EP4312496A1 - System zur behandlung von pflanzen, insbesondere in der landwirtschaft - Google Patents

System zur behandlung von pflanzen, insbesondere in der landwirtschaft

Info

Publication number
EP4312496A1
EP4312496A1 EP22717257.4A EP22717257A EP4312496A1 EP 4312496 A1 EP4312496 A1 EP 4312496A1 EP 22717257 A EP22717257 A EP 22717257A EP 4312496 A1 EP4312496 A1 EP 4312496A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
product
dose
nozzles
spray
treated
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
EP22717257.4A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Hugo SERRAT
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Bilberry SAS
Original Assignee
Bilberry SAS
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Bilberry SAS filed Critical Bilberry SAS
Publication of EP4312496A1 publication Critical patent/EP4312496A1/de
Pending legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01MCATCHING, TRAPPING OR SCARING OF ANIMALS; APPARATUS FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF NOXIOUS ANIMALS OR NOXIOUS PLANTS
    • A01M7/00Special adaptations or arrangements of liquid-spraying apparatus for purposes covered by this subclass
    • A01M7/0025Mechanical sprayers
    • A01M7/0032Pressure sprayers
    • A01M7/0042Field sprayers, e.g. self-propelled, drawn or tractor-mounted
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01MCATCHING, TRAPPING OR SCARING OF ANIMALS; APPARATUS FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF NOXIOUS ANIMALS OR NOXIOUS PLANTS
    • A01M7/00Special adaptations or arrangements of liquid-spraying apparatus for purposes covered by this subclass
    • A01M7/005Special arrangements or adaptations of the spraying or distributing parts, e.g. adaptations or mounting of the spray booms, mounting of the nozzles, protection shields
    • A01M7/006Mounting of the nozzles
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01MCATCHING, TRAPPING OR SCARING OF ANIMALS; APPARATUS FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF NOXIOUS ANIMALS OR NOXIOUS PLANTS
    • A01M7/00Special adaptations or arrangements of liquid-spraying apparatus for purposes covered by this subclass
    • A01M7/0089Regulating or controlling systems
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05BSPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B1/00Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means
    • B05B1/14Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means with multiple outlet openings; with strainers in or outside the outlet opening
    • B05B1/20Arrangements of several outlets along elongated bodies, e.g. perforated pipes or troughs, e.g. spray booms; Outlet elements therefor
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05BSPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B12/00Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area
    • B05B12/02Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area for controlling time, or sequence, of delivery
    • B05B12/04Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area for controlling time, or sequence, of delivery for sequential operation or multiple outlets
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05BSPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B12/00Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area
    • B05B12/08Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area responsive to condition of liquid or other fluent material to be discharged, of ambient medium or of target ; responsive to condition of spray devices or of supply means, e.g. pipes, pumps or their drive means
    • B05B12/12Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area responsive to condition of liquid or other fluent material to be discharged, of ambient medium or of target ; responsive to condition of spray devices or of supply means, e.g. pipes, pumps or their drive means responsive to conditions of ambient medium or target, e.g. humidity, temperature position or movement of the target relative to the spray apparatus
    • B05B12/122Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area responsive to condition of liquid or other fluent material to be discharged, of ambient medium or of target ; responsive to condition of spray devices or of supply means, e.g. pipes, pumps or their drive means responsive to conditions of ambient medium or target, e.g. humidity, temperature position or movement of the target relative to the spray apparatus responsive to presence or shape of target
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05BSPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B9/00Spraying apparatus for discharge of liquids or other fluent material, without essentially mixing with gas or vapour
    • B05B9/03Spraying apparatus for discharge of liquids or other fluent material, without essentially mixing with gas or vapour characterised by means for supplying liquid or other fluent material
    • B05B9/035Spraying apparatus for discharge of liquids or other fluent material, without essentially mixing with gas or vapour characterised by means for supplying liquid or other fluent material to several spraying apparatus
    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06VIMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
    • G06V10/00Arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding
    • G06V10/70Arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding using pattern recognition or machine learning
    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06VIMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
    • G06V20/00Scenes; Scene-specific elements
    • G06V20/10Terrestrial scenes
    • G06V20/188Vegetation
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05BSPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B12/00Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area
    • B05B12/02Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area for controlling time, or sequence, of delivery
    • B05B12/06Arrangements for controlling delivery; Arrangements for controlling the spray area for controlling time, or sequence, of delivery for effecting pulsating flow
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05BSPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B13/00Machines or plants for applying liquids or other fluent materials to surfaces of objects or other work by spraying, not covered by groups B05B1/00 - B05B11/00
    • B05B13/005Machines or plants for applying liquids or other fluent materials to surfaces of objects or other work by spraying, not covered by groups B05B1/00 - B05B11/00 mounted on vehicles or designed to apply a liquid on a very large surface, e.g. on the road, on the surface of large containers

Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates to the field of the treatment of plants.
  • Such a system comprises a spray boom moved by a tractor and equipped with a series of spaced spray nozzles.
  • the boom also includes one or more cameras capturing images of the field while the system is moving, and one or more processing units capable, through learning-based image recognition techniques, of recognizing in the captured images plants, and to control the spray nozzles in real time to locally apply a treatment, for example a herbicide treatment, only to the places where the presence of plants to be treated is detected.
  • the object of the present invention is to limit these disadvantages.
  • a system for the treatment of plants comprising a spray boom provided with a plurality of spray nozzles distributed over the boom and fed by a spray control device, the system comprising a set of cameras capable of taking images of an area to be treated, a digital processing device able to analyze the images taken by the camera, to identify the plants to be treated and to apply instructions to the spray control device with a view to spraying at least one product on plants to be treated, the system characterized in that the spray nozzles and the spray controller are configured to apply a generally uniform dose of a product to the area to be treated regardless of the identification of plants to be treated in the images, and to locally apply an additional dose of a product to the plants to be treated identified by the t device digital processing.
  • the system comprises two rows of nozzles distributed along the boom, with a first row suitable for applying the generally uniform dose of product and a second row suitable for applying the local additional dose to the identified plants.
  • the supply device includes for the first row of spray nozzles an individual control valve per nozzle.
  • the supply device comprises for the second row of nozzles a common control valve for at least one group of nozzles.
  • the supply device includes for the second row of nozzles a control valve per nozzle.
  • the system comprises a row of nozzles distributed along the boom and to which are associated respective control valves having at least two states of opening, the spraying control device being able to simultaneously bring the control valves into a first state making it possible to apply the generally uniform dose of product and to bring punctually at least one nozzle identified from plant recognition by the digital processing device into a second state in which the dose of product is increased.
  • Fig. 1 is a partial schematic top view of a spray boom according to a first embodiment of the present invention
  • - Fig. 2 is a partial side elevational view of the spray boom of Fig.1.
  • - Fig. 3 is a partial schematic top view of a spray boom according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
  • a spray boom 10 which comprises a supporting structure 100, for example metallic, and two sets of spray nozzles both distributed over the extent of the boom 10.
  • a first series of spray nozzles 110a is fed by a first common line or tubing 112a connected to a source 130 of liquid to be sprayed under pressure, while a second series of spray nozzles 110b is fed by a second common line or tubing 112b also connected to the source 130 of liquid to be sprayed under pressure.
  • the spraying is controlled by a plurality of control valves 114a mounted between the common pipe 112a and the respective nozzle, so as to be able to selectively open each valve independently of the others, at any time. desired, and thus put the corresponding nozzle with the pipe 112a to spray the liquid.
  • a plurality of control valves 114b associated with the respective nozzles and capable of individually placing the nozzles in communication with the common pipe 112b, or (as illustrated in dashed lines) a single valve 115b, common, mounted between the reservoir 130 of liquid to be spread and the pipe 112b.
  • the various control valves are controlled by a spray control unit 120.
  • the control valves are preferably solenoid valves of the pulse width control type (PWM for "Pulse Width Modulation” in English terminology), available on market, which allow proportional control of the average flow rate and therefore of the dose applied per unit time to the plants.
  • PWM pulse width control type
  • the boom is either integrated into a machine E, or towed by a machine, or even carried by a machine, the machine possibly being an agricultural tractor or even a road or rail vehicle in particular for treating an uncultivated area.
  • the ramp 100 also carries a set of cameras 210 whose axes AC are here oriented in the plunging direction in vertical planes parallel to the direction D of movement of the machine and able to take images of a zone Z on which moves ramp 100, in order to identify plants to be treated. These plants can be weeds on which it is desired to selectively spray a herbicide product, or even cultivated plants on which it is desired to selectively spray a phytosanitary product (insecticide, fertilizer, growth regulator, etc.). In a variant not illustrated, the cameras can be oriented vertically downwards.
  • These cameras 210 are connected to one or more digital processing units 220 capable of analyzing the images taken by the cameras to determine the presence of target plants to be treated. This analysis is carried out for example by breaking down each image into sub-images of determined size, applying a convolution function to each of the sub-images using weight matrices, and determining a probability of the presence of a target plant depending on the result of the convolution.
  • Documents WO2018142371A1 and WO2018141995A1 in the name of the applicant describe such techniques.
  • the ramp includes any additional equipment such as height measurement device, device for controlling the position or geometry of the ramp, lighting system, etc.
  • the control unit 120 is capable of controlling the spraying so as, in the first place, to achieve during the movement of the machine a uniform spraying of the area to be treated at the same time. using all of the second series of nozzles 110b.
