KR20200092496A - Unmanned chemical mixing apparatus and method for smart farm and a smart farm system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are an unmanned chemical mixing apparatus for a smart farm, which applies a pest control function to a smart farm service, determines the need for pest control through data analysis, and adds a chemical mixing or blending function in accordance with a determined pest control prescription to solving an existing problem occurring when a farmer personally mixes or blends pest control chemicals, and a method thereof. According to the present invention, a smart farm environment control system includes a sensor capable of measuring an internal environment, such as temperature, humidity, and the like, of a greenhouse and an external weather measurement sensors capable of measuring external temperature, humidity, wind direction, wind speed, illumination, and the like, and others. Accordingly, collected environment information, a crop image of the greenhouse, and the like are analyzed, such that disease and pest insects can be diagnosed. When it is determined that the presence of the disease and pest insects is diagnosed, requested chemicals are transferred to a chemical mixing apparatus and a chemical liquid mixed with water is transferred to a valve of an unmanned pest control apparatus, and the unmanned pest control apparatus is operated.

Description

Unmanned chemical mixing apparatus and method for smart farm and a smart farm system using the same}

The present invention relates to an unmanned drug mixing device and method for an unmanned control or control function in a facility farming or smart farm, and a smart farm system using the same.

Recently, domestic agricultural technology has developed into a smart farm to reduce labor force in labor-intensive agriculture by grafting various IT technologies. Information collected through IoT-based sensing technology can provide new smart farm services by integrating data analysis technology with experience-based agricultural knowledge. For example, based on the collected environmental information and crop image analysis, it is possible to predict the occurrence of pests in agriculture, and farmers can receive notification of the occurrence of pests. However, the unmanned control function is currently provided independently, so it is not possible to use the service associated with the outbreak situation in the smart farm service. In addition, there is a problem in that it is difficult to supply the drugs necessary for the control even if the occurrence of the disease is monitored and the notification service is received, so that the control cannot be immediately performed.

On the other hand, the current unmanned control function is controlled through an unmanned control device when a control command is issued after mixing or preparing a drug required by a farmer when a pest occurs or when it is predicted. However, despite the fact that it is effective to control the disease immediately when it occurs, there are many cases where the user is not able to act immediately because the user is at a remote location, which can increase the damage to farmers. In addition, although the amount of the drug can be reduced in the case of the microcontroller (unmanned) sprayer that is currently being distributed in farms, the case of overspray may occur because the farmer must directly prepare the exact amount of the drug.

The present invention is a supplement to the control function in the smart farm service, for the control function in the smart farm service, by determining the need for control through data analysis, and performs the function of automatically mixing or dispensing drugs according to the determined control prescription, The purpose of the present invention is to solve the problems that occur when farmers who directly mix or prepare a control drug that can occur during the existing control.

The smart farm environment control system includes a sensor that can measure the internal environment of the greenhouse such as temperature and humidity, and an external weather sensor that can measure external temperature, humidity, wind direction, wind speed, and light quantity. It is possible to diagnose pests by analyzing collected environmental information and greenhouse crop images. When the pest is diagnosed, the required amount of the required medicine is transferred to the medicine mixing device, and the medicine mixed with the raw water is transmitted to the unmanned controller valve and operates the unmanned controller. According to the present invention, by providing a device and method for automatically mixing drugs according to the smart farm function provided by diagnosing and providing pests connected to the unmanned controller, it is possible to link with the unmanned controller.

It is possible to predict the outbreak of pests and make some diagnosis by analyzing the environmental information and greenhouse crop images collected through the sensor. When the pest is predicted to be highly likely to occur or the outbreak is diagnosed and it is determined that spraying of the drug is necessary, the required amount of the drug is transmitted to the drug mixing device, and the drug mixed with raw water is sent to the unmanned controller valve to spray the drug unattended. . According to the present invention, the operation of the unmanned control system is controlled by an apparatus and method for automatically mixing drugs by the pest diagnosis smart farm function, and the mixed drugs by this function can be transferred to the unmanned control system for immediate spraying. It is done.

