Systems and methods for crop stabilization and measurement

A system for measuring a size of a crop, the system comprising:

• a first deck plate and a second deck plate;
• a first stabilizer adapted for at least one of a displacement and a deformation of the first stabilizer in response to an engagement of the first stabilizer with the crop;
• at least one first sensor adapted to generate a first sensor signal in response to a detection by the at least one first sensor of the displacement or the deformation of the first stabilizer;
• a controller adapted to determine, using at least the first sensor signal, a measured size of the crop;
• and
• an actuator coupled to at least one of the first deck plate and the second deck plate,
• wherein the controller is adapted to selectively operate the actuator to adjust a width of a gap between the first and second deck plates to correspond to the measured size of the crop, and
• wherein the at least one first sensor includes a sensor that detects a linear movement of the first stabilizer and another sensor that detects a rotational displacement of the first stabilizer.

A system for measuring a size of a crop, the system comprising:

• a first deck plate and a second deck plate;
• a first stabilizer adapted for at least one of a displacement and a deformation of the first stabilizer in response to an engagement of the first stabilizer with the crop;
• at least one first sensor adapted to generate a first sensor signal in response to a detection by the at least one first sensor of the displacement or the deformation of the first stabilizer;
• a controller adapted to determine, using at least the first sensor signal, a measured size of the crop;
• and
• an actuator coupled to at least one of the first deck plate and the second deck plate,
• wherein the controller is adapted to selectively operate the actuator to adjust a width of a gap between the first and second deck plates to correspond to the measured size of the crop,
• wherein at least a portion of a sensor of the at least one first sensor is positioned within an interior region of a row divider of a harvester header,
• wherein the sensor includes at least one capacitance plate positioned within the interior region of the row divider, and
• wherein at least a portion of another sensor of the least one first sensor is adapted to detect a position of at least a portion of the first stabilizer in an area outside of the row divider.

A system for measuring a size of a crop, the system comprising:

• a first deck plate and a second deck plate;
• a first stabilizer adapted for at least one of a displacement and a deformation of the first stabilizer in response to an engagement of the first stabilizer with the crop;
• at least one first sensor adapted to generate a first sensor signal in response to a detection by the at least one first sensor of the displacement or the deformation of the first stabilizer;
• a controller adapted to determine, using at least the first sensor signal, a measured size of the crop;
• and
• an actuator coupled to at least one of the first deck plate and the second deck plate,
• wherein the controller is adapted to selectively operate the actuator to adjust a width of a gap between the first and second deck plates to correspond to the measured size of the crop,
• wherein the first stabilizer comprises a deformation body that is structured to receive an imprint into the deformation body from the engagement with the crop,
• wherein the at least one first sensor is adapted to detect at least one characteristic of the deformation body relating to the imprint,
• wherein the deformation body comprises a primary deformation body and a secondary deformation body, the secondary deformation body comprising a material that is different than a material of the primary deformation body, and
• wherein the at least one first sensor comprises a sensor embedded in the secondary deformation body.

A method for measuring a size of a plant, the method comprising:

• detecting at least one of a displacement and a deformation of each of a first stabilizer and a second stabilizer from an engagement of the first stabilizer and the second stabilizer with the plant;
• determining, based on the detection of the displacement or the deformation, a measured size of the plant;
• storing, in a memory operatively connected to a controller, a location information for the measured size of the plant for a plurality of plants;
• analyzing the stored location information to detect a location-based variability in the measured size of the plant for the plurality of plants in one or more portions of the field;
• and
• adjusting, by operation of at least one actuator and based on the detected location-based variability, at least one of a first deck plate and a second deck plate to adjust a width of a gap between the first and second deck plates.