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US 11,297,768 B2Granted
Vision based stalk sensors and associated systems and methods
AssigneeAg Leader Technology
InventorsRhett Schildroth, Roger Zielke, Barry Anderson, Scott Eichhorn, Tony Woodcock, Vahid Ellig
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Abstract
The present disclosure is related to agricultural devices, system, and methods, particularly for detecting and measuring plant stalks during harvest. The system may comprise a harvesting row unit, with a camera, a processing unit, and an in-cab display. The system may additionally include a stalk alignment guide, a leaf shield, an artificial light source, and/or a lens cleaning apparatus.
Claims19
A harvesting device comprising:
- (a) a plurality of row units, each row unit comprising a camera;
- (b) a processor in communication with the camera, the processor constructed and arranged to process images acquired by the camera to detect stalks;
- and
- (c) a display in communication with the at least one processor, the display configured to display data acquired from the images,
- wherein the data acquired from the images include stalk location and stalk size, and
- wherein the processor acquires a harvester speed and a frame rate of the camera to detect stalks captured in multiple images.
3 more elements
A method for detecting and measuring stalks comprising:
- acquiring one or more images of a stalk;
- sending the one or more images to a processor;
- determining a harvester speed when each of the one or more images was acquired;
- determining a frame rate of a camera when each of the one or more images was acquired;
- processing the at least one image via one or more algorithms to detect stalks and determine stalk size;
- identifying stalks that are present in one or more of the one or more images;
- and
- outputting data related to the detected stalk and stalk size.
5 more elements
A system for providing harvest data comprising:
- (a) a row unit;
- (b) an image sensor on the row unit;
- and
- (c) a processor in communication with the image sensor,
- wherein the image sensor acquires images during harvest and wherein the processor is constructed and arranged to process the acquired images to detect stalks, and wherein the processor is constructed and arranged to determine when a stalk is present in more than one of the acquired images.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.