Robotic system for automated soil testing and analyses

A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to:

• process data pertaining to a given geographical region, wherein processing data pertaining to the given geographical region comprises identifying and labeling multiple sub-regions of the given geographical region;
• generate one or more navigational courses associated with one or more of the multiple sub-regions within the given geographical region based at least in part on the processed data;
• automatically execute at least one of the one or more generated navigational courses in accordance with at least one temporally-based schedule associated with at least one of the one or more sub-regions of the given geographical regions;
• automatically track, during execution of the at least one of the one or more generated navigational courses, proximity to (i) a ground surface and (ii) one or more obstacles positioned on the ground surface via one or more sensors;
• automatically analyze one or more soil samples, based at least in part on one or more predetermined soil-related parameters, at one or more predetermined locations within the at least one of the one or more sub-regions of the given geographical region, in accordance with the at least one of the one or more generated navigational courses, wherein automatically analyzing the one or more soil samples comprises analyzing, via at least one of the one or more sensors and one or more probes;
• generate and output results of the analyzing of the one or more soil samples;
• and
• automatically generate one or more suggestions pertaining to modifying at least a portion of soil within the given geographical region based at least in part on (i) the analyzing of the one or more soil samples and (ii) one or more desired values of at least one of the one or more predetermined soil-related parameters, wherein automatically generating one or more suggestions comprises automatically generating one or more suggestions to run one or more sprinklers, for one or more suggested durations of time, in at least one of the multiple sub-regions, in accordance with one or more user-identified soil moisture levels.

A robotic system comprising:

• power components comprising one or more solar panels and one or more batteries;
• a drive train and steering system;
• one or more motors;
• one or more probes and one or more sensors;
• one or more subsystems capable of:
• controlling at least one type of vertical motion of the robotic system, wherein said controlling comprises modifying an amount of normal force that the robotic system applies to at least one ground surface, and wherein the at least one type of vertical motion controlled by the one or more subsystems comprises vertical flight of at least a portion of the robotic system;
• a computing device comprises at least one processor operably coupled to a memory, wherein the computing device is configured for:
• processing data pertaining to a given geographical region, wherein processing data pertaining to the given geographical region comprises identifying and labeling multiple sub-regions of the given geographical region;
• generating one or more navigational courses associated with one or more of the multiple sub-regions within the given geographical region based at least in part on the processed data;
• automatically executing at least one of the one or more generated navigational courses in accordance with at least one temporally-based schedule associated with at least one of the one or more sub-regions of the given geographical regions;
• automatically tracking, during execution of the at least one of the one or more generated navigational courses, proximity to (i) a ground surface and (ii) one or more obstacles positioned on the ground surface via one or more sensors;
• automatically collecting, via at least one of the one or more probes and the one or more sensors, one or more soil samples at one or more predetermined locations within the at least one of the one or more sub-regions of the given geographical region, in accordance with the at least one of the generated navigational courses;
• automatically analyzing the one or more collected soil samples based on one or more predetermined soil-related parameters;
• generating and outputting results of the analyzing of the one or more collected soil samples;
• and
• automatically generating one or more suggestions pertaining to modifying at least a portion of soil within the given geographical region based at least in part on (i) the analyzing of the one or more collected soil samples and (ii) one or more desired values of at least one of the one or more predetermined soil-related parameters, wherein automatically generating one or more suggestions comprises automatically generating one or more suggestions to run one or more sprinklers, for one or more suggested durations of time, in at least one of the multiple sub-regions, in accordance with one or more user-identified soil moisture levels.