JP2022116238A - Program and harvesting determination device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To predict timing at which a harvesting object should be harvested.

SOLUTION: A harvesting determination device 100 includes a density measurement part 110 and a prediction part 120. The density measurement part 110 measures the density (one example of growth information) of a specific component included in a harvesting object F. The prediction part 120 predicts harvesting timing of the harvesting object F on the basis of a history of measurement results by the density measurement part 110. The harvesting object F is, for example, fruit of a plant P, for example, fruit such as melon, watermelon, peach, apple, or mango, but it is not limited to them. The harvesting determination device 100 is used, for example, at a plant factory, but it is not limited thereto.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

COPYRIGHT: (C)2022,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a program, a harvest judgment device, and a harvest judgment method.

The economic value of harvested plants such as fruits is greatly affected by the content of a specific component (for example, sugar content) contained in the harvested material. In general, the sugar content of an object whose sugar content is considered important is measured by near-infrared light irradiation and an optical sensor after being harvested.

For example, in Patent Document 1, while a light source is relatively rotated with respect to the harvesting target, the harvesting target is irradiated with light, and the light transmitted through the harvesting target is spectroscopically analyzed. Measuring the sugar content distribution in an object is described.

JP 2007-24651 A

As described above, the economic value of harvested plants such as fruits is greatly affected by the content of specific components contained in the harvested material. Therefore, the economic value of the harvest target is determined at the timing when the harvest target is harvested. Here, if the timing for harvesting the harvest target is predicted in advance, it becomes easier to make a shipping plan or the like.

One example of the problem to be solved by the present invention is predicting the timing at which the harvest target should be harvested.

According to one aspect of the present invention, plant identification information for mutually identifying a plurality of plants having an object to be harvested is associated with growth information indicating the growth status of the object to be harvested and measurement information including the measurement date and time of the growth information. an acquisition unit that acquires
A transmission unit that transmits the acquired plant identification information and measurement information to the outside;
a receiving unit that receives information indicating the harvest timing of the harvest target expected using the history of measurement information corresponding to the transmitted plant identification information and the transmitted measurement information;
It is a terminal device comprising

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a circulation movement unit for circulating a plurality of plants having harvest objects;
a harvest determination unit provided on a part of the route in the circulatory movement unit and predicting the harvest timing of the harvest target;
A cooling unit provided in another part of the path in the circulation moving unit and cooling the plant;
It is a plant growth system comprising

In still another aspect of the present invention, plant identification information for mutually identifying a plurality of plants having a harvest target, and growth information indicating the growth status of the harvest target and measurement information including the measurement date and time are stored in association with each other. a storage unit for
A receiving unit that receives the new measurement information in association with the plant identification information from an external device via a public communication line;
The measurement information corresponding to the plant identification information received by the receiving unit is read from the storage unit, and the harvested object is processed using the read measurement information and the new measurement information received by the receiving unit a prediction unit that predicts harvest timing;
a transmission unit that transmits the prediction result of the prediction unit to the outside via a public communication line;
It is a harvest judgment device comprising

It is a figure which shows the structure of the harvest judgment apparatus which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a first example of processing performed by a prediction unit; FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a second example of processing performed by a prediction unit; 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a harvest determination device according to Example 1; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a plant growing system according to Example 2; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a plant growing system according to Example 3; It is a figure for demonstrating the handling of the plant P after shipment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a user terminal; FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of a harvest judgment apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the harvest promotion information in a user terminal.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, in all the drawings, the same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

In the following description, the harvest determination device 100 does not show the configuration in units of hardware, but the blocks in units of function. For example, the prediction unit 120 can be realized by any combination of hardware and software such as the CPU of any computer, memory, programs loaded into the memory, storage media such as hard disks storing the programs, and network connection interfaces. be done. There are various modifications of the implementation method and device.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a harvest judgment device 100 according to an embodiment. A harvest determination device 100 according to the embodiment includes a concentration measurement unit 110 and a prediction unit 120 . The concentration measurement unit 110 measures the concentration of a specific component (an example of growth information) contained in the harvest target F. The prediction unit 120 predicts the harvest timing of the harvest target F based on the history of measurement results by the concentration measurement unit 110 . Harvested objects F are, for example, fruits of plant P, such as melons, watermelons, peaches, apples, and mangoes, but are not limited to these. The harvest determination device 100 is used in, for example, a plant factory, but is not limited to this. A detailed description will be given below.

