Harvester Feeder Imaging for In-Field Crop Population Counting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern agricultural harvesters are unable to quantify the crop population within a field during harvesting operations, which is crucial for assessing the effectiveness of planting operations.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an imaging device within the agricultural harvester to capture image data of harvested material, analyzing this data to identify crop ears, and determining the crop population based on these counts, with the computing system controlling the harvester's ground speed for optimal efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If image data analysis is performed to identify crop ears and determine population, then measurement precision of crop population is improved, but device complexity increases due to addition of imaging device and computing system
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging device positioned within the feeder serves multiple functions: it captures images of harvested material for crop population determination while also potentially monitoring material flow and harvest quality. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated devices, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving precise crop population measurement.
Solution Approach 2:
The computing system utilizes the existing feeder structure and imaging infrastructure of the harvester, rather than requiring completely separate systems. The feeder's conveyor mechanism naturally presents the harvested material in a suitable manner for imaging, and the system processes images using standard image recognition algorithms, making the added complexity manageable through self-service utilization of existing components.
2Productivity
If image data is captured and analyzed in real-time during harvesting, then productivity information is improved, but use of energy increases due to imaging device operation and data processing
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous imaging, the system captures images at periodic intervals or at specific trigger points during the harvesting cycle. The imaging device operates intermittently to capture representative samples of harvested material, and the computing system processes these periodic image sets to determine crop population statistics. This periodic operation significantly reduces energy consumption compared to continuous imaging while still providing accurate productivity information.
3Loss of information
If crop population determination is implemented, then loss of information is reduced, but device complexity increases due to additional sensors and processing systems
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging device acts as an intermediary between the harvested material and the computing system. Rather than requiring direct contact sensors or complex mechanical counting mechanisms, the imaging device captures visual information that the computing system then interprets to determine crop population. This intermediary approach using optical imaging simplifies the overall system configuration compared to alternative methods while effectively reducing information loss about crop population.
Data Source
AI summary
An agricultural harvester includes a feeder configured to convey harvested material from a harvesting implement to a threshing and separating assembly. Furthermore, the agricultural harvester includes an imaging device positioned within feeder, with the imaging device configured to generate image data depicting the harvested material entering or being conveyed through the feeder during the harvesting operation. Additionally, the agricultural harvester includes a computing system communicatively coupled to the imaging device. In this respect, the computing system is configured to analyze the generated image data to identify crop ears present within the harvested material entering or being conveyed through the feeder. Moreover, the computing system is configured to determine the crop population within at least a portion of the field based on the identified crop ears present within the harvested material.