Crop imaging system and crop imaging program

Abstract

A crop imaging system 2 images crops 90 in a cultivated field. The crop imaging system comprises: a setting information acquisition processing unit 61 that acquires setting information for setting a target exposure; a target exposure setting processing unit 62 that sets the target exposure on the basis of the acquired setting information; and an exposure correction processing unit 64 that adjusts imaging conditions to correct an exposure set by an automatic exposure function of an imaging device 50 so that the exposure becomes closer to the target exposure.

Description

Crop photography system and crop photography program CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is based on Japanese Application No. 2024-75887, filed on May 8, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a crop photography system and a crop photography program for photographing crops.

[0003] In recent years, automated crop harvesting systems have been proposed to automate agricultural work. A crop harvesting system is configured by mounting, for example, a robotic arm with a harvesting tool attached to the tip of a mobile device that can travel automatically within a field such as a rice field or an orchard.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-178659

[0005] Such harvesting systems may be equipped with a camera that takes pictures of the crops to be harvested, and the images taken by the camera are used to recognize the crops and determine their maturity using image processing technology such as AI.

[0006] It is important that the images used in image processing do not suffer from so-called overexposure or underexposure. This is because overexposure or underexposure does not contain any color information other than white or black, and therefore the image cannot be used for image processing. To prevent overexposure or underexposure, it is necessary to adjust the exposure to match the lighting conditions at the shooting location.

[0007] Typically, imaging devices are equipped with a function to automatically adjust exposure within a certain range. However, the lighting environment in a field varies greatly depending on the time of day, weather, location, crop growth conditions, etc. Therefore, existing exposure adjustment functions equipped in imaging devices are unable to adequately handle the large lighting changes in a field environment, making it difficult to effectively prevent overexposure and underexposure in photographed crops.

[0008] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide a crop photography system and a crop photography program that can appropriately photograph crops in a farm field.

[0009] A crop photography system according to one aspect of the present disclosure photographs crops in a field and includes a setting information acquisition processing unit that acquires setting information for setting a target exposure, a target exposure setting processing unit that sets the target exposure based on the acquired setting information, and an exposure correction processing unit that adjusts the exposure set by the automatic exposure function of the photographing device to approach the target exposure by adjusting the photographing conditions.

[0010] In addition, a crop photography program according to one aspect of the present disclosure can cause a control device having a CPU to execute a setting information acquisition process for acquiring setting information for setting a target exposure, a target exposure setting process for setting the target exposure based on the acquired setting information, and an exposure correction process for correcting the exposure set by the automatic exposure function of the photography device by adjusting the photography conditions to approach the target exposure.

[0011] According to the present disclosure, the automatic exposure adjusted by the exposure adjustment function of the imaging device can be corrected according to the lighting environment in the field, which varies greatly depending on the time of day, weather, location, crop growth conditions, etc. This allows the crop photography system to adequately adapt to lighting environments that vary greatly, and as a result, can effectively prevent overexposure and underexposure in photographed crops.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the configuration of a crop harvesting system according to one embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the electrical configuration of a crop harvesting system and a crop photography system according to one embodiment; FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the principle of why whiteout and blackout occur due to an existing automatic exposure function provided in a photography device; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a table for setting a target exposure by combining setting information for a crop photography system according to one embodiment; FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing exposure correction processing for a crop photography system according to one embodiment when the automatic exposure is higher than the target exposure; FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing exposure correction processing for a crop photography system according to one embodiment when the automatic exposure is lower than the target exposure; and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a control flow executed by a control device for a crop photography system according to one embodiment.

[0013] The present invention relates to a crop harvesting system for harvesting crops 90 grown in a farm field, such as a rice field, an orchard, a greenhouse, or a so-called plant factory.

[0014] The crop harvesting system 1 can harvest fruit vegetables that grow drooping from the main stem, such as tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, bell peppers, paprika, and grapes, as well as fruit trees that grow drooping from the branches, such as apples, pears, persimmons, and peaches. The crop harvesting system 1 can also be configured to harvest clusters of multiple fruits, such as cherry tomatoes and grapes. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, cherry tomatoes are assumed to be the harvest target 90, but the harvest target of the crop harvesting system 1 is not limited to this.

