JPH1164259A - Soil measuring tool, soil measuring robot, other related apparatus, and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and method by which soil analysis can be performed automatically in a short time in each division of a nursery. SOLUTION: A field is divided into a plurality of divisions 2 and a soil measuring tool 3 is buried in each division. Each soil measuring robot 5 moves along a farm road 4 to the position of a designated soil measuring tool 3 based on measurement instructing data transmitted from a base station 6 by making communication with the base station 6 and performing GPS measurement, and automatically makes designated measuring operations. Upon completing the measuring operations, the robot moves to the position of the next soil measuring tool 3 based on measurement instructing data transmitted thereafter from the base station 6 and makes the next designated measuring operations.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention divides a farm to be harvested into a plurality of sections, and
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for practical use in precision agriculture in which elements such as H, nitrogen, and phosphoric acid, electrical characteristics of soil, and the like are detected and soil is analyzed in detail microscopically.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, soil management in a farm where crops are cultivated greatly affects quality and yield. Therefore, in soil management including fertilization and the like, a soil sample is usually collected and collected. An analysis is required. Conventionally, in order to analyze this soil sample, a soil at an appropriate place is collected, the soil sample is returned to the laboratory, and a solvent such as water or an extraction reagent is allowed to act thereon, and the liquid in which the components of the soil are dissolved Was analyzed with a test device to determine the components. Further, pre-analytical processing operations such as earth removal, classification, weighing, extraction reagent injection, and filtration liquid generation from Hoba are disclosed in
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 61420 and the like, a method of automation using a robot hand has been proposed.

[0003]

However, none of the above-mentioned methods automatically collects a soil sample to be analyzed. Instead, a soil sample previously collected and divided into containers is prepared. Is assumed. Therefore, it was impossible to analyze and measure the soil at each position on the spot while moving on the farm. For this reason, there is a problem in that it requires human labor to collect the soil and it takes a long time to perform the analysis, which makes it virtually impossible to cope with precision agriculture in which it is required to perform soil analysis in a large number of plots in a short time. Was.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method capable of automatically performing soil analysis in a short time in each section of Hoba.

[0005]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a precision agricultural system to which the present invention is applied. Hoba 1 is divided into a plurality of sections 2 (each section does not need to have the same area, and there is no particular need to recognize the section itself), and soil is placed at an appropriate position in each section. A measurement tool 3 is provided. The soil measurement tool 3 is a device that is embedded in the compartment and is used for performing soil analysis on the spot by fitting a measurement probe of a soil measurement robot described later. In Hoba 1, each section 2
There is a farm road 4 passing through the farm road, and the soil measuring robot 5 can move on the farm road 4. A plurality of soil measuring robots 5 are prepared. First, the robots are moved one by one from the state where they are gathered in the gathering area 4 one by one. Each soil measurement robot 5 includes a measurement probe fitted to the soil measurement tool 3, a GPS antenna 5a and a communication antenna 5b, and determines the current position by G.
It can perform PS positioning and can communicate with the base station 6. The soil measurement robot 5 includes a soil measurement unit therein, and measures soil on the spot with the measurement probe fitted to the soil measurement tool 3.

The soil measurement schedule of each section 2 using each soil measurement tool 3 is planned in advance at the base station 6, and measurement instruction data for soil measurement is given to each soil measurement robot 5 according to this schedule. Is transmitted via the communication antenna 6a. The measurement instruction data in this case is for the soil measurement robot that is closest to performing the work to be performed on the soil measurement tool. For example, if the work to be performed this time is to inject water for measurement into the first soil measurement tool, the measurement should be performed on the soil measurement robot closest to the first soil measurement tool. Measurement instruction data for injecting water is transmitted. In this way, the measurement instruction data is sequentially transmitted from the base station 6 to each soil measurement robot, and each soil measurement robot 5 searches for the soil measurement tool 3 based on the measurement instruction data, and at that position. The work included in the measurement instruction data is performed by fitting the measurement probe to the tool while aligning the position. When the soil measurement robot 5 finishes the work, the soil measurement robot 5 compares the result and the current position obtained by the GPS positioning with the base station 6.
And waits for the next measurement instruction data. The soil measurement robot 5 moves the farm road 4 toward the target soil measurement tool 3, and approaches the position of the target soil measurement tool 3 to move the measurement probe to the soil measurement tool 3. 3 includes an image processing apparatus including a TV camera necessary for fitting while aligning. The base station 6 is provided with a communication antenna 6a and a GPS antenna 6b for measuring a phase carrier of a GPS signal. The positioning of each soil measurement robot 5 can provide an accuracy of about several centimeters. Kinematic G
The PS positioning method is used.

In the present invention, the soil component is measured on the spot by using the soil measurement tool 3 embedded in the ground, instead of sampling a part of the soil. That is, the measurement liquid such as water is infiltrated into the soil, and after a predetermined time, the measurement liquid is collected from the infiltration area, and the reagent is injected to measure the soil component. In this case, the infiltration into the soil due to the injection of the measurement liquid, the collection thereof after a certain period of time, and the injection of the reagent are all performed automatically without manual operation. Further, in the present invention, the same soil measurement robot 5 may infiltrate and collect the measurement liquid into the soil for one soil measurement tool 3, or a robot different from the infiltrated robot may collect the liquid. You may. As described above, when the measurement solution is infiltrated into the soil without collecting a part of the soil and collected after a certain period of time to measure the components, the collected measurement solution contains elements such as nitrogen and phosphoric acid. Therefore, by quantitatively measuring and normalizing those elements, it is possible to measure soil components with high accuracy.

In the above precision agricultural system, the soil measuring tool according to the present invention is configured as follows.

That is, an electrode rod which can be connected from the outside, or a measuring hole which can be injected and recovered from the outside with an electrode rod which can be connected to the outside, or in addition to this, is provided in the embedding portion which is buried in the soil. Provided. Impedance of soil can be measured by piercing the electrode part of the embedded part from the outside, and a liquid for measurement such as water is injected into the measurement hole and the liquid is collected, so that the soil component is mixed and collected. A liquid can be obtained. Thus, the tool for measuring soil according to the present invention eliminates the need to take a sample of soil itself.

