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EP-4734751-A1 - APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MECHANIZED VEGETABLE HARVESTING

EP4734751A1EP 4734751 A1EP4734751 A1EP 4734751A1EP-4734751-A1

Abstract

Methods, devices, and systems, that relate to mechanization of agricultural tasks, including a robotic tool carrier configured to be mounted on a tractor or other type of vehicle and employing imaging and artificial intelligence to perform agricultural tasks, such as harvesting vegetables such as celery plants.

Inventors

  • FANG, Yang

Assignees

  • Beagle Technology Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240628

Claims (18)

  1. 1. A tool carrier apparatus, comprising: a tool for working on a plant planted in the ground, wherein the tool includes a first cutting mechanism configured to cut a portion of the plant; an adjustable carrier configured to hold the tool and move the tool in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction with respect to the ground and configured to mount to a vehicle; a camera configured to capture an image of a plant, the plant having an optimal cutting location; a memory having a program stored therein; a processor that when executing the program a control algorithm outputting a control command based on the output from the artificial intelligence engine; implements: an artificial intelligence engine trained to identify the optimal cutting location of the plant, receive the captured image of the plant, and output an indication of the optimal cutting location of the plant; and a robotic controller configured to control the adjustable carrier based on the control command to position the tool to cut the plant at the optimal cutting location.
  2. 2. The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the camera is mounted on the adjustable carrier.
  3. 3. The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plant is a celery plant.
  4. 4 The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the adjustable carrier comprises an adjustable horizontal arm moveable in the horizontal direction, an adjustable vertical arm moveable in the vertical direction with respect to the ground, and an end effector attached to one of the adjustable horizontal arm and the adjustable vertical arm and configured to hold the tool.
  5. 5. The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the camera is attached to the end effector by a rigid support and in close proximity to the tool.
  6. 6. The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plant is a vegetable and the artificial intelligence engine is trained to identify the protected portion of the plant so that the robotic controller causes the position of the cutting tool to correspond to a predicted portion of the vegetable etween a lower point of the vegetable and an upper point of the vegetable.
  7. 7. The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the lower point of the vegetable corresponds to a point where soil is not taken when the vegetable is cut and the upper point of the egetable corresponds to a point where the cut vegetable is not likely to divide into separate pieces.
  8. 8. The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plant is a crop planted in one of a plurality of rows of the crop, and the tool is configured to extract a weed disposed between the rows of crops while avoiding damaging the plant.
  9. 9. The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle is a tractor.
  10. 10. The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tool further comprises a grabbing apparatus.
  11. 11. The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the grabbing apparatus is configured to grab the plant prior to performing work on the plant, and adjust a position of the plant to provide a clear path between the camera and the optimal cutting location.
  12. 12. The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tool further comprises a secondary cutting mechanism configured to operate a second cutting operation subsequent to operation of the first cutting mechanism.
  13. 13. The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the robotic controller is further configured to control the adjustable carrier to, subsequent to the second cutting operation, place the cut plant in a transport device for transport of the cut plant to a storage location.
  14. 14. The tool carrier apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the transport device is a conveyor.
  15. 15. A tool positioning method, comprising: capturing an image of a plant, the plant having an optimal cutting location; receiving, at an artificial intelligence engine trained to identify the optimal cutting location of the plant, a captured image of the plant, and output an indication of the optimal cutting location of the plant; outputting a control command based on the output from the artificial intelligence engine; and controlling an adjustable carrier based on the control command to position a tool to cut the plant at the optimal cutting location.
  16. 16. The tool positioning method according to claim 15, wherein the plant is a celery plant.
