Agricultural crop analysis drone

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9745060-B2
Application number	US-201514802389-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2015
Priority date	Jul 17, 2015
Publication date	Aug 29, 2017
Grant date	Aug 29, 2017

Abstract

A method and system utilizing one or more agricultural drones in combination with agricultural equipment, e.g., an agricultural boom sprayer, to evaluate the crops being farmed, and to improve the real-time delivery and dispensing of liquid from the sprayer including monitoring and verifying that the liquid is being dispensed correctly and/or in accordance with a desired distribution pattern or level.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for agricultural farming, the method comprising:
collecting information specific to a plurality of crops at a first agricultural drone; and
transmitting the collected information in real-time from the first agricultural drone to an agricultural vehicle traversing the plurality of crops, the first agricultural drone operating independently from the agricultural vehicle;
receiving, by the agricultural vehicle, the collected information from the first agricultural done in real-time;
adjusting, in real-time, by the agricultural vehicle at least one operation of the agricultural vehicle using the received collected information from the first agricultural drone; and
wherein the agricultural vehicle is a boom sprayer, the first agricultural drone is flying in a position in advance of the agricultural vehicle, and the adjusting, in real-time, by the boom sprayer includes a leveling of the boom sprayer wherein the leveling is achieved independent of any information collected by one or more sensors resident on the boom sprayer.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
collecting information specific to the plurality of crops from a second agricultural drone, the second agricultural drone flying in a position in back of the agricultural vehicle; and
transmitting the collected information in real-time from the second agricultural drone to the agricultural vehicle traversing the plurality of crops.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:
receiving, by the agricultural vehicle, the collected information from the second agricultural done in real-time; and
adjusting, in real-time, by the agricultural vehicle at least one operation of the agricultural vehicle using the received collected information from the second agricultural drone.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the adjusting by the boom sprayer includes an adjustment to a rate of dispensing a liquid from the boom sprayer.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the liquid is one of water, fertilizer and crop protection chemicals.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the collected information from the second agricultural drone includes a measurement of the liquid being dispensed by the agricultural vehicle on the plurality of crops.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the adjusting by agricultural vehicle includes an adjustment of a rate of dispensing the liquid based on the measurement.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the collected information includes image data of at least one of an elevation of the field, a contour of the field, a topology of the field, and a plurality of crops.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the transmitting the collected information is over a cellular network.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the flying of the first agricultural drone and the traversing of plurality of crops by the agricultural vehicle occur substantially contemporaneously.

11. The method of claim 2 wherein the flying of the second agricultural drone and the traversing of plurality of crops by the agricultural vehicle occur substantially contemporaneously.

12. A method for agricultural farming, the method comprising:
collecting information specific to a plurality of crops at a first agricultural drone; and
transmitting the collected information in real-time from the first agricultural drone to an agricultural vehicle traversing the plurality of crops, the first agricultural drone operating independently from the agricultural vehicle;
receiving, by the agricultural vehicle, the collected information from the first agricultural done in real-time;
adjusting, in real-time, by the agricultural vehicle at least one operation of the agricultural vehicle using the received collected information from the first agricultural drone; and
analyzing, at the first agricultural drone, the collected information to identify individual crops of the plurality of crops suffering from drought or under-fertilization.

Assignees

• Topcon Positioning Systems Inc

Inventors

• O'Connor Raymond M
• Di Federico Ivan Giovanni

Classifications

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · CPC title

• B64U2201/10

  autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] · CPC title

• B64U30/20

  Rotors; Rotor supports · CPC title

• A01B79/005 Primary

  Precision agriculture · CPC title

• A01M7/0089

  Regulating or controlling systems (the delivery being related to the movement of a vehicle B05B9/06) · CPC title