JPWO2021130816A1 - Spraying system and spraying management device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively prevent the spread of a disease of a crop. SOLUTION: The pathological information acquisition unit 1004 that acquires an image of a crop growing in a field 403, a pathological diagnosis unit 605 that determines whether the crop is diseased or not based on the acquired image, and the disease are detected. It is equipped with a spraying area determination unit 702a that determines the spraying area of pesticides and a spraying control unit 1002 that sprays pesticides in the spraying area. A spraying system 1000 that determines the spraying area based on at least one of information indicating the surrounding environment of the strain and information indicating the mode of the pathological strain. [Selection diagram] FIG. 8

Description

The present invention relates to a spraying system and a spraying management device.

The application of small helicopters (multicopters) generally called drones is advancing. One of the important application fields is spraying agricultural land (field) with pesticides, liquid fertilizers, etc. (for example, Patent Document 1). In relatively small farmlands, it is often appropriate to use drones instead of manned planes and helicopters.

Patent Document 2 describes an image analysis means for acquiring an image captured in flight, a pest detection means for detecting pests attached to a crop based on the image analysis means, and a crop to which the pests are attached. A mobile control application comprising a mobile control means for controlling a mobile to spray a pest control agent based on location information is disclosed.

Patent Publication Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-120151 Patent Gazette Patent 6427301

Effectively prevent the spread of crop diseases.

In order to achieve the above object, the spraying system according to one aspect of the present invention has a pathology information acquisition unit that acquires an image of a crop growing in a field, and whether or not the crop is diseased based on the acquired image. The pathological diagnosis unit for determining the pathology, the spraying area determining unit for determining the spraying area of the pesticide when the disease is detected, and the spraying control unit for spraying the pesticide in the spraying area are provided to determine the spraying area. The unit determines the spraying area based on the location of the pathological strain in which the disease was detected and at least one of information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain and information indicating the mode of the pathological strain.

A spot measuring unit for measuring at least one parameter of the size, density, and number of spots generated in the crop based on the image is further provided, and the pathological diagnosis unit is based on the measurement result of the parameter. , The pathological determination as to whether or not the crop is sick may be performed.

The information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain includes information on the wind speed in or around the field where the pathological strain is located, and the spraying area determining unit sprays the pesticide based on the wind speed information. Determine the distance from,
It may be a thing.

The spraying area determination unit may increase the distance as the wind speed increases.

The information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain includes information on the wind direction in or around the field where the pathological strain is located, and the spraying area determination unit is sprayed based on the information on the wind direction at the position of the pathological strain. The area may be determined.

The spraying area determination unit may make the distance from the pathological strain to the spraying area edge in the leeward direction longer than the distance from the pathological strain to the spraying area edge in the leeward direction.

The information indicating the aspect of the pathological strain includes the progress of the disease in the pathological strain, the pathological diagnosis unit determines the progress based on the image, and the spraying area determination unit is the pathological diagnosis unit. The more the disease progresses in the pathological strain determined by the above, the larger the spraying area may be.

At least the pathology information acquisition unit may be mounted on a drone capable of flying over the field.

The pathological diagnosis unit determines the progress of the disease in the pathological strain based on the image, estimates the elapsed time from the onset of the disease based on the progress, and within a predetermined time from the onset of the disease. May be provided with a countermeasure timing calculation unit for determining the timing of spraying the pesticide so that the pesticide is sprayed.

A result output unit may be further provided for displaying the determination result of the countermeasure timing calculation unit on the display unit or transmitting the determination result to the spray control unit.

The result output unit may further include a result output unit for displaying the determination result of the spraying area determination unit on the display unit or transmitting the determination result to the spraying control unit.

In order to achieve the above object, the spraying management device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a pathological diagnosis unit that determines the pathology of the crop based on a photographed image of the crop growing in the field, and the pathological diagnosis unit. A spraying area determination unit that determines the spraying area of the pesticide when a disease is detected is provided, and the spraying area determination unit indicates the position of the pathological strain in which the disease is detected and the surrounding environment of the pathological strain. The spray area is determined based on at least one of the information and the information indicating the aspect of the pathological strain.

The information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain includes information on the wind speed in or around the field where the pathological strain is located, and the spraying area determining unit sprays the pesticide based on the wind speed information. It may be used to determine the distance from.

The spraying area determination unit may increase the distance as the wind speed increases.

The information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain includes information on the wind direction in or around the field where the pathological strain is located, and the spraying area determination unit is sprayed based on the information on the wind direction at the position of the pathological strain. The area may be determined.

The spraying area determination unit may make the distance from the pathological strain to the spraying area edge in the leeward direction longer than the distance from the pathological strain to the spraying area edge in the leeward direction.

The pathological diagnosis unit is provided with a countermeasure timing calculation unit that determines the progress of the disease in the pathological strain based on the photographed image and determines the timing of spraying the pesticide based on the progress of the disease. May be good.

It is possible to effectively prevent the spread of crop diseases.

