EP-4165567-B1 - METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING AGRICULTURAL PROCESSES

EP4165567B1EP 4165567 B1EP4165567 B1EP 4165567B1EP-4165567-B1

Inventors

Scheuermann, Enrico B.
Ratke, Christoph
WRAY, CHRISTOPHER
Quantmeyer, Christian
Stoffregen, Jan-Patrick
Jebsen, Christian
WIECHERS, Dirk

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20210611

Claims (15)

A computer-implemented method for managing agricultural processes, comprising - creating a field management unit by defining georeferenced boundaries of the field management unit, - creating a layout of the field management unit by defining georeferenced field management sub-units within the field management unit, - storing the field management unit, including its boundaries and its field management sub-units, in a geospatial database provided on a server, - attributing site characteristics to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, - attributing plant characteristics to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, - exchanging data relating to the field management unit with at least one sensor platform, wherein the at least one sensor platform comprises a mobile sensor platform, and comprises an unmanned autonomous air-borne vehicle, for example a drone, wherein the at least one sensor platform comprises at least one sensor, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a phenotypical sensor, for example RGB camera and/or thermal camera and/or hyperspectral camera and/or multispectral camera, - performing a task by the at least one sensor platform depending on the data relating to the field management unit preferably with an absolute accuracy of at least +/- 2.5 cm and/or using real-time kinematic (RTK) and/or post-processing kinematic (PPK) wherein - the at least one sensor of the sensor platform collects imaging data of the field management unit, in particular of the field management sub-units, o by collecting imaging data of an additional area surrounding the field management unit, in particular the field management sub-units, preferably with an absolute accuracy of at least +/- 2.5 cm and/or using RTK and/or PPK, wherein the additional area is defined by an adding an additional distance, preferably less than 10m, in particular less than 7m, further preferred approx. 5m, to the boundaries of the field management unit, in particular the field management sub-unit, in a direction pointing away from the field management unit, in particular the field management sub-unit, and o by collecting a plurality of at least partly overlapping images per field management unit, in particular per field management sub-unit with an absolute accuracy of at least +/- 2.5 cm and using RTK and/or PPK, such that a plurality of images, preferably more than 3 and/or less than 10 images, in particular 5-7 images, are collected per pixel, and o by collecting imaging data of a field management sub-unit with an absolute accuracy of at least +/- 2.5 cm and using RTK and/or PPK, attributing the collected data to the field management sub-unit, and performing phenotyping based on the attributed data.
The method according to the preceding claim, comprising - collecting data by the at least one sensor platform, preferably by at least one sensor of the sensor platform, preferably with an absolute accuracy of at least +/- 2.5 cm and/or using RTK and/or PPK, and attributing the collected data to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, and/or - selecting one out of two or more field management units based on site characteristics and/or plant characteristics attributed to the respective field management units and/or based on selection criteria.
The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the steps are carried out for a plurality of field management units.
The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, comprising - attributing treatment information to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, and/or - attributing observation information to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, and/or - attributing effected planting information to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, and/or - attributing harvest information to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, and/or - attributing post-harvest information to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, and/or - attributing administrative information to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, wherein preferably one, several or all of the information is collected and/or attributed with an absolute accuracy of at least +/- 2.5 cm and/or using RTK and/or PPK.
The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, comprising - attributing time information to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, and/or to the site characteristics and/or to the plant characteristics and/or to the treatment information and/or to the observation information and/or to the effected planting information and/or to the harvest information and/or to the post-harvest information and/or to the administrative information.
The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, comprising - creating a georeferenced isolation area of the field management unit and storing the isolation area of the field management unit in the geospatial database, wherein preferably the isolation area is created o by calculation of an outer boundary of the isolation area by adding at least one buffer distance to the boundaries of the field management unit in a direction pointing away from the field management unit, and/or o by calculation of a distance between the field management unit and another field management unit or another isolation area, and/or o by calculation of an inner boundary of the isolation area by adding at least one buffer distance from the boundaries of the field management unit in a direction pointing towards the field management unit.
The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein - the field management unit comprises a polygon and/or - at least one of the field management sub-units, several of the field management sub-units or all of the field management sub-units comprise polygons, and/or - at least one of the field management sub-units, several of the field management sub-units or all of the field management sub-units comprise point coordinates.
The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one sensor platform comprises a mobile sensor platform, and preferably comprises one or several of the following group: - a (smart) phone, - a tablet, - a mobile computer, - a wearable computer, in particular a smartwatch and/or hands free device, such as smart glasses, - an unmanned autonomous vehicle, in particular ground-borne and/or air-borne, for example a field robot and/or a drone, - an agricultural machine, such as a tractor and/or a planter and/or a harvester and/or a sprayer, - a helicopter, - an airplane, - a non-geostationary satellite, and/or wherein the at least one sensor platform comprises a stationary sensor platform, and preferably comprises one or several of the following group: - a weather station, - a stationary sensor, - a stationary measuring device, - a geostationary satellite.
