System and method for controlling the operation of an agricultural implement

A system for controlling an operation of an agricultural implement, the system comprising:

• a disk blade configured to rotate relative to soil in a field across which the agricultural implement is traveling;
• an imaging device configured to generate image data depicting a portion of the field positioned forward of the disk blade relative to a travel direction of the agricultural implement;
• and
• a computing system communicatively coupled to the imaging device, wherein the computing system:
• analyzes the image data generated by the imaging device to identify one or more pieces of residue present on a surface of the imaged portion of the field;
• classifies each of the identified one or more pieces of residue as having one of a corn stalk classification or a non-corn stalk classification, the corn stalk classification being indicative of a corn stalk that has been severed from a corresponding root ball and is present on the surface of the field;
• determines a length of each identified piece of residue having the corn stalk classification;
• disregards each piece of residue having the non-corn stalk classification;
• determines a length parameter associated with the identified one or more residue pieces having the corn stalk classification based on the determined lengths;
• and
• controls an operating parameter of the disk blade based on the determined length parameter.

A method for controlling an operation of an agricultural implement, the agricultural implement including a disk blade configured to rotate relative to soil in a field across which the tillage implement is traveling, the method comprising:

• receiving, with a computing system, image data depicting a portion of the field positioned forward of the disk blade relative to a travel direction of the agricultural implement;
• analyzing, with the computing system, the received image data to identify one or more pieces of residue present on a surface of the imaged portion of the field;
• classifying, with the computing system, each of the identified one or more pieces of residue as having one of a corn stalk classification or a non-corn stalk classification, the corn stalk classification being indicative of a corn stalk that has been severed from a corresponding root ball and is present on the surface of the field;
• determining, with the computing system, a length of each identified piece of residue having the corn stalk classification;
• disregarding, with the computing system, each piece of residue having the non-corn stalk classification;
• determining, with the computing system, a length parameter associated with the one or more residue pieces having the corn stalk classification based on the determined lengths;
• and
• controlling, with the computing system, an operating parameter of the disk blade based on the determined length parameter.