It is a top view of the drone included in the spraying system which concerns on this invention. It is a front view of the above-mentioned drone. It is a right side view of the above drone. It is a rear view of the above-mentioned drone. It is a perspective view of the said drone. It is an overall conceptual diagram of the spraying system which concerns on this invention. It is a functional block diagram which the said drone has. It is a functional block diagram of the drone, the user interface apparatus, the diagnostic apparatus and the planning apparatus which the spraying system has. This is an example of the result output screen output by the above spraying system. This is an example of a result output screen that displays the spraying area output by the spraying system. It is yet another example of the result output screen output by the above spraying system. The spraying system is a flowchart for making a pathological diagnosis of a crop. It is an image diagram of the photographed image obtained by photographing the rice leaf infected with blast with the red light camera provided in the said drone.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. All figures are illustrations. In the following detailed description, certain details are given for illustration purposes and to facilitate a complete understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, embodiments are not limited to these particular details. Also, for the sake of simplification of the drawings, well-known structures and devices are shown schematically.

First, the configuration of the drone according to the present invention will be described. In the present specification, the drone is regardless of the power means (electric power, prime mover, etc.) and the maneuvering method (wireless or wired, autonomous flight type, manual maneuvering type, etc.). It refers to all aircraft with multiple rotor blades.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the rotor blades 101-1a, 101-1b, 101-2a, 101-2b, 101-3a, 101-3b, 101-4a, 101-4b (also referred to as 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 of flight stability, aircraft size, and power consumption. Each rotor 101 is arranged on all sides of the housing 110 by an arm protruding from the housing 110 of the drone 100. That is, the rotors 101-1a and 101-1b are on the left rear side in the traveling direction, the rotor blades 101-2a and 101-2b are on the left front side, the rotor blades 101-3a and 101-3b are on the right rear side, and the rotor blades 101- are on the right front side. 4a and 101-4b are arranged respectively. In addition, the drone 100 has the traveling direction facing downward on the paper in FIG.

A grid-shaped propeller guard 115-1,115-2,115-3,115-4 forming a substantially cylindrical shape is provided on the outer periphery of each set of the rotor blade 101 to prevent the rotor blade 101 from interfering with foreign matter. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the radial members for supporting the propeller guards 115-1,115-2,115-3,115-4 have a wobble-like structure rather than a horizontal structure. This is to encourage the member to buckle to the outside of the rotor blade in the event of a collision and prevent it from interfering with the rotor.

Rod-shaped legs 107-1,107-2,107-3,107-4 extend downward from the axis of rotation of the rotary wing 101, respectively.

Motors 102-1a, 102-1b, 102-2a, 102-2b, 102-3a, 102-3b, 102-4a, 102-4b have rotary blades 101-1a, 101-1b, 101-2a, 101- It is a means to rotate 2b, 101-3a, 101-3b, 101-4a, 101-4b (typically an electric motor, but it may be a motor, etc.), and one machine is provided for one rotary blade. Has been done. Motor 102 is an example of a propulsion device. The upper and lower rotors (eg 101-1a and 101-1b) in one set and their corresponding motors (eg 102-1a and 102-1b) are for the stability of the drone's flight, etc. The axes are on the same straight line and rotate in opposite directions.

Nozzles 103-1, 103-2, 103-3, 103-4 are means for spraying the sprayed material downward, and four nozzles are provided. In the specification of the present application, the sprayed material generally refers to a liquid or powder sprayed on a field such as a pesticide, a herbicide, a liquid fertilizer, an insecticide, a seed, and water.

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

FIG. 6 shows an overall conceptual diagram of the flight control system of the drone 100 according to the present invention. This figure is a schematic diagram, and the scale is not accurate. In the figure, the drone 100, the actuator 401, the base station 404, and the server 405 are connected to each other via the mobile communication network 400. These connections may be wireless communication by Wi-Fi instead of the mobile communication network 400, or may be partially or wholly connected by wire. Further, the components may have a configuration in which they are directly connected to each other in place of or in addition to the mobile communication network 400.

The drone 100 and the base station 404 communicate with the GNSS positioning satellite 410 such as GPS, and acquire the drone 100 and the base station 404 coordinates. There may be a plurality of positioning satellites 410 with which the drone 100 and the base station 404 communicate.

The operation device 401 sends a command to the drone 100 by the operation of the user, and also displays information received from the drone 100 (for example, position, amount of sprayed material, battery level, camera image, etc.). It is a means and may be realized by a portable information device such as a general tablet terminal that runs a computer program. The actuator 401 includes an input unit and a display unit as a user interface device. The drone 100 according to the present invention is controlled to perform autonomous flight, but may be capable of manual operation during basic operations such as takeoff and return, and in an emergency. In addition to the portable information device, an emergency operation device (not shown) having a function dedicated to emergency stop may be used. The emergency controller may be a dedicated device equipped with a large emergency stop button or the like so that an emergency response can be taken quickly. Further, apart from the operating device 401, a small mobile terminal capable of displaying a part or all of the information displayed on the operating device 401, for example, a smart phone may be included in the system. The small mobile terminal is connected to, for example, the base station 404, and can receive information and the like from the server 405 via the base station 404.