[0010] By providing a flange in contact with the soil surface above the tool body, it is possible to accurately set the positions of the electrodes and the measurement holes at the depth in the soil. In addition, by configuring the electrode rods with a plurality of electrode rods having different lengths, it is possible to measure impedance at a plurality of depths, and to grasp a more detailed situation of electrical characteristics. Also, by configuring the measurement holes with a plurality of measurement holes having different lengths, the soil state at a plurality of depths can be similarly measured. In addition, when the porous lid is formed at the bottom of the measurement hole, a part of the soil does not enter into the measurement hole, so that there is no problem in injecting and collecting the measurement water.

Further, since the electrode portion made of conductive rubber is formed on the upper portion of the electrode rod, even if the electrode is pierced from the upper portion and then removed, the conductive rubber electrode portion returns to the original state. , Can be used many times. Further, by setting the length of the bottom of the electrode rod near the bottom of the measurement hole, it is possible to measure soil impedance in a region in which measurement water collected from the measurement hole is infiltrated. Measurement of dynamic characteristics becomes possible.

If the tool body is made of a material such as an organic substance that can be decomposed in soil, the soil is not contaminated and the soil is not adversely affected.

Further, by making the upper surface pattern of the tool main body a non-dotted pattern, the positioning when the soil measuring robot fits the measuring probe is uniquely determined.

A soil measuring robot according to the present invention includes a measuring probe fitted to the above-described soil measuring tool, a wheel for moving, a robot arm for moving the measuring probe, a camera, a reagent, and the like. And a soil measurement unit provided with That is, the soil measurement robot moves the wheel to the position of the soil measurement tool to be measured, moves the robot arm while capturing the tool position with the camera, and aligns the tool with the measurement probe by using the measurement arm. Then, the instructed measurement processing such as injecting or collecting water for measurement, or measuring impedance through electrodes is performed. This soil measurement robot can know its exact position by GPS positioning. The measurement instruction data sent from the base station includes
Since the tool to be measured is specified, the GPS positioning data is used when moving to this position. Also, by transmitting the measurement result to the base station together with this position, the base station can know the position of each soil measurement robot whose measurement has been completed. Then, based on the information sent from each soil measurement robot, the work content (measurement content) of each soil measurement robot for the next work can be determined. That is, the base station sequentially creates and transmits measurement instruction data to each soil measurement robot based on the information sent from the soil measurement robot that is transmitted from moment to moment.
The repetition of such an operation makes it possible to automatically and accurately measure the soil at Hoba in a very short time.

[0015] The measuring probe is provided with a measuring tube and a needle-shaped electrode, which are connected when the measuring probe is fitted to the soil measuring tool.

The soil measurement robot measures at the position of each soil measurement tool while moving on a farm road, but it may be preferable to calibrate the measurement unit at the start of work. Therefore, the user moves to the check area at the beginning of the work, and compares the measured data with the known data by using the check soil measurement tool. If the difference between the two compared values is within the allowable range, it is not necessary to perform calibration. However, if the difference between the two values exceeds the allowable range, it is necessary to calibrate, and a process for that is performed. .

[0017]

FIG. 2 shows a photovoltaic field to which the soil measurement system of the present invention is applied.

The soil measuring tools 11 are arranged at regular intervals in the ho ground, mixed with the crop 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the soil measurement tools 11 are provided in predetermined predetermined sections, and each tool is embedded in the soil with its surface exposed. As shown in the figure, the pattern on the surface of each soil measurement tool is a non-point target pattern and has directionality. As described below,
The orientation of the pattern allows the soil measurement robot to fit the measurement probe to the soil measurement tool while performing positioning.

The farm 12 has a soil measuring robot (hereinafter referred to as S
ILEER) 13 moves. Farm road 1
The road width of 2 is a width that allows at least two SOILERs 13 to move in parallel, and the SOILER 13 that moves forward and the SOILER 13 that moves backward do not interfere with each other. The starting position of the farm road 12 is SOILER1
3, a return area 120, an alignment area 121 for aligning the SOILER 13, and a check area 122 for calibrating the soil measurement unit of the SOILER 13.
When the measurement is started, all the SOILERS 13 are recalled to the return area 120, and thereafter are sent one by one to the check area 122, where the soil measurement unit is calibrated, and then aligned in the alignment area 121. Alignment area 1
21, each SOILER 13 is arranged in one column, and the first S
From the oiler 13, the farm road 12 is advanced one by one.
The check area 122 is provided with a check soil measurement tool (hereinafter, PRB) 110, and a photoelectric SOILER detection sensor 14 for detecting that one SOILER 13 has come to this position. Is provided.

The return area 120 and the alignment area 12
1. A base station 15 is provided at the departure position including the check area 122, and the base station 15
3 is provided with a communication antenna 150 and a GPS antenna 151 for performing communication with the communication device 3. The location of the base station 15 is GPS
A GPS antenna 151 for detecting a phase carrier is provided so that each SOILER 13 can perform kinematic GPS positioning at a known position in positioning. In addition, G of each SOILER13 is determined by kinematic GPS positioning.
The PS positioning accuracy can reach several centimeters. The base station 15 communicates with each SOILER 13 and
Transmits instruction data such as positioning instruction data to the OYLER 13 and obtains measurement results and GPs
S positioning data (position data) is received. In addition, measurement instruction data for each SOILER 13 is created based on a preset measurement instruction schedule by each PRB 11 and position data sent from each SOILER 13 every moment. Further, control for calibrating the soil measurement unit of each SOILER 13 in the check area 122 is performed, data received from each SOILER 13 is collected and analyzed, and the result is transmitted to the communication antenna 150.
Via an external hard disk or a printing device or monitor connected as an internal hard disk or an input / output device.

