# US 12,111,648 B2 · Detecting blockages in agricultural equipment using vibration sensors

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 12,111,648 B2
- Document ID: US12111648B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/882,126
- Filed: 2022-08-05
- Published: 2024-02-08
- Granted: 2024-10-08
- Earliest claimed: 2022-08-05
- Assignees: Trimble Inc.
- Applicants: Trimble Inc.
- Inventors: Miles R. Porter
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12111648B2

## CPC

- G01H 1/00: Measuring {characteristics of} vibrations in solids by using direct conduction to the detector (G01H9/00, G01H11/00 take precedence)
- G05B 23/024: {Quantitative history assessment, e.g. mathematical relationships between available data; Functions therefor; Principal component analysis [PCA]; Partial least square [PLS]; Statistical classifiers, e.g. Bayesian networks, linear regression or correlation analysis; Neural networks}
- A01C 7/105: {Seed sensors}
- G05B 23/0221: {Preprocessing measurements, e.g. data collection rate adjustment; Standardization of measurements; Time series or signal analysis, e.g. frequency analysis or wavelets; Trustworthiness of measurements; Indexes therefor; Measurements using easily measured parameters to estimate parameters difficult to measure; Virtual sensor creation; De-noising; Sensor fusion; Unconventional preprocessing inherently present in specific fault detection methods like PCA-based methods}
- G01H: MEASUREMENT OF MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS OR ULTRASONIC, SONIC OR INFRASONIC WAVES
- G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G)
- A01C: PLANTING; SOWING; FERTILISING (parts, details or accessories of agricultural machines or implements, in general A01B51/00 - A01B75/00)

## Abstract

A sampling device receives, from each a plurality of transducer computing devices, respective vibration input samples. The sampling device generates a loop buffer corresponding to a most recent threshold number of samples received from each of the plurality of transducer computing devices including first and second transducer devices each located within a predefined proximity to first and second flow tubes of an equipment. The sampling device accesses, from the loop buffer, a most recent first sample logged by the first transducer computing device. The sampling device assigns, using a trained model, the first input sample to a first category of a set of categories. The sampling device accesses, from the loop buffer subsequent to accessing the first sample, a most recent second sample logged by a second transducer computing device and, using the model, assigns the second input sample to a second category of the set of categories.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from each a plurality of transducer computing devices, respective vibration input samples;
generating a loop buffer corresponding to a most recent threshold number of vibration input samples received from each of the plurality of transducer computing devices including a first transducer computing device located within a predefined proximity to a first flow tube of an equipment and a second transducer device located within the predefined proximity to a second flow tube of the equipment;
accessing, from the loop buffer, a most recent first vibration input sample logged by the first transducer computing device;
using a trained model, assign the first vibration input sample to a first category of a set of categories for which the trained model is trained, each category of the set of categories specifying an operating condition of flow tubes of the equipment;
accessing, from the loop buffer subsequent to accessing the first vibration input sample, a most recent second vibration input sample logged by a second transducer computing device;
using the trained model, assign the second vibration input sample to a second category of the set of categories;
responsive to assigning the first category to the first vibration input sample, incrementing an alarm counter associated with the first category; and
responsive to determining that the alarm counter meets or exceeds an alert threshold, reporting, to a computing system, an alarm status for the first flow tube corresponding to the first category.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the equipment comprises an autonomous planter machine and wherein the operations further comprise transmitting, responsive to determining that the alarm counter meets or exceeds an alert threshold, instructions to the autonomous planter machine to perform one or more operations or to stop performing the one or more operations associated with the assigned category.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein the category comprises an operating condition comprising a blockage of the first flow tube, and wherein the one or more operations include removing the blockage in the first flow tube.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the trained model comprises a cluster assignment model comprising a logistic regression model, a tree-based model, or a random forest model.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the trained model comprises an anomaly detection model, wherein the set of categories comprise an anomalous category or a non-anomalous category.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first transducer computing device comprises a transducer that detects physical vibrations in an environment of the first flow tube and converts the detected physical vibrations to electrical signals, wherein the transducer generates the first vibration input sample based on the electrical signals.