[0015] The crop harvesting system 1 of this embodiment can harvest, for example, cherry tomatoes individually, bunch by bunch. A crop 90 such as a cherry tomato bears fruit in a drooping state from a main stem 91 via a stalk 92. Commercial cherry tomatoes intended for sale at market are grown in a field, such as a greenhouse. In this case, although not shown in detail, the tip of the main stem 91 is hung from a rail located near the ceiling of the greenhouse. This causes the main stem 91 to extend obliquely upward from the ground toward the ceiling.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 1 , the crop harvesting system 1 includes a mobile device 10, a harvesting device 20, a position information acquisition device 30, a light-emitting device 40, a photographing device 50, and a control device 60. The mobile device 10 is equipped with the harvesting device 20, the position information acquisition device 30, the light-emitting device 40, the photographing device 50, and the control device 60. The mobile device 10 includes, for example, wheels 11 and a motor (not shown) for driving the wheels 11. The mobile device 10 can travel within a field autonomously in response to instructions from a control device 60 mounted on the mobile device 10, or in response to instructions from a host device 70 communicatively connected to the control device 60 via an electrical communication line 71. This allows the mobile device 10 to move the harvesting device 20, the position information acquisition device 30, the photographing device 50, the light-emitting device 40, and the control device 60 mounted on the mobile device 10 to a target position, such as a harvest target object 90, within the field.

[0017] Harvesting device 20 is mounted on mobile device 10 and configured to be movable integrally with mobile device 10. Harvesting device 20 has the function of harvesting crops 90 to be harvested. Harvesting device 20 can be configured to include, for example, an articulated robotic arm 21 and a harvesting tool 22 attached to the end of robotic arm 21, as shown in FIG.

[0018] The robot arm 21 can arbitrarily change the position and posture of the harvesting tool 22 within the movable range of the robot arm 21. The harvesting tool 22 is configured, for example, in the shape of scissors, and can harvest the harvest object 90 by cutting the stalk 92 that connects the harvest object 90 to the main stem 91 or branches. Note that the harvesting tool 22 is not limited to being scissors-shaped, and may be, for example, one with a saw-like blade, or may have another shape.

[0019] The location information acquisition device 30 has a function of contactlessly acquiring information about the surroundings of the mobile device 10 as location information about the current location of the mobile device 10, for example, by using at least one of methods using magnetism, radio waves, images, and videos. Methods for acquiring location information about the current location of the mobile device 10 using magnetism, radio waves, and images include, for example, RFID (radio frequency identifier), two-dimensional codes, magnetic markers, visual devices, and GPS (Global Positioning System). In this case, the location information acquisition device 30 can acquire location information about the current location of the mobile device 10 by using GPS.

[0020] Furthermore, as a method for acquiring the position information of the mobile device 10 using a magnetic marker that uses magnetism, an RFID that uses radio waves, or a two-dimensional code that uses an image, the following configuration can be considered, for example: That is, the magnetic marker, RFID, or two-dimensional code is used as a recording medium capable of recording position information, and is installed on the movement path of the mobile device 10 in the field. Then, the position information of the installation position is recorded in the magnetic marker, RFID, or two-dimensional code, and used as a marker for the movement path of the mobile device 10. The position information acquisition device 30 can acquire position information of the current position of the mobile device 10 in the field by reading the magnetic marker, RFID, or two-dimensional code installed on the path using magnetism, radio waves, a camera, or the like, respectively.

[0021] Furthermore, there is a method for acquiring location information of the current location of the mobile device 10 using images or videos, for example, as follows: For example, the control device 60 records images or videos of the surrounding scenery along the movement route of the mobile device 10. The location information acquisition device 30 acquires the images or videos of the scenery around the mobile device 10 as location information of the current location of the mobile device 10. In this case, the control device 60 compares the images or videos acquired by the location information acquisition device 30 while the mobile device 10 is moving with the pre-recorded images or videos of the scenery, and can estimate the point with the highest degree of match as the current location of the mobile device 10.