  17. 17. A tool positioning non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising: at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium containing program code, the program code configured to, when executed by at least one processor, cause at least one of the least one processors to: capture an image of a plant, the plant having an optimal cutting location; receive, at an artificial intelligence engine trained to identify the optimal cutting location of the plant, a captured image of the plant, and output an indication of the optimal cutting location of the plant; output a control command based on the output from the artificial intelligence engine; and control an adjustable carrier based on the control command to position a tool to cut the plant at the optimal cutting location.
  18. 18. The tool positioning non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 17, herein the plant is a celery plant.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MECHANIZED VEGETABLE HARVESTING CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/523,886, filed on June 28, 2023, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. FIELD [0002] This disclosure relates to mechanization of agricultural tasks. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a tool carrier configured to be mounted on a vehicle such as a tractor and employing imaging and artificial intelligence to perform agricultural tasks, such as harvesting vegetables. BACKGROUND [0003] The labor force for farm laborers has been steadily decreasing since 2000. Specialty crops, including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery crops, are some of the most labor-intensive crops to farm with labor costs being a large percentage of the overall expenses for those crops. Farmers want to mechanize tasks traditional performed by laborers, but current mechanized farm equipment does not have automatic adjustment features which leads to poor quality and crop damage. [0004] One example where agricultural mechanization is desired is with vegetable harvesting. The height of a vegetable plant varies and it has to be cut at the correct height. An example of harvesting vegetables is the harvesting of celery. [0005] Most of the celery plants grown in the USA have been harvested manually for years. While there are some approaches to automate the celery harvesting process that use industry robots, the cost and throughput of such systems cannot match the current cost and throughput requirements. And these automated approaches are nowhere close to the cost and throughput human harvesting crews can achieve. However, with increasing labor costs and diminishing labor supply it is difficult to continue with manual harvesting operations. The need for automation is strong, but a viable solution must provide a good combination of throughput, cost, and ease of use. [0006] Currently in harvesting celery a harvesting crew makes three cuts to produce the finished harvested celery product. The first cut is to remove celery from the root structure. In the first step of the harvesting process a crew member usually holds the celery top with one hand to gain access to the root of the plant, as shown in FIG. 1A. [0007] The second step is to cut the celery plant at the root. In this second step the crew member makes a pushing cut to remove the celery from the ground, as shown in FIG. IB. During this cut the crew member stands and bends his or her back. Although they have limited vision of the soil and celery joint, an experienced worker can cut roughly at the joint, and bring the celery up and hold it with one hand. Because a human crew cannot adjust the cut height accurately, they usually cut the plant so it is longer than it should be. [0008] The third step is to chop off the extra part of the plant that has soil attached to it as shown in FIG. 1C. [0009] The fourth step is to chop off the top of the celery to make it the right length, as shown in FIG. ID. In this step, the crew holds it with one hand so he can make a chop cut. [0010] The fifth step in the process is to throw the celery back to the packer. The packer does some clean-up and peeling before packing it into the packing box or plastic bag. [0011] If the celery plant is cut too high the celery stalks can fall apart into pieces. If it is cut too low, too much soil comes with the cut vegetable and can be included with the vegetable in the vegetable packaging. Farmers would like a mechanized solution that automatically adjusts the cutting height for the vegetable despite variations in the appropriate cutting height for each vegetable. [0012] What is needed is a mechanized solution that automatically determines the optimal locations where a vegetable, such as celery, is to be cut to harvest it. SUMMARY [0013] Some embodiments of the present disclosure solve the previously mentioned problems and other problems of the background art. However, not all embodiments of the present disclosure are required to solve those problems to practice the inventive techniques of the present application. [0014] Some embodiments of the present disclosure enable a tool carrier apparatus, that includes a tool for working on a plant planted in the ground, wherein the tool includes a first cutting mechanism configured to cut a portion of the plant; an adjustable carrier configured to hold the tool and move the tool in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction with respect to the ground and configured to mount to a vehicle; a camera configured to capture an image of a plant, the plant having an optimal cutting location; a memory having a program stored therein; a processor that when executing the program; a control algorithm outputting a control command based on the output from the artificial intelligence engine; implements: an artificial intelligence engine trained to identify