The SOILER 13 includes a movement control unit including wheels for moving on the farm road 12, and an image processing unit necessary for fitting the measurement probe close to the target PRB 11 while aligning the measurement probe. It has. Further, a communication unit for communicating with the base station 15 and a soil measurement unit for performing soil measurement with the measurement probe fitted to the PRB 11 are also provided.

Next, details of each element used in the precision agricultural system shown in FIG. 2 will be described.

[Soil Measurement Tool] FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure of a PRB (soil measurement tool) 11.

Since the entire PRB must not contaminate the agricultural land, a material that can be decomposed in soil is basically desirable. In the present embodiment, a portion to be an electrode is made of conductive rubber or a carbon rod, and the other is made of wood.

The structure 11a, which is the main body of the PRB, has a cylindrical shape, and is provided with a circular flange 11b in contact with the surface of the soil 20 at an upper portion thereof. Inside the cylindrical structure 11a, two measurement holes 11c and 11d and two electrode rods 11e and 11f are provided, respectively. The measurement holes 11c and 11d are hollow holes, and their lengths are about 15 cm and 30 cm, respectively. This length was set based on the knowledge that the soil depth that affects the growth of crops such as vegetables was up to about 40 cm, and each length was set within this range. This is because it is considered that the measurement position is considered to be. These measurement holes 11c and 11d are
The water injected from No. 3 is used to infiltrate the soil and recover the water again after a certain period of time. Each measurement hole 1
Porous body lids 11g and 11h are provided at the bottoms of 1c and 11d. This mesh-shaped lid 11g, 1
1h is for preventing a part of the soil from entering the measurement holes 11c and 11d when collecting water from the soil.

The two electrode rods 11e and 11f are set to have substantially the same length as the measurement hole 11c and the measurement hole 11d, respectively. The first electrode rod 11e having a short length is the first electrode rod 11e having a short length.
The second electrode rod 11 having a long length adjacent to the measurement hole 11c of FIG.
f is adjacent to the long second measurement hole 11d.

By setting each of the electrode rods 11e and 11f to be approximately the same length as each of the adjacent measurement holes 11c and 11d, the impedance of the soil area where the water injected from each of the measurement holes 11c and 11d infiltrates is reduced. The measurement can be performed using each electrode rod.

Electrodes 11i and 11j made of conductive rubber are attached to the upper part 2 of each of the electrode rods 11e and 11f. In this way, by forming the upper portion of the electrode portion made of the carbon rod with the conductive rubber, a needle-type electrode of a measurement probe described later can be pierced into this electrode portion. Since the conductive rubber is used, it is possible to return the conductive rubber to its original state by raising the needle-shaped electrode pierced and connected. For this reason, connection of an electrode part can be easily performed many times. In addition, a needle electrode of a measurement probe to be described later is pierced into the two electrode portions 11i and 11j, and a needle electrode for ground is pierced into the soil 20.
Further, the PRB and the measurement probe are fitted by inserting two measurement tubes into the measurement holes 11c and 11d, respectively. The top pattern of the PRB is as shown in FIG. That is, the first measuring hole 11c, the first electrode portion 11i, and the second
The measurement hole 11d and the second electrode part 11j are arranged, while the second measurement hole 11d is arranged at the center position,
The first measurement hole 11c is arranged at an eccentric position,
In addition, the surface shapes of the electrode portions 11i and 11j are different.
Therefore, the PRB main body top surface pattern is a non-point target pattern. This makes it possible to specify the alignment when the measurement probe is fitted to the PRB in the soil measurement robot.

[Measurement Probe] FIG. 5 is a structural view of a measurement probe provided in the soil measurement robot.

The circular structure 130a has grounding needle electrodes 130b and 130c, needle electrodes 130d and 130e piercing the electrode part of the PRB, and a measurement hole 11 of the PRB.
c, 11d are provided with measurement tubes 130f, 130g, and on the upper surface of the structure 130a, output terminals 130h to 130k connected thereto, respectively, and a tube 130
m and 130n are provided. Note that the length of each of the measurement tubes 130f and 130g is set to a length slightly shorter than the length of each of the measurement holes 11c and 11d so that the water injected into the measurement holes 11c and 11d of the PRB 13 is easily collected. Is set.

When the measuring probe 130 having the above configuration is pressed against the PRB 11 while being positioned, the grounding needle electrodes 130b and 130c are inserted into the soil around the PRB and grounded. In addition, the needle-shaped electrodes 130d, 1
30e pierces the electrode portions 11i and 11d of the PRB 11, respectively, and the measurement tubes 130f and 130g are inserted into the measurement holes 11c and 11d, respectively. The water for measurement is supplied from the tubes 130m and 130n to the measurement tubes 130f and 1f.
It is sent out within 30 g, and after a certain period of time, is collected and sucked up through the same tube by negative pressure. As described later, a soil measurement robot that injects measurement water into soil may be different from a soil measurement robot that collects the measurement water.

Next, a description will be given of a measurement concept when soil measurement is performed using the PRB 11 and the measurement probe 130 described above.

[Soil component measurement concept] FIG.
(C) is to infiltrate the measuring water, which is the measuring liquid, into the soil,
The procedure of collecting after a certain time and analyzing the components from the collected water is shown.

First, as shown in FIG. 6 (A), when a certain amount of the measuring water is injected into the measuring hole 11c (11d), an infiltrating region of the measuring water is formed in a region near the tip of the measuring tube. Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, after a certain time, the measurement water is collected from the infiltration area. At this time, the recovered water contains elements such as nitrogen and phosphoric acid contained in the soil.
Next, as shown in FIG. 6 (C), the collected water is guided to a measurement unit for analyzing the collected water. The soil measurement unit is provided with measurement units for each measurement item as shown in the figure, and recovered water is sent out to these measurement units by a predetermined amount. The measuring section for each item includes a measuring reagent tank and an measuring section for injecting the reagent in the tank into the recovered water, stirring, taking out the supernatant, and performing the actual measurement. All the collected water after the measurement is collected and stored in a drainage tank.

