Vision-Guided Rock Picking Assembly for Automated Field Clearing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Farmers face challenges in efficiently removing rocks from agricultural fields, as existing manual methods are labor-intensive, slow, and often ineffective, posing safety hazards and interfering with automated equipment.
Innovation Solution
An image-collection vehicle equipped with a camera, processor, and memory is used to identify and locate objects in a target geographical area, guiding an object-collection system to pick up and remove the identified objects, utilizing a sensor array and object picking assembly to ensure accurate and efficient collection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual implements (rakes, windrowers, sieves) are used to clear fields of rocks, then some rock removal is achieved, but the failure rate is high and multiple passes are required, resulting in lost productivity and increased labor costs
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary rock detection and mapping using aerial imaging (drone or satellite) before the actual rock picking operation. This advance identification allows the automated picker to target specific rocks with high precision, eliminating the need for multiple passes and manual inspection, thereby resolving the contradiction between productivity and reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical implements (rakes, windrowers, sieves) with an automated robotic picking system guided by computer vision and GPS. This substitution eliminates the high failure rate of manual methods while maintaining continuous operation, simultaneously improving both productivity and reliability
2Reliability
If manual rock picking is performed to remove missed rocks, then complete rock removal is achieved, but labor costs increase and work becomes slow and unpleasant
Solution Approach 1:
The automated rock picking system is designed to autonomously detect, navigate to, pick up, and remove rocks without human intervention. The system self-corrects and adapts during operation, maintaining both high speed and complete removal, thus eliminating the trade-off between reliability and productivity that plagues manual methods
3Productivity
If automated agricultural equipment is used in fields with rocks, then farming efficiency is improved, but rocks foul up and interfere with equipment operation, causing expensive repairs
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and removes rocks from the field before automated agricultural equipment operates. By eliminating the harmful rocks in advance through the automated picking system, the field becomes safe for subsequent farming operations, preserving both productivity and preventing equipment damage
4Productivity
If traditional rock clearing methods are used, then some rocks are removed, but safety hazards remain from sparks arising from contact with rotating metallic equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces rotating metallic equipment with an automated robotic arm that uses controlled mechanical picking and lifting motions. This substitution eliminates the friction and impact that generate sparks, maintaining rock removal capability while eliminating safety hazards
Data Source
AI summary
An object-collection system is disclosed. The system including a vehicle connected to a bucket, a camera connected to the vehicle, and an object picking assembly configured to pick up objects off of ground. The system further includes a processor that obtains object information for identified objects, guides the object-collection system over a target geographical area toward the identified objects based on the object information, captures images of the ground relative to the object picker as the object-collection system is guided towards the identified objects, identifies a target object in the images, tracks movement of the target object across the images as the object-collection system is guided towards the identified objects, and employs the tracked movement of the target object to instruct the object picker to pick up the target object.