US 12,080,019 B2
Extracting feature values from point clouds to generate plant treatments
Chia-Chun Fu, Sunnyvale, CA (US); Christopher Grant Padwick, Menlo Park, CA (US); James Patrick Ostrowski, Mountain View, CA (US); and Kent Anderson, Mountain View, CA (US)
Assigned to BLUE RIVER TECHNOLOGY INC., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed by Blue River Technology Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US)
Filed on Sep. 25, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/033,318.
Prior Publication US 2022/0101554 A1, Mar. 31, 2022
Int. Cl. G06T 7/73 (2017.01); G06F 18/23 (2023.01); G06T 7/30 (2017.01); G06T 7/55 (2017.01); G06V 20/10 (2022.01); A01B 76/00 (2006.01)
CPC G06T 7/73 (2017.01) [G06F 18/23 (2023.01); G06T 7/30 (2017.01); G06T 7/55 (2017.01); G06V 20/188 (2022.01); A01B 76/00 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30188 (2013.01)] 44 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for treating a plant in a field by a farming machine that moves through the field, the farming machine including a plurality of treatment mechanisms, the method comprising:
accessing a point cloud comprising a plurality of points, the plurality of points comprising:
a first set of points labeled as plant points, the first set of points comprising a first subset of crop points and a second subset of weed points, and
a second set of points labeled as ground points,
wherein each of the labeled points has a three-dimensional coordinate such that the point cloud represents a three-dimensional scene in the field;
applying one or more pre-processing functions to the point cloud, the one or more pre-processing functions:
determining one or more characteristics for the three-dimensional scene in the field, and
modifying a label or a three-dimensional coordinate of one or more plant points in the point cloud, wherein modifying the label of the one or more points comprises changing the label of the one or more points from crop point to weed point;
identifying a cluster of points in the point cloud representing one or more plants as a crop based on the labels and the three-dimensional coordinates of the cluster of points;
deriving a feature value for the one or more plants based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the points in the cluster and the one or more determined characteristics for the three-dimensional scene in the field; and
in response to the derived feature value indicating at least one plant of the one or more plants should be treated, actuating a treatment mechanism of the plurality of treatment mechanisms to treat the at least one plant as the farming machine travels past at least one plant in the field.