The concentration measurement unit 110 measures the concentration of the specific component (hereinafter referred to as the specific component) contained in the harvest target F a plurality of times (for example, periodically). The concentration measuring unit 110 determines the concentration of the specific component contained in the harvesting target F based on the intensity of the light or reflected wave transmitted through the harvesting target F, for example. For example, when the specific component is sugar, the light detected by the concentration measuring unit 110 is near-infrared light. A light source of light detected by the concentration measuring unit 110 has a light-emitting element such as an LED or an organic EL element, and is arranged near the harvesting target F.

The prediction unit 120 predicts the harvest timing of the harvest target F based on the history of the measurement results of the concentration measurement unit 110 . A detailed example of the processing performed by the prediction unit 120 will be described later with reference to FIGS. The prediction unit 120 then outputs the prediction result. This predicted result is output to the outside as, for example, character data indicating the harvest timing, or image data indicating the history and predicted transition of the measurement result.

In addition, the harvest judgment device 100 further has a measurement result storage unit 122 . The measurement result storage unit 122 stores the measurement result obtained by the concentration measurement unit 110 in association with the measurement date and time. When there are a plurality of harvest objects F (or plants P), the measurement result storage unit 122 stores the measurement result and the measurement date and time by the concentration measurement unit 110 as information for mutually identifying the harvest objects F (or plants P) (hereinafter referred to as identification information and description) are stored in association with each other. This identification information is input to the density measurement unit 110 when measuring the harvesting target F, for example. Then, the prediction unit 120 predicts the harvest timing of the harvest target F using the information stored in the measurement result storage unit 122 .

Note that the measurement result storage unit 122 may be provided at a location different from the harvest determination device 100 . In this case, the measurement result storage unit 122 communicates with the prediction unit 120 via a communication line.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a first example of processing performed by the prediction unit 120. As shown in FIG. In the example shown in this figure, the prediction unit 120 predicts the harvest timing of the harvest target F using an approximate expression. For example, for the harvest target F, it is determined that it is time to harvest when the concentration of the specific component reaches or exceeds a reference value. Here, the prediction unit 120 predicts the timing when the concentration of the specific component becomes equal to or higher than the reference value (that is, harvest timing) by applying the transition of the concentration of the specific component to a predetermined approximate expression.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a second example of processing performed by the prediction unit 120. As shown in FIG. In the example shown in this figure, the prediction unit 120 predicts the harvest timing based on the difference in concentration of the specific component between different measurement timings. Specifically, the prediction unit 120 calculates the difference (ΔC) between the concentration of the specific component in the latest measurement result and the concentration of the specific component in the previous measurement result. Then, the prediction unit 120 judges the history of ΔC and predicts the timing when ΔC becomes equal to or less than the reference value. Then, this predicted timing is determined as the harvest timing. In this case, even if the concentration of the specific component does not increase in a specific harvesting target F due to individual differences in the harvesting target F, the harvest timing of the harvesting target F can be predicted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the prediction unit 120 predicts the harvest timing of the harvest target F based on the history of the measurement results of the concentration measurement unit 110 . Therefore, it becomes easier to make a shipping plan for the harvest target F.

Note that the prediction unit 120 may correct the harvest timing by subtracting the expiration date and the time required for distribution from the harvest timing obtained in the examples shown in FIGS. Specifically, when the time required for distribution is about five days, the forecasting unit 120 sets the forecasted date of the harvest timing so that the concentration of the specific component reaches the maximum after one week. By doing so, the concentration of the specific component in the harvest target F becomes the highest at the timing when it reaches the consumer.