[0022] The position information acquisition device 30 does not necessarily have to be mounted on the mobile device 10 and move together with the mobile device 10. The position information acquisition device 30 may be composed of, for example, one or more cameras installed on a structure in the field. When the position information acquisition device 30 is composed of a camera installed on a structure in the field, the position information acquisition device 30 can be configured to acquire an image or video of the mobile device 10 moving within the field as position information of the mobile device 10, and estimate the position of the mobile device 10 based on the image or video.

[0023] Light-emitting device 40 has a function of adjusting the illuminance of subject crop 90 by emitting light when photographing is performed by photographing device 50. Light-emitting device 40 may be built into photographing device 50, or may be configured separately from photographing device 50 as in this embodiment.

[0024] The photographing device 50 is primarily used to photograph agricultural crops 90 to be harvested. Images photographed by the photographing device 50 are primarily used for image processing to determine the maturity of the agricultural crops. The photographing device 50 may be configured, for example, as a commercially available digital camera, and as shown in FIG. 2 , has an image sensor 51, an aperture mechanism 52, a shutter 53, an illuminance sensor 54, and a camera control unit 55. The image sensor 51, the aperture mechanism 52, the shutter 53, the illuminance sensor 54, and the camera control unit 55 are components typically found in a typical digital camera.

[0025] The image sensor 51 converts a captured image into digital data. The aperture mechanism 52 adjusts the amount of light entering the image sensor 51. The shutter 53 adjusts the exposure time of the image sensor 51. The illuminance sensor 54 measures the illuminance of the shooting environment. Here, exposure during shooting refers to the amount of light taken into the image sensor 51 during shooting, i.e., the brightness of the captured image. Exposure is determined by the amount of light entering the image sensor 51 and the exposure time. The amount of light entering the image sensor 51 is determined by the illuminance of the subject and the aperture value of the aperture mechanism 52. The camera control unit 55 has a so-called auto-exposure function that automatically adjusts the aperture value (i.e., F-number) of the aperture mechanism 52 and the exposure time (i.e., shutter speed) of the shutter 53 to achieve appropriate exposure according to the illuminance of the shooting environment measured by the illuminance sensor 54.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 2 , the control device 60 is mainly composed of a microcomputer having, for example, a CPU 601 and a storage area 602 such as a ROM, a RAM, and a rewritable flash memory. The control device 60 controls the operations of the mobile device 10, the harvesting device 20, the position information acquisition device 30, the light emitting device 40, and the photographing device 50. As shown in FIG. 1 , the control device 60 may be communicatively connected to a host device 70 such as a server via a telecommunications line 71 such as a LAN, a WAN, the Internet, or a mobile phone line. In this case, the host device 70 may be installed, for example, within the field or outside the field. Alternatively, the host device 70 may be directly connected to the control device 60 via a cable or the like.

[0027] The automatic exposure function of the photographing device 50 can determine the exposure during photographing, for example, as follows: The camera control unit 55 first measures the illuminance of the photographing environment using the illuminance sensor 54. Next, the camera control unit 55 does not operate the light-emitting device 40 if the photographing environment is bright, but operates the light-emitting device 40 if the photographing environment is dark, and measures the illuminance of the photographing range again, obtaining the illuminance distribution of the photographing range as shown in FIG. 3. The camera control unit 55 then adjusts the aperture value, i.e., F-number, of the diaphragm mechanism 52 and the exposure time, i.e., shutter speed, of the shutter 53 based on the median value of the illuminance distribution.

[0028] However, existing auto-exposure functions adjust the exposure to a subject with a large surface area within the shooting range. Therefore, depending on the lighting environment in the field and the distance between the imaging device 50 and the subject 90, the difference in illuminance between the crop 90 being photographed and the surrounding area of ​​the crop 90 may become too large. In this case, the existing auto-exposure function of the imaging device 50 may not be able to adjust the exposure to the crop 90 being photographed, resulting in overexposure or underexposure in the photographed image of the crop 90.

