Apparatus and method for monitoring a field

A method for field monitoring with an unmanned vehicle system comprising:

• receiving, at a control circuit, onboard sensor data from a sensor system of an unmanned vehicle collected while the unmanned vehicle is traveling, wherein the unmanned vehicle carries a plurality of sensor modules;
• detecting, with the control circuit, an alert condition at a monitored area based on the onboard sensor data;
• selecting, with the control circuit, one or more sensor modules from a plurality of types of sensor modules carried onboard the unmanned vehicle to deploy at the monitored area based on the onboard sensor data, wherein the one or more sensor modules are selected based on matching the alert condition to capabilities of the one or more sensor modules among the plurality of types of sensor modules;
• and
• causing the unmanned vehicle to deploy the one or more sensor modules by detaching from the one or more sensor modules at the monitored area, wherein the one or more sensor modules are configured to remain in the monitored area to collect data over time.

An apparatus for field monitoring with an unmanned vehicle system, comprising:

• a non-transitory storage medium storing a set of computer readable instructions;
• and
• a control circuit configured to execute the set of computer readable instructions which causes to the control circuit to:
• receive onboard sensor data from a sensor system of an unmanned vehicle collected while the unmanned vehicle is traveling, wherein the unmanned vehicle carries a plurality of sensor modules;
• detect an alert condition at a monitored area based on the onboard sensor data;
• select one or more sensor modules from a plurality of types of sensor modules carried onboard the unmanned vehicle to deploy at the monitored area based on the onboard sensor data, wherein the one or more sensor modules are selected based on matching the alert condition to capabilities of the one or more sensor modules among the plurality of types of sensor modules;
• and
• cause the unmanned vehicle to deploy the one or more sensor modules by detaching from the one or more sensor modules at the monitored area, wherein the one or more sensor modules are configured to remain in the monitored area to collect data over time.