JP7359464B2 - Crop growing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a crop growing system that remotely monitors crops and performs spraying of pesticides, fertilization, etc. on the crops based on the monitoring results.

Applications of small helicopters (multicopters) called drones are progressing. One of its important application fields is the application of chemicals such as pesticides and liquid fertilizers to farmland (fields). Particularly in agricultural areas with relatively small areas, the use of drones is often more appropriate than manned airplanes or helicopters.

Patent Document 1 describes a flight method for taking aerial photographs of farmland using a drone, specifying the area and amount of pesticide to be sprayed based on the obtained image, and efficiently spraying the specified amount of pesticide on the specified area. A method of spraying pesticides has been proposed in which a route is planned and pesticides are sprayed using a drone according to the plan.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-111429

A pathological diagnosis system that photographs crops using aerial photography using a drone and diagnoses the disease in the crops based on the images obtained. There is a need for people to personally diagnose whether their crops are actually infected with a disease, and to what extent the disease has progressed, and to check whether the system's diagnosis is correct. be.

However, it is troublesome for farmers to go to the location (or area) in farmland where crops that are determined to be affected by a disease by the pathological diagnosis system are planted. In particular, if the location (or area) where crops determined to be affected by the disease are planted is near the center of a rice field, it may not be easy for farmers to reach that location (or area). do not have.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide users, such as agricultural workers, with a means for making judgments regarding the susceptibility of crops to diseases.

The agricultural crop growing system according to the present invention provides a system for growing agricultural crops that uses one or more unmanned moving objects including one or more unmanned aerial vehicles, each of which is equipped with one or more photographing means for taking images of agricultural crops, to Based on the photographic data generated by the instruction means for instructing the route and the photographing means mounted on at least one of the one or more unmanned aerial vehicles that flew over the farmland in accordance with the instructions of the instruction means, diagnosing means for diagnosing whether agricultural crops planted in Directing a travel route for photographing an image of a crop diagnosed as being affected by the disease, and providing photographic data regarding the crop diagnosed by the diagnostic means as suffering from the disease, according to instructions of the instruction means. a recording means for recording, as additional data, photographic data generated by a photographing means mounted on at least one of the one or more unmanned mobile objects that have moved, in association with crop identification data for identifying the crop; Equipped with

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a crop growing system that is an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure showing the composition of the drone in the same embodiment. It is a diagram showing the configuration of the same drone. It is a diagram showing the configuration of the same drone. It is a diagram showing the configuration of the same drone. It is a diagram showing the configuration of the same drone. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the drone. It is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a data processing device in the same drone. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a server in the same embodiment. It is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the CPU of the same server. It is a flowchart showing an outline of the operation of the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the agricultural crop map obtained by flight photography in the same embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the screen displayed on a user terminal in the same embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the screen displayed on a user terminal in the same embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the screen displayed on a user terminal in the same embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a first flight route for flight photography and a second flight route for flight re-photography in the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the shape of the same 2nd flight route seen from the horizontal direction. It is a figure which shows the agricultural crop map obtained by flight re-photography in the same embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the screen displayed on a user terminal in the same embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the screen displayed on a user terminal in the same embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. All figures are illustrative. In the detailed description that follows, for purposes of explanation, certain specific details are set forth to facilitate a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, embodiments are not limited to these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown schematically in order to simplify the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a crop growing system that is an embodiment of the present invention. The farm field 403 is farmland such as a rice field or a field where agricultural crops are planted. The base station 404 has both a function as a base station for Wi-Fi communication and a function as an RTK-GPS base station. The user terminal 401 is a terminal operated by a farmer 402 who is a user, and communicates with the drone 100 or the server 405 via a base station 404 and a network. This user terminal 401 may be realized by a portable information device such as a general tablet terminal that executes a computer program. In this embodiment, the user terminal 401 has a touch panel as a user interface.

The drone 100 is an unmanned aircraft with an autonomous flight function. This drone 100 has the following main functions. The first function is to photograph each crop one by one while flying several tens of centimeters above the crops so as to scan the entire field 403 in accordance with a pre-given flight photography plan, and image each crop. This is an aerial imaging function that diagnoses the disease in agricultural crops based on the following information. The second function is to fly while passing a specific position in the field 403 according to a pre-given flight re-photographing plan, and to identify the crops at the specific position, specifically, those affected by diseases in the aerial photograph. This is a flight re-imaging function that photographs crops that have been diagnosed with the disease and diagnoses the disease in the crops based on the images of each crop. The third function is a flight spraying function that flies over specific positions in the field 403 and sprays pesticides on crops located at specific positions, according to a pre-given flight spraying plan. Usually, the drone 100 takes off from a departure and arrival point 406 outside the field 403 and returns to the departure and arrival point 406 after spraying pesticides on the field 403 or when it is necessary to replenish the pesticide, charge the battery, etc.

The server 405 is typically a group of computers and related software operated on a cloud service. This server 405 has the following main functions. The first function is a function that acquires information indicating crop planting positions, images, and diagnosis results from the drone 100 during the process of flight photography by the drone 100, and stores the information as a crop map. Furthermore, the second function is a function of acquiring information indicating crop planting positions, images, and diagnosis results from the drone 100 during the process of flight re-photography by the drone 100, and adding the information to the crop map. The third function is a crop map editing function. This editing function provides the user terminal 401 with an image showing the crop map, images of the crops forming the crop map, and diagnostic results regarding the crops, according to instructions from the user terminal 401. Further, according to instructions from the user terminal 401, various instructions such as conditions for spraying pesticides on crops are written in the crop map. The fourth function is to generate a flight re-photographing plan for re-photographing crops that have been diagnosed as suffering from a disease based on the crop map obtained by flight photographing, and to provide the plan to the drone 100. This is a function to The fifth function is a function of performing a comprehensive diagnosis regarding disease in agricultural crops based on information obtained by flight photography and information obtained by flight re-photography. The sixth function is a function that, when a spraying instruction is given, generates a flight spraying plan for spraying pesticides on diseased crops based on the crop map and provides it to the drone 100. The seventh function is a function of relaying, to the drone 100, an instruction for flight reshooting or an instruction for flight scattering transmitted from the user terminal 401.

Next, the drone 100 will be explained. In this specification, a drone refers to a drone, regardless of its power means (electric power, prime mover, etc.), control method (wireless or wired, autonomous flight type or manually operated type, etc.). This refers to all unmanned aircraft with multiple rotary wings.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, the rotary blades 101-1a, 101-1b, 101-2a, 101-2b, 101-3a, 101-3b, 101-4a, 101-4b (also called rotors) are: It is a means for flying the drone 100, and is equipped with eight aircraft (four sets of two-stage rotor blades) in consideration of the balance between flight stability, aircraft size, and battery consumption.

The motors 102-1a, 102-1b, 102-2a, 102-2b, 102-3a, 102-3b, 102-4a, 102-4b are rotary blades 101-1a, 101-1b, 101-2a, 101- 2b, 101-3a, 101-3b, 101-4a, 101-4b (typically an electric motor, but a motor etc. may also be used), and one unit is provided for each rotor blade. It is being Motor 102 is an example of a propulsion device. The upper and lower rotary blades (for example, 101-1a and 101-1b) and the corresponding motors (for example, 102-1a and 102-1b) in one set are for the stability of the flight of the drone, etc. The axes are colinear and rotate in opposite directions. Note that although some of the rotary blades 101-3b and the motor 102-3b are not shown, their positions are obvious and would be in the positions shown if there were a left side view. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the radial members for supporting the propeller guard provided to prevent the rotor from interfering with foreign objects are not horizontal but have a tower-like structure. This is to encourage the member to buckle to the outside of the rotor blade in the event of a collision, and to prevent interference with the rotor.