As described above, the soil component measurement of the present invention
Without collecting the soil, the water into which the water for measurement was injected is collected, and the collected water is analyzed.

[Concept of impedance measurement of soil] FIG.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of impedance measurement of soil.

Although the measurement of the electrical characteristics of the soil is originally intended to measure the conductivity of the soil, the electrical characteristics of the soil can be known even by performing impedance measurement. Therefore, the impedance measurement result can be used for soil analysis as well as the conductivity. In the present invention, this impedance is measured instead of measuring the conductivity of the soil. As shown in FIG. 7, the output terminal 130h of the ground needle electrode 130b of the measurement probe and the output terminals 130j and 130 of the needle electrodes 130d and 130e for the electrode section.
As shown in the figure, the measurement points in the ground at k are located at about 1 cm, about 15 cm, and about 30 cm from the ground surface, respectively. Therefore, the impedances at these measurement points are Z _AB , Z _BC , and Z _AC as shown in the figure. By measuring the values of these impedances, the impedance near the ground surface of the soil on which the PRB 11 is disposed is measured. You can know the electrical characteristics. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a measurement form of soil impedance. That is, "no injection of water for measurement",
"When 10 minutes have elapsed after injection of the measurement water from the measurement hole 11c", "When 10 minutes have elapsed after injection of the measurement water from the measurement hole 11d", and "When an AC voltage is applied to the electrode (without injection of the measurement water)" Z _AB , Z _BC , and Z _AC are measured for each of the four items. As described above, by measuring each soil impedance in four items, their values are normalized, and the electrical characteristics of the soil can be grasped in more detail by increasing the number of samples.

[Appearance of Soil Measurement Robot (SOILER)] FIG.

The SOILER main body 131 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and has a communication antenna 132 and a GPS antenna 133 mounted on the upper part thereof, a movable TV camera 134 on a side part, and a pair of wheels 135 on a bottom part. Is provided. Also, on the other side of the SOILER body 131,
A fixed arm 136 is attached, and a robot arm 137 that can move up and down is attached to the tip. A measurement probe 130 is attached to the lower end of the robot arm 137.
By pressing down, the measurement probe 130 is pressed against the PRB (soil measurement tool) 11 located below,
Thereby, the measurement probe 130 can be fitted to the PRB 11.

In the above configuration, SOILER 13
Performs GPS positioning (kinematic GPS positioning) based on data received by the GPS antenna 133, measures its own position with an accuracy of a few centimeters, transmits the result to the base station 15 by the communication antenna 132, Base station 1
5 is moved to a predetermined PRB position by the wheel 135 based on the measurement instruction data transmitted from
The movement control and the alignment control of the measurement probe 130 are performed by image processing using the camera 134. When the movement and the positioning are completed, the measurement probe 130 is lowered and pressed against the PRB 11. Thereafter, a measurement operation instructed by the measurement instruction data is performed. SOILER13
When the measurement operation is completed by the above sequence, the measurement probe 130 is raised, and the measurement result and the current position of the measurement device 130 are transmitted to the base station 1 by the communication antenna 132.
Send to 5. Each SOILER 13 measures various soil data on the spot while repeatedly moving by repeating the above operation.

[Structure of SOILER] FIGS. 10 and 11 are functional block diagrams of SOILER 13. FIG.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a portion for identifying the PRB number closest to the own position obtained by GPS positioning. The composite video signal obtained by the TV camera 134 is input to the image processing unit 140. The image processing unit 140 measures the position of the PRB on the image while performing matching with the PRB model pattern 141 stored in advance. The GPS receiver 142 performs kinematic GPS positioning based on data received by the GPS antenna 133 and carrier phase data periodically transmitted from the base station 15, and measures its own position as a SOILER position. This current position is stored in the memory 1 as positioning data for every predetermined distance, for example.
44. Direction determination unit 1 of SOILER13
43 calculates the moving direction θ of the SOILER 13 by connecting the positioning data. PRB position on the image measured by the image processing unit 140,
The SOILER position measured by the GPS receiver 142,
The movement direction θ calculated by the direction determination unit 143 of the SOILER 13 and the camera model (such as the imaging direction) stored in the camera model storage unit 145 are input to the PRB number identification unit 146, and based on these information, And now T
The absolute position of the PRB detected by the V camera 134 is calculated. The table 147 stores PRB numbers for the absolute positions of each PRB, and the PRB number identification unit 1
46 refers to this table 147,
The PRB number closest to the absolute position of the PRB calculated as described above is extracted, and the PRB number detected on the image is extracted.
Output as B number k. That is, the PRB number identification unit 146 sequentially outputs the number k of the closest PRB in its own moving direction. In this way, if the number k of the currently observed PRB matches the number of the PRB designated as a measurement target from the base station 15, and if the PRB can be measured from the current situation, Then, it is determined that measurement is possible, and the process proceeds to a measurement operation.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram of the measurement sequence unit.

The needle-shaped electrode control unit 150 includes the needle-shaped electrode 130b.
The soil impedance is measured using 130e. The result is output to the measurement sequence control unit 151. The measuring water control unit 152 is connected to the measuring tubes 130f, 1
Control of injection and recovery of measurement water is performed using 30 g. The water tank 153 for measurement is used for injection, and the tank 154 for drainage is used for drainage. The collected measurement water is guided to the water quality unit 155, where the water quality is measured for each measurement item. The measurement reagent tank 156 prepared for each measurement item is used at the time of water quality measurement. The water for measurement may be a solvent such as alcohol instead of water.

The robot arm control unit 157 controls the robot arm 137 to move up and down, and the wheel control unit 158
Controls the wheels 135 so that the SOILER 13 moves forward, backward, or pivots.

The measurement sequence control section 151 executes a measurement operation by controlling the sequence of these control sections and units. When the measurement is successful, the measurement data is stored as a soil map file 161 by the measurement data recording unit 160 and transmitted to the base station 15 via the data transmission / reception unit 162. In this case, date data measured by the calendar clock 163 is added to the measurement data in this case. [Configuration of Base Station] FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of the base station 15.

