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US 2022/0044044 A1Published application
Plant identification using heterogenous multi-spectral stereo imaging
AssigneeBlue River Technology Inc.
InventorsJohn William Peake, James Patrick Ostrowski
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A farming machine identifies and treats a plant as the farming machine travels through a field. The farming machine includes a pair of image sensors for capturing images of a plant. The image sensors are different, and their output images are used to generate a depth map to improve the plant identification process. A control system identifies a plant using the depth map. The control system captures images, identifies a plant, and actuates a treatment mechanism in real time.
Claims20
A method for taking a farming action in a field, comprising:
- accessing a color image corresponding to a first field of view and comprising a plurality of color pixels comprising (i) one or more color pixels representing a plant in the field, and (ii) one or more color pixels for a particular spectral band;
- accessing a multispectral image corresponding to a second field of view and comprising a plurality of multispectral pixels comprising (i) one or more multispectral pixels representing the plant in the field, and (ii) one or more multispectral pixels for the particular spectral band;
- generating a depth map comprising a plurality of depth pixels representing stereo depth information, the plurality of depth pixels including one or more depth pixels representing the plant in the field, by:
- identifying an overlapping region between the first field of view and the second field of view;
- generating stereo depth information from the multispectral pixels and color pixels for the particular spectral band that correspond to the overlapping region;
- and
- encoding the stereo depth information into the depth pixels of the depth map;
- identifying the plant in the depth pixels of the depth map;
- and
- taking a farming action in the field based on the identified plant in the depth pixels of the depth map.
7 more elements
A farming machine comprising:
- an image acquisition system configured to capture a pair of images of a plant in a field as the farming machine moves through the field, wherein the image acquisition system comprises:
- a first image sensor configured to produce color images comprising a plurality of color pixels, the plurality of color pixels comprising (i) one or more color pixels representing the plant in the field, and (ii) one or more color pixels for a particular spectral band, and
- a second image sensor configured to produce multispectral images comprising a plurality of multispectral pixels, the plurality of multispectral pixels comprising (i) one or more multispectral pixels representing the plant in the field, and (ii) one or more multispectral pixels for the particular spectral band;
- and
- a controller for:
- generating a depth map comprising a plurality of depth pixels representing stereo depth information, the plurality of depth pixels including one or more depth pixels representing the plant in the field, the generating comprising:
- identifying an overlapping region between the first field of view and the second field of view;
- generating stereo depth information from the multispectral pixels and color pixels for the particular spectral band that correspond to the overlapping region;
- and
- encoding the stereo depth information into the depth pixels of the depth map;
- identifying the plant in the depth pixels of the depth map;
- and
- taking a farming action in the field based on the identified plant in the depth pixels of the depth map.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.