Specifically, the unmanned drug mixing device for a smart farm according to one aspect of the present invention receives a command related to drug mixing from an integrated controller installed in a smart farm facility, and also transmits data related to drug mixing to the integrated controller of the facility. ; It includes a plurality of drug containers containing a drug and a drug mixing container for mixing the drug, and includes a mixing unit for taking the drug from each drug container by the command from the control unit and mixing in the drug mixing container.

In addition, an unmanned drug mixing device for a smart farm according to another aspect of the present invention comprises: receiving a command related to drug mixing from an integrated controller installed in a smart farm facility, and transmitting data related to drug mixing to the integrated controller of the facility; And mixing the drugs according to the drug mixing-related instruction.

The configuration and operation of the present invention introduced above will be further clarified through specific embodiments described with reference to the drawings.

The present invention can eliminate the risk of the existing farmers directly preparing the drug, and can reduce environmental pollution and cost problems due to the drug overdose due to the precise mixing. Since farmers can spray pesticides and/or fertilizers and/or water appropriate to the situation at any time and anywhere, it is possible to obtain effects such as improving efficiency in smart farms or facility farming, ensuring security, and economic benefits. If it is possible to additionally utilize environmental information in connection with the smart farm service and diagnose it in parallel with the environment-based crop pest forecasting service, it is possible to combine various bottles through a pharmaceutical mixer if the accuracy of the prediction and the accuracy can be increased.

In the future, the drug information supplied to the smart farm service is recorded and stored, so it can be used for analysis of drug information and data. The drug information used can also be used by farmers to submit information such as eco-friendly certification.

1 is a block diagram of a smart farm system to which the pharmaceutical mixer 19 of the present invention is applied
Figure 2 is another configuration diagram modified from Figure 1
3 is an explanatory diagram of components of the greenhouse integrated controller 23
4 is a block diagram of the pharmaceutical mixer 19
Figure 5 is an exemplary view of the mixing section 49 of the drug mixer 19
6 is a configuration diagram of the unmanned controller 21
7 is an operation flow of the smart farm for explaining the operation of the pharmaceutical mixer of the present invention

Advantages and features of the present invention, and a method of achieving them will become apparent by referring to embodiments described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but will be implemented in various different forms, and only the present embodiments make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and have ordinary knowledge in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is provided to fully inform the person of the scope of the invention, and the invention is defined by the description of the claims.

On the other hand, the terms used in this specification are for describing the embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. In the present specification, the singular form also includes the plural form unless otherwise specified in the phrase. As used herein, “comprises” or “comprising” means the presence of one or more other components, steps, operations and/or elements other than the components, steps, operations and/or elements mentioned, or Addition is not excluded.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, the same components are assigned the same reference numerals as possible, even though they are displayed on different drawings, and in describing the present invention, detailed descriptions of related well-known components or functions When the subject matter of the present invention can be obscured, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a configuration diagram of a greenhouse in a smart farm environment to which an unmanned drug mixing device and method according to the present invention is applied. In the following, the present invention will be described as'... part' and'... group', which are the component names of the device side, but the invention description of the configuration aspect may cover the description of the method aspect. will be.

The greenhouse 11 includes a greenhouse control device 12 that controls various facilities (skylights, wall windows, sprinklers, barriers, etc.) of the greenhouse, and measures the internal environment of the greenhouse, such as room temperature, humidity, and soil conditions in the greenhouse 11 The internal sensor 13 and the external weather measurement sensor 15 for measuring the external temperature, humidity, wind direction, wind speed, and light amount of the greenhouse 11, and the crop image or soil image inside the greenhouse 11, and/or Alternatively, a crop image collector 17, such as a camera for photographing a subject of interest outside the greenhouse 11, and a medicine mixer 19 for mixing or preparing pesticides, fertilizers, and other medicines required for smart farms, and spraying or An unmanned controller 21 for controlling pests by spraying and/or controlling greenhouses or crops is included.