A communication antenna 150 and a data transmission / reception unit 152 for communicating with each SOILER 13, a GPS antenna 151 and a GPS receiver 153 necessary for detecting a phase carrier for performing kinematic GPS positioning, a keyboard, An input / output unit 154 including a monitor, a printing unit, and a storage medium driver is connected to the base station control unit 155 as an external interface device.
Each file of the measurement instruction map 156, the soil map 157, and the soil management data 158 is allocated to the external storage device, and these are read and written by the base station control unit 155.

The base station control unit 155 creates a current measurement instruction map at the start of the work, and according to this,
The measurement instruction data is transmitted to the ER 13 sequentially. It should be noted that the measurement instruction map is input / output unit 1 by the operator.
It is created based on the data input from the server 54, automatically created based on various parameters or the like, or transmitted from the host. The data transmission / reception unit 152 includes, in addition to the measurement instruction data, each SOILER
13 transmits a phase carrier at a constant period so that kinematic GPS positioning can be performed. Each SOILE
R13 performs the positioning sequence operation based on the measurement instruction data transmitted from the base station 15, but returns the measurement result when the measurement is successful.
The base station control unit 155 creates a soil map file based on the data and stores it in the external storage device. The input / output unit 154 creates desired soil management data by appropriately processing the soil map file created as described above and stores it as a file. The measurement instruction data can be stored and distributed to a portable storage medium such as a floppy disk.

FIG. 13 shows a measurement instruction map file of the base station 15. For each PRB, the data of the number of measurement items, the “maximum time until completion of the measurement”, and the “minimum time until completion of the measurement” for each measurement item are stored as measurement item data. For example, a PRB
When there is a measurement item for injecting the measurement water into the measurement item, the maximum time and the minimum time in the measurement item data mean the maximum allowable time and the minimum time until the measurement water is collected after the injection of the measurement water. . In this way, by storing the maximum time and the minimum time as the permissible time until the completion of the next measurement after the measurement of the measurement item, the base station 15 can determine the measurement result (success or failure) of each SOILER 13 transmitted every moment. Included), current location, and PR observed at that time
Based on the B number k, an optimal PRB capable of completing the operation within the above-mentioned permissible time is selected, and measurement instruction data for performing the operation on the PRB is created. Thus, for example, for one PRB, 10 minutes after the SOILER 13 with the identification number 1 injects water, the SOILER 13 with the identification number 2 collects the water,
Further, an operation is performed in which the SOILER 13 with the identification number 3 measures the soil impedance. It takes a certain amount of time to complete one meaningful operation, and if the operation is shared by a plurality of SOILERS 13 in this way, the efficiency of the operation for the entire PRB can be improved. it is obvious.

FIG. 14 shows the data format of the measurement instruction data. In the area D0 at the next position of the header,
The identification number of the SOILER 13 to be measured is arranged, and the PRB number to be measured is arranged in the next area D1. In the next area D2, a code string representing the content of the measurement operation is arranged. Since the content of the measurement operation instructed to the SOILER 13 is not limited to one, and may be plural, one or more codes from 0 to 13 as shown in the figure are arranged. In the next area D3, the target time of measurement completion, and in the area D4, calibration instruction data of system parameters,
In the area D5, the position data of the movement destination is arranged. Note that the SOILER 13 determines whether or not all specified measurement operations can be performed until the target time of completion of measurement in consideration of various conditions such as its own moving speed and the distance to the PRB to be measured. In this case, the measurement failure is reported to the base station 15. Further, when the calibration of the system parameters is performed in the check PRB 110 (see FIG. 2), the calibration instruction data obtained from the area D4 is referred to. Further, when receiving the destination position data, it starts moving toward the position data while comparing it with its own current position.

As shown in FIG. 14, the measuring operation includes injection and recovery of measuring water, analysis of recovered water, and measurement of soil impedance.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement sequence for SOILER numbers 1 to 3. FIG. 16 shows the time t
It is a figure which shows a part of measurement instruction | indication data transmitted with respect to SOILER numbers 1-3 with 0.

At time t0, "injection of water for measurement into PRB1" is instructed to SOILER number 1, and
"Recovery of measurement water for PRB1" is commanded for SOILER number 2, and "Impedance measurement for PRB0" is commanded for SOILER number 3. When receiving the measurement instruction data from the base station 15, the SOILER number 1 moves to the destination position while comparing the destination position data (x1, y1) included in the positioning instruction data with the GPS positioning data. . Time t1
When it reaches near the destination position data, the measurement probe is fitted under the condition that the PRB number recognized on the image at that time matches the PRB number specified in the measurement instruction data, and the measurement is performed. Start the water injection operation.
When this operation is completed at t2, which is the target time of measurement completion, the measurement result is transmitted to base station 15 together with its own GPS positioning data, and again based on the measurement instruction data sent from base station 15. Start moving. On the other hand, a command of “recovery of measurement water for PRB1” is issued to SOILER number 2. SOILER
When the number 2 arrives at the position of PRB1 at time t3, t2
If the interval between 2 and t3 is 10 minutes (this time is a set time from injection of the measurement water to collection), the operation of collecting the measurement water injected by SOILER No. 1 at time t1 in the past. I do. If the time is less than 10 minutes, the operation is started after waiting for the same time. When the collection operation is completed at time t4, the measurement result is transmitted to the base station 15 together with the GPS positioning data, and movement to the destination according to the next measurement instruction data is started. For SOILER number 3, "impedance measurement for PRB0" is instructed. Upon receiving this measurement instruction data, SOILER number 3 arrives at the position of PRB0 at time t4, and performs an impedance measurement operation on PRB0. When this impedance measurement operation is completed at time t5, the measurement result and the GPS positioning data are transmitted to the base station 15.
Send to When the next measurement instruction data is received,
The movement is started to the position specified by the data. In the example shown in FIG. 15, SOILER number 3 starts moving in the opposite direction at t5, and performs a measurement operation on PRB2 at time t6. Also, for simplicity of explanation, each SO
Although the ILER 13 has been described to individually receive the next measurement instruction data when the measurement operation ends, the base station 15
Waits for measurement result reports from all SOILERS 13 and then simultaneously sends the next measurement instruction data to each SOILER 13
Send to R13.