[0029] Let us now consider the case where a photograph is taken with an exposure based on the median value of the illuminance distribution shown in Figure 3. In this case, if the difference in illuminance between crop 90 and its surroundings becomes too large, and the illuminance of the subject crop 90 itself deviates from the median value to the bright side, as shown in the range X1 in Figure 3, for example, crop 90 will be photographed with overexposed highlights. Also, if the illuminance of the subject crop 90 itself deviates from the median value to the dark side, as shown in the range X2 in Figure 3, for example, crop 90 will be photographed with underexposed highlights.

[0030] Therefore, as shown in Figure 2, the crop harvesting system 1 of this embodiment includes a crop photography system 2. The crop photography system 2 has a function of correcting the exposure set by the automatic exposure function of the photography device 50 to match the subject crop 90. In the following description, the exposure set by the automatic exposure function of the photography device 50 will sometimes be referred to as the automatic exposure, and the corrected exposure will sometimes be referred to as the corrected exposure.

[0031] The crop photography system 2 has a function of making the exposure when photographing the crops 90 more appropriate than the exposure obtained by the automatic exposure function of the photography device 50 in a farm field where the light environment changes greatly, thereby preventing overexposure or underexposure in the photographed image of the crops 90. In this embodiment, the crop photography system 2 constitutes a part of the crop harvesting system 1. The crop photography system 2 is constituted by a light-emitting device 40 and a photography device 50.

[0032] The crop photography system 2 includes a setting information acquisition processing unit 61, a target exposure setting processing unit 62, an automatic exposure acquisition processing unit 63, an exposure compensation processing unit 64, an image selection processing unit 66, a crop identification processing unit 65, and a maturity determination processing unit 67. A storage area 602 shown in FIG. 2 stores a crop photography program. The control device 60 executes the crop photography program in the CPU 601, thereby virtually realizing the setting information acquisition processing unit 61, the target exposure setting processing unit 62, the exposure compensation processing unit 64, the image selection processing unit 66, the crop identification processing unit 65, and the maturity determination processing unit 67, etc., by software. In other words, these functions are realized by software processing in which the CPU executes a computer program stored in a non-transient tangible storage medium by a microcomputer, or by hardware processing using dedicated electronic circuits.

[0033] The setting information acquisition processing unit 61, the target exposure setting processing unit 62, the exposure correction processing unit 64, the image selection processing unit 66, the crop identification processing unit 65, and the maturity determination processing unit 67 may be realized in hardware, for example, as an integrated circuit integrated with the control device 60. Also, some or all of the setting information acquisition processing unit 61, the target exposure setting processing unit 62, the exposure correction processing unit 64, the image selection processing unit 66, the crop identification processing unit 65, and the maturity determination processing unit 67 may be provided in a device separate from the control device 60, such as a higher-level device 70.

[0034] The setting information acquisition processing unit 61 is capable of executing a setting information acquisition process. The setting information acquisition process includes a process of acquiring setting information for setting a target exposure, as shown in Fig. 4. The setting information acquisition processing unit 61 may automatically acquire the setting information from the higher-level device 70 or the like via the telecommunications line 71 shown in Fig. 1, or may acquire the setting information based on an input from a user via an input interface provided in the crop harvesting system 1.

[0035] The target exposure is a preset exposure that takes into consideration the lighting environment in the field. The target exposure is set without using the automatic exposure function of the camera control unit 55 of the image capturing device 50. The setting information includes one or more of the time of day when the image is captured, the operating status of the lighting installed at the image capturing location, the season when the image is captured, the image capturing location, the growing status of the crops at the image capturing location, and manual switching by the user.

[0036] In the case of a farm field that takes in external light, the external light taken in is stronger in the following order: daytime, morning and evening, and night. Therefore, the setting information for setting the target exposure can include the time of day. In this case, the time of day for shooting can be set to three levels, for example, daytime, morning and evening, and night. Furthermore, LED lighting for growing crops may be installed in the farm field. Therefore, the setting information for setting the target exposure can include the operating status of lighting installed at the shooting location, for example, lighting for growing crops.

