Crop Transport UAV Weight-Based Pickup Without Ground Landing
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a demand for efficiently transporting harvested crops using unmanned aerial vehicles without the need for ground infrastructure.
Innovation Solution
An unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a flight device, control device, and acquisition device to acquire and transport harvested crops from an agricultural machine, capable of supporting and transporting packages based on weight information and position data, and a management system to manage these operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If an unmanned aerial vehicle lands on the ground to acquire harvested crops from an agricultural machine, then the crops can be acquired, but the ground surface must be secured for running transport vehicles, reducing harvesting efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions the crop acquisition operation from the ground dimension to the aerial dimension. The unmanned aerial vehicle acquires harvested crops by flying above the agricultural machine and using a suction device to draw crops through a hose, eliminating the need for ground-based transport vehicles and ground surface clearance.
2Productivity
If the unmanned aerial vehicle carries both the acquisition device and the support structure, then it can acquire and transport crops, but the weight increases reducing payload capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the support structure from the unmanned aerial vehicle for the transport phase. The support structure is detached and carried separately, allowing the UAV to fly with reduced weight when transporting crops, while still maintaining the capability to support heavy acquisition equipment during the harvesting phase.
3Quantity of substance
If the unmanned aerial vehicle transports heavy packages, then more crops can be transported per trip, but the flight distance and range are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediate crop collection points distributed across the field. Instead of transporting all crops from a single distant location, the UAV collects crops from multiple nearby points, reducing the average flight distance while maintaining high transport quantity through multiple short trips.
Data Source
Figure 1A
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Figure 1C
AI summary
An unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment is an unmanned aerial vehicle that transports harvested crops harvested from a field, comprising: a flight device that causes the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly; a control device that controls operation of the flight device; a communication device that receives package position information indicating a first position where a target package for transport containing the harvested crops is located, and package weight information indicating the weight of the target package; and a support device capable of supporting the target package, wherein the control device determines, based on the package weight information, whether the target package can be transported to a second position different from the first position, and when determining that the target package can be transported, controls the flight device to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to the first position, causes the support device to support the target package, and controls the flight device to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to the second position.