US 11,785,877 B2
Automated sample collection and tracking system
Michael David Lewis, Hazelwood, MO (US); Shalom Friss, St. Louis, MO (US); Jyoti Dharna, Chesterfield, MO (US); Christopher P. Aulbach, Defiance, MO (US); Jason R. Sontheimer, Dardenne Prairie, MO (US); and Atif Khan, Lake Saint Louis, MO (US)
Assigned to CLIMATE LLC, Saint Louis, MO (US)
Filed by Climate LLC, Saint Louis, MO (US)
Filed on Oct. 31, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/670,247.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/753,692, filed on Oct. 31, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2020/0128721 A1, Apr. 30, 2020
Int. Cl. A01B 79/00 (2006.01); G01N 33/24 (2006.01); G01N 1/02 (2006.01); G06F 3/0482 (2013.01); G06Q 50/02 (2012.01)
CPC A01B 79/005 (2013.01) [G01N 1/02 (2013.01); G01N 33/24 (2013.01); G06F 3/0482 (2013.01); G06Q 50/02 (2013.01); G01N 2001/021 (2013.01); G01N 2033/245 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method of tracking soil sampling in a field, comprising:
receiving digitally stored field map data from a first data storage source and digitally stored historical sampling data from a second data storage source, wherein the historical sampling data is indicative of at least one soil physical characteristic;
based on the field map data and the historical sampling data, in a computer-generated graphical user interface, displaying a graphical map of an agricultural field comprising a first set of sampling points, each sampling point of the first set of sampling points being assigned to a corresponding section in the field map that is associated with a corresponding geographic coordinate;
receiving a selection of a first sampling point of the first set of sampling points;
displaying, in the computer-generated graphical user interface, first sampling data that is associated with the first sampling point, the first sampling data comprising a set of soil physical characteristics and a set of order data of the first sampling data, the set of soil physical characteristics including at least one of a pH level, acidity, macronutrients, and/or micronutrients, and the set of order data of the first sampling data including at least one of a sampled date, a shipment date, a collector identification, and/or a sampling protocol;
receiving an update to the set of order data, the update indicating that a soil sample has been collected at the first sampling point;
based on the received update:
retrieving laboratory data identifying one or more available testing facilities that are capable of testing the soil sample, the laboratory data being linked to the field map;
displaying, in the computer-generated graphical user interface, the one or more available testing facilities;
receiving a selection of a particular testing facility from among the one or more available testing facilities via the computer-generated graphical user interface;
transmitting the updated set of order data of the first sampling data to a computer of the selected testing facility over a network; and
highlighting, in the field map, the first sampling point to visually depict the first sampling point differently from other ones of the first set of sampling points;
determining a second sampling point at which a next soil sample is to be collected based on a sampling protocol; and
displaying the second sampling point in the field map, the second sampling point being depicted using visually different attributes compared to the first sampling point;
wherein the method is performed using one or more computing devices.