Four drug nozzles 103-1, 103-2, 103-3, and 103-4 are provided as means for spraying the drug downward. In this specification, the term "drug" generally refers to agricultural chemicals, herbicides, liquid fertilizers, insecticides, seeds, and liquids or powders such as water that are sprayed on fields.

The medicine tank 104 is a tank for storing the medicine to be sprayed, and is provided at a position close to and lower than the center of gravity of the drone 100 from the viewpoint of weight balance. The drug hoses 105-1, 105-2, 105-3, and 105-4 are means for connecting the drug tank 104 and each drug nozzle 103-1, 103-2, 103-3, and 103-4, and are made of hard material. The material may also serve as a support for the drug nozzle. Pump 106 is a means for discharging medicine from the nozzle.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram showing the control functions of the drone 100. The data processing device 501 is a component that controls the entire drone, and specifically may be an embedded computer including a CPU, memory, related software, and the like. The data processing device 501 controls the motors 102-1a, 102-1b, 102-2a, 102-2b, 102-3a, 102-3b, 104-a, 104 through a control means such as ESC (Electronic Speed Control). The flight of the drone 100 is controlled by controlling the rotation speed of -b. The actual rotation speeds of the motors 102-1a, 102-1b, 102-2a, 102-2b, 102-3a, 102-3b, 104-a, and 104-b are fed back to the data processing device 501 to ensure normal rotation. The configuration is such that you can monitor what is being done. Alternatively, a configuration may be adopted in which an optical sensor or the like is provided on the rotary blade 101 and the rotation of the rotary blade 101 is fed back to the data processing device 501.

The software used by the data processing device 501 can be rewritten through a storage medium or a communication means such as Wi-Fi communication or USB in order to expand/change functions, correct problems, etc. In this case, protection is provided using encryption, checksums, electronic signatures, virus checking software, etc. to prevent rewriting by unauthorized software. Further, a part of the calculation processing used for control by the data processing device 501 may be executed by another computer located on the user terminal 401, the server 405, or another location. Since the data processing device 501 is highly important, some or all of its components may be duplicated.

The battery 502 is a means for supplying power to the data processing device 501 and other components of the drone, and may be rechargeable. The battery 502 is connected to the data processing device 501 via a power supply unit including a fuse or a circuit breaker. The battery 502 may be a smart battery that has a function of transmitting its internal state (storage amount, accumulated usage time, etc.) to the data processing device 501 in addition to the power supply function.

The data processing device 501 can communicate with the user terminal 401 and the server 405 via the Wi-Fi slave device 503 and further via the base station 404. In this case, the communication may be encrypted to prevent unauthorized acts such as interception, impersonation, and hijacking of the device. As described above, the base station 404 has both a Wi-Fi communication function and an RTK-GPS base station function. Therefore, by combining the signal from the RTK base station and the signal from the GPS positioning satellite, the GPS module 504 can measure the absolute position of the drone 100 with an accuracy of about 2 centimeters. Because the GPS module 504 is highly important, it may be duplicated or multiplexed, and each redundant GPS module 504 may be configured to use a different satellite in order to cope with a failure of a particular GPS satellite. It may be controlled.

The 6-axis gyro sensor 505 is a means for measuring the acceleration of the drone body in three mutually orthogonal directions (and a means for calculating the speed by integrating the acceleration). The 6-axis gyro sensor 505 is a means for measuring changes in the attitude angle of the drone body in the three directions described above, that is, the angular velocity. The geomagnetic sensor 506 is a means for measuring the direction of the drone body by measuring geomagnetism. The atmospheric pressure sensor 507 is a means for measuring atmospheric pressure, and can also indirectly measure the altitude of the drone. The laser sensor 508 is a means for measuring the distance between the drone body and the ground surface using reflection of laser light, and may be an IR (infrared) laser. The sonar 509 is a means for measuring the distance between the drone body and the ground surface using reflection of sound waves such as ultrasonic waves. These sensors may be selected depending on the cost goals and performance requirements of the drone. Furthermore, a gyro sensor (angular velocity sensor) for measuring the inclination of the aircraft body, a wind sensor for measuring wind force, etc. may be added. Further, these sensors may be duplicated or multiplexed. If there are multiple sensors for the same purpose, the data processing device 501 may use only one of them, and if that sensor fails, it may switch to use an alternative sensor. Alternatively, a plurality of sensors may be used simultaneously, and if the respective measurement results do not match, it may be assumed that a failure has occurred.

The flow rate sensors 510 are means for measuring the flow rate of the medicine, and are provided at multiple locations along the route from the medicine tank 104 to the medicine nozzle 103. The liquid-out sensor 511 is a sensor that detects when the amount of medicine has fallen below a predetermined amount.

The visible light camera 512a, the first spectral camera 512b, and the second spectral camera 512c are cameras for photographing agricultural products, respectively, and take images of agricultural products planted on farmland, and capture photographic data representing images of the agricultural products. It functions as a photographing means for generating images. Here, the visible light camera 512a targets the entire wavelength band of visible light of sunlight reflected by agricultural products. Further, the first spectral camera 512b spectrally captures red light, for example, a component in a wavelength band around 680 nm, out of the sunlight reflected by agricultural products. Further, the second spectral camera 512c spectrally spectrally and photographs near-infrared light, for example, a component in a wavelength band around 780 nm, out of the sunlight reflected by agricultural products. In the drone 100, diagnosis regarding disease in agricultural crops is performed based on images obtained from the first spectral camera 512b and the second spectral camera 512c.

The obstacle detection camera 513 is a camera for detecting obstacles to the drone. The switch 514 is a means for the farmer 402 using the drone 100 to make various settings. The obstacle contact sensor 515 is a sensor for detecting that the drone 100, particularly its rotor or propeller guard portion, has come into contact with an obstacle such as an electric wire, a building, a human body, a standing tree, a bird, or another drone. . The cover sensor 516 is a sensor that detects whether the operation panel or internal maintenance cover of the drone 100 is open. The drug inlet sensor 517 is a sensor that detects that the inlet of the drug tank 104 is in an open state. These sensors may be selected depending on the cost target and performance requirements of the drone, and may be duplicated or multiplexed. Alternatively, a sensor may be provided at the base station 404, user terminal 401, or other location outside the drone 100, and read information may be transmitted to the drone. For example, the base station 404 may be provided with a wind sensor, and information regarding wind force and wind direction may be transmitted to the drone 100 via Wi-Fi communication.

The data processing device 501 transmits a control signal to the pump 106 to adjust the amount of medicine discharged and to stop the medicine discharge. The current status of the pump 106 (eg, rotation speed, etc.) is configured to be fed back to the data processing device 501. Furthermore, the data processing device 501 uses a Wi-Fi handset 503, a GPS module 504, a geomagnetic sensor 506, an atmospheric pressure sensor 507, a laser sensor 508, and a sonar 509 to measure the three-dimensional position of the drone 100. It has the function of Furthermore, the data processing device 501 uses a visible light camera 512a, a first spectral camera 512b, and and the second spectral camera 512c each have a function as a planting position specifying means for specifying the planting position (or area) of the agricultural products photographed by each of the second spectral cameras 512c.

The LED 107 is a display means for notifying the drone operator of the drone's status. As the display means, a display means such as a liquid crystal display may be used instead of or in addition to the LED. The buzzer 518 is an output means for notifying the state of the drone (particularly an error state) by an audio signal. The Wi-Fi handset function 519 is an optional component, separate from the user terminal 401, for communicating with an external computer, etc., for example, to transfer software. Instead of or in addition to the Wi-Fi handset function, you can use other wireless communication means such as infrared communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark), ZigBee (registered trademark), NFC, or wired communication means such as USB connection. May be used. The speaker 520 is an output means for notifying the state of the drone (especially error state) using a recorded human voice, a synthesized voice, or the like. Depending on the weather conditions, it may be difficult to see the visual display of the drone 100 during flight, so in such cases, it is effective to convey the situation by voice. The warning light 521 is a display means such as a strobe light that informs the state of the drone (particularly an error state). These input/output means may be selected depending on the cost target and performance requirements of the drone, and may be duplicated or multiplexed.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the data processing device 501. As shown in FIG. 8, the data processing device 501 includes a CPU 710 and a storage section 720 consisting of a nonvolatile memory and a volatile memory. In the box representing the CPU 710, a communication processing section 711, a diagnosis section 712, a flight photographing control section 713, a flight re-photographing control section 714, and a flight dispersion control section 715 are shown. These functions are realized by the CPU 710 executing programs in the storage unit 720.

The storage unit 720 stores a flight photographing plan 721, a flight re-photographing plan 722, and a flight dispersion plan 723. These are given from the server 405 and stored in the storage unit 720. The flight photography plan 721 includes information indicating a first flight route (an example of a first flight route) over the field 403 on which the drone 100 should fly for flight photography. The flight reshooting plan 722 also includes information indicating a second flight route (an example of a second flight route) over the field 403 in which the drone 100 should fly for flight reshooting, and information on this second flight route. includes information indicating the position (position of the drone 100) at which the crop should be re-photographed, information indicating the planting position of the crop to be re-photographed, and information indicating conditions for re-photographing. The flight spraying plan 723 includes information indicating the route on the field 403 that the drone 100 should fly for flight spraying, information indicating the position (position of the drone 100) where pesticides should be sprayed on this route, and this information. It includes information indicating the planting position of crops to be sprayed with pesticides on the route, and information indicating the amount of spraying.

In the CPU 710, a communication processing unit 711 is a means for communicating with the server 405 or the user terminal 401. The diagnosis unit 712 is a means for generating diagnostic result data regarding the crops by analyzing images of the crops, specifically, images of the crops taken by the first spectral camera 512b and the second spectral camera 512c. This diagnostic result data indicates whether or not the crops are affected by a disease, the type of disease affected, and the degree of progression of the disease, such as mild or severe.

When the flight photography control unit 713 receives a flight photography instruction from the user terminal 401 via the server 405, it controls the drone 100 to perform flight photography according to the flight photography plan 721 in the storage unit 720. .

Specifically, the flight photography control unit 713 controls the motors 102-1a, 102-1b, 102-2a, 102-2b, 102 for flying the drone 100 according to the first flight route determined in the flight photography plan 721. -3a, 102-3b, 104-a, and 104-b are controlled. The flight photography control unit 713 also controls the three-dimensional position of the drone 100 measured by position measuring means such as the GPS module 504 and the drone position measured by the six-axis gyro sensor 505 while the drone 100 is performing flight photography. 100, the photographing positions (positions of the photographed subjects) of the visible light camera 512a, the first spectral camera 512b, and the second spectral camera 512c are calculated. Then, each image obtained from the visible light camera 512a, the first spectral camera 512b, and the second spectral camera 512c is associated with each shooting position, and images having the same shooting position and showing the same agricultural products are associated with each other. and hands it over to the diagnosis department 712. At this time, the flight photography control unit 713 records the image delivered to the diagnosis unit 712 in a temporary storage area of the storage unit 720.

The diagnosis unit 712 generates diagnosis result data regarding the disease incidence of agricultural products based on the images obtained from the first spectral camera 512b and the second spectral camera 512c among the transferred data, and transmits the diagnosis result data to the flight photography control unit 713. return.

The flight photography control unit 713 determines whether the crops are diseased among the images of the visible light camera 512a, the first spectral camera 512b, and the second spectral camera 512c that are recorded in the temporary storage area of the storage unit 720 and handed over to the diagnosis unit 712. The images of the crops for which diagnosis result data indicating that they are infected are delivered to the communication processing unit 711 along with the identification data and diagnosis result data of the crops. The communication processing unit 711 transmits this transferred data to the server 405. Here, the identification data is data that identifies the agricultural product, specifically, data that indicates the planting position of the diseased agricultural product in the field 403. The flight photography control unit 713 discards the photography data in the storage unit 720 after the photography data of the crops is transmitted to the server 405 together with the identification data and the diagnosis result data. Furthermore, when the flight photography control unit 713 receives diagnosis result data indicating that the crops are not affected by a disease, it promptly deletes the photography data of each camera corresponding to the crops in the storage unit 720.

When the flight reshooting control unit 714 receives a flight reshooting instruction from the user terminal 401 via the server 405, the flight reshooting control unit 714 causes the drone 100 to perform the flight reshooting according to the flight reshooting plan 722 in the storage unit 720. control.

Specifically, the flight reshooting control unit 714 performs control to fly the drone 100 according to the route determined in the flight reshooting plan 722. The flight reshooting control unit 714 also causes the drone 100 to hover at a position determined in the flight reshooting plan 722, and uses the visible light camera 512a to monitor the crops that have been mowed down by the downflow airflow generated by the rotary blades 101. A photograph is taken by either the camera 512b and the second spectrum camera 513c, or each camera, and the photographed image is transmitted to the server 405 by the communication processing unit 711.

When the flight spraying control unit 715 receives a flight spraying instruction from the user terminal 401 via the server 405, it performs control to cause the drone 100 to perform flight spraying according to the flight spraying plan 723 in the storage unit 720. .

Specifically, the flight spraying control unit 715 performs control to fly the drone 100 according to the route determined in the flight spraying plan 723. Further, the flight reshooting control unit 714 stops the drone 100 at a position where it can spray the pesticide at the spraying position determined in the flight spraying plan 723, and causes the pump 106 to spray the pesticide at the spraying position. At that time, the flight spraying control unit 715 controls the pump 106 so that the amount of pesticide determined in the flight spraying plan 723 is sprayed.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the server 405. Note that, in order to make the functions of the server 405 easier to understand, FIG. 9 shows the user terminal 401, the drone 100, the solar radiation sensor 601, and the rainfall sensor 602 along with the server 405.

As shown in FIG. 9, the server 405 communicates with a CPU 810 that controls the entire system, a storage unit 820 that stores programs and data, and communication partners such as a user terminal 401, a drone 100, a solar radiation sensor 601, and a rainfall sensor 602. and a communication unit 830 that performs. The CPU 810 is a collection of CPUs of multiple computers provided by the cloud service. Furthermore, the storage unit 820 is a collection of storage devices owned by a plurality of computers provided by a cloud service.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the CPU 810. Note that, in order to make the functional configuration of the CPU 810 easier to understand, various data stored in the storage section 820 are shown together with the CPU 810 in FIG.

In FIG. 10, a communication processing section 811, a recording section 812, a map editing section 813, a flight reshooting plan generation section 814, a flight dispersion plan generation section 815, and a comprehensive diagnosis section 816 are shown in the box indicating the CPU 810. . These functions are realized by the CPU 810 executing a program (not shown) in the storage unit 820.

The communication processing unit 811 is a means for controlling communication with communication partners such as the user terminal 401, the drone 100, the solar radiation sensor 601, and the rainfall sensor 602 shown in FIG. The recording unit 812 is a means for receiving data transmitted from the drone 100 while the drone 100 is performing flight photography or flight re-photography, composes a crop map 821, and stores it in the storage unit 820.

The map editing unit 813 is a means for editing the agricultural product map 821. The map editing unit 813 provides an image showing the agricultural product map 821 to the user terminal 401 in accordance with instructions from the user terminal 401. This image shows the location of agricultural crops that have been diagnosed as suffering from a disease within a two-dimensional plane showing the field 403. Furthermore, when a desired crop is specified by the user terminal 401 in the image of the crop map 821, the map editing unit 813 reads the photographic data and diagnosis result data corresponding to the crop from the crop map 821, and the user terminal 401. Further, when the map editing unit 813 receives an instruction regarding re-photographing or spraying a desired crop from the user terminal 401, the map editing unit 813 reflects the instruction on the crop map 821.

The flight reshooting plan generation unit 814 generates a flight reshooting plan 822 for reshooting crops that have been diagnosed as suffering from a disease based on the crop map 821 in accordance with instructions from the user terminal 401. and provides it to the drone 100.

The flight spraying plan generation unit 815 generates a flight spraying plan for spraying pesticides on crops that have been diagnosed as suffering from a disease based on the crop map 821 in accordance with instructions from the user terminal 401. and provides it to the drone 100.

The comprehensive diagnosis unit 816 is a means for comprehensively diagnosing the disease of agricultural crops based on the information obtained by flight photography and the information obtained by flight re-photography among the information constituting the crop map 821. be. This comprehensive diagnosis unit 816 determines whether or not the diagnosis result by the diagnostic means (the diagnosis result of the diagnosis unit 712 based on the information obtained by flight photography) is correct based on the additional data (information obtained by flight re-photography). It also serves as a means of judgment.

Further, the CPU 810 relays to the drone 100 an instruction for flight reshooting or an instruction for flight scattering transmitted from the user terminal 401 . There are conditions for instructing flight reshoots. That is, re-imaging should be performed during the daytime when the amount of solar radiation is above a predetermined value and there is no rain. Therefore, when the CPU 810 receives an instruction to re-photograph from the user terminal 401, the CPU 810 communicates with the solar radiation sensor 601 and the rainfall sensor 602 placed in or near the field 403, so that the conditions for re-photographing are satisfied. Determine whether or not the If the conditions for performing this re-photography are met, the CPU 810 sends an instruction to the drone 100 to re-photograph the flight. On the other hand, if the conditions for re-photographing are not met, the CPU 810 returns a response to the user terminal 401 to the effect that the instruction to re-photograph the flight is rejected.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart outlining the operation of this embodiment. Hereinafter, the operation of this embodiment will be explained according to this flowchart.

When crops are susceptible to diseases, the farmer 402 sends an instruction for aerial photography to the server 405 via the user terminal 401. This flight photography instruction is relayed by the server 405 and sent to the drone 100. Thereby, the flight photography control unit 713 of the drone 100 causes the drone 100 to perform flight photography according to the flight photography plan stored in advance in the storage unit 720 by the server 405. This flight photography plan includes information indicating a first flight route for flight photography. The server 405 that provides the flight photographing plan to the drone 100 in this manner functions as an instruction unit that instructs the drone 100 about the movement route (flight route).

In this flight photography, the drone 100 scans the entire field 403, flies several tens of centimeters above the crops, and photographs the crops with the visible light camera 512a, the first spectral camera 512b, and the second spectral camera 512c. Then, in the drone 100, the diagnosis unit 712 generates diagnosis result data regarding the incidence of a disease based on the images captured by the first spectral camera 512b and the second spectral camera 512c. In this way, the diagnosis unit 712 of the drone 100 determines whether the crops grown on the farmland are diseased based on the photographic data generated by the photographing means mounted on the drone 100 that flies over the farmland according to the instructions from the instruction means. It functions as a diagnostic tool to diagnose whether or not someone is suffering from the disease.

The flight photography control unit 713 transmits identification data indicating the planting position of the agricultural products, diagnostic result data regarding the agricultural products, and the visible light camera 512a or the Photographic data of agricultural products photographed by a plurality of spectral cameras such as the first spectral camera 512b and the second spectral camera 512c, or by the visible light camera 512a and the spectral camera are correlated and transmitted to the server 405. In the server 405, the recording unit 812 records the data received from the flight photography control unit 713 of the drone 100 in the storage unit 820 as a crop map 821 (step S1 above).

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a crop map 821 obtained by aerial photography. In this crop map 821, data corresponding to one crop includes identification data, diagnosis result data, and photographic data. Here, the identification data is data that specifies the agricultural product, specifically, data that indicates the planting position (for example, latitude and longitude) of the agricultural product. The diagnosis result data is data indicating whether or not the agricultural product is affected by a disease, the type of disease affected, and the degree of progression of the disease. As described above, in the process of flight photography, identification data, diagnosis result data, and photography data are transmitted from the drone 100 to the server 405 only for agricultural crops affected by the disease. Therefore, after the aerial photographing is completed, the diagnosis result data constituting the agricultural crop map 821 does not include any diagnosis result data indicating that there is no disease, and all of the diagnosis result data has content indicating that the farmer is suffering from the disease. The photographic data includes photographic data photographed by the visible light camera 512a, a plurality of spectral cameras including a first spectral camera 512b and a second spectral camera 512c, or a visible light camera 512a and a plurality of spectral cameras. . Of these, each photographic data photographed by the first spectral camera 512b and the second spectral camera 512c is photographed data used for diagnosing the disease of the agricultural product (step S1 above).

At the stage when flight photography is completed, a screen shown in FIG. 13 is displayed on the touch panel of the user terminal 401. When the farmer 402 instructs the soft button B01 displayed as "confirm map," the map editing unit 813 of the server 405 generates an image showing the crop map 821 and sends it to the user terminal 401. As a result, a screen illustrated in FIG. 14 is displayed on the touch panel of the user terminal 401.

In the image on the left side of FIG. 14, the horizontal axis is, for example, longitude, and the vertical axis is latitude. In this screen, black circle plots indicate the locations of diseased crops in the field 403. The position of the black circle plot in this screen corresponds to the planting position indicated by the identification data on the agricultural product map 821.

In the display state shown in FIG. 14, when the farmer 402 specifies a desired black circle plot, the map editing unit 813 of the server 405 specifies the planting position of the crop corresponding to the specified position. Then, the map editing unit 813 reads out the diagnostic result data and photographic data associated with the identification data indicating the planting position of the specified agricultural product from the agricultural product map 821 and transmits them to the user terminal 401. As a result, a screen illustrated in FIG. 15 is displayed on the touch panel of the user terminal 401. That is, regarding the agricultural products corresponding to the black circle plots indicated on the screen shown in FIG. The photographed image Pc1 and the diagnostic result data Dg1 are displayed on the left side of the touch panel screen, and the soft button B10 on which "Back" is displayed is displayed on the right side of the screen. In this state, when the farmer 402 designates a desired image among images Pa1, Pb1, and Pc1, an enlarged image of the designated image is displayed on the touch panel. Here, when a plurality of photographic data are acquired by a plurality of cameras, a three-dimensional image obtained by combining the plurality of photographic data may be displayed as the image displayed on the screen shown in FIG. 14. .

In the display state of FIG. 15, when the farmer 402 instructs the soft button B11 labeled "Shooting Conditions," the touch panel screen displays the crop (the crop corresponding to the designated black circle plot) in flight reshooting. The screen switches to a screen that instructs the shooting conditions for the image. The farmer 402 can input photographing conditions to be applied individually to the agricultural products, such as the number of cuts for re-photographing, for example, by instructions on this screen. If there is no input of the photographing conditions to be applied individually, the default photographing conditions are applied to the crops as the photographing conditions for flight re-photographing. That is, the condition is that the visible light camera 512a, the first spectral camera 512b, and the second spectral camera 512c each take one cut.

In the screen shown in FIG. 15, when the farmer 402 instructs the soft button B10 labeled "Back", the touch panel screen changes to the screen shown in FIG. 14. On the screen shown in FIG. 14, when the farmer 402 instructs the soft button B10 labeled "Back", the touch panel screen returns to the screen shown in FIG. 13. At this time, the map editing unit 813 of the server 405 reflects the photographing conditions for flight re-photography determined for each crop on the crop map 821 (step S2).

On the screen shown in FIG. 13, when the farmer 402 instructs the soft button B02 labeled "Re-shooting instruction", the flight re-shooting plan generation unit 814 of the server 405 generates a crop map 821 stored in the storage unit 820. Based on this, a flight reshooting plan 822 is generated, stored in the storage unit 820, and transmitted to the drone 100 by the communication processing unit 811. This flight reshooting plan 822 shows a second flight route in which the drone 100 takes off from the departure and arrival point 406 and returns to the departure and arrival point 406 by passing through each planting position (position indicated by the identification data) of each crop on the agricultural crop map 821. Contains information. In this way, the flight reshooting plan generation unit 814 of the server 405 creates a travel route for measuring physical quantities indicating the condition of crops diagnosed by the diagnostic means (diagnosis unit 712 of the drone 100) as suffering from a disease. It functions as a means of giving instructions.

FIG. 16 is a plan view from above of a first flight route (broken line) that the drone 100 passes during flight photography and a second flight route (solid line) that the drone 100 passes during flight re-photography. In FIG. 16, black circle plots indicate crops diagnosed as suffering from diseases. In this embodiment, when performing flight re-photography, the drone 100 flies in a direction different from the direction in which the drone 100 flew over the crops that have been diagnosed as suffering from a disease. fly in the direction. In the example shown in FIG. 16, the second flight route in the flight re-photographing is orthogonal to the first flight route in the flight photographing above the crops diagnosed as suffering from a disease. The reason why the first flight route and the second flight route having such a relationship are used is to photograph the crops from different angles during flight photography and flight re-photography, and to obtain detailed information from the crops as a whole.

FIG. 17 is a horizontal view of the second flight route that the drone 100 flies during flight re-photography. As shown in FIG. 17, the drone 100 flies horizontally at the same altitude as in the case of flight photography (several tens of centimeters above the crops) when away from the crops FP to be photographed; The altitude is lowered at , and the robot hovers at a position close to the crops FP. In this hovering state, the drone 100 photographs the lower part of the crops FP that have been mowed down by the downwash generated by the rotary blades 101, and when the photographing is finished, returns to the original altitude and moves to the next target to be photographed. Proceed to the location of the crop. The reason why the drone 100 is made to fly in this manner is that diseases such as sheath blight and blast disease are more likely to occur on the lower leaves of agricultural crops than on the upper leaves of the plants.

The flight re-photographing plan 822 includes information on the second flight route as well as information such as the planting positions of crops to be photographed located along the second flight route. Additionally, flight reshoot plan 822 includes information regarding flight speed. According to the flight reshooting plan 822, the flight speed when the drone 100 flies over the crops FP during flight reshooting is lower than the flight speed when the drone 100 flies over the crops FP during flight shooting. There is.

When the flight reshooting plan generation unit 814 transmits the flight reshooting plan 822 to the drone 100, the flight reshooting plan generation unit 814 displays a message on the touch panel of the user terminal 401 inquiring whether to execute flight reshooting. When the farmer 402 instructs execution of flight reshooting, the flight reshooting plan generation unit 814 communicates with the solar radiation sensor 601 and the rainfall sensor 602 and determines whether the conditions for flight reshooting are satisfied. to decide. If this condition is met, the flight reshooting plan generation unit 814 transmits a flight reshooting instruction to the drone 100.

In the drone 100, the flight reshooting plan 822 received from the flight reshooting plan generation unit 814 of the server 405 is stored in the storage unit 720 as the flight reshooting plan 722. The flight reshooting control unit 714 of the drone 100 receives the flight reshooting instruction from the server 405 and causes the drone 100 to perform the flight reshooting according to the flight reshooting plan 722 in the storage unit 720.

In this flight re-photography, the flight re-photography control unit 714 of the drone 100 transmits the photographic data (additional data) obtained by the photographing to the server 405 together with agricultural product identification data and diagnosis result data. In the server 405 , the recording unit 812 adds the data received from the flight reshooting control unit 714 of the drone 100 to the crop map 821 in the storage unit 820 . In this way, the flight reshooting control unit 714 of the drone 100 and the recording unit 812 of the server 405 store data regarding agricultural crops diagnosed as suffering from diseases by the diagnostic means (diagnosis unit 712), and the instructing means (flight reshooting control unit 714) The photographing data ( It functions as a recording means that records the image (representing an image obtained by flight re-photography) as additional data in association with crop identification data for identifying the crop (above, step S3).

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the crop map 821 at the time when the flight re-photographing is completed. As shown in FIG. 18, in the crop map 821, the data regarding one crop includes the photographing condition data in the flight re-photographing, the second diagnosis result data and photographing data obtained by the flight re-photographing, and the comprehensive diagnosis. data and dispersion condition data have been added. Here, the comprehensive diagnosis data and the dispersion condition data are blank immediately after the flight re-imaging is completed.

When the flight reshooting is completed, the touch panel screen of the user terminal 401 becomes the screen shown in FIG. 13. On the screen shown in FIG. 13, when the farmer instructs the soft button B01, the screen shown in FIG. 14 is displayed, as in the case of flight photography.

On the screen shown in FIG. 14, when the farmer 402 specifies a desired black circle plot, the map editing unit 813 of the server 405 specifies the planting position of the crop corresponding to the specified position. Then, the map editing unit 813 converts the diagnostic result data and photographic data in the flight photography and the diagnostic result data and photographic data (additional data) in the flight re-photographing, which are associated with the identification data indicating the planting position of the specified agricultural crop, to the agricultural crops. It is read from the map 821 and transmitted to the user terminal 401. In this way, the map editing section 813 functions as a transmitting means for transmitting additional data to the terminal device used by the user.

As a result, a screen illustrated in FIG. 19 is displayed on the touch panel of the user terminal 401. That is, regarding the agricultural products corresponding to the indicated black circle plots, the image Pa1 of the visible light camera 512a, the image Pb1 of the first spectral camera 512b, the image Pc1 of the second spectral camera 512c, and the diagnosis result data Dg1 obtained by flight photography. , the image Pa2 of the visible light camera 512a, the image Pb2 of the first spectral camera 512b, the image Pc2 of the second spectral camera 512c, and the diagnostic result data Dg2 obtained by flight re-photography are displayed on the left side of the screen of the touch panel. Further, a soft button B10 displaying "Back", a soft button B21 displaying "Comprehensive diagnosis", and a soft button B22 displaying "Spraying conditions" are displayed on the right side of the screen. In this state, when the farmer 402 designates a desired one among the images Pa1, Pb1, Pc1, Pa2, Pb2, and Pc2, an enlarged image of the designated image is displayed on the touch panel. In this way, the touch panel of the user terminal 401 functions as a notification means for notifying the user of the information indicated by the additional data.

