Calibrating crop row computer vision system

A device for calibrating a crop row computer vision system, the device comprising:

• a memory including instructions;
• and
• processing circuitry that is configured by the instructions to:
• obtain a set of one or more images of a field that includes crop rows and furrows, the set of one or more images captured by a sensor associated with the computer vision system;
• iteratively test a set of models on an image from the set of one or more images to select a model of the field, the test based on a correspondence between a periodic component of the model and the crop rows or the furrows in the image, an iteration including:
• a selection of a period for a function as a current model;
• a test of the current model for correspondence between a feature of the function and the crop rows or the furrows in the image to produce a value;
• and
• a determination of whether the value is better than a previous value from a previous iteration, iterations terminating in response to a predefined iteration limit being reached or to the value being worse than the previous value indicating a maximum extremum is reached, the model corresponding to the maximum extremum, the period selected at a next iteration to move towards the maximum extremum based on the determination of whether the value is better than the previous value from the previous iteration;
• determine a scaling of crop rows or furrows in the image using the model;
• determine a calibration parameter that is indicative of a configuration of the sensor relative to the field based on the scaling of crops rows or furrows;
• and
• communicate the calibration parameter to a receiver.

A method for calibrating a crop row computer vision system, the method comprising:

• obtaining a set of one or more images of a field that includes crop rows and furrows, the set of one or more images captured by a sensor associated with the computer vision system;
• iteratively testing a set of models on an image from the set of one or more images to select a model of the field, the testing based on a correspondence between a periodic component of the model and the crop rows or the furrows in the image, an iteration including:
• selecting a period for a function as a current model;
• testing the current model for correspondence between a feature of the function and the crop rows or the furrows in the image to produce a value;
• and
• determining whether the value is better than a previous value from a previous iteration, iterations terminating in response to a predefined iteration limit being reached or to the value being worse than the previous value indicating a maximum extremum is reached, the model corresponding to the maximum extremum, the period selected at a next iteration to move towards the maximum extremum based on the determination of whether the value is better than the previous value from the previous iteration:
• determining a scaling of crop rows or furrows in the image using the model;
• determining a calibration parameter that is indicative of a configuration of the sensor relative to the field based on the scaling of crops rows or furrows;
• and
• communicating the calibration parameter to a receiver.