Indicator Tags for Robotic Flower Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Robotic and automated systems for selective harvesting in agriculture face challenges due to the complexity of machine perception systems needed to identify and locate different types of agricultural products, which often resemble their surrounding foliage, requiring customized algorithms and end-effectors, leading to high costs and engineering efforts.
Innovation Solution
The method involves identifying and using the location of fruit-producing flowers on plants instead of the agricultural products themselves, applying indicator tags to these flowers, and using machine perception systems to detect these tags for performing automated agricultural operations, such as harvesting, pollination, and chemical applications, thereby simplifying the detection process across various crop types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If machine perception systems are customized to identify specific agricultural products, then identification accuracy is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces indicator tags as intermediary objects that are attached to plants. These tags serve as mediators between the plant and the machine perception system, making detection easier while the fruit itself remains difficult to detect. The tags provide clear visual markers that simplify the perception task without requiring complex customization for different crop types.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes color changes as a key detection mechanism. Indicator tags are applied to plants and exhibit distinct color characteristics that differentiate them from foliage and fruits. The machine perception system detects these color-based indicators rather than attempting to directly identify the agricultural products, thereby reducing system complexity.
2Measurement precision
If machine perception systems are optimized for specific crop types, then detection accuracy is improved, but adaptability to other crops deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal system where indicator tags can be applied to multiple crop types. The same tag design and detection approach work across different plants and agricultural products, eliminating the need for crop-specific customization. The system achieves multi-functionality by detecting tags rather than directly identifying diverse agricultural products.
Solution Approach 2:
Indicator tags serve as universal intermediaries that bridge different crop types and the machine perception system. Rather than optimizing detection for each specific crop, the system uses standardized tags that can be attached to any plant, providing a consistent detection interface across diverse agricultural applications.
3Manufacturing precision
If direct fruit identification is attempted, then harvest precision is improved, but system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies indicator tags to plants in advance, before harvest time. This preliminary action marks the location of agricultural products indirectly through the tags, allowing the harvest system to follow the tags rather than attempting to identify and locate fruits directly at harvest time, thereby reducing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The indicator tags act as intermediaries that guide the harvest system to the correct locations. Instead of requiring the harvest system to directly identify and locate difficult-to-detect fruits, the tags provide clear visual cues that lead the system to the target locations, simplifying the harvest mechanism while maintaining precision.
Data Source
AI summary
The locations of flowers on a plant, rather than the locations of agricultural products produced from such flowers, are used to facilitate the performance of harvesting and other agricultural operations in robotic agricultural applications. In some implementations, the identified location of a fruit-producing flower may be used by a robotic device to apply an indicator tag to a flowering plant proximate the flower for later identification when performing various types of directed and automated agricultural operations. In other implementations, the identified location of a fruit-producing flower may be used by a robotic device to anchor a stem of a flowering plant to a predetermined location such that the location of the flower, and of any fruit(s) later produced by such flower, are controlled and/or known when performing subsequent agricultural operations.