  • the control circuit 120 and/or the constitution of the nozzle supply circuit are configured so that the dose applied by the nozzles 110b is essentially uniform over the whole of the area to be treated, in particular by taking into account the losses load in supply line 112b.
  • This uniform spraying is implemented independently of the detection, by the vision system comprising the cameras 210 and the processing unit 220, of the actual presence or not of plants to be treated in the zone Z.
  • the dose applied for this uniform spraying (generally defined by a weight or a volume of product per unit of surface treated) is equal to a fraction, for example from 10 to 40%, preferably around 20% for a herbicide , of the recommended nominal dose, this dose being applied by appropriate control of the control valve(s) 114b or 115b associated with the second series of nozzles.
  • the system is configured so that, when a plant to be treated is identified in an image taken by a camera 210, a local spraying of product is carried out at the location where the plant has been identified.
  • the processing unit 220 sends the spraying control unit 120 the data allowing the latter to determine which of the nozzles 110a of the first series of nozzles must be activated and at what instant (depending in particular on the forward speed of the machine), as described in the previous patent applications in the name of the Applicant, and the opening instruction is sent at the aforementioned instant (taking into account any latency) to the valve of corresponding control.
  • the dose for this local spraying is preferably close to the nominal dose recommended for the product in question, and for example of the order 80% of the nominal dose if the nozzles of the second series 112b apply a dose equal to 20% of the nominal dose.
  • the solenoid valves 112a are proportionally controlled, it is possible to adjust the dose according to one or more criteria including the type of plant detected, the level of development of the plant such as estimated by the vision system 210, 220, and/or other factors such as ambient conditions, machine travel speed, etc.
  • the nozzles 110a of the first series make it possible to carry out a localized treatment of guaranteed effectiveness on the plants to be treated detected by the vision system 210, 220, while the nozzles 110b of the second series apply a safety treatment to the entire area, in order to deal with plants that would not have been detected by the vision system, for whatever reason (plant too small, plant hidden, plant not listed in the recognition process, etc.).
  • the boom comprises a series of single nozzles 110a, each nozzle being connected to a common supply line 112a through a respective control valve.
  • each valve 112a is progressively controlled, being able to deliver a variable dose of product according to a setpoint which is itself variable between 0 and 100%.
  • valves 112a are controlled so that each of the nozzles 110a delivers a dose of product, for example from 10 to 40% of the nominal dose, preferably around 20% in the case of a foliar herbicide.
  • the nozzle concerned and the instants of start and end of localized treatment are determined at the level of the processing unit 220 and the control unit 120.
  • the control valve of the nozzle concerned is then controlled by the control unit 120 to achieve between the calculated start and end times, a greater opening of the control valve 112a associated with the nozzle concerned, to perform during this time window a spraying at a higher dose, for example at the nominal dose for the product in question.
  • nozzle means both an individual nozzle and a group or cluster of nozzles, for example nozzles operating in different directions and/or with different spray geometries;
  • the associated control valves may include one valve per nozzle, one valve per group or one valve per sub-group;
  • control valves whether on/off or with progressive control, can be made with any appropriate technology, by being integrated into the nozzles or separate from the nozzles;
  • the system of the first embodiment can be used to apply two different products, for example a wetting product uniformly with the second series of nozzles and a local treatment product with the first series of nozzles;
  • the activation of a nozzle concerned for a localized spraying also covers the activation of a set of neighboring nozzles.
  • digital processing unit means both a single processing device and a set of processing devices, in particular with parallel processing, possibly distributed at different locations of the plant processing system and associated with respective cameras or respective camera groups.
  • the present invention applies in agriculture as well as in any field it may be necessary to treat plants, for example applying a herbicide to weedy plants, in particular the treatment of areas in the field of transport, urban planning, etc. It can be implemented on the decision of an operator according to his observation of the terrain and the operations to be carried out.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Environmental Sciences (AREA)
  • Zoology (AREA)
  • Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Pest Control & Pesticides (AREA)
  • Insects & Arthropods (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Evolutionary Computation (AREA)
  • Medical Informatics (AREA)
  • Software Systems (AREA)
  • Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
  • Computing Systems (AREA)
  • Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition (AREA)
  • Artificial Intelligence (AREA)
  • Cultivation Of Plants (AREA)
  • Catching Or Destruction (AREA)
  • Compounds Of Unknown Constitution (AREA)
  • Agricultural Chemicals And Associated Chemicals (AREA)
EP22717257.4A 2021-03-26 2022-03-22 System zur behandlung von pflanzen, insbesondere in der landwirtschaft Pending EP4312496A1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR2103068A FR3121013A1 (fr) 2021-03-26 2021-03-26 Système de traitement de plantes notamment en agriculture
PCT/IB2022/052598 WO2022201016A1 (fr) 2021-03-26 2022-03-22 Système de traitement de plantes notamment en agriculture

