US 12,307,532 B2
Upward facing light sensor for plant detection
Matthew Stephen Colgan, San Francisco, CA (US); and Charles McCauley Ross, Los Altos, CA (US)
Assigned to Deere & Company, Moline, IL (US)
Filed by Deere & Company, Moline, IL (US)
Filed on Jul. 9, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/767,627.
Application 18/767,627 is a continuation of application No. 18/360,756, filed on Jul. 27, 2023, granted, now 12,073,475.
Application 18/360,756 is a continuation of application No. 18/170,551, filed on Feb. 17, 2023, granted, now 11,756,136, issued on Sep. 12, 2023.
Application 18/170,551 is a continuation of application No. 16/789,406, filed on Feb. 12, 2020, granted, now 11,615,486, issued on Mar. 28, 2023.
Prior Publication US 2024/0394807 A1, Nov. 28, 2024
Int. Cl. G06Q 50/02 (2024.01); A01M 7/00 (2006.01); G01N 21/25 (2006.01); G06T 7/00 (2017.01); G06V 10/60 (2022.01); G06V 20/00 (2022.01)
CPC G06Q 50/02 (2013.01) [A01M 7/0071 (2013.01); G01N 21/255 (2013.01); G06T 7/0004 (2013.01); G06V 10/60 (2022.01); G06V 20/38 (2022.01); G06T 2207/30188 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A plant identification system comprising:
an image acquisition system configured to capture an image of a plant in a field, the image acquisition system configured for capturing the image of the plant using an image sensor;
a light measurement system configured to measure a characteristic of incident light on the light measurement system, the light measurement system measuring the incident light using a light sensor; and
a control system including a processor, the processor configured to:
determine an environmental condition of the field;
access a typical characteristic of incident light associated with the environmental condition in the field;
measure, using the light measurement system, a current characteristic of incident light on the light sensor,
capture the image of the plant in the field using the image acquisition system configured to operate based on the environmental condition, wherein capturing the image of the plant comprises adjusting a configuration of the image acquisition system by modifying one or more capture parameters of the image acquisition system based on a difference between the typical characteristic of incident light and the current characteristic of incident light;
identify the plant in the image based on (1) pixels in the image identified as representing the plant, and (2) image properties of the image corresponding to the current characteristic of incident light and configuration of the image acquisition system, and
generate a control signal that, when received by a plant treatment mechanism of a farming machine, actuates the plant treatment mechanism to treat the plant.