Prediction of amount of crop or product remaining for field

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10201121-B1
Application number	US-201615057229-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 1, 2016
Priority date	Mar 1, 2016
Publication date	Feb 12, 2019
Grant date	Feb 12, 2019

Abstract

A method for managing agricultural operations by predicting amount of crop or product remaining for a field includes performing agricultural operations on at least a portion of a field using an agricultural machine, sensing data associated with the agricultural operations using sensors associated with the agricultural machine, communicating the data associated with the agricultural operations to a computing device, analyzing the data associated with the agricultural operations performed using the computing device to determine an area prediction for a remaining portion of the field upon which the agricultural operations are to be performed, and using the area prediction for the remaining portion of the field by the computing device to determine a time associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field or an amount of material or other resources associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for managing agricultural operations by predicting amount of crop or product remaining for a field, the method comprising:
performing agricultural operations on at least a portion of a field using an agricultural machine;
sensing data associated with the agricultural operations using sensors associated with the agricultural machine wherein the sensors comprise one or more of:
a. a yield monitor;
b. an application rate sensor; or
c. a crop sensor;

communicating the data associated with the agricultural operations to a computing device wherein the computing device comprises:
a. a precision agricultural system and display; or
b. a dedicated computer and display;

analyzing the data associated with the agricultural operations performed using the computing device to determine an area prediction for a remaining portion of the field upon which the agricultural operations are to be performed;
using the area prediction value for the remaining portion of the field by the computing device to determine (a) a time value associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field or (b) an amount of material value associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field wherein the area prediction comprises:
a. providing a digital field map related to the field;
b. allowing through a human-machine interface drawing or indicator tool or precision agricultural system designation on the field map of area(s) of the field upon which the agricultural operations(s) have been performed versus area(s) upon which the agricultural operation have not been performed;
c. calculating the area prediction on the computing device based on the field map designations; or
d. calculating an area remaining by assuming all area within an already harvested or applied area is an area left to be harvested or applied, unless a user signifies an exception.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying the time associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field or the amount of the material associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field at a display associated with the agricultural machine.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising wirelessly communicating the time associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field or the amount of material associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field one at a time or concurrently to one or more wireless devices either at the machine or remote from the machine to assist with logistics relative the field and other management decisions.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising wired or wirelessly receiving additional data at the computing device and using the additional data in determining the time associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field or the amount of material associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising using historic data at the computing device and using the historic data in determining the time associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field or the amount of material associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining the amount of the crop or product remaining for the field at least partially based on the area prediction and/or historical data for the field including one or more of:
a. pre-designated areas upon which no operations are to be performed;
b. crop sensing information;
c. a yield monitor measurement;
d. an application rate measurement.

7. The method of claim 2 further comprising determining a number of vehicle loads associated with the agricultural operations to be performed on the remaining portion of the field.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining resources for use in the agricultural operations to be performed on the remaining portion of the field by one or more of an operator of the machine or a remote person or entity.

9. The method of claim 5 wherein the historical data is accessible through a cloud-based server.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the agricultural operations are selected from a set consisting of harvest operations, planting operations, spraying operations, fertilizing operations, pesticide operations, and crop sensing operation.

11. A method for managing harvest operations by predicting amount of crop for a field, the method comprising:
performing harvesting operations on at least a portion of a field using a harvesting machine;
sensing data associated with the harvesting operations using sensors associated with the harvesting machine wherein the sensors comprise one or more of:
a. a yield monitor; or
b. a crop sensor;

communicating the data associated with the harvesting operations to a computing device;
determining an amount of harvested material associated with completing the harvesting operations for the field using the computing device wherein the computing device comprises:
a. a precision agricultural system and display; or
b. a dedicated computer and display;

determining an amount of harvested material onboard the harvesting machine and communicating the amount of harvested material onboard the harvesting machine to the computing device;
determining an amount of harvested material stored in one or more agricultural vehicles and communicating the amount of the harvested material stored in the one or more agricultural vehicles to the computing device; and
using the amount of harvested material associated with completing the harvesting operations, the amount of harvested material onboard the harvesting machine, and the amount of harvested stored in one or more agricultural vehicles to determine at least one of a time to complete the harvesting operations and remove the harvested material from the field to a destination, a number of wagon loads associated with removing the harvested material from the field to the destination, and a number of truck loads associated with removing the harvested material from the field to the destination.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising displaying at a display associated with the harvesting machine at least one of the time to complete the harvesting operations and remove the harvested material from the field to a destination, the number of wagon loads associated with removing the harvested material from the field to the destination, and the number of truck loads associated with removing the harvested material from the field to the destination.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising wired or wirelessly communicating to a wireless device at least one of the time to complete the harvesting operations and remove the harvested material from the field to a destination, the number of wagon loads associated with removing the harvested material from the field to the destination, and the number of truck loads associated with removing the harvested material from the field to the destination.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising wired or wirelessly receiving additional data at the computing device and using the additional data to in determining the time associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field or the amount of material associated with completing the agricultural operations for the field.

15. The method of claim 11 further comprising using historic data at the computing device and using the historic data in determining the amount of harvested material associated with completing the harvesting operations for the

Assignees

• Ag Leader Tech

Inventors

• Wilson David

Classifications

• G05B13/026

  using a predictor · CPC title

• A01B79/005 Primary

  Precision agriculture · CPC title