores one or more crops harvested by an automatic harvesting robot.

8. A crop delivery system as described in claim 7, wherein the information processing device is equipped with a transmission means for transmitting to the automatic harvesting robot harvest target information obtained from the unmanned aerial vehicle that can identify the harvest target.

9. A crop delivery system as described in claim 8, further comprising the automatic harvesting robot, wherein the automatic harvesting robot identifies the harvest target using harvest target information that can identify the harvest target, harvests the crop corresponding to the harvest target, and stores it in the storage means.

10. A farm produce delivery system as described in claim 5, wherein the transfer means of the information processing device transmits to the communication device candidate locations where the farm produce can be harvested, identified based on location information indicating the delivery destination contained in the instruction information, the input means of the communication device accepts a selection by the user from among the candidates, and the transmission means of the communication device includes the harvest location of the candidate farm produce selected by the user in the instruction information and transmits it to the information processing device.

11. The agricultural produce delivery system according to claim 10, wherein the information processing device further comprises a notification means for calculating the arrival time of the agricultural produce at the delivery destination and notifying the communication device of the time.

12. A crop delivery system as described in claim 11, wherein the notification means of the information processing device acquires status information indicating the current status from the unmanned aerial vehicle and notifies the communication device of the status information.

13. A crop delivery system as described in claim 11 or 12, wherein the transmission means of the information processing device determines the harvesting time for the crops based on the available delivery time specified by the user, includes the harvesting time in the instruction information, and transmits it to the unmanned aerial vehicle.

14. An information processing device comprising: an acquisition means for acquiring instruction information from a communication device indicating the harvest location of agricultural crops for which a delivery instruction has been received from a user and the delivery destination of the agricultural crops; and a transmission means for transmitting the instruction information to an unmanned aerial vehicle.

15. A communication device comprising: an input means for receiving instruction information from a user regarding a location for harvesting agricultural produce and a delivery destination of the agricultural produce as delivery instructions; and a transmission means for transmitting the instruction information to an information processing device.

16. A method for supporting agricultural product delivery, in which one or more computers receive instruction information from a user, as delivery instructions, regarding the location where the agricultural products are to be harvested and the delivery destination of the agricultural products; transmit the instruction information to an information processing device; receive the instruction information from the user via the information processing device; and, in accordance with the instruction information, have an unmanned aerial vehicle move a storage means containing one or more agricultural products corresponding to the agricultural products for which the delivery instructions have been received from the harvest location to the delivery destination.

17. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute an acquisition process for acquiring instruction information indicating the harvest location of agricultural crops for which a delivery instruction has been received from a communication device and the delivery destination of the agricultural crops, and a transmission process for transmitting the instruction information to an unmanned aerial vehicle.

18. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing an input process for accepting instruction information from a user regarding the location where agricultural produce will be harvested and the delivery destination of the agricultural produce as delivery instructions, and a transmission process for transmitting the instruction information to an information processing device.

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