[0037] Furthermore, in the case of a farm field that takes in external light, the external light taken in is stronger in summer than in winter, given the same time of day. For this reason, the season at the time of shooting can be included in the setting information for setting the target exposure. Furthermore, the amount of external light or lighting may differ depending on the shooting location. For this reason, the shooting location within the field can be included in the setting information for setting the target exposure. Furthermore, the growth conditions of crops may differ within the field. Furthermore, if the degree of leaf growth varies depending on the growth conditions of the crops, the lighting conditions at the shooting location will also differ. For this reason, the growth conditions of the crops at the shooting location can be included in the setting information for setting the target exposure. The setting information for setting the target exposure can also be configured to be switched manually by the user, for example.

[0038] The target exposure setting processor 62 is capable of executing a target exposure setting process. The target exposure setting process includes a process of setting a target exposure based on the acquired setting information. The target exposure is set by combining one or more of the above-described setting information. The target exposure is set to an exposure that is somewhat suitable for photographing the subject crop 90 in the environment based on the setting information. The target exposure is set in advance by, for example, measuring the illuminance of the crop 90 in the environment of the above-described setting information. As shown in FIG. 4, for example, the target exposure setting processor 62 stores a table in the memory area 602 of the control device 60 that shows the correspondence between each setting information and the target exposure, and sets the target exposure based on this table.

[0039] In this case, the target exposure tends to be set lower as the lighting environment during photography becomes darker. For example, in the example of Figure 4, the target exposure tends to become lower in the order of daytime, morning, evening, and night. Also, in the example of Figure 4, the target exposure tends to be lower when the grow light is off than when it is on.

[0040] The automatic exposure acquisition processing unit 63 is capable of executing automatic exposure acquisition processing, which is processing for acquiring exposure at the time of shooting, that is, automatic exposure, using the automatic exposure function of the image capturing device 50.

[0041] The exposure compensation processing unit 64 is capable of executing exposure compensation processing. The exposure compensation processing includes processing for adjusting the shooting conditions to correct the exposure set by the automatic exposure function of the photographing device 50 so that the exposure approaches a target exposure. The shooting conditions to be adjusted include, for example, the aperture value of the diaphragm mechanism 52, the shutter speed of the shutter 53, and the light emission intensity of the light-emitting device 40. In this embodiment, the exposure compensation processing corrects the exposure set by the automatic exposure function by, for example, keeping the aperture value of the diaphragm mechanism 52 constant and adjusting one or both of the shutter speed of the shutter 53 and the light emission intensity of the light-emitting device 40. Note that the exposure compensation processing may be configured to adjust the aperture value of the diaphragm mechanism 52 in addition to the shutter speed of the shutter 53 and the light emission intensity of the light-emitting device 40.

[0042] 5 , if the exposure set by the auto-exposure function of imaging device 50, i.e., the auto-exposure, is higher than the target exposure, photographing crop 90 using the auto-exposure as the target value may result in crop 90 being overexposed and overexposed. In this case, exposure correction processor 64 corrects the exposure to be lower during photographing by shortening the shutter speed of shutter 53 or by reducing the light emission intensity of light-emitting device 40. In this way, crop photographing system 2 can prevent overexposure of crop 90 by photographing with the corrected exposure.

[0043] 6 , if the exposure set by the auto-exposure function of imaging device 50, i.e., the auto-exposure, is lower than the target exposure, photographing crop 90 using the auto-exposure as the target value may result in crop 90 being underexposed, resulting in crushed black images. In this case, exposure correction processor 64 increases the shutter speed of shutter 53 or increases the light emission intensity of light-emitting device 40 to correct the exposure so that it is higher during photographing. In this way, crop photographing system 2 can prevent crushed black images of crop 90 by photographing with the corrected exposure.

[0044] The crop identification processing unit 65 is capable of executing a crop identification process. The crop identification process is a process for identifying the crops 90 included in the images captured by the imaging device 50. The crop identification process can use AI technology such as machine learning. The crop identification processing unit 65 has previously learned the shapes and other characteristics of the crops to be harvested through machine learning and the like.

