Greenhouse Mobile Sensor Vehicle
OwnerSteve M. Murphyinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An unmanned, autonomous, battery powered and rechargeable vehicle having multiple sensors for collecting, analyzing, storing and transmitting data related to environmental and plant growth data in greenhouse environment. The mobile vehicle navigates between plant rows tracking a designated and repeatable path several times daily, collecting data from the plant root ball up to and including the plant canopy, without touching, sampling, or impacting plant growth. A telescoping arm ensures the sensor platform height is optimized relative to the plant canopy height.
Claims8
A mobile environment sensor vehicle comprising:
- a) a base frame,
- b) a drive train and wheel steering system attached to said base frame,
- c) a vertical telescoping arm attached to said base frame,
- d) a battery and a motor drive attached to said base frame,
- e) a vehicle computer having an operating system,
- f) a plurality of environment sensors mounted on a sensor platform positioned at the distal end of said telescoping arm,
- g) at least one image camera mounted on said sensor platform,
- h) said sensor platform substantially positioned at a canopy height, and
- i) said vehicle computer with said operating system further comprising:
- i) a drive motor controller,
- ii) a plurality of sensor data inputs,
- iii) a telescoping arm positioner,
- iv) a GPS receiver,
- v) a wireless transmitter, and
- vi) a steering controller.
A method for collecting mobile crop environment sensor readings comprising:
- a) providing:
- i) a base frame,
- ii) a drive train and wheel steering train attached to said base frame
- iii) a vertical telescoping arm attached to said base frame,
- iv) a battery and a motor drive attached to said base frame,
- v) a vehicle computer having an operating system,
- vi) a plurality of environment sensors mounted on a sensor platform positioned at the distal end of said telescoping arm,
- vii) at least one image camera mounted on said sensor platform
- viii) said sensor platform substantially positioned at a canopy height, and
- ix) said vehicle computer with said operating system further comprising:
- a. a drive motor controller,
- b. a plurality of sensor data inputs,
- c. a telescoping arm positioner,
- d. a GPS receiver,
- e. a wireless transmitter, and
- f. a steering controller,
- b) positioning said mobile unit at a charging station,
- c) configuring said operating system to move said mobile crop sensor vehicle in a predetermined sequence to:
- i) leave said charging system,
- ii) position at a start of at least one crop row,
- iii) move to an end of said at least one crop row, and
- iv) return to said charging system.
- d) transmit data to a remote computer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.