Dual-Imaging Plant Monitoring for Individual Crop Issue Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing crop monitoring systems are time-consuming, prone to human error, and inefficient in pinpointing specific plant issues, especially in large farming areas, often leading to delayed and costly interventions.
Innovation Solution
An automated system utilizing dual imaging devices with different optical properties (wide-area and high-resolution) for precise plant monitoring, enabling data collection and analysis to identify individual plant conditions and generate targeted recommendations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If human scouts visually inspect the crop, then plant health can be monitored, but the inspection takes a long time and facilitates pest spread
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual human inspection with an automated imaging system consisting of multiple cameras and computational algorithms. The system captures images of plants and uses image processing to detect pests, diseases, and growth stages automatically, eliminating the need for physical human presence in the crop area while maintaining monitoring accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates visual copies (images) of the plants and analyzes these copies to assess plant health. By working with image data rather than direct physical inspection, the system can monitor multiple plants simultaneously without time constraints and without risking pest spread through human contact.
2Reliability
If human inspection is performed, then plant conditions can be assessed, but subjective interpretation affects accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces subjective human judgment with objective computational image analysis. The system uses algorithms to automatically detect and classify plant conditions based on visual features, ensuring consistent and reproducible assessments free from human bias or interpretation variability.
3Measurement precision
If conventional fluorescent measurement systems are used, then specific plant indicators can be detected, but the equipment is complex and assessment takes several minutes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex conventional fluorescent measurement equipment with a simpler imaging system using standard cameras and computational algorithms. The system achieves similar detection capabilities by analyzing visual features in captured images, eliminating the need for specialized fluorescent excitation sources and complex measurement apparatus.
Solution Approach 2:
The imaging system can capture and analyze multiple plant images in rapid succession, providing continuous monitoring capability. Unlike conventional systems that require several minutes per assessment, the automated system processes images quickly and can monitor entire crop areas continuously without interruption.
4Area of stationary object
If general sensory systems collect temperature and humidity data, then environmental conditions can be monitored, but the systems cannot accurately pinpoint problems at individual plant level
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the monitoring task into hierarchical levels: wide-area environmental monitoring and individual plant-specific detection. The system uses multiple imaging devices with different fields of view, where some capture broad areas for environmental context while others focus on individual plants for detailed problem detection, enabling both large-scale coverage and precise individual assessment.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for monitoring plants' conditions in one or more plant growing areas are presented. The system comprises a data collection system for providing characterization data about various parameters of plants in the one or more plant growing areas, the data collection system comprising data collection modules of at least first and second different types comprising respectively one or more first type imaging devices of predetermined first field of view and first resolution and one or more second type imaging devices of predetermined second field of view narrower than the first field of view and second resolution higher than the first resolution, the characterization data provided by the first type imaging device(s) comprising first type image data indicative of one or more plants in the plant growing area and of location of at least one device of the second type imaging devices with respect to said one or more plants in the plant growing area, the characterization data provided by the second type imaging device(s) comprising second type image data indicative of one or more portions of plants in the plant growing area; and a control system for activating at least one first type imaging device and at least one second type imaging device at least partially simultaneously, and to be responsive to operational data being based on analysis of the first type image data and comprising navigation data to navigate the at least one second type imaging device or at least one device of the first type imaging devices in the plant growing area.