Moving-Platform Crop Surveying for Precision Plant Treatment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional agricultural treatment methods are inefficient and wasteful, as they rely on coarse resolutions and are not well-suited for precise application of chemicals to individual plants, leading to wastage and limited precision in crop management, especially in complex vegetation structures like trees or non-row crops.
Innovation Solution
An agricultural treatment delivery system that uses autonomous vehicles equipped with sensors and precision agricultural management platforms to identify and treat specific agricultural objects with micro-precision, employing emitters that can propel agricultural projectiles along calculated trajectories to target individual plants with treatments such as fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional spray methods are used to apply chemicals to crops, then coverage area is increased, but precision of application to individual plants is reduced and chemical waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the treatment application process by using multiple independently controllable emitters (spray nozzles) that can be selectively activated. Each emitter corresponds to a specific plant or plant row, allowing chemicals to be applied individually to targeted plants rather than uniformly across the entire field. This segmentation enables precise dosage control and eliminates chemical waste on non-targeted plants.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements local quality by varying the treatment application at different spatial locations. The controller selectively activates specific emitters based on real-time plant identification and condition assessment. Chemical application parameters (such as dosage, timing, and emitter activation) are locally optimized for each plant or plant section, ensuring that treatments are applied only where needed with appropriate precision.
2Manufacturing precision
If traditional boom sprayers are used for chemical application, then operational simplicity is maintained, but treatment precision and resource efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle platform serves multiple functions: it acts as both a mobile computing platform for plant identification and analysis, and as a treatment delivery system with multiple emitters. The same vehicle that captures images and processes plant data also directly applies treatments, eliminating the need for separate monitoring and treatment equipment. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity while maintaining high precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical boom sprayer systems with a more sophisticated system that uses optical sensors, image processing algorithms, and electronically controlled emitters. Instead of relying on mechanical positioning and uniform spray distribution, the system uses visual identification and electronic control to achieve precise chemical delivery to individual plants, substituting mechanical simplicity with electronic precision.
3Measurement precision
If coarse resolution surveying methods are used, then data collection speed is increased, but identification accuracy of individual plants is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses periodic action by capturing images at regular intervals as the vehicle moves through the field. The image capture device takes photographs of plants at consistent time or distance intervals, creating a continuous stream of data. This periodic sampling maintains high identification accuracy while ensuring efficient data collection, as the vehicle processes and analyzes each captured image immediately rather than requiring complete field coverage before analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments relate generally to computer vision and automation to autonomously survey an agricultural environment. In some examples, a system can receive sensor data of a geographic boundary from one or more sensors onboard of the agricultural observation system, detect a plurality of external dynamic objects, a plurality of external static objects, one or more agricultural objects, or a combination thereof from the sensor data, determine a position of a component of the agricultural observation system relative to the plurality of external dynamic objects, the plurality of external static objects, the one or more agricultural objects, or a combination thereof, and generate a local map, in real time, via one or more processing units.