By continuously performing the operation based on the measurement instruction data for each SOILER 13, the measurement operation of all the PRBs to be measured can be performed very efficiently.

[SOILER Measuring Operation Sequence] FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a SOILER 13 measuring operation sequence.

The SOILER 13 performs a measurement based on measurement instruction data from the base station 15 as a basic operation.
The operation of transmitting the measurement result to the base station 15 together with the current position is repeated.

First, the current position as GPS positioning data is reported to the base station 15 (ST1).
Wait for the measurement instruction data from 5. When this measurement instruction data is received (ST2), it is determined whether or not only a movement instruction is made (ST3), and if a measurement operation is involved, the closest PRB in its own traveling direction is extracted. If this extracted P
RB is a designated PRB included in the measurement instruction data,
And if the measurement action for the PRB is possible, S
The operation moves to T6 and below, but if not, it is determined that the measurement has failed and the base station 15 is notified (ST10). The determination as to whether or not the measurement operation is possible depends on whether or not the measurement can be completed up to the measurement completion target time included in the measurement instruction data based on information such as the own speed and the distance to the designated PRB. Do.

In ST6, the target PB is moved to the position of the target PRB, and the target PB is
The search and positioning of the RB 11 are performed, and the measurement probe 130 is pressed against the PRB 11 (ST
7). Further, a measurement operation is performed on the PRB 11 (ST8), measurement result data is obtained, current position data is added, and a report is made to the base station 15 (ST9). When each of the operations in ST6 to ST8 fails, ST
Proceed to 10 to report the measurement failure.

Of the above ST2 to ST10, unless there is a measurement failure, the operations of ST2 to ST9 are repeatedly executed.

In the above ST3, when the measurement instruction data is only the movement instruction, that is, the target SOIL of the area D0
When only the ER number and the destination position data of the area D5 have been transmitted, the process proceeds from ST3 to ST20. This ST
At 20, the destination position is the return area 120 (see FIG. 2).
Then, it is determined whether or not it is the alignment area 121, and if so, in ST21, it moves to each area and then stops. Further, in the case of movement to the check area 122, after moving to the check area 122, a measurement operation is performed on the check PRB 110 (ST2).
3) Further, after notifying the measurement result data to the base station 15, it receives the calibration instruction data transmitted thereafter and calibrates the system parameters (ST25).
If the destination is any other position, it moves to the designated destination position (ST26), reports the current position to the base station (ST27), and returns to ST2.

[Measurement operation sequence of base station]
FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a measurement operation sequence of the base station 15.

At the base station 15, first, all the PRBs 11
Are determined, and a measurement instruction map shown in FIG. 13 is created (ST30). Next, the current position is acquired by sequentially communicating with all SOILERs 13, and a communicable list and a movable list are created (ST31). The communicable list is a list of communicable SOILERs 13, and the movable list is a list of operable SOILERs 13. It instructs the communicable SOILER 13 to sequentially go to the check area 122. That is, the measurement instruction data in which the destination position data of the area D5 is set in the check area 122 is transmitted to each SOILER 13. in this case,
Instructions are given in order from the one closest to the check area 122.
Soiler who cannot come to the check area 122
13 may be present, those that do not arrive in the check area 122 within a predetermined time are deleted from the movable list (ST33, ST34). Check area 12
SOILER13 in PRB110 for check
In order to execute a measurement operation on the check PRB 110, the measurement result is received (ST35), and compared with reference data stored in advance for the check PRB 110, the S
Calibration instruction data for the system parameters of the OYLER 13 is created (ST36), and transmitted to the SOILER 13 (ST37). Furthermore, the SOILER13
Is instructed to move to the alignment area 121 (ST
38), all SOILER13 in the communication available list
If the process has not been completed, ST32 and the subsequent steps are repeated again.

In the steps after ST50 in FIG. 19, the SOI shown in FIG.
This corresponds to the normal measurement operation sequence of ST1 to ST9 in the measurement operation of LER13.

That is, SOILE that can communicate in ST50
The current position data of R13 is received, and measurement instruction data for each SOILER 13 is created based on the current position data and the measurement instruction map (ST51). Next, the measurement instruction data is transmitted to the communicable SOILER 13 in order from the position near the farm road 12 in the alignment area (ST52).

When the instructions for all SOILER 13 are completed (ST53), each SOILER 1
3 is received (ST54). Each S
If the measurement is successful for OYLER13, the data of the measurement result and the current position data are stored as a soil map file, and the measurement instruction data is created and transmitted unless the measurement items for all PRBs have been completed. (ST59, ST60), and repeat the steps from ST54 onward. As long as the measurement operation in each SOILER 13 succeeds, the above-described operation from ST50 onward is repeated, and as a result, a measurement operation sequence as shown in FIG. 15 is performed. If there is a SOILER 13 that has failed in the measurement, that is, if there is a SOILER 13 that has reported the measurement failure to the base station 15 in ST10 of FIG. 17, the failure counter is incremented (ST7).
0), if the counter value exceeds a predetermined threshold value TH1, an instruction to return to the feedback area 120 is issued (ST7).
2). The SOILER 13 is deleted from the movable list as unusable (ST73). Also, when the measurement operation for all PRBs is completed in ST58, ST
At 74, a feedback instruction is transmitted to all SOILERS 13.

By the above measurement operation sequence of SOILER 13 and base station 15, base station 15
While receiving the current position data and the measurement result data from the LER 13, the measurement instruction data is sequentially created and transmitted, while the SOILER 13 performs the above-described measurement operation sequence based on the measurement instruction data transmitted from the base station 15 from time to time. Is repeated. Thereby, a plurality of SOILs
Since a predetermined measurement operation for a large number of PRBs 11 can be dynamically performed by the ER 13, highly efficient measurement can be realized in a short time.

