US 11,510,405 B2 · Applying and using fiducial markings on agricultural apparatuses

Abstract

Implementations set forth herein relate to using fiducial markings on one or more localized portions of an agricultural apparatus in order to generate local and regional data that can be correlated for planning and executing agricultural maintenance. An array of fiducial markings can be disposed onto plastic mulch that surrounds individual crops, in order that each fiducial marking of the array can operate as a signature for each individual crop. Crop data, such as health and yield, corresponding to a particular crop can then be stored in association with a corresponding fiducial marking, thereby allowing the certain data for the particular crop to be tracked and analyzed. Furthermore, autonomous agricultural devices can rely on the crop data, over other sources of data, such as GPS satellites, thereby allowing the autonomous agricultural devices to be more reliable.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A method implemented by one or more processors, the method comprising:

disposing a synthetic mulch over an agricultural area that includes a plurality of plants,
where each plant of the plurality of plants extends through an aperture in the synthetic mulch, and
wherein the synthetic mulch includes fiducial markings that are detectable by a robot;
causing, subsequent to disposing the synthetic mulch over the agricultural area, one or more robots to identify each fiducial marking in the agricultural area and generate correspondence data that correlates each plant of the plurality of plants to one or more fiducial markings;
subsequent to causing the one or more robots to identify each fiducial marking:
causing one or more of the robots to navigate through the agricultural area in furtherance of locating a particular plant of the plurality of plants using the correspondence data, and
when the one or more robots have located the particular plant:
causing the one or more robots to perform an operation in furtherance of affecting a physical condition of the plant.

5 more elements

A method implemented by one or more processors, the method comprising:

navigating, by a robot, through a route that includes an agricultural area,
wherein the robot includes one or more sensors that detect properties of a plurality of plants located in the agricultural area;
identifying, when the robot is located in the agricultural area, a fiducial marking that is located on synthetic mulch and is located near a plant of the plurality of plants in the agricultural area,
wherein the fiducial marking is associated with agricultural data that is accessible to the robot and provides a correlation between the fiducial marking and the plant;
determining, based on the agricultural data that is associated with the fiducial marking, whether the plant has exhibited a condition that can be remedied via the robot or a separate computing device;
when the plant is determined to have exhibited the condition that can be remedied by the robot or the separate computing device:
causing the robot or the separate computing device to initialize performance of an operation in furtherance of remedying the condition exhibited by the plant;
and
when the plant is determined to not have exhibited the condition that can be remedied by the robot or the separate computing device:
bypassing causing the robot or the separate computing device to initialize performance of the operation, and
causing the robot to maneuver through the route toward another fiducial marking corresponding to another plant located in the agricultural area.

8 more elements

A method implemented by one or more processors, the method comprising:

determining, by a robot that traverses an agricultural area, that an environmental change is affecting an environment of a particular plant,
wherein the particular plant is located in the agricultural area, which includes a plurality of plants surrounded by synthetic mulch, and
wherein the environmental change is determined using one or more sensors of the robot;
identifying, before, during, or after determining that the environmental change is affecting the particular plant, a fiducial marking that is disposed over a portion of the synthetic mulch that is proximate to the particular plant,
wherein each plant of the plurality of plants corresponds to a unique fiducial marking of a plurality of fiducial markings that are also disposed over the synthetic mulch;
generating, based on identifying the fiducial marking and the environmental change, agricultural data that characterizes the environmental change;
and
storing the agricultural data in association with the particular plant.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Applying and using fiducial markings on agricultural apparatuses

Life of this patent

Applying and using fiducial markings on agricultural apparatuses

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims19