US 11,895,942 B2
Plant growth platform
Dipesh Karki, Minneapolis, MN (US); Troy Schmidtke, Minneapolis, MN (US); Oleg Myslov, Minneapolis, MN (US); Subigya Shakya, Minneapolis, MN (US); Peder Lindberg, Fargo, ND (US); Mitra Sangroula, Minneapolis, MN (US); Christopher Burg, Minneapolis, MN (US); David Mulla, Minneapolis, MN (US); and Michael Immer, Minneapolis, MN (US)
Assigned to Earth Scout GBC, Mpls., MN (US)
Filed by Earth Scout, GBC, Minneapolis, MN (US)
Filed on Mar. 10, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/197,793.
Prior Publication US 2022/0287227 A1, Sep. 15, 2022
Int. Cl. A01C 21/00 (2006.01); G06Q 50/02 (2012.01); A01B 79/00 (2006.01)
CPC A01C 21/007 (2013.01) [A01B 79/005 (2013.01); G06Q 50/02 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for continuous real time monitoring a crop growth, the method including the steps of:
providing field units for positioning within a boundary of a crop growth, wherein the field units are capable of coupling to accessories selected from the group consisting of soil moisture sensors, soil temp sensors, soil conductivity sensors, soil oxygen sensors, air oxygen sensors, air temperature sensors, air humidity sensors, air CO2 sensors, frost sensors, solar radiation sensors, wind sensors, precipitation sensors, digital camera, and GPS location sensors;
linking the field units to a base station;
transmitting and receiving data between the field units and the base station;
obtaining data corresponding to outputs from the accessories;
transmitting data corresponding to outputs from the accessories to the base station;
obtaining setting preferences for at least two items selected from the group consisting of the field units, accessories, a date range, and a soil decay rate;
generating values associated with at least one of soil saturation, soil nitrogen mineralization, and growing degree units, wherein values associated with soil saturation depend upon volumetric soil moisture measurements detected over time; and
wherein values associated with soil nitrogen mineralization depend upon detected biological processes of soil organic matter; and wherein values associated with growing degree units depend upon transmitted data outputs, previous compiled outputs and reference data; and
transmitting the generated values to a user within a day of obtaining data corresponding to the outputs of the accessories.