Although the agricultural road 12 is shown as one road in the example shown in FIG. 2, it may be a grid-like agricultural road. In addition, by providing the check area 122 at an appropriate position in the home, the SOILER 13 can be calibrated at that position, so that it is not returned to the return area 120 at the start of work. In addition, the present invention can be applied not only to soil measurement on a farm, but also to soil measurement in an area where soil contamination is concerned, such as a garbage disposal site or a site of a chemical plant. In that case, the depth of the electrode rod and the measurement hole in the soil measurement tool is set to a depth according to the measurement purpose.

[0068]

When the present invention is applied to soil management in agriculture, it is possible to automatically measure, accumulate and analyze soil property data for each section automatically without human intervention by mapping the ground. Because of this, precision agriculture, which was almost impossible in the past, can be realized. Further, the soil measurement tool of the present invention does not have a structure for collecting soil,
Since it only includes an electrode rod for injecting and recovering measurement water and measuring soil impedance, the structure is simple and small, so that the yield rate to the area of the ground is not deteriorated. In addition, since the structure does not protrude upward from the surface in the middle, work such as harvesting is not hindered. In addition, since the tool body is made of a material that can be decomposed in soil, the properties of the soil are not adversely affected.

[0069] The soil measurement robot according to the present invention is for intelligently performing movement on a farm road, fitting of a measurement probe to a soil measurement tool, automatic measurement, etc., based on measurement instruction data from a base station. Automate almost all of the processing steps required for soil analysis. In addition, the soil measurement system according to the present invention dynamically determines which soil measurement tool each soil measurement robot accesses to perform a soil measurement operation. Can perform the measurement operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a precision agricultural system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a precision agricultural system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a soil measurement tool.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a soil measurement tool.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a measurement probe.

6A to 6C are conceptual diagrams of soil component measurement.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of impedance measurement of soil.

FIG. 8 is a table showing a measurement form of soil impedance.

FIG. 9 is an external view of a soil measurement robot.

FIG. 10 is a first functional block diagram of a soil measurement robot.

FIG. 11 is a second functional block diagram of the soil measurement robot.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of a base station.

FIG. 13 is a measurement instruction map.

FIG. 14 is a data format of measurement instruction data.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a measurement operation sequence of each SOILER.

FIG. 16 shows measurement instruction data of SOILER numbers 1 to 3 in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a measurement operation sequence of SOILER;

FIG. 18 is a first flowchart showing a measurement operation sequence of the base station.

FIG. 19 is a second flowchart showing a measurement operation sequence of the base station.

Claims (39)