The environmental information collected by the internal sensor 13 and the external weather measurement sensor 15 and the crop image collector 17 and/or the crop image information in the greenhouse are transmitted to the greenhouse integrated controller 23 outside the greenhouse. The greenhouse integrated controller 23 analyzes the received information and diagnoses the occurrence of pests in the greenhouse. When the occurrence of the pest is diagnosed, the command signal is transmitted to the greenhouse 11 to cause the drug mixer 19 to unmix and/or prepare the required drug and the required drug amount unattended. The medicine mixed and/or prepared in the medicine mixer 19 is delivered to the unmanned controller 21. Accordingly, the unmanned controller 21 operates unmanned to spray the mixed/prepared drug.

The greenhouse integrated controller 23 may interact with the operation terminal 25 connected through a communication network. It is also possible to use a smartphone as the terminal 25. In the related art, despite the fact that it is effective to immediately control when a pest occurs, the damage to the farmers could be increased due to the fact that the user is in a remote location, so many actions cannot be taken immediately. Optionally, the unmanned drug mixer 19 can mix/preparation of the drug so that the unmanned drug controller 21 sprays it.

FIG. 2 shows another type of greenhouse configuration modified in FIG. 1.

In the case of FIG. 1, each component installed in the greenhouse 11 is configured to exchange data by communicating with the greenhouse integrated controller 23 on its own, but in the case of FIG. 2, the interface in the greenhouse 11 (or outside) or The gateway 22 is installed to represent a configuration in which all or a plurality of components in the greenhouse 11 collectively exchange data with the greenhouse integrated controller 23. The interface or gateway 22 collects the data of each component and sends it to the greenhouse integrated controller 23, and also sends data received from the greenhouse integrated controller 23 to each component.

1 and 2, in the representation of the figure, the greenhouse integrated controller 23 is said to be outside the greenhouse 11, but the greenhouse integrated controller 23 may be directly attached to the outside and inside of the greenhouse 11 or the greenhouse. (11) may be located inside.

The greenhouse integrated controller 23 may include functional elements as shown in FIG. 3.

-Farmland database (27): A database on soil and weather of farmland where crops are grown is established. It is a place to store data for determining the timing and amount of spraying to maximize the efficacy and minimize the damage by analyzing the characteristics of greenhouse soil and the current weather and reflecting it in drug spraying. Database inquiry function and history provision function can be included.

-Crop database 29: It is necessary to read crop images, etc., to monitor the state of crop growth and to determine appropriate drugs. In addition, it is necessary for the purpose of automatically applying fertilizer and the like according to the nutritional status of the crop. Database inquiry function and history provision function can be included.

-Drug database (31) and control history database (33): each, the type of drug (drug), such as pesticides or fertilizers, preparation/mixing or spraying related information (e.g., drug preparation date, spraying date, dispensing/dispensing) Drug information, data on the amount of prescribed drugs, etc.) and control history data are stored. Database inquiry function and history provision function can be included.

-Pest diagnosis unit 35: analyzes information collected by the internal sensor 13, the external weather measurement sensor 15, and the crop image collector 17 to diagnose whether or not a pest in the greenhouse occurs.

-Drug selection unit 37: Refers to the drug database 31 and compares the situation of the diagnostic pest in the pest diagnosis unit 35 to automatically determine/select the optimal control agent or manually determine/select the operator Make it possible. In addition, it diagnoses the nutritional status of crops as well as pests so that appropriate fertilizers can be automatically determined/selected or manually determined/selected by the operator. In addition, in order to suppress drug resistance, the pharmaceutical database 31 categorizes and stores pesticides, acaricides, nutrients, fertilizers, etc. used or used as a drug, database the drug spraying history, and read the control capability according to the drug spray Algorithms are included to automatically select the most appropriate drug.