(Example 1)
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the harvest determination device 100 according to the first embodiment. The harvest determination device 100 shown in this figure has the same configuration as the harvest determination device 100 according to the embodiment except that it includes a measurement result storage unit 122, a reference storage unit 124, and an input unit .

The measurement result storage unit 122 stores a history of measurement results of the density measurement unit 110 . For example, the measurement result storage unit 122 stores the measurement result of the density measurement unit 110 in association with information indicating the date and time of the measurement. In addition, when the harvest target object F is provided with identification information, the measurement result storage unit 122 stores the measurement result of the density measurement unit 110 in association with the harvest target object F identification information. Then, the prediction unit 120 predicts the harvest timing of the harvest target F using the information stored in the measurement result storage unit 122 .

The reference storage unit 124 stores information used when the prediction unit 120 predicts the harvest timing of the harvest target F. For example, when the prediction unit 120 predicts harvest timing using an approximate expression, the reference storage unit 124 stores information for generating this approximate expression. Further, when the prediction unit 120 predicts the harvest timing based on the difference in concentration of the specific component between different measurement timings, the reference storage unit 124, for example, stores the difference in correspondence with the time required until the harvest timing. I remember it with it.

Further, the reference storage unit 124 stores information used when predicting the harvest timing of the harvest target F for each type of the harvest target F. Therefore, the forecasting unit 120 can vary the harvesting timing forecasting reference for each type of the harvesting target F. In this way, the accuracy of predicting the harvest timing of the harvest target F is increased.

The input unit 130 includes an input device such as a touch panel and a keyboard, and inputs the type of the harvesting target F. The prediction unit 120 reads out from the reference storage unit 124 and uses information corresponding to the type of harvest target F input to the input unit 130 . The information indicating the type of the harvesting target F input to the input unit 130 is stored in the measurement result storage unit 122 in association with the identification information of the harvesting target F. When predicting the harvest timing of the harvest target F again, the prediction unit 120 determines the type of the harvest target F using the information stored in the measurement result storage unit 122 .

This example also provides the same effect as the embodiment. In addition, since the harvest timing prediction standard can be changed according to the type of the harvest target F, the accuracy of predicting the harvest timing of the harvest target F is increased.

(Example 2)
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the plant growing system 10 according to the second embodiment. A plant growing system 10 according to this embodiment is used, for example, in a plant factory, and includes a harvest determining device 100 , an irradiation unit 200 , a sorting device 300 , a harvesting device 310 , a refrigerating device 320 and a cooling unit 330 . The harvest determination device 100 has a configuration similar to that of the first embodiment.

In the plant growing system 10, a plurality of plants P are circulated by an annular circulating movement section 210, such as a belt conveyor. An irradiation unit 200 is provided above the plurality of plants P. As shown in FIG. The irradiation unit 200 irradiates the plant P with light having a wavelength suitable for the growth of the plant P. Here, the irradiation unit 200 may change the wavelength of the light according to the growth stage of the plant P.

The plurality of plants P are provided with identification information for identifying each other. This identification information is stored, for example, in an IC chip attached to the growth container of the plant P. The harvest determination device 100 uses the identification information of the plant P as the identification information of the harvest target F. Then, the harvest determination device 100 predicts the harvest timing of the harvest target object F of the plant P, as in the first embodiment. At this time, the harvest determination device 100 reads the identification information of the plant P having the harvest object F to be inspected from the IC chip. Further, the prediction unit 120 of the harvest determination device 100 determines that the harvest target F should be harvested when the concentration of the specific component in the harvest target F satisfies the criteria. Then, the harvest determination device 100 outputs identification information corresponding to the harvest object F determined to be harvested to the classification device 300 .

A cooling unit 330 is provided on a portion of the circulation moving unit 210 . The cooling unit 330 cools the plant P to such an extent that it does not freeze. Preferably, the humidity is also kept above a certain value. As a result, depending on the type of plant P (eg, leafy vegetables such as cabbage and Chinese cabbage, asparagus, etc.), the concentration of specific components (eg, sugar content and free amino acids) in the harvest target F increases. This is considered to prevent the plant P itself from freezing.