On the screen shown in FIG. 19, when the farmer 402 instructs the soft button B21 labeled "Comprehensive diagnosis," the map editing unit 813 of the server 405 selects the black circle indicated by the farmer 402 in the crop map 821. A comprehensive diagnosis unit 816 identifies the planting position of the crop corresponding to the plot, reads out images Pa1, Pb1, and Pc1 during flight photography and images Pa2, Pb2, and Pc2 during flight reshooting corresponding to the crop at this planting position. give to The comprehensive diagnosis unit 816 performs a comprehensive diagnosis regarding the disease in the crops corresponding to the indicated black circle plots based on the images Pa1, Pb1, Pc1, Pa2, Pb2, and Pc2. In this way, the comprehensive diagnosis unit 816 functions as a validity determination unit that determines the validity of the diagnosis result by the diagnosis unit (diagnosis unit 712 of the drone 100). The map editing unit 813 then maps the comprehensive diagnosis results, that is, information indicating whether or not the crop is affected by a disease, and if so, the type of disease and the degree of progression of the disease, into a crop map. This will be reflected in the comprehensive diagnosis data of 821. Further, the comprehensive diagnosis unit 816 determines the amount of pesticide to be sprayed on the crops based on the comprehensive diagnosis data. The map editing unit 813 reflects this spraying amount in the spraying condition data of the agricultural crop map 821.

When the farmer 402 instructs the soft button B22 labeled "spraying conditions" on the screen shown in FIG. 19, the map editing unit 813 in the server 405 displays the screen shown in FIG. 20 on the touch panel of the user terminal 401. let On this screen, a fader F1 for instructing the amount of pesticide sprayed and a soft button B31 with a display of "spraying not required" are displayed.

When comprehensive diagnosis is performed by the comprehensive diagnosis section 816, the indicated position of the fader F1 is a position at which the spray amount determined by the comprehensive diagnosis section 816 is indicated. Further, when comprehensive diagnosis by the comprehensive diagnosis section 816 is not performed, the indicated position of the fader F1 is set to a predetermined default value. The farmer 402 determines whether the spray amount indicated by the fader F1 is appropriate for the degree of disease determined from the image displayed on the touch panel, and if it is inappropriate, changes the amount indicated by the fader F1. Correct the position to the indicated position that indicates the appropriate spray amount. If the indicated position of the fader F1 is appropriate, the farmer 402 does not operate the fader F1.

When the farmer 402 instructs the soft button B10 displaying "Back", the map editing unit 813 in the server 405 returns the display screen of the touch panel of the user terminal 401 to the state illustrated in FIG. 14. At this time, the map editing unit 813 in the server 405 causes the spray amount corresponding to the indicated position of the fader F1 to be reflected in the spraying condition data of the crops corresponding to the indicated black circle plot in the crops map 821.

In the screen shown in FIG. 20, when the farmer 402 instructs the soft button B31, 0 is set as the application amount in the application condition data of the agricultural product corresponding to the designated black circle plot in the agricultural product map 821.

By repeating the above-described operations, the farmer 402 sets an appropriate spray amount in the spray condition data corresponding to each diseased crop in the crop map 821. This completes the editing of the agricultural product map 821 (step S4).

With the screen shown in FIG. 13 displayed on the touch panel of the user terminal 401, the farmer 402 can instruct flight spraying by the drone 100 by instructing the soft button B03 labeled "spraying instruction". can. When flight spraying is instructed, the flight spraying plan generation unit 815 of the server 405 generates a flight spraying plan 823 based on the crop map 821, stores it in the storage unit 820, and transmits it to the drone 100. This flight spraying plan 823 is such that the drone 100 that took off from the departure and arrival point 406 passes through each position (position indicated by the identification data) of each crop whose spray amount indicated by the spraying condition data is not 0 in the crop map 821 (the position indicated by the identification data). Contains information indicating the flight route back to the departure and arrival point 406. Further, the flight spraying plan 823 includes information indicating the planting position of the crops to be sprayed and the amount of pesticide sprayed on the flight route of the flight spraying. This information is generated from the above-mentioned flight route, each position of a crop in the crop map 821 where the spray amount indicated by the spray condition data is not 0 (the position indicated by the identification data), and the same spray condition data.

In the drone 100, the flight dispersion plan 823 received from the flight dispersion plan generating section 815 of the server 405 is stored in the storage section 820 as the flight dispersion plan 723. The flight spray plan generation unit 815 that has sent the flight spray plan 823 causes the touch panel of the user terminal 401 to display a message asking whether or not to execute flight spraying. At this time, the flight dispersion plan generation unit 815 may display an image showing the flight route of the flight dispersion on the touch panel. When the farmer 402 transmits an instruction to perform flight spraying to the server 405 via the user terminal 401, the flight spray plan generation unit 815 transmits this flight spraying instruction to the drone 100. Thereby, the flight spraying control unit 715 of the drone 100 causes the drone 100 to perform flight spraying according to the flight spraying plan 723 stored in the storage unit 720 (step S5).

As explained above, according to the present embodiment, the additional data obtained by flight re-photography is recorded in the server 405, so the farmer 402 can access the additional data recorded in the server 405. It is possible to check whether or not crops are affected by a disease, and if so, the type of disease and the severity of the symptoms, without visiting the field 403.

[Modified example]
The following modifications can be considered to the above embodiment.

(1) The unmanned aircraft that performs flight photography and the unmanned aircraft that performs flight re-photography may be different aircraft. For example, if a diseased crop is discovered while the first unmanned aerial vehicle is in flight, the first unmanned aerial vehicle continues to take flight photographs. At the same time, a second unmanned aerial vehicle may take off from, for example, a landing point 406, and a camera mounted on the second unmanned aerial vehicle may photograph the diseased crops. Additionally, two unmanned aircraft were flying one behind the other, and the rear unmanned aircraft was flying at a lower altitude than the front unmanned aircraft, and the camera mounted on the rear unmanned aircraft showed that it was mowed down by the downwash of the front unmanned aircraft. You may also take photos of the roots of agricultural crops.

(2) If the unmanned aircraft that performs flight re-photography and the unmanned aircraft that performs flight re-photography are separate aircraft, the unmanned aircraft that performs flight re-photography does not spray chemicals during the entire flight route; In order to increase the weight of the device, it may be possible to carry a chemical that is not sprayed. This is to stabilize the unmanned aircraft above the crops when mowing them down by downwashing.

(3) Unmanned mobile objects that move to the planting location of crops diagnosed as suffering from a disease for re-imaging are not limited to unmanned aerial vehicles. For example, if the farmland is a paddy field, an unmanned water vehicle may move for re-photographing. Furthermore, if the farmland is a field, an unmanned land vehicle may move for re-shooting. In this case, an image of the base of the crop plant is photographed without mowing down the crop by downwashing.