-Control time determination unit 39: In the case of facility cultivation or field cultivation, it is possible to determine the control time by predicting weather conditions. And it is possible to proceed with emergency control according to the forecast of the disease.

-Control command unit 40: When the control-related decisions such as the above-mentioned control timing are determined, the control command is delivered to the drug mixer 19 or the greenhouse control device 12 to perform a function assigned to each.

4 shows the configuration of the chemical mixer 19.

In mixing or preparing the necessary medicines, the medicine mixer 19 is responsible for mixing the medicines stored in the medicine tank and the water stored in the raw water tank and delivering them to the unmanned controller. The drug mixer has the necessary drug information to mix the necessary drugs (pesticides, fertilizers, etc.). In addition to supplying drugs, unmanned controllers can also be used for water spraying and washing to prevent mixing of different types of drugs for each control period. It may include a functional unit (not shown).

The drug mixer 19 includes a drug mixer control unit 47 in data communication with the greenhouse integrated controller 23 and a mixing unit 49 for actually mixing or preparing drugs.

The drug mixer control unit 47 receives a command related to drug mixing from the external greenhouse integrated controller 23, such as the configuration of the smart farm system of FIG. 1 or 2, and the data related to drug mixing with the greenhouse integrated controller 23 (For example, the state of the mixing section 49, the state of the drug, the history of the drug mixing, etc.) is transmitted.

5 shows an example of the mixing unit 49 included in the pharmaceutical mixer 19. In the mixing section 49 of this example, there are a plurality (for example, 10) of medicine containers 41 and a flow meter (not shown) and a shut-off valve 43 for controlling the required amount, respectively. In addition, the chemical mixer 19 has a raw water tank 45, and there is also a flow meter and a shut-off valve for supplying appropriate water (not shown). Necessary drugs and raw water are mixed in the drug mixing container (not shown) of the mixing unit 49 and delivered to the drug supply container (not shown) of the unmanned controller 21. Although not shown, a method for detecting the state of the device or the medicine in the medicine mixer 19 and sending it to the greenhouse integrated controller 23 is as follows: 1) A method of mounting a sensor in the medicine container 41 or 2) a medicine container The method of measuring the non-metering of (41) can be applied. In addition, when the control is complete, the control unit 47 includes a washing unit (not shown) that performs washing of the drug mixing container using raw water that is issued by issuing a washing command and turning on the raw water valve.

Referring to Figure 6, the unmanned controller 21 is connected to the above-described unmanned drug mixer 19 includes a drug spraying unit 51 for the purpose of controlling or spraying fertilizer to receive and spray mixed drugs , In addition, it may include a water spray unit 53 for spraying water for the purpose of temperature control in the facility (greenhouse) in summer or the like. In addition, a cleaning unit 55 is required to wash other types of medicines on the related devices (for example, spray nozzles, hoses, etc.) after cleaning by spraying with medicines with water or detergent.

7 illustrates the operation flow of environmental control or unmanned control in a smart farm system to which the pharmaceutical mixer 19 of the present invention is applied.

110 (status notification): When there is no proper amount of medicine in the medicine container 41 of the medicine mixer 19, the medicine is supplied by providing a notification to the user (or medicine supplier) through the status notification to the controller 47 of the mixer It can be.

120 (preparation step): The control unit 47 of the drug mixer 19 controls a greenhouse control device (eg, 12 of FIGS. 1 and 2) in the greenhouse for effective control. For example, by operating the flow fan and closing the open windows (skylights, wall windows, etc.), the control can be made uniform.

130 (mixing step): When the drug supply time comes, the valve 43 of the drug container 41 necessary for spraying the selected drug is controlled. At this time, the valve can be controlled by turning on and off the valve of the medicine container for a calculated time according to the required amount.

140 (control phase): The connected unmanned controller 21 is driven to control the facility. At this time, the control unit 47 may treat the control as finished when all the mixed/prepared pharmaceuticals are consumed. Alternatively, a specific control time can be determined and this time can be counted.

