Vision guidance system and method for identifying the position of crop rows in a field

An apparatus for identifying a position of a crop row in a field comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory unit communicatively connected to the processor and including:
• computer code for collecting, via an imaging unit, image data of two or more crop rows;
• computer code for defining a candidate scan line profile for a corresponding heading and pitch of directional movement associated with the imaging unit and relative to the two or more crop rows, the candidate scan line profile comprising an array of vector quantities, each vector quantity comprising an intensity value and a corresponding position datum;
• computer code for selecting the position datum associated with a corresponding highest intensity value within the array, as indicative of a candidate position of a crop row;
• and
• computer code for identifying the candidate position as a preliminary row position if a variation in the intensity level of the candidate scan line profile exceeds a threshold variation value.

A computer program product, embodied on a computer-readable medium, for identifying a position of a crop row in a field comprising:

• computer code for collecting, via an imaging unit, image data of two or more crop rows;
• computer code for defining a candidate scan line profile for a corresponding heading and pitch of directional movement associated with the imaging unit and relative to the two or more crop rows, the candidate scan line profile comprising an array of vector quantities, each vector quantity comprising an intensity value and a corresponding position datum;
• computer code for selecting the position datum, associated with a corresponding highest intensity value within the array, as indicative of a candidate position of a crop row;
• and
• computer code for identifying the candidate position as a preliminary row position if a variation in intensity level of the candidate scan line profile exceeds a threshold variation value.

A system for identifying a position of a crop row in a field, the system comprising:

• an imaging unit for collecting image data of two or more crop rows;
• an imaging unit interface for receiving the collected image data;
• a definer communicatively connected to the imaging unit interface configured to define a candidate scan line profile for a corresponding heading and pitch of the imaging unit, the candidate scan line profile comprising an array of vector quantities, each vector quantity comprising an intensity value and a corresponding position datum;
• a selector configured to select a position datum associated with a corresponding highest intensity value within the array of vector quantities, as indicative of a candidate position of a crop row;
• a confidence module configured to identify the candidate position as a preliminary row position if a variation in the intensity level of the candidate scan line profile exceeds a threshold variation value;
• and
• a control port configured to output directional movement instructions to a vehicle steering controller, the directional movement instructions derived from the preferential scan line profile.