US 11,789,453 B2
Apparatus and method for agricultural data collection and agricultural operations
Girish Chowdhary, Champaign, IL (US); Chinmay P. Soman, Urbana, IL (US); Erkan Kayacan, Champaign, IL (US); Benjamin C. Thompson, Champaign, IL (US); Zhongzhong Zhang, Urbana, IL (US); and Anwesa Choudhuri, West Bengal (IN)
Assigned to THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, Urbana, IL (US)
Appl. No. 16/641,618
Filed by THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, Urbana, IL (US)
PCT Filed Aug. 24, 2018, PCT No. PCT/US2018/047947
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 24, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/040866, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 28, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/688,885, filed on Jun. 22, 2018.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/596,506, filed on Dec. 8, 2017.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/550,271, filed on Aug. 25, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2021/0158041 A1, May 27, 2021
Int. Cl. G05D 1/02 (2020.01); H04W 4/40 (2018.01); G06N 20/10 (2019.01); G06V 20/10 (2022.01); G06V 20/40 (2022.01); G06F 18/214 (2023.01)
CPC G05D 1/0246 (2013.01) [G06F 18/2155 (2023.01); G06N 20/10 (2019.01); G06V 20/188 (2022.01); G06V 20/41 (2022.01); H04W 4/40 (2018.02)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A device comprising:
a processing system including a processor;
a communication system enabling the device to wirelessly communicate with a remote computer from which the device can receive instruction and send information; and
a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, perform operations, the operations comprising:
obtaining video data from a single monocular camera, wherein the video data comprises a plurality of frames, wherein the single monocular camera is attached to a ground mobile robot that is travelling along a lane defined by a row of crops, wherein the row of crops comprises a first plant stem, and wherein the plurality of frames include a depiction of the first plant stem;
obtaining robot velocity data from one or more encoders, wherein the one or more encoders are attached to the ground mobile robot that is travelling along the lane;
performing foreground extraction on each of the plurality of frames of the video data, wherein the foreground extraction results in a plurality of foreground images; and
determining, based upon the plurality of foreground images and based upon the robot velocity data, an estimated width of the first plant stem, wherein the determining comprises determining a ratio R, wherein R=VR/Vx, wherein VR is an instantaneous robot velocity obtained via the robot velocity data and Vx is an average horizontal foreground pixel velocity obtained via a structure from motion process that is based upon the plurality of frames of the video data.