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US 12,696,831 B2Granted
Autonomous agricultural vehicle systems and methods
AssigneeMoray Tecnologia Ltda.
InventorsJuan Carlos Castilla-Rubio, Fabio Faria, Fabiano Adegas, Bruno Santos, Yves Sakamoto, Rodrigo Lopes, Victor Vazquez, Lucas de Cunto Costanzo, David Peter Swan, Liam David Harrison
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An agricultural autonomous vehicle is provided which is operable to traverse a field and perform one or more detection tasks.
Claims19
An autonomous vehicle, comprising:
- a top formed of one or more structural panels;
- a first wall comprising at least a first upper portion and a first lower portion, the first lower portion coupled to a first side of the top and the first lower portion being coupled to a first set of wheels;
- a second wall comprising at least a second upper portion and a second lower portion, the second upper portion being coupled to a second side of the top and the second lower portion being coupled to a second set of wheels, the first and second walls spaced apart from each other a distance to allow plants in a row of crops to pass between the first and the second walls, wherein the distance between the first and second walls is adjustable by replacing the one or more structural panels of the top;
- at least a first camera positioned on the second wall to acquire images of at least a portion of an area around one or more plants in the row of crops;
- and
- a processing system to:
- receive a mission plan, the mission plan identifying a travel path with a number of waypoints and at least a first detection task to be performed;
- control a drive system of the autonomous vehicle to cause operation of the first set of wheels and the second set of wheels to cause the autonomous vehicle to move along the travel path between the waypoints;
- control a detection system of the autonomous vehicle to operate the at least first camera to capture images for the at least first detection task;
- and
- transmit information associated with the performance of the at least first detection task to a control system for processing.
8 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a control system, the control system generating at least a first mission plan defining a travel path within an agricultural field, the travel path including a number of waypoints and at least a first detection task to be performed;
- an autonomous vehicle, in communication with the control system to receive the at least first mission plan over a wireless communication link, the autonomous vehicle including
- a top formed of one or more structural panels;
- a first wall comprising at least a first upper portion and a first lower portion, the first lower portion coupled to a first side of the top and the first lower portion being coupled to a first set of wheels;
- a second wall comprising at least a second upper portion and a second lower portion, the second upper portion being coupled to a second side of the top and the second lower portion being coupled to a second set of wheels, the first and second walls spaced apart from each other a distance to allow plants in a row of crops to pass between the first and the second walls, wherein the distance between the first and second walls is adjustable by replacing the one or more structural panels of the top;
- at least a first camera positioned on the second wall to acquire images of at least a portion of an area around one or more plants in the row of crops;
- a processing system to:
- control a drive system of the autonomous vehicle to cause operation of the first set of wheels and the second set of wheels to cause the autonomous vehicle to move along the travel path between the waypoints;
- control a detection system of the autonomous vehicle to operate the at least first camera to capture images for the at least first detection task;
- and
- transmit information associated with the performance of the at least first detection task to the control system for processing.
8 more elements
A method, comprising:
- adjusting a configuration of an autonomous vehicle, the autonomous vehicle having a top formed of one or more structural panels, a first wall having an upper portion coupled to a first side of the top, and a lower portion coupled to a first set of wheels, a second wall having a second upper portion coupled to a second side of the top and a second lower portion coupled to a second set of wheels, the first wall and second wall spaced apart from each other a distance to allow plants in a row of crops to pass between the first and second walls, wherein adjusting the configuration includes adjusting the distance between the first and second walls by replacing the one or more structural panels of the top;
- receiving, by the autonomous vehicle, a mission plan identifying a travel path through an agricultural field, the travel path having a number of waypoints and information identifying a first detection task;
- controlling a drive system of the autonomous vehicle to cause operation of the first and second set of wheels to cause the autonomous vehicle to move along the travel path between the waypoints;
- controlling a detection system of the autonomous vehicle to operate at least a first camera to capture images for the at least first detection task;
- and
- transmitting information associated with the performance of the at least first detection task to a control system for processing.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.