The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein managing can comprise one or several of the following group: - planning, - administrating, - performing maintenance work, - inspecting, - monitoring, - documenting, - analyzing, - evaluating, - visualizing, and/or wherein agricultural processes can comprise one or several of the following group: - placing planting material, such as, but not limited to sowing seeds and/or placing and young plants and/or cuttings and/or bulbs and/or tubers and/or grafts, - transplanting planting material, such as, but not limited to young plants and/or cuttings and/or bulbs and/or tubers and/or grafts, - singling planting material, such as, but not limited to young plants and/or cuttings and/or bulbs and/or tubers and/or grafts, - topping planting material, such as, but not limited to young plants and/or cuttings and/or bulbs and/or tubers and/or grafts, - collecting plant samples, - harvesting, - inspecting, - pollination, - treatment with chemicals and/or fertilizer and/or irrigation, - weeding, in particular mechanical weeding, - phenotyping.
The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the field management sub-units can comprise one or several of the following group: - blocks, - plots, - stripes, - rows, - sowing lines, - point locations, in particular of individual plant material, and/or wherein the site characteristics can comprise one or several of the following group: - crop sequence, - field crop history, - slope, - surface conditions, - soil information, - breeder, - treatment, - harvest type, - harvest priority, - harvest results, - harvest observation data, - field name, - farmer, - trial number, - trial class, and/or wherein the plant characteristics can comprise one or several of the following group: - year, - crop, - material group, - variety name, - variety type, - variety traits, - flowering categories, - resistance, - general vigor, - pedigree, - plant component information, - crossing history, - crossing locational history, in particular comprising place and/or time of crossing, - male female lines, - regulatory restrictions, - component information, - disease management information, - risk management factors, - genetic identification, - randomization type, - number of replications, - number of entries, - number of plants.
The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one sensor platform comprises at least one sensor, wherein preferably the at least one sensor comprises one or several of the following group: - environmental sensor, for example soil sensor and/ or soil water sensor, such as TDR and/or FDR and/or UMP, and/or GPR and/or EMI and/or ERT, preferably on-ground, - weather sensor, for example weather station and/or sensor for weather data, - phenotypical sensor, preferably on-ground and/or off-ground, for example RGB camera and/or thermal camera and/or hyperspectral camera and/or multispectral camera, - position sensor: e.g. GNNS Gyroscope, EMU, potentiometers - machine sensor, for example machine parameter information and/or machine readings, such as speed and/or heading, preferably on-ground, - mechanical, for example scales and/or seed counters - identification sensor, for example scanner and/or NFC sensor and/or RFID sensor, - optical sensor, for example LIDAR and/or light curtain and/or NIRS, - radar sensor, for example imaging radar sensor, such as synthetic aperture radar.
The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the geospatial database is part of a database system comprising one or more further databases, wherein preferably a data connection within the database system and/or between the geospatial database and one or more of the further databases of the database system and/or between the at least one sensor platform and the database system, in particular one or more of its databases, is a direct and/or indirect data connection.
The method according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein - the at least one sensor platform, preferably the at least one sensor of the sensor platform, collects data, in particular imaging data, of the field management unit, in particular of the field management sub-units, o by defining a data collection path for the at least one sensor platform, preferably the at least one sensor of the sensor platform, preferably with an absolute accuracy of at least +/- 2.5 cm and/or using RTK and/or PPK.
A system for managing agricultural processes, comprising - a database system containing data relating to a field management unit, the data including o georeferenced boundaries of the field management unit, o a layout of the field management unit defining georeferenced field management sub-units within the field management unit, o site characteristics attributed to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, o plant characteristics to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, - at least one sensor platform with a control unit, wherein the at least one sensor platform comprises a mobile sensor platform, and comprises an unmanned autonomous air-borne vehicle, for example a drone, wherein the at least one sensor platform comprises at least one sensor, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a phenotypical sensor, for example RGB camera and/or thermal camera and/or hyperspectral camera and/or multispectral camera, - wherein the control unit is adapted to receive data relating to the field management unit from the database system, and - wherein the control unit is adapted to initiate the performing of a task by the at least one sensor platform depending on the data relating to the field management unit, wherein - the at least one sensor of the sensor platform is adapted to collect imaging data of the field management unit, in particular of the field management sub-units, o by collecting imaging data of an additional area surrounding the field management unit, in particular the field management sub-units, preferably with an absolute accuracy of at least +/- 2.5 cm and/or using RTK and/or PPK, wherein the additional area is defined by an adding an additional distance, preferably less than 10m, in particular less than 7m, further preferred approx. 5m, to the boundaries of the field management unit, in particular the field management sub-unit, in a direction pointing away from the field management unit, in particular the field management sub-unit, and o by collecting a plurality of at least partly overlapping images per field management unit, in particular per field management sub-unit with an absolute accuracy of at least +/- 2.5 cm and using RTK and/or PPK, such that a plurality of images, preferably more than 3 and/or less than 10 images, in particular 5-7 images, are collected per pixel, and o by collecting imaging data of a field management sub-unit with an absolute accuracy of at least +/- 2.5 cm and using RTK and/or PPK, attributing the collected data to the field management sub-unit, and performing phenotyping based on the attributed data.
A computer program comprising program commands for performing a method according to at least one of the preceding claims 1-13, and/or a computer program product comprising computer-readable instructions that, when loaded and run on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method according to at least one of the preceding claims 1-13.