[0045] Image selection processing unit 66 is capable of executing image selection processing, which includes processing for selecting, from a plurality of images taken under different photographing conditions, images in which the shape and color of crop 90 can be identified by crop identification processing, as images for determining the maturity level.

[0046] The maturity determination processing unit 67 is capable of executing a maturity determination process. The maturity determination process includes a process of determining the maturity of the crop in the image by performing image processing such as AI technology on the image selected by the image selection processing unit 66 and analyzing it. The maturity determination processing unit 67 can use AI technology such as machine learning for the maturity determination process. In this case, the maturity determination processing unit 67 learns mature and immature crops as training data.

[0047] Here, the maturity determination processing unit 67 determines the maturity of the crop 90 based on the color of the photographed image of the crop 90. Therefore, if the photographed crop 90 has blown-out highlights or crushed shadows, it is not possible to determine the maturity based on color. Therefore, the maturity determination processing unit 67 receives from the image selection processing unit 66 an image in which the shape and color of the crop 90 can be identified, and performs image processing. This allows the maturity determination processing unit 67 to efficiently determine the maturity of the crop 90 included in the image.

[0048] Next, an example of a series of control flows executed by the crop photography system 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 7 as well. In the following description, the control processing executed at each step is performed by the control device 60. In this embodiment, the mobile device 10 moves within the field, for example, autonomously or along a predetermined route, and selectively harvests crops 90 grown in the field. The control flow in FIG. 7 is executed to recognize the crops 90 and determine whether or not to harvest them based on the state of maturity of the crops 90.

[0049] When control device 60 approaches, for example, crop 90, control device 60 executes a setting information acquisition process in step S11 to acquire setting information. Next, control device 60 determines a target exposure based on the setting information acquired in step S11 in step S12. Note that steps S11 and S12 may be performed, for example, every time the crop 90 to be harvested changes, that is, every time crop 90 is harvested, or may be performed whenever the setting information changes, for example, when the time of day changes or when the lighting status of the cultivation light changes.

[0050] Next, in step S13, control device 60 executes an automatic exposure acquisition process. As a result, control device 60 acquires the exposure required to photograph crop 90. Next, in step S14, control device 60 executes an exposure correction process. As a result, the automatic exposure acquired in step S13 is corrected to an exposure that suits the current lighting environment.

[0051] Then, control device 60 executes the photographing process in step S15. As a result, control device 60 operates photographing device 50 and, if necessary, light-emitting device 40 to photograph crop 90. At this time, control device 60 photographs multiple images by changing, for example, the shutter speed, aperture value, and the amount of light emitted by light-emitting device 40 so that the exposure of the photographed images differs.

[0052] Next, the control device 60 executes a crop identification process in step S16. This causes the control device 60 to attempt to identify the shape and color of the crop 90 contained in the captured image. If the shape and color of the crop 90 cannot be identified from the image (NO in step S17), the control device 60 proceeds to step S18. Then, in step S18, the control device 60 changes the image to one captured under different conditions, i.e., with a different exposure, and returns to step S16, where the control device 60 executes the crop identification process using the changed image. The control device 60 repeats steps S16 to S18, changing the image and executing the crop identification process until the shape and color of the crop 90 can be identified from the image.

[0053] If the shape and color of crop 90 can be identified from the image (YES in step S17), control device 60 executes an image selection process in step S19, and selects the image in which the shape and color of crop 90 can be identified as the image for determining the maturity, i.e., the image for which the maturity determination process is to be executed. Control device 60 then executes the maturity determination process in step S20. This completes the series of control flows executed by crop photography system 2 for one crop 90. Control device 60 then drives moving device 10 to move to the photographing position for the next crop 90, and again executes the control flow of steps S11 to S20.

[0054] According to the embodiment described above, the crop photography system 2 is a system that photographs crops 90 in a farm field. The crop photography system 2 includes a setting information acquisition processing unit 61, a target exposure setting processing unit 62, and an exposure correction processing unit 64. The setting information acquisition processing unit 61 is capable of executing setting information acquisition processing to acquire setting information for setting a target exposure. The target exposure setting processing unit 62 is capable of executing target exposure setting processing to set a target exposure based on the acquired setting information. The exposure correction processing unit 64 is capable of executing exposure correction processing to adjust the shooting conditions to correct the exposure set by the automatic exposure function of the photography device 50 so that it approaches the target exposure.