150 (washing step): When the control is completed, the control unit 47 issues a washing command and turns on the raw water valve to wash the medicine mixing container in the mixing unit 49 using raw water discharged. For cleaning the chemical mixing container, the raw water valve may use a structure similar to a sprinkler for smooth cleaning. Unlike in the case of providing the drug in connection with the unmanned controller in the control step, in the washing step, only the raw water is supplied to the drug mixing container to be washed and the pump can be operated to discharge through the drain pipe.

160 (return phase): When all the processes are completed, the greenhouse control device 12 returns the flow fan or the ventilation window to the pre-control phase.

As an option for the above process, the following steps can be added.

Status view: The drug mixer 19 is currently in progress and can be provided with a function to view the status (standby stage, preparation stage, mixing stage, control stage, washing stage, return stage) of FIG. 7.

History inquiry: You can check and print out the schedule of the progress of the control through the saved medicine and control history database.

As described above, according to the present invention, a problem that occurs when a farmer who may occur directly mixes or prepares a control agent, fertilizer, or water can be solved as follows.

1) Always-on accessibility of drug spraying: In spite of the fact that it is effective to immediately control when pests occur, there are many cases where the user is not able to act immediately because the user is at a remote location. The present invention can be used to spray necessary drugs at any time by connecting to a smartphone.

2) Prevention of excessive drug use: If the farmer directly mixes the drugs, it is difficult to calculate the exact requirements, and the drugs are mixed more leisurely than necessary, which may cause an increase in operating costs and environmental pollution. In this system, it is designed to calculate the exact requirements by combining the control area and the growth stage of the crop.

3) Inhibition of the emergence of drug resistance: Another problem of current drug spraying is that it causes drug resistance by spraying drugs of the same system in a row, causing the drug effect to decrease. It can be called a problem that occurs. Therefore, the present invention was designed to make the most appropriate drug selection by database of drug spraying history and reading the control ability according to drug spraying.

4) Minimizing drug side effects: When spraying the drug in high or low temperature, when the crop is weak or has a high stress index, the crop also exhibits side effects such as dry leaves under the influence of the drug. During the operation of the drug mixer, the weather conditions and the condition of the crops can be analyzed to automatically select the appropriate time to spray the drug to minimize drug side effects.

5) Elimination of redundancy with automatic spraying of fertilizer and spraying of pesticides: When spraying pesticides at farms, fertilizers are often sprayed with pesticides, which aims to reduce fertilizer application efforts. However, when fertilizers and pesticides are mixed and sprayed, they often have side effects such as dry leaves. The present invention is also designed to automatically spray fertilizer, so it is possible to reduce fertilizer spraying effort and to prevent the harmful effects of fertilizer alone.

The present invention described above can be implemented in terms of a device or a method. In particular, the function or process of each component of the present invention is a digital signal processor (DSP), processor, controller, or application-specific ASIC. IC), programmable logic devices (FPGA, etc.), at least one of other electronic devices, and combinations thereof. It can also be implemented in software, either in combination with hardware elements or independently, which can be stored on a record carrier.

The configuration of the present invention has been described in detail through preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains are disclosed herein without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. It will be understood that the lesson may be implemented in other specific forms. It should be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The protection scope of the present invention is defined by the claims below, rather than by the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the claims and equivalent concepts should be interpreted to be included in the technical scope of the present invention. .

Claims (1)

A device that mixes drugs according to the drug mixing command generated by the facility integrated controller from information collected from inside and outside of the smart farm facility,
A control unit receiving a command related to drug mixing from the facility integrated controller and transmitting data related to drug mixing to the facility integrated controller 23;
Unmanned for smart farms, including a plurality of drug containers containing drugs and a drug mixing container for mixing drugs, including a mixing unit for taking drugs from each drug container by a command from the control unit and mixing them in the drug mixing container Pharmaceutical mixing device.

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