[Claims] 1. A soil measurement tool, wherein an electrode rod connectable from outside is provided in an embedding portion embedded in soil. 2. The soil measuring tool according to claim 1, wherein said electrode rod is composed of a plurality of electrode rods having different lengths. 3. The soil measuring tool according to claim 1, wherein the electrode bar has an electrode portion made of conductive rubber formed on an upper portion thereof. 4. A soil measurement tool characterized in that a measurement hole through which an soil measurement liquid can be injected and collected from outside is provided in an embedding portion embedded in the soil. 5. The soil measurement tool according to claim 4, wherein said measurement hole is constituted by a plurality of measurement holes having different lengths. 6. The soil measurement tool according to claim 4, wherein the measurement hole has a porous lid formed at the bottom. 7. A soil measurement tool comprising the electrode rod according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and the measurement hole according to any one of claims 4 to 6. 8. The soil measurement tool according to claim 7, wherein said electrode rod has a length whose bottom is located near the bottom of said measurement hole. 9. The soil measurement tool according to claim 1, further comprising a flange provided above the tool body and in contact with a soil surface. 10. The soil measurement tool according to claim 1, wherein the tool body is made of an organic substance that can be decomposed in soil. 11. The soil measurement tool according to claim 1, wherein the pattern on the upper surface of the tool body is an astigmatic pattern. 12. A method for measuring a soil component, comprising infiltrating a measuring liquid such as water into soil, collecting the measuring liquid from the infiltrated area after a predetermined time, treating the collected measuring liquid, and measuring the soil component. 13. A method for measuring soil impedance, comprising embedding a plurality of electrodes of different lengths and a ground electrode in soil, and measuring the soil impedance from the impedance between these electrodes. 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein a plurality of electrodes having different lengths are embedded in the infiltration area before and / or after the measurement liquid such as water is infiltrated into the soil, and the soil impedance is measured. Soil impedance measurement method. 15. The soil measuring tool according to claim 4 is embedded in soil, and after the measuring solution is injected into the measuring hole, the measuring solution is collected after a predetermined time, and the collected measurement is performed. A soil component measurement method that measures a soil component by treating a liquid. 16. A soil measurement tool according to claim 7, wherein said soil measurement tool is embedded in soil, and before and after injection of a measurement liquid into said measurement hole, soil impedance is measured by said electrode rod. To measure the soil impedance. 17. An electrode which is fitted to the soil measuring tool according to any one of claims 7 to 11, and is electrically connected to the electrode rod and a measuring tube for injecting and collecting a soil measuring liquid into the measuring hole. A measurement probe comprising: a wheel that can be moved to a position where the soil measurement tool is arranged; an arm that allows the probe to be moved to an arbitrary position; and soil measurement via the measurement probe. A soil measurement robot having at least a soil measurement unit for performing the measurement. 18. A position specifying means such as a GPS receiver for specifying a robot position, a communication unit for transmitting and receiving data to and from a base station, a robot position obtained by the position specifying means and a destination transmitted from the base station. 18. The soil measurement robot according to claim 17, further comprising: movement control means for controlling the movement of the wheel to the destination soil measurement tool position based on the soil measurement tool position. 19. A moving direction specifying means for specifying a robot moving direction from a history of robot positions obtained by the position specifying means, and camera coordinates for specifying a soil measurement tool position on camera coordinates obtained by the camera. A position identification unit, and an imaging direction identification unit that identifies an imaging direction of the camera, wherein the movement control unit includes the robot position, the robot movement direction, a soil measurement tool position on camera coordinates, and a camera imaging direction. The candidate of the soil measurement tool position is specified based on, and when the destination soil measurement tool position transmitted from the base station is included in the candidates, the wheel is moved to the destination soil measurement tool position. The soil measurement robot according to claim 17, wherein the robot is controlled. 20. After the movement of the wheel is controlled, the measuring probe is connected to the soil measurement tool by a pattern matching method using a captured image of the soil measurement tool by the camera and a previously stored soil measurement tool model image. 20. The soil measurement robot according to claim 19, further comprising a robot arm control unit that controls the robot arm so that the robot arm is properly fitted to the tool. 21. A soil measuring apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising a transmitting means for transmitting a result measured by said soil measuring section to a base station together with a current position after said measuring probe is fitted to a soil measuring tool. robot. 22. The transmitting means, when the movement cannot be controlled to the destination soil measurement tool position by the wheel.
If the robotic arm could not be controlled to properly fit the measurement probe to the soil measurement tool,
22. The soil measurement robot according to claim 21, wherein a measurement failure is transmitted to the base station when the measurement cannot be performed by the soil measurement unit. 23. The method according to claim 18, wherein said movement control means controls movement of said wheels so as to return to a predetermined return position when a return instruction is issued from a base station. The soil measurement robot according to any one of the above. 24. A soil measurement tool database in which the position and number of each soil measurement tool are stored in advance, and a soil measurement tool that identifies a soil measurement tool position by a tool number with reference to the soil measurement tool database. 24. The soil measurement robot according to claim 17, further comprising: a tool number identification unit for soil, wherein a position of the soil measurement tool is represented by a soil measurement tool number. 25. A measuring water control device for injecting a soil measuring liquid into a measuring hole of a soil measuring tool through a measuring pipe of the measuring probe and collecting the soil measuring liquid from the measuring hole. 18. A water quality measurement unit for processing the extracted soil measurement liquid to measure water quality.
25. The soil measurement robot according to any one of claims to 24. 26. A method for controlling a soil measuring robot according to claim 17, wherein said wheel is determined based on a robot position obtained by a position specifying means and a destination soil measuring tool position transmitted from a base station. Controlling the movement of the robot to the position of the destination soil measurement tool. 27. The movement control according to claim 27, further comprising the steps of: specifying a candidate for a soil measurement tool position based on a robot position, a robot movement direction, a soil measurement tool position on camera coordinates, and a camera imaging direction; 27. The soil measurement robot control method according to claim 26, wherein when the destination soil measurement tool position transmitted from the base station is included, the movement of the wheel is controlled to the destination soil measurement tool position. 28. The soil measurement robot according to claim 17, wherein the soil data obtained by embedding a soil measurement tool in a check soil area where the soil data is known is obtained from the known soil data. A soil measurement robot, comprising: means for calibrating a soil measurement unit as compared with a soil measurement robot. 29. A method for controlling a soil measurement robot according to any one of claims 17 to 25, wherein a soil measurement tool is provided in a check soil area where soil data is known before moving to the soil to be measured. A soil measurement robot control method characterized by comparing soil data obtained by embedding the above with the known soil data to calibrate a soil measurement unit. 30. An arrangement structure of a farm, wherein the soil measurement tool according to any one of claims 1 to 11 is arranged around a farm road on which the soil measurement robot moves. 31. An arrangement structure of a farm, wherein a return area of the soil measurement robot is arranged at a starting position of a farm road on which the soil measurement robot moves. 32. An arrangement structure of a farm, wherein an arrangement area where the soil measurement robots are arranged in a line is arranged at a starting position of a farm road on which the soil measurement robot moves. 33. The soil measuring tool according to claim 1, which is disposed around a farm road on which the soil measuring robot moves, and a return area of the soil measuring robot and a return area from the return area to the farm road. An arrangement structure of a farm, wherein an arrangement area arranged in a line when moving is arranged at a starting position of a farm road. 34. A check soil area for calibrating an area in which the soil measurement tool according to any one of claims 1 to 11 is embedded in soil with known soil data, for calibrating a soil measurement unit of a soil measurement robot. The arrangement structure of a farm according to claim 33, wherein the arrangement area is arranged between the return area and the alignment area. 35. A soil measurement tool according to any one of claims 1 to 11, a soil measurement robot according to any one of claims 17 to 25, and a base for controlling the soil measurement robot by communication. A soil measurement system including a station. 36. The base station obtains the current position of each soil measurement robot, and, based on the position data and a predetermined measurement instruction schedule by each soil measurement tool, acquires the current position of each soil measurement robot. 36. The soil measurement system according to claim 35, further comprising control means for creating and transmitting measurement instruction data. 37. The soil measurement robot according to claim 36, wherein the measurement instruction data of each soil measurement robot is for a soil measurement robot located closest to a task to be currently performed on the soil measurement tool. Soil measurement system. 38. The control means transmits a return instruction to the soil measurement robot when the control means knows that the measurement operation of the soil measurement robot has failed a predetermined number of times.
The soil measurement system as described. 39. A storage medium for storing measurement instruction data created by the soil measurement system according to claim 36, wherein the storage medium is a target robot number storage area for specifying a soil measurement robot to which data is to be transmitted. And a target tool number storage area for specifying a soil measurement tool to be measured, and a measurement for storing a code representing a measurement content when soil is measured by the specified soil measurement tool with the specified soil measurement robot. At least a content storage area and a measurement completion target time storage area for storing a measurement completion target time when performing the measurement, and the measurement is completed by the specified soil measurement tool with the specified soil measurement tool by the specified soil measurement robot. A measurement instruction data storage medium that enables a soil measurement robot to determine whether soil measurement is possible within a target time.