Crop Monitoring Sensor Array for Mowing and Baling Timing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current crop monitoring methods are inefficient and inaccurate, particularly in determining the optimal time for tasks like mowing, raking, and harvesting due to variability in moisture content across fields, which is often measured manually.
Innovation Solution
A crop monitoring system comprising support towers, wheels, a water conduit, a truss system, nozzles, and a sensor array connected to a controller that collects data on crop parameters such as height, moisture content, and humidity, determining action items and sending signals for appropriate tasks like watering, mowing, or baling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual measurement of moisture content is used, then measurement cost is reduced, but measurement precision and uniformity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs autonomous sensors that continuously monitor crop moisture content, temperature, and humidity without requiring manual intervention. The sensors self-calibrate and automatically transmit data to the controller, enabling the system to serve itself in data collection while maintaining high measurement precision across the entire field.
Solution Approach 2:
Manual mechanical measurement methods are replaced with electronic sensing technology. The sensor array uses electromagnetic fields and other physical principles to detect moisture content non-contactly or minimally invasively, eliminating the need for manual sampling and laboratory analysis, thereby improving both precision and uniformity of measurements.
2Measurement precision
If uniform monitoring across the field is implemented, then measurement uniformity improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system is divided into multiple independent sensor nodes distributed across the field. Each sensor unit can independently measure local conditions and communicates with the central controller. This segmentation allows uniform coverage of the entire field while keeping individual sensor units simple and manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor array uses multi-functional sensors that can simultaneously measure multiple parameters including moisture content, temperature, and humidity. This universality reduces the total number of separate devices needed while achieving comprehensive and uniform monitoring across the field, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
3Productivity
If automated decision-making is implemented, then productivity improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller implements closed-loop feedback by continuously receiving sensor data, comparing current crop conditions with optimal parameters, and automatically generating task recommendations. The system monitors the results of executed tasks and adjusts future decisions accordingly, improving productivity through adaptive automated decision-making while managing complexity through algorithmic efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis of sensor data to predict optimal mowing, raking, and baling times before tasks are executed. By pre-processing data and generating action plans in advance, the system improves productivity by reducing decision latency while managing controller complexity through staged processing rather than real-time complex calculations.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for crop monitoring is disclosed. The system includes support towers configured to irrigate a crop, wheels coupled to the support towers, a water conduit extending between the support towers, a truss system extending between the support towers and supporting the water conduit, nozzles, a sensor array, and a controller. The nozzles are fluidly coupled to the water conduit. The sensor array is configured to collect data associated with a parameter of the crop. The controller is communicatively coupled to the sensor array. The controller includes a processor and a memory. The memory contains instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform steps that include receiving the data associated with a parameter of the crop, determining at least one action item corresponding to data associated with the parameter of the crop, and sending a signal indicating that the action item should be performed.