System and method for automated odometry calibration for precision agriculture systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11197409-B2
Application number	US-201816153824-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 8, 2018
Priority date	Feb 21, 2014
Publication date	Dec 14, 2021
Grant date	Dec 14, 2021

Abstract

A method including: recording a first image of a first field region; automatically treating a plant within the first region in-situ based on the first image; automatically verifying the plant treatment with a second image of the first region; and automatically treating a second region concurrently with treatment verification.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for in-situ calibration of a device during operation of the device within a field, the method comprising:
capturing an image of a field region with a camera of the device;
identifying, from the image, a location of a first plant within the field region and a location of a second plant within the field region;
identifying, a first treatment area based on the first plant and a second treatment area based on the second plant, wherein the treatment area describes a portion of the field region surrounding a plant;
setting, by a computer of the device, a target treatment boundary location in the field region between the first treatment area and the second treatment area;
controlling, by the computer, a first treatment mechanism of the device to apply a first treatment to the first treatment area;
controlling, by the computer, a second treatment mechanism of the device to apply a second treatment to the second treatment area at a transition time, wherein the transition time is based on the target treatment boundary location;
determining, by the computer, an actual treatment boundary location based on the location of the second plant and a motion of the device, wherein the actual treatment boundary location is a location in the field region where application of the second treatment begins; and
calibrating, by the computer, the device based on the target treatment boundary location and the actual treatment boundary location.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image of the field region is captured over a time period, the first plant is associated with a first timestamp within the time period reflecting a time at which the first plant was measured, and the second plant is associated with a second timestamp within the time period reflecting a time at which the second plant was measured.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the target treatment boundary location comprises:
determining, by the computer, the first treatment for the first plant;
determining the second treatment for the second plant; and
determining the target treatment boundary location to be arranged between crops assigned either the first treatment or the second treatment.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
measuring a number of rotations by a set of wheels mounted to the device between the first timestamp and second time stamp; and
determining an estimated traversed distance between the first plant and the second plant; and
determining the second set of values based on the amount of pixel shift between the first plant and the second plant.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the transition time comprises:
determining an estimated velocity of the device based on a wheel rotation rate of the device;
determining an estimated distance between each treatment mechanism and the target treatment boundary location;
adjusting the estimated velocity and estimated distance based on a position correction factor; and
determining the transition time based on the adjusted estimated velocity and adjusted estimated distance.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the treatment mechanism comprises:
operating the treatment mechanism in a first operation mode to apply the first treatment;
transitioning the treatment mechanism from the first operation mode to a second operation mode; and
operating the treatment mechanism in the second operation mode to apply the second treatment.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying one or more treatment identifiers within the captured image; and
determining one or more treatment calibration factors based on the treatment identifiers.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein determining the second set of values for the set of calibration parameters comprises:
identifying, by the computer, a set of common reference features within the field region surrounding the first plant and the second plant;
determining, by the computer, an amount of pixel shift between the first plant and the second plant based on positions of the common reference features surrounding the first plant and the second plant; and
determining the second set of values based on the amount of pixel shift between the first plant and the second plant.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the computer, a set of camera-to-treatment mechanism distance values and a set of timing delay values based on previously recorded images recorded by the device, wherein each of the previously recorded images comprises a first plant and a second plant;
comparing, by the computer, a camera-to-treatment mechanism distance value and a timing delay value, determined based on the first plant and the second plant, to the set of prior camera-to-treatment mechanism distance values and the set of timing delay values; and
detecting, by the computer, a treatment mechanism failure in response to the camera-to-treatment mechanism distance value and a timing delay value deviating from the set of prior camera-to-treatment mechanism distance values and the set of timing delay values beyond a threshold deviation.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein detecting a treatment mechanism failure comprises:
determining a difference between the target treatment boundary location and the actual treatment boundary location exceeding a threshold difference; and
identifying a system failure in response to a difference between the target treatment boundary location and the actual treatment boundary location exceeding a threshold difference.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting, by the computer, the transition time based on a first set of values for a set of calibration parameters; and
determining, by the computer, a second set of values for the set of calibration parameters; and
calibrating, by the computer, the device based on the first set of values and the second set of values for the set of calibration parameters.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a failure in the system based on one or more of the following conditions:
a continuous application of treatment by the treatment mechanism;
a failure of the treatment mechanism to apply a treatment;
an improper application of the treatment during operation of the treatment mechanism; and
application of a treatment by an improper treatment mechanism.

13. A farming machine comprising:
a camera physically mounted to the precision agriculture system;
a treatment mechanism physically mounted to the precision agriculture system;
a processor; and
a non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
capture an image of a field region with a camera of the device;
identify, from the image, a location of a first plant within the field region and a location of a second plant within the field region;
identify, a first treatment area based on the first plant and a second treatment area based on the second plant, wherein the treatment area describes a portion of the field region surrounding a plant;
set, by a computer of the device, a target treatment boundary location in the field region between the first treatment area and the second treatment area;
control, by the computer, a treatment mechanism of the device to apply a first treatment to the first treatment area;
control, by the computer, a treatment mechanism of the device to apply a second treatment to the second treatment area at a transition time, wherein the transition time is based on the target treatment boundary location;
determine, by the computer, an actual treatment boundary location

Assignees

• Blue River Tech Inc

Inventors

• Redden Lee Kamp
• Anderson Kent
• Pell Edward William Jeffcott
• Ostrowski James Patrick

Classifications

• Y02A40/10

  in agriculture · CPC title

• G01C7/04

  involving a vehicle which moves along the profile to be traced · CPC title

• A01M21/00

  Apparatus for the destruction of unwanted vegetation, e.g. weeds (control of undesirable vegetation on roads or permanent ways of railways E01H11/00) · CPC title

• A01M21/04

  Apparatus for destruction by steam, chemicals, burning, or electricity {(apparatus for burning A01M15/00)} · CPC title

• A01B79/005 Primary

  Precision agriculture · CPC title