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP4312496A1 true EP4312496A1 (de) 2024-02-07

Family

ID=75954044

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP22717257.4A Pending EP4312496A1 (de) 2021-03-26 2022-03-22 System zur behandlung von pflanzen, insbesondere in der landwirtschaft

Country Status (8)

Country Link
US (1) US20240081314A1 (de)
EP (1) EP4312496A1 (de)
CN (1) CN117560990A (de)
AU (1) AU2022244497A1 (de)
BR (1) BR112023019736A2 (de)
CA (1) CA3213059A1 (de)
FR (1) FR3121013A1 (de)
WO (1) WO2022201016A1 (de)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2024086291A1 (en) * 2022-10-20 2024-04-25 Raven Industries, Inc. Modulating agricultural sprayer control and methods for same
FR3141601A1 (fr) 2022-11-03 2024-05-10 Carbon Bee Système et procédé de contrôle d’un circuit de distribution d’un produit pour le traitement d’un espace comprenant des végétaux, engin de distribution comprenant un tel système

Family Cites Families (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
NZ602143A (en) * 2010-01-21 2014-04-30 Mackenzie Res Group Ltd Improvements in and relating to methods and apparatus for applying substances to an area of interest
US10586353B2 (en) * 2015-01-09 2020-03-10 Maxell Holdings, Ltd. Plant information acquisition system, plant information acquisition device, plant information acquisition method, crop management system and crop management method
WO2016145081A2 (en) * 2015-03-09 2016-09-15 Appareo Systems, Llc Innovative spraying system
EP3357332B1 (de) 2017-02-06 2022-04-13 Bilberry Sas Feldspritze
HUE052985T2 (hu) 2017-02-06 2021-06-28 Bilberry Sas Gyomirtó rendszerek és eljárások, vasúti gyomirtó jármûvek
FR3063206B1 (fr) 2017-02-24 2021-08-13 Bilberry Sas Systeme de controle pour epandage agricole
US10719709B2 (en) * 2018-04-06 2020-07-21 Cnh Industrial America Llc Augmented reality for plant stand management

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CA3213059A1 (fr) 2022-09-29
FR3121013A1 (fr) 2022-09-30
WO2022201016A1 (fr) 2022-09-29
BR112023019736A2 (pt) 2023-10-31
CN117560990A (zh) 2024-02-13
US20240081314A1 (en) 2024-03-14
AU2022244497A1 (en) 2023-10-19

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