In this embodiment, the measurement result storage unit 122 of the harvest determination device 100 stores the operation history of the irradiation unit 200 and the cooling unit 330 in addition to the history of the measurement result by the concentration measurement unit 110 .

The sorting device 300 is provided in a part of the circulatory movement section 210, and reads the identification information of the plant P passing through the sorting device 300 from the IC chip described above. Then, when the read identification information matches the identification information received from the harvest determination device 100, the classification device 300 separates the plant P from the harvest target object F from the circulatory movement unit 210. Move to root.

The harvest target F of the plant P that has moved to a route other than the circulatory movement unit 210 is harvested and boxed by the harvesting device 310 and stored in a refrigerated state (preferably in a high humidity state) by the refrigerating device 320. The refrigerating device 320 may further store the harvest target F in a state of high humidity.

Also according to the present embodiment, the harvest timing of the harvest target F can be predicted with high accuracy, so that the shipping plan for the harvest target F can be easily made. In addition, since the cooling section 330 is provided on a part of the circulatory movement section 210, the sugar content of the harvesting target F is easily increased.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the plants P (and the harvesting target F) are arranged in a line, but depending on the growth state and sugar content of the individual plants P and the harvesting target F, the arrangement order of the plants P may be changed. You can replace it. For example, the plants P having the same growth state and the same sugar content of the harvesting target F may be rearranged and grouped so that the operations of the irradiation unit 200 and the cooling unit 330 may be optimized for each group.

(Example 3)
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the plant growing system 10 according to the third embodiment. The plant growth system 10 according to this embodiment has the same configuration as the plant growth system 10 according to the second embodiment except for the following points.

First, the harvest determination device 100 outputs to the classification device 300 the identification information of the plant P whose period until the expected harvest timing of the harvest target F is equal to or less than the standard. The sorting device 300 removes the plant P for which the identification information has been received from the circulatory movement unit 210 and ships the plant. The plant P is delivered to the customer in a state in which an unharvested harvest target F is attached.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the handling of the plant P after shipment. A customer who has received the plant P has a user terminal 400 . The user terminal 400 can communicate with the harvest judgment device 100 via the public communication line 20 . The user terminal 400 transmits the measurement information of the harvest target F to the harvest determination device 100 via the public communication line 20 . Harvest determination device 100 uses the new measurement information received from user terminal 400 and the measurement information (including measurement information in plant growth system 10) stored in advance in measurement result storage unit 122 to determine the harvest target object. Predict the harvest timing of F. The harvest judgment device 100 then transmits the prediction result to the user terminal 400 via the public communication line 20 .

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of the user terminal 400. As shown in FIG. A user terminal 400 is a mobile terminal and includes a measuring section 410 and a communication section 420 . The measurement unit 410 acquires the measurement information of the harvest target F. Here, the measurement unit 410 has the same function as the concentration measurement unit 110 of the harvest determination device 100 . A general-purpose mobile communication terminal such as a smart phone can be used as the user terminal 400 . In the latter case, the measurement unit 410 acquires the concentration of the specific component contained in the harvest target F as measurement information.

The communication unit 420 communicates with the harvest determination device 100 via the public communication line 20 . The communication unit 420 has, for example, a wireless communication function. The communication unit 420 transmits the measurement information measured by the measurement unit 410 to the harvest determination device 100 in association with the identification information of the plant P. The identification information of the plant P is read by the measurement unit 410, for example.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of the harvest determination device 100 in this embodiment. The harvest determination device 100 shown in this figure has the same configuration as the harvest determination device 100 according to the first embodiment, except that it includes a communication unit 140 (receiving unit and transmitting unit). The communication unit 140 receives measurement information and plant P identification information transmitted from a user terminal 400 (an example of an external device). Then, the prediction unit 120 reads the history of measurement information corresponding to the identification information of the plant P received by the communication unit 140 from the measurement result storage unit 122, and uses the read history and the measurement information received by the communication unit 140 to perform harvesting. Predict the harvest timing of the object F. The prediction unit 120 also stores the newly received measurement information in the measurement result storage unit 122 in association with the identification information of the plant P. The communication unit 140 then transmits the prediction result of the prediction unit 120 to the user terminal 400 .

