Modular precision agriculture system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12538879-B2
Application number	US-202318302662-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 18, 2023
Priority date	Mar 6, 2015
Publication date	Feb 3, 2026
Grant date	Feb 3, 2026

Abstract

A modular system includes a hub and a set of modules removably coupled to the hub. The modules are physically coupled to the frame relative to each other so that each module can operate with respect to a different row of a field. An individual module includes a sensor for capturing field measurement data of individual plants along a row as the modular system moves through the geographic region. An individual module further includes a treatment mechanism for applying a treatment to the individual plants of the row based on the field measurement data before the modular system passes by the individual plants. An individual module further includes a computing device that determines the treatment based on the field measurement data and communicates data to the hub. The hub is communicatively coupled to the modules, so that it may exchange data between the modules and with a remote computing system.

First claim

What is claimed:

1 . A method for identifying and treating plants using a farming machine, the method comprising:
identifying a plant in a first image, the first image captured with a first camera system of a first treatment module; determining first treatment information for a first treatment mechanism of the first treatment module to treat the plant; accessing, at a second treatment module spatially adjacent to the first treatment module, the first treatment information; identifying, at the second treatment module, the plant in a second image, the second image captured with a second camera system of a second treatment module; determining, at the second treatment module, second treatment information for a second treatment mechanism of the second treatment module to treat the plant; generating, at the second treatment module, a treatment for the plant using the first treatment information accessed at the second treatment module and the second treatment information determined at the second treatment module; and actuating the second treatment mechanism of the second treatment module to apply the treatment to the plant.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the plant in the first image further comprises:
capturing, at the first treatment module, the first image with the first camera system; transmitting the first image to the second treatment module; and identifying, at the second treatment module, the plant in the first image.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the plant in the first image further comprises:
capturing, at the first treatment module, the first image with the first camera system, and identifying, at the first treatment module, the plant in the first image.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein accessing the first treatment information at the second treatment module further comprises:
determining the first treatment information at the first treatment module; receiving the first treatment information at the second treatment module from the first treatment module; and storing the first treatment information at the second treatment module.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein accessing the first treatment information at the second treatment module further comprises:
receiving the first image at the second treatment module; determining, at the second treatment module, the first treatment information based on the first image; and storing the first treatment information at the second treatment module.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the first treatment information further comprises determining a treatment type for the plant based on the first image; determining the second treatment information further comprises determining a location of the plant based on the second image; and generating the treatment for the plant using the first treatment information and the second treatment information is based on the treatment type for the plant and the location of the plant.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the first treatment information further comprises identifying the plant as a treatment target for the farming machine based on the first image; determining the second treatment information further comprises confirming the plant as the treatment target for the farming machine based on the second image; and generating the treatment for the plant using the first treatment information and the second treatment information is based on identification of the plant as the treatment target and confirmation of the plant as the treatment target.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the second treatment information further comprises accessing information describing a previous treatment of the plant; and generating the treatment for the plant using the first treatment information and the second treatment information uses the information describing the previous treatment of the plant.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the first treatment information further comprises identifying a position of the plant based on the first image; determining the second treatment information further comprises verifying the position of the plant based on the second image; and generating the treatment for the plant using the first treatment information and the second treatment information is based on identifying the position of the plant and verifying of the position of the plant.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the first treatment information further comprises identifying a time to treat the plant based on the first image; determining the second treatment information further comprises verifying the time to treat the plant based on the second image; and generating the treatment for the plant using the first treatment information and the second treatment information is based on identifying the time to treat the plant and verifying the time to treat the plant.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the first treatment information further comprises determining operating parameters of the first treatment mechanism to treat the plant; determining the second treatment information further comprises determining operating parameters of the second treatment mechanism; and generating the treatment for the plant using the first treatment information and the second treatment information is based on the determining operating parameters of the first treatment mechanism to treat the plant and the determined operating parameters of the second treatment mechanism.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating, at the first treatment module, an other treatment for the plant using the first treatment information; and actuating the first treatment mechanism of the first treatment module to apply the other treatment to the plant.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein:
determining the first treatment information for the first treatment mechanism comprises accessing information describing the other treatment; and generating the treatment for the plant using the first treatment information and the second treatment information is based on accessed information describing the other treatment.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein actuating the first treatment mechanism to apply the other treatment and actuating the second treatment mechanism to apply the treatment occur concurrently.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein actuating the first treatment mechanism to apply the other treatment occurs at a time before actuating the second treatment mechanism to apply the treatment.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first treatment module is positioned adjacent to the second treatment module laterally in a direction perpendicular to a direction of travel of the farming machine.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first treatment module is position adjacent to the second treatment module laterally in a direction parallel to a direction of travel of the farming machine.

18 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for identifying and treating plants using a farming machine, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to:
identify a plant in a first image, the first image captured with a first camera system of a first treatment module; determine first treatment information for a first treatment mechanism of the first treatment module to treat the plant; access, at a second treatment module spatially adjacent to the first

Assignees

• Deere & Co

Inventors

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

Classifications

• Y02A40/10

  in agriculture · CPC title

• A01M7/0042

  Field sprayers, e.g. self-propelled, drawn or tractor-mounted · CPC title

• G06T7/00

  Image analysis · CPC title

• A01M21/043

  by chemicals · CPC title

• A01M21/04

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