Apparatus and methods for estimating corn yields

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10019791-B2
Application number	US-201615217139-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 22, 2016
Priority date	Jul 24, 2015
Publication date	Jul 10, 2018
Grant date	Jul 10, 2018

Abstract

A method for generating a yield estimate for a crop of corn includes capturing a digital image of an ear of corn; processing the digital image of an ear of corn to determine a plurality of dimensions for each of a plurality of kernels on the ear of corn; estimating, from the plurality of dimensions, an average kernel volume for the ear of corn; determining, from the average kernel volume and an estimated kernel density, an average kernel weight for the ear of corn; and estimating, from the average kernel weight, a kernels-per-bushel for the ear of corn.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for generating a yield estimate for a crop of corn, the method comprising:
capturing a digital image of an ear of corn;
comparing the digital image to a threshold value to create a segmented binary image;
processing the segmented binary image of the ear of corn to determine a plurality of dimensions for each of a plurality of kernels on the ear of corn;
estimating, from the plurality of dimensions, an average kernel volume for the ear of corn;
determining, from the average kernel volume and an estimated kernel density, an average kernel weight for the ear of corn; and
estimating, from the average kernel weight, a kernels-per-bushel measurement for the ear of corn.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the segmented binary image of the ear of corn to determine the plurality of dimensions for each of the plurality of kernels on the ear of corn comprises:
determining a width and a height of each of the plurality of kernels; and
estimating, from the width and the height of each of the plurality of kernels, a depth of each of the plurality of kernels.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining an average width, an average height, and an average estimated depth of the plurality of kernels.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising estimating, from the digital image of the ear of corn, a first moisture content of the plurality of kernels.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising estimating an adjusted average kernel volume for the plurality of kernels having a second moisture content.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the second moisture content is a moisture content associated with mature dried corn.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the second moisture content is approximately 15.5%.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
capturing the digital image of the ear of corn to include a reference having known dimensions; and
determining, based on the known dimensions of the reference in the digital image, at least one dimension of at least one kernel in the plurality of kernels.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the reference is a calibration card placed in a scene of the digital image with the ear of corn.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the reference includes a grid pattern having the known dimensions.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the average kernel volume is an average bounded kernel volume, further comprising:
estimating, from the average bounded kernel volume, an average actual kernel volume based on a conversion factor.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the average actual kernel volume is less than the average bounded kernel volume by a factor of approximately 3.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising capturing the digital image using a camera of a mobile device.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
estimating, from the digital image of the ear of corn, a number of kernels on the ear of corn;
estimating a number of ears of corn in a sized location; and
determining, from the number of kernels on the ear of corn and the number of ears of corn in the sized location, an estimated number of kernels in the sized location.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising determining, from the estimated number of kernels in the sized location, an estimated number of bushels of corn kernels in the sized location.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the sized location is a portion of a cornfield having an area of 0.001 acres.

17. An image processing system comprising:
a memory; and
a processor configured to
compare a digital image of an ear of corn to a threshold value to generate a segmented binary image;
process the segmented binary image of the ear of corn to determine a plurality of dimensions for each of a plurality of kernels on the ear of corn;
estimate, from the plurality of dimensions, an average kernel volume for the ear of corn;
determine, from the average kernel volume and an estimated kernel density, an average kernel weight for the ear of corn; and
estimate, from the average kernel weight, a kernels-per-bushel measurement for the ear of corn.

18. The system of claim 17 , further comprising an image capturing component, wherein the processor is further configured to capture the digital image of the ear of corn via the image capturing component.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
estimate, from the digital image of the ear of corn, a number of kernels on the ear of corn;
estimate a number of ears of corn in a sized location; and
determine, from the number of kernels on the ear of corn and the number of ears of corn in the sized location, an estimated number of kernels in the sized location.

Assignees

• Raytheon Co

Inventors

• Young Darrell L
• Dekeyrel Charlotte
• Lewis Michael Henry

Classifications

• G06T2207/30128

  Food products · CPC title

• G06Q50/02

  Agriculture; Fishing; Forestry; Mining · CPC title

• G06T7/0004 Primary

  Industrial image inspection · CPC title

• G06T7/62

  of area, perimeter, diameter or volume · CPC title

• G06Q10/04

  Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" (market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202) · CPC title