Description

The invention relates to a method for managing agricultural processes and to a system for managing agricultural processes. The management of agricultural processes, like plant production, in particular hybrid plant production, plant line, plant population or plant variety development including plot research studies, is facing increasing challenges. For example, increasing regulatory requirements, more detailed information and complex interdependencies between different entities as well as high needs for geographical accuracy are creating a demand for improvements of existing solutions. Existing solutions, as described in US 8,958,992 B2, US 8,417,534 B2, US 9,622,402 B2, EP 3 358 519 A1 and EP 3, 351 968 A1 fall short of these demands and have a number of disadvantages. For example, existing solutions are not accurate enough and do not enable precise performance of tasks in fields. Thus, there is a need for an improved solution, which addresses at least one of the needs and/or reduces at least one of the disadvantages mentioned above. In particular, it exists a need for a method and system for managing agricultural processes which allow for more effective and/or reliable and/or efficient and/or facilitated management of and/or higher-quality in agricultural processes. US 2009/278839 A1 discloses a method for management of a land base includes interfacing a machine or equipment to a computer running a geographical information system (GIS) application such that the computer is configured to monitor the operations performed by the equipment or machine on the land base and store the operations as map points, lines, or polygons on at least one data layer within the GIS application. The method further includes displaying the GIS application to the operator at the point and time of performing the operations. US 2014/310633 A1 discloses a method, apparatus, and program product utilize clustering to represent co-located physical components in a production network in a GIS map user interface. A cluster object may be used to represent multiple co-located physical components, and the cluster object may be selectively expanded in place to display a logical view of the multiple co-located physical components in which at least a portion of the equipment objects representing the co-located physical components are offset from one another and interconnected to represent the physical interconnections between the co-located physical components, thereby facilitating selection, visualization and manipulation of the equipment objects representing the co-located physical components. US 8 412 419 B1 discloses a system obtains agricultural attribute data from the field. The agricultural attribute data is classified into a plurality of spatially distributed regions across the field. Samples are obtained to provide a second set of agricultural attribute data. A subset of the second set of agricultural attribute data is associated, by georeferencing, with one class of the spatially distributed regions. The subset is subclassified into respective zones, as may be done by interpolation to define contours. The classification process operates without regard to data that is not in the subset but is also taken from the second set of agricultural attribute data, i.e., the subclassification ignores data in the second set that is georeferenced to classes other than the class associated with the subset. The subclassification is repeated for all classes. An agroproduct prescription map is prepared for the application of agroproducts to the respective zones. US 2009/076632 A1 discloses a system for resource usage optimization employs an automatically controlled sensor suite providing data to a computer system for the analysis of spatial relationships of the sensors and resources. A control module incorporates an interactive logic, in an exemplary embodiment of well-stream coupled dynamic or game theory engines, operating in conjunction with the spatial data processing algorithms, GIS in an exemplary embodiment, receives as an input an objective function set for the use of the resource and constraint sets which are then monitored by the sensor suite. Incoming data is compared to the constraint sets and upon impact to any of the elements of the objective function set, creates a report/alarm for action or to trigger a corrective action. According to a first aspect, it is provided a method for managing agricultural processes, comprising creating a field management unit by defining georeferenced boundaries of the field management unit, creating a layout of the field management unit by defining georeferenced field management sub-units within the field management unit, storing the field management unit, including its boundaries and its field management sub-units, in a geospatial database provided on a server, attributing site characteristics to the field management unit, in particular to the field management sub-units, attributing plant characteristics t