Further, when the harvest timing of the harvest target F approaches, the prediction unit 120 transmits harvest promotion information indicating that the harvest timing has approached to the user terminal 400 via the communication unit 140 . Thereby, the user of the user terminal 400 can recognize that the harvest timing of the harvest target material F is approaching.

Each diagram in FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of the harvest promotion information on the user terminal 400 . In the examples shown in these figures, the harvest promotion information indicates the time (the number of days in the example shown in this figure) until the scheduled date of harvest. The display changes depending on the time based on the scheduled harvest date. The harvest promotion information also includes the history of the plant S, the recommended storage environment after harvest, the amount of nutrients, and the like. Although not shown in the drawing, the harvest promotion information may be accompanied by a standard image of the harvest target F at that timing.

Note that the type of the harvesting target F is already stored in the measurement result storage unit 122 , so the user of the user terminal 400 need not input the type of the harvesting target F to the user terminal 400 .

Also, the measurement unit 410 of the user terminal 400 may acquire a color image of the harvest target F as measurement information. In this case, the growth information includes information indicating the color of the harvest target F. Then, the prediction unit 120 of the harvest determination device 100 predicts the harvest timing of the harvest target F based on the color of the harvest target F, for example, the area ratio of the specific color in the harvest target F.

According to this embodiment, since the user of the user terminal 400 obtains the plant P after the harvest target F has grown to some extent, compared to the case where the user grows the plant P from the beginning, the harvest target The possibility of harvesting F increases. Then, the user can enjoy the process of growing the harvesting object F until it can be harvested. At this time, since the harvest timing of the harvest target F can be predicted, the enjoyment becomes even greater.

Although the embodiments and examples have been described above with reference to the drawings, these are examples of the present invention, and various configurations other than those described above can be adopted.

10 plant growth system 100 harvest judgment device 110 concentration measurement unit 120 prediction unit 130 input unit 140 communication unit (receiving unit and transmitting unit)
20 Public communication line 210 Circulation unit 330 Cooling unit 400 User terminal (external device)

Claims (7)

the computer,
means for storing in a storage unit identification information for mutually identifying harvested objects and expected ripeness information predicted based on the measurement information of the harvested objects in association with each other;
means for receiving the identification information from an external terminal after the harvest target is shipped;
Means for reading out the expected eating season information corresponding to the received identification information from the storage unit and transmitting the read expected eating season information to the external terminal;
A program to function as further causing the computer to function as a means for predicting how many days after the harvested object will be ready to eat, based on the measurement information of the harvested object;
2. The program according to claim 1, wherein said storing means stores a prediction result by said predicting means in said storage unit as at least a part of said ripeness prediction information. The means for predicting generates the prediction result using information stored for each type of the harvest target in the reference storage unit and used when predicting the harvest timing of the harvest target. 3. The program according to claim 2. 4. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said means for transmitting further transmits information indicating that the time to eat is approaching to said terminal when the time to eat is approaching. 5. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said means for transmitting transmits information on the production area of said harvest target to said terminal together with said expected time to eat said information. 5. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said means for transmitting transmits the recommended storage temperature of said harvested object to said terminal together with said expected ripeness information. a storage processing unit that associates and stores in a storage unit identification information for mutually identifying harvest objects and expected ripeness information predicted based on the measurement information of the harvest objects;
a receiving unit that receives the identification information from an external terminal after the harvest target is shipped;
a transmission unit that reads out the expected eating season information corresponding to the received identification information from the storage unit and transmits the read out expected eating season information to the external terminal;
Harvest decision device with.

Images