(4) During flight photography, the drone 100 may perform an operation as flight re-photography. For example, if the drone 100 diagnoses that a certain plant is suffering from a disease during flight photography, the drone 100 returns to the sky above the plant and, for example, flies in a circle over the plant and shoots various images with the camera. After photographing the plant from a certain direction or while flying in the direction opposite to the direction of normal photographing flight, the robot returns to the point on the flight photographing route where it was interrupted and resumes flight photographing. In this case, the instruction means implemented in the server 405 instructs the drone 100 to fly according to the first flight route for flight photography, and the instruction means implemented in the server 405 instructs the drone 100 to fly along the first flight route for flight photography, and to If there is a crop that the diagnostic means determines to be affected by a disease based on the photographic data generated by the photographing means, the flight along the first flight route is interrupted, and the second flight is conducted to generate additional data regarding the crop. The controller instructs the driver to fly according to the second flight route, and after completing the flight according to the second flight route, to return to the flight according to the second flight route.

(5) Regarding crops diagnosed as suffering from a disease, flights for re-imaging may be performed multiple times, for example, at predetermined intervals. As a result, diseased crops are photographed more frequently than other crops, so farmers can know the speed of disease progression.

(6) The aerial photography may involve, for example, spraying chemicals such as fertilizers and agricultural chemicals over the entire farmland. Further, the flight reimaging may involve spraying pesticides on crops diagnosed as suffering from a disease. For example, in aerial photography, we fly while spraying chemicals while photographing and diagnosing crops while we do not find any crops that are infected with a disease.If we find any crops that are infected with a disease, we stop spraying the chemicals, It memorizes the position and acts as a flight reshoot. That is, the drone 100 lowers its altitude and hovers, photographs the crops that have been mowed down by the airflow blowing down from the rotary blades 101, performs a diagnosis based on the image of the crops, and diagnoses that the crops are infected with a disease. If the above results are obtained, pesticides are sprayed on the crops concerned. After spraying the pesticide, the drone 100 is returned to the memorized position, and then flight photography is resumed while spraying the pesticide.

(7) The diagnosis unit 712 may be implemented in a device other than the data processing device 501 mounted on the drone 100. For example, the data processing device 501 mounted on the drone 100 may not perform the pathological diagnosis, but the server 405 may perform the pathological diagnosis. In that case, for example, the data processing device 501 mounted on the drone 100 may process data representing images taken by the first spectral camera, the second spectral camera, or the visible light camera, or feature points extracted from these images, etc. The diagnosis means implemented in the server 405 performs a pathological diagnosis based on the data received from the data processing device 501.

(8) The diagnostic unit 712 may be placed in each of two or more devices. For example, the data processing device 501 mounted on the drone 100 implements a first diagnostic means, and the server 405 implements a second diagnostic means. In the first diagnostic means, the possibility of suffering from a disease is diagnosed. Regarding the strains that have been diagnosed as having the possibility of being affected by a disease, the second diagnostic means diagnoses whether or not they are affected by the disease, and if so, identifies the type of the disease. Diagnose the degree of progress.

(9) In the embodiment, during flight photography, the drone 100 continuously photographs, and all data representing the photographed images are temporarily stored. Alternatively, the server 405 may image only the strains diagnosed as suffering from a disease by the diagnostic means, and record data representing the captured images. In this case, the camera of the drone 100 starts and stops photographing according to the diagnosis result of the diagnosis means of the server 405.

(10) The mechanism for identifying the three-dimensional position of the drone 100 on the earth is not limited to the RTK-GPS method. For example, the DGPS method may be adopted. Further, in order to improve the accuracy of the measurement result of the three-dimensional position of the drone 100 on the earth, distance measurement using sound waves, for example, may be performed.

(11) In the embodiment, a plurality of spectral cameras including the first spectral camera 512b and the second spectral camera 512c are used as the first imaging means. Alternatively, the first photographing means may include only the first spectral camera 512b that photographs red light. Further, the first photographing means may be composed of three or more spectral cameras.

(12) In the embodiment, the diagnosis unit 712 generates diagnosis result data regarding the susceptibility of crops to diseases based on both the images obtained from each of the first spectral camera 512b and the second spectral camera 512c. Instead of this, the diagnosis unit 712 diagnoses the disease of agricultural crops based only on the image obtained from the first spectral camera 512b or based only on the image obtained from the second spectral camera 512c. Result data may also be generated. In addition, when the first imaging means is composed of three or more spectral cameras, the diagnosis unit 712 generates diagnosis result data regarding the disease incidence of crops based on images obtained from these three or more spectral cameras. May be generated.

(13) In the embodiment, the flight reshooting plan generation unit 814 realized by the CPU 810 communicates with the solar radiation sensor 601 and the rain sensor 602 when instructing the flight reshot, and Based on the information obtained, it is determined whether the conditions for re-imaging are met. Alternatively, the CPU 810 may communicate with a known weather forecast system and determine whether the conditions for reshooting are satisfied based on weather forecast information obtained from the weather forecast system.

(14) In the embodiment, the frequency band of light used by the first spectral camera 512b serving as the first imaging means to generate an image is red light (for example, a frequency band around 680 nm), and The frequency band of light used by the second spectral camera 512c to generate images is near-infrared light (for example, a frequency band around 780 nm). Further, the frequency band of light used by the visible light camera 512a, which is the second photographing means, to generate images is the entire wavelength band of visible light. The frequency band of light used by the first photographing means to generate an image and the frequency band of light used by the second photographing means to generate an image are limited to those adopted in the embodiments, as long as they are different. do not have. Note that in this application, "the frequency bands are different" means that at least one of the upper and lower limits of the two frequency bands is different. Therefore, the frequency band of light used by the first photographing means to generate an image and the frequency band of light used by the second photographing means to generate an image may not overlap at all, or may partially overlap. , or one may include all of the other.

(15) In the description of the above-mentioned embodiment, a method for specifying a planting position (an example of a position or area where a crop is planted) of a crop diagnosed as suffering from a disease by the diagnosis unit 712 (an example of a diagnostic means) Although this is not mentioned, the planting location of agricultural crops may be specified, for example, by the following method.
For example, the flight photographing control unit 713 (an example of a cropping position specifying means) uses a first spectral camera 512b and a second spectral camera 512c (an example of a photographing means) to take images of crops (data used by a diagnostic means for diagnosis). example), the three-dimensional position of the unmanned aircraft measured by the position measuring means such as the GPS module 504, the attitude of the unmanned aircraft measured by the attitude measuring means such as the 6-axis gyro sensor 505, and the unmanned aircraft Based on the photographing directions of the first spectral camera 512b and the second spectral camera 512c, which are used as references, the planting position of the photographed agricultural product is specified.

401...User terminal, 402...Agricultural worker, 403...Field, 404...Base station, 405...Server, 406...Departure and landing point, 100...Drone, 101...Rotary wing, 501...Data Processing device, 519... WiFi slave unit, 504... GPS module, 505... 6-axis gyro sensor, 506... Geomagnetic sensor, 507... Barometric pressure sensor, 508... Laser sensor, 509... Sonar, 510... Flow rate sensor, 511... Liquid outage sensor, 512a... Visible light camera, 512b... First spectrum camera, 512c... Second spectrum camera, 513... Obstacle detection camera, 514... Switch, 515... Obstacle Object contact sensor, 516... Cover sensor, 517... Drug inlet sensor, 102... Motor, 106... Pump, 107... LED, 518... Buzzer, 520... Speaker, 521... Warning light, 710 , 810...CPU, 720,820...Storage unit, 711,811...Communication processing unit, 712...Diagnosis unit, 713...Flight photography control unit, 714...Flight reshooting control unit, 715...Flight Spraying control unit, 721...Flight photography plan, 722,822...Flight reshooting plan, 723,823...Flight spraying plan, 830...Communication department, 821...Agricultural crop map, 812...Recording unit, 813... ...Map editing department, 814...Flight reshooting plan generation section, 815...Flight dispersion plan generation section, 816...Comprehensive diagnosis department, B01 to B03, B10, B21, B22, B31...Soft button, FP... Crops, Pa1, Pb1, Pc1, Pa2, Pb2, Pc2... images of crops, Dg1, Dg2... diagnosis results, F1... fader.