### Claim 7

A computer-implemented method, comprising, using a sampling computing device to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from each a plurality of transducer computing devices, respective vibration input samples;
generating a loop buffer corresponding to a most recent threshold number of vibration input samples received from each of the plurality of transducer computing devices including a first transducer computing device located within a predefined proximity to a first flow tube of an equipment and a second transducer device located within the predefined proximity to a second flow tube of the equipment;
accessing, from the loop buffer, a most recent first vibration input sample logged by the first transducer computing device;
using a trained model, assign the first vibration input sample to a first category of a set of categories for which the trained model is trained, each category of the set of categories specifying an operating condition of flow tubes of the equipment;
accessing, from the loop buffer subsequent to accessing the first vibration input sample, a most recent second vibration input sample logged by a second transducer computing device;
using the trained model, assign the second vibration input sample to a second category of the set of categories;
responsive to assigning the first category to the first vibration input sample, incrementing an alarm counter associated with the first category; and
responsive to determining that the alarm counter meets or exceeds an alert threshold, reporting, to a computing system, an alarm status for the first flow tube corresponding to the first category.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the equipment comprises an autonomous planter machine and wherein the operations further comprise transmitting, responsive to determining that the alarm counter meets or exceeds an alert threshold, instructions to the autonomous planter machine to perform one or more operations or to stop performing the one or more operations associated with the assigned category.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the category comprises an operating condition comprising a blockage of the first flow tube, and wherein the one or more operations include removing the blockage in the first flow tube.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the trained model comprises a cluster assignment model comprising a logistic regression model, a tree-based model, or a random forest model.

### Claim 11 (depends on 7)

The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the first transducer computing device comprises a transducer that detects physical vibrations in an environment of the first flow tube and converts the detected physical vibrations to electrical signals, wherein the transducer generates the first vibration input sample based on the electrical signals.

### Claim 12 (depends on 7)

The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the trained model comprises an anomaly detection model, wherein the set of categories comprise an anomalous category or a non-anomalous category.

### Claim 13

A system, comprising:
one or more processors; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from each a plurality of transducer computing devices, respective vibration input samples;
generating a loop buffer corresponding to a most recent threshold number of vibration input samples received from each of the plurality of transducer computing devices including a first transducer computing device located within a predefined proximity to a first flow tube of an equipment and a second transducer device located within the predefined proximity to a second flow tube of the equipment;
accessing, from the loop buffer, a most recent first vibration input sample logged by the first transducer computing device;
using a trained model, assign the first vibration input sample to a first category of a set of categories for which the trained model is trained, each category of the set of categories specifying an operating condition of flow tubes of the equipment;
accessing, from the loop buffer subsequent to accessing the first vibration input sample, a most recent second vibration input sample logged by a second transducer computing device;
using the trained model, assign the second vibration input sample to a second category of the set of categories;
responsive to assigning the first category to the first vibration input sample, incrementing an alarm counter associated with the first category; and
responsive to determining that the alarm counter meets or exceeds an alert threshold, reporting, to a computing system, an alarm status for the first flow tube corresponding to the first category.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The system of claim 13, wherein the equipment comprises an autonomous planter machine and wherein the operations further comprise transmitting, responsive to determining that the alarm counter meets or exceeds an alert threshold, instructions to the autonomous planter machine to perform one or more operations or to stop performing the one or more operations associated with the assigned category.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14, wherein the category comprises an operating condition comprising a blockage of the first flow tube, and wherein the one or more operations include removing the blockage in the first flow tube.

### Claim 16 (depends on 13)

The system of claim 13, wherein the trained model comprises a cluster assignment model comprising a logistic regression model, a tree-based model, or a random forest model.

### Claim 17 (depends on 13)

The system of claim 13, wherein the first transducer computing device comprises a transducer that detects physical vibrations in an environment of the first flow tube and converts the detected physical vibrations to electrical signals, wherein the transducer generates the first vibration input sample based on the electrical signals.