US 11,972,551 B2
Machine-learned tillage shank malfunction in an autonomous farming vehicle
Divya Sharma, San Jose, CA (US); Michael Albert Elcano, Bakersfield, CA (US); Byron Gajun Ho, Fremont, CA (US); Jeremy Douglas Krantz, Polk City, IA (US); Tyler Niday, Santa Cruz, CA (US); and Robert Joseph Plumeau, San Jose, CA (US)
Assigned to BLUE RIVER TECHNOLOGY INC., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed by Blue River Technology Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US)
Filed on Dec. 18, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/126,800.
Prior Publication US 2022/0198643 A1, Jun. 23, 2022
Int. Cl. G06T 7/00 (2017.01); A01B 3/26 (2006.01); A01B 79/00 (2006.01); G06F 18/214 (2023.01); G06F 18/24 (2023.01); G06K 7/10 (2006.01); G06K 19/07 (2006.01); G06N 20/00 (2019.01); G06T 7/593 (2017.01); H04N 13/204 (2018.01)
CPC G06T 7/0004 (2013.01) [A01B 3/26 (2013.01); A01B 79/005 (2013.01); G06F 18/214 (2023.01); G06F 18/24 (2023.01); G06K 7/10366 (2013.01); G06K 19/0723 (2013.01); G06N 20/00 (2019.01); G06T 7/593 (2017.01); H04N 13/204 (2018.05); G06T 2207/20081 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30164 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30204 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of detecting tilling shank malfunctions by an autonomous farming vehicle, comprising:
accessing, in real-time, image data corresponding to and representative of a state of each tilling shank in a set of tilling shanks as the autonomous farming vehicle pulls the set of tilling shanks through earth while performing an autonomous routine, the image data capturing light reflected off each tilling shank in the set of tilling shanks, and the image data captured by a camera of the autonomous farming vehicle;
applying a machine-learned model to the image data, the machine-learned model trained on training image data representative of operational tilling shanks and malfunctioning tilling shanks, the machine-learned model configured to classify, for each tilling shank in the set of tilling shanks, whether the tilling shank is operational or malfunctioning based on a shape of the light reflected off the tilling shank; and
in response to a tilling shank in the set of tilling shanks being classified as malfunctioning, modifying the autonomous routine of the autonomous farming vehicle.