Claims (15)

Instructing means for instructing a movement route to one or more unmanned moving bodies including one or more unmanned aerial vehicles, each of which is equipped with one or more photographing means for photographing images of agricultural products;
Based on the photographic data generated by the photographing means mounted on at least one of the one or more unmanned aerial vehicles that flew over the farmland in accordance with the instructions of the instruction means, it is determined that the crops planted on the farmland are diseased. diagnostic means for diagnosing whether or not someone is suffering from
Imaging data regarding agricultural products diagnosed by the diagnostic means as suffering from a disease, by imaging means mounted on at least one of the one or more unmanned moving bodies that moved according to instructions from the instruction means. a recording means for recording the generated photographic data as additional data in association with crop identification data for identifying the crop;
Equipped with
The instructing means instructs at least one of the one or more unmanned moving objects to take an image of the agricultural product diagnosed as suffering from a disease by the diagnosing means,
The instructing means directs the unmanned aircraft flying to generate the additional data to cause the agricultural crop diagnosed by the diagnosing means to be affected by a disease to be hit by a downward airflow produced by the rotor blades of the unmanned aircraft. instruct it to fly a route,
The photographing means photographs an image of the plant base of the agricultural products exposed by the down-blown air current.
Crop growing system.
The instruction means directs the unmanned aircraft flying in order to generate the additional data so that the down-flow air generated by the rotor blade of the unmanned aircraft hits the crops that the diagnostic means has diagnosed as suffering from a disease. to hover over the crops in question.
The agricultural crop growing system according to claim 1.
An unmanned aircraft that flies to generate the additional data, and does not spray chemicals during the entire flight route to generate the additional data, but does not spray chemicals to increase the weight of its own device. Equipped with an unmanned aircraft on board
The agricultural crop growing system according to claim 1 or claim 2.
The crop cultivation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a transmission means for transmitting the additional data to a terminal device used by a user.
The crop cultivation system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a notification means for notifying a user of an image of a crop diagnosed as suffering from a disease by the diagnostic means indicated by the additional data.
The agricultural product growing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , further comprising an appropriateness determination means for determining the validity of the diagnosis result by the diagnosis means based on the additional data.
The unmanned mobile object equipped with the photographing means for generating the additional data is an unmanned aerial vehicle,
The instruction means directs the unmanned aircraft flying in order to generate the additional data to fly over the crops that the diagnosis means has diagnosed as suffering from a disease, in order to generate data used by the diagnosis means for diagnosis. The crop cultivation system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , which instructs the unmanned mobile object to fly at a lower altitude than the altitude at which it flew over the crop.
The unmanned mobile object equipped with the photographing means for generating the additional data is an unmanned aerial vehicle,
The instruction means directs the unmanned aircraft flying in order to generate the additional data to fly over the crops that the diagnosis means has diagnosed as suffering from a disease, in order to generate data used by the diagnosis means for diagnosis. The crop cultivation system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , which instructs the unmanned moving object to fly at a lower speed than the speed at which it flew over the crop.
The unmanned mobile object equipped with the photographing means for generating the additional data is an unmanned aerial vehicle,
The instruction means directs the unmanned aircraft flying in order to generate the additional data to fly over the crops that the diagnosis means has diagnosed as suffering from a disease, in order to generate data used by the diagnosis means for diagnosis. The crop cultivation system according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , which instructs the unmanned mobile object to fly in a direction different from the direction in which it flew over the crop.
Instructing means for instructing a movement route to one or more unmanned moving bodies including one or more unmanned aerial vehicles, each of which is equipped with one or more photographing means for photographing images of agricultural products;
Based on the photographic data generated by the photographing means mounted on at least one of the one or more unmanned aerial vehicles that flew over the farmland in accordance with the instructions of the instruction means, it is determined that the crops planted on the farmland are diseased. diagnostic means for diagnosing whether or not someone is suffering from
Imaging data regarding agricultural products diagnosed by the diagnostic means as suffering from a disease, by imaging means mounted on at least one of the one or more unmanned moving bodies that moved according to instructions from the instruction means. a recording means for recording the generated photographic data as additional data in association with crop identification data for identifying the crop;
Equipped with
The instructing means instructs at least one of the one or more unmanned moving objects to take an image of the agricultural product diagnosed as suffering from a disease by the diagnosing means,
The instructing means directs the unmanned aircraft flying to generate the additional data to cause the agricultural crop diagnosed by the diagnosing means to be affected by a disease to be hit by a downward airflow produced by the rotor blades of the unmanned aircraft. instruct it to fly a route,
The photographing means photographs an image of the base of the crop exposed by the down-blown airflow,
The unmanned mobile object equipped with a photographing means that generates the additional data is an unmanned aircraft equipped with a photographing means that generates data used for diagnosis by the diagnostic means,
The instruction means instructs one of the one or more unmanned aerial vehicles to fly along a first flight path for generating data used by the diagnosis means for diagnosis, and If there is a crop that the diagnostic means determines to be affected by a disease based on the photographic data generated by the photographing means mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle during the flight following the flight route, interrupting the flight following the route, instructing the flight to follow the second flight route for generating additional data regarding the agricultural product, and after completing the flight following the second flight route, the first flight Instruct to return to flight following the route
Crop growing system.
The diagnostic means determines at least one of the type of disease that the crops are suffering from and the degree of progress of the disease that the crops are suffering from,
The recording means is configured to record a diagnosis indicating at least one of the type of disease and the degree of progression of the disease determined by the diagnostic means in association with the crop identification data regarding the crops diagnosed as suffering from a disease by the diagnostic means. The crop cultivation system according to any one of claims 1 to 10 , which records result data.
a position measuring means for measuring the position of a flying unmanned aircraft in order to generate data used for diagnosis by the diagnostic means;
Based on the position of the unmanned aircraft measured by the position measuring means at the timing when the one or more photographing means generated the data used for diagnosis by the diagnostic means, the unmanned aircraft was diagnosed as suffering from a disease by the diagnostic means. A planting position identifying means for identifying the planting position or area of agricultural crops,
12. The crop cultivation system according to claim 1, wherein the recording means records data indicating the position or area specified by the planting position specifying means as crop identification data.
comprising transmitting means for transmitting photographic data generated by at least one of the one or more photographing means to a data processing device not mounted on the unmanned aircraft,
The diagnosing means includes a first diagnosing means that is mounted on the unmanned aircraft and diagnoses whether or not there is a possibility that agricultural products are suffering from a disease; 13. The crop breeding system according to claim 1, further comprising a second diagnostic means for diagnosing whether or not the crop that has been diagnosed as possibly suffering from the disease is suffering from the disease. .
The recording means records photographic data generated by the one or more photographing means, and deletes photographic data related to agricultural products diagnosed as not suffering from a disease by the diagnostic means from among the recorded photographic data. The crop growing system according to any one of claims 1 to 13 .
15. The crop cultivation system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more photographing means generates the additional data regarding the crop diagnosed as suffering from a disease by the diagnosis means.

Images