[0055] Furthermore, according to the embodiment, the crop photographing program can cause the control device 60 including the CPU 601 to execute a setting information acquisition process, a target exposure setting process, and an exposure correction process.

[0056] This allows the automatic exposure adjusted by the exposure adjustment function of the photographing device 50 to be corrected according to the lighting environment in the field, which varies greatly depending on the time of day, weather, location, crop growth conditions, etc. Therefore, the crop photographing system 2 can adequately respond to lighting environments that vary greatly, and as a result, can effectively prevent overexposure and underexposure in the photographed crops 90.

[0057] The crop photography system 2 also includes an image selection processing unit 66 and a crop identification processing unit 65. The crop identification processing unit 65 is capable of executing crop identification processing to identify the crop 90 included in the photographed image. The image selection processing unit 66 is capable of executing image selection processing to select an image in which the crop 90 can be identified from a plurality of images photographed under different photographing conditions as an image for determining the maturity of the crop 90.

[0058] This allows the maturity determination to be made using an image in which crop 90 can be identified, thereby avoiding the need to determine the maturity using an image in which crop 90 has overexposed or overexposed areas. In this way, according to this embodiment, it is possible to obtain high-quality images for use in determining the maturity.

[0059] The setting information also includes one or more of the time of day when the image was taken, the season when the image was taken, the operating status of the lighting installed at the shooting location, the shooting location, the growing status of the crops at the shooting location, and manual switching by the user. This allows factors that affect the lighting environment in the field to be reflected in the corrected exposure. As a result, the corrected exposure can be made more suitable for photographing the crops 90.

[0060] The control unit and the method described herein may be implemented by a special-purpose computer configured by configuring a processor and memory programmed to perform one or more functions embodied in a computer program. Alternatively, the control unit and the method described herein may be implemented by a special-purpose computer configured by configuring a processor with one or more dedicated hardware logic circuits. Alternatively, the control unit and the method described herein may be implemented by one or more special-purpose computers configured by combining a processor and memory programmed to perform one or more functions with a processor configured with one or more hardware logic circuits. Furthermore, the computer program may be stored as instructions executed by a computer on a computer-readable non-transitory tangible storage medium.

[0061] (Other Embodiments) The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings, and can be modified, combined, or expanded as desired without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. The numerical values ​​shown in the above embodiments are merely examples, and the present disclosure is not limited to these.

[0062] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments or structures. The present disclosure also encompasses various modifications and modifications within the scope of equivalents. In addition, various combinations and forms, as well as other combinations and forms including only one element, more than one element, or less than one element, are also within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A crop photography system (2) for photographing crops (90) in a field, comprising: a setting information acquisition processing unit (61) for acquiring setting information for setting a target exposure; a target exposure setting processing unit (62) for setting the target exposure based on the acquired setting information; and an exposure correction processing unit (64) for correcting the exposure set by the automatic exposure function of the photography device (50) by adjusting the photography conditions to approach the target exposure.

2. The crop photography system of claim 1, further comprising: a crop identification processing unit (65) that identifies the crop contained in the captured image; and an image selection processing unit (66) that selects an image in which the crop can be identified from a plurality of images captured under different photographing conditions as an image for determining the maturity of the crop.

3. The crop photography system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the setting information includes one or more of the time of day when the photograph was taken, the season when the photograph was taken, the operating status of the lighting installed at the photography location, the photography location, the growth status of the crops at the photography location, or manual switching by the user.

4. A crop photography program that can cause a control device (60) equipped with a CPU (601) to execute the following: a setting information acquisition process that acquires setting information for setting a target exposure; a target exposure setting process that sets the target exposure based on the acquired setting information; and an exposure correction process that adjusts the shooting conditions to correct the exposure set by the automatic exposure function of the shooting device so that it approaches the target exposure.

Images