The field 403 is a rice field, a field, or the like to be sprayed by the drone 100. In reality, the terrain of the field 403 is complicated, and the topographic map may not be available in advance, or the topographic map and the situation at the site may be inconsistent. Field 403 is usually adjacent to houses, hospitals, schools, other crop fields, roads, railroads, etc. In addition, intruders such as buildings and electric wires may exist in the field 403.

Base station 404 functions as an RTK-GNSS base station and is capable of providing the exact location of the drone 100. Further, it may be a device that provides a master unit function of Wi-Fi communication. The base unit function of Wi-Fi communication and the RTK-GNSS base station may be independent devices. Further, the base station 404 may be able to communicate with the server 405 by using a mobile communication system such as 3G, 4G, and LTE. The base station 404 and the server 405 constitute a farming cloud.

The server 405 is typically a group of computers operated on a cloud service and related software, and may be wirelessly connected to the actuator 401 by a mobile phone line or the like. The server 405 may be configured by a hardware device. The server 405 may analyze the image of the field 403 taken by the drone 100, grasp the growing condition of the crop, and perform a process for determining the flight route. In addition, the topographical information of the stored field 403 may be provided to the drone 100. In addition, the history of the flight and shot images of the drone 100 may be accumulated and various analysis processes may be performed.

The small mobile terminal is, for example, a smart phone or the like. On the display of the small mobile terminal, information on the expected operation of the drone 100, more specifically, the scheduled time when the drone 100 will return to the departure / arrival point 406, the content of the work to be performed by the user at the time of return, etc. Information is displayed as appropriate. Further, the operation of the drone 100 may be changed based on the input from the small mobile terminal.

Normally, the drone 100 takes off from a landing point outside the field 403 and returns to the landing point after spraying the spray material on the field 403, or when it becomes necessary to replenish or charge the spray material. The flight route (intrusion route) from the departure / arrival point to the target field 403 may be stored in advance on the server 405 or the like, or may be input by the user before the start of takeoff. The departure / arrival point may be a virtual point defined by the coordinates stored in the drone 100, or may have a physical departure / arrival point.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram showing a control function of an embodiment of the spraying drone according to the present invention. The flight controller 501 is a component that controls the entire drone, and may be an embedded computer including a CPU, memory, related software, and the like. The flight controller 501 uses the input information received from the controller 401 and the input information obtained from various sensors described later, and the motors 102-1a and 102-1b via a control means such as ESC (Electronic Speed Control). , 102-2a, 102-2b, 102-3a, 102-3b, 104-a, 104-b to control the flight of the drone 100. The actual rotation speeds of the motors 102-1a, 102-1b, 102-2a, 102-2b, 102-3a, 102-3b, 104-a, 104-b are fed back to the flight controller 501, and normal rotation is performed. It is configured so that it can be monitored. Alternatively, the rotary wing 101 may be provided with an optical sensor or the like so that the rotation of the rotary wing 101 is fed back to the flight controller 501.

The software used by the flight controller 501 can be rewritten through a storage medium or the like for function expansion / change, problem correction, etc., or through communication means such as Wi-Fi communication or USB. In this case, protection is performed by encryption, checksum, digital signature, virus check software, etc. so that rewriting by unauthorized software is not performed. Also, some of the computational processing used by the flight controller 501 for control may be performed by another computer located on the controller 401, on the server 405, or elsewhere. Due to the high importance of the flight controller 501, some or all of its components may be duplicated.

The flight controller 501 communicates with the actuator 401 via the communication device 530 and further via the mobile communication network 400, receives necessary commands from the actuator 401, and transmits necessary information to the actuator 401. Can be sent. In this case, the communication may be encrypted so as to prevent fraudulent acts such as interception, spoofing, and device hijacking. The base station 404 also has the function of an RTK-GPS base station in addition to the communication function via the mobile communication network 400. By combining the signal of the RTK base station 404 and the signal from the positioning satellite 410 such as GPS, the flight controller 501 can measure the absolute position of the drone 100 with an accuracy of about several centimeters. Since the flight controller 501 is so important, it may be duplicated / multiplexed, and each redundant flight controller 501 should use a different satellite to cope with the failure of a specific 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 directions orthogonal to each other, and further, a means for calculating the velocity by integrating the acceleration. The 6-axis gyro sensor 505 is a means for measuring the change in the attitude angle of the drone aircraft in the above-mentioned three directions, that is, the angular velocity. The geomagnetic sensor 506 is a means for measuring the direction of the drone aircraft by measuring the geomagnetism. The barometric pressure sensor 507 is a means for measuring barometric 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 aircraft and the ground surface by utilizing the reflection of the laser light, and may be an IR (infrared) laser. The sonar 509 is a means for measuring the distance between the drone aircraft and the ground surface by utilizing the reflection of sound waves such as ultrasonic waves. These sensors may be selected according to the cost target and performance requirements of the drone. In addition, a gyro sensor (angular velocity sensor) for measuring the inclination of the aircraft, a wind sensor for measuring wind power, and the like may be added. Further, these sensors may be duplicated or multiplexed. If there are multiple sensors for the same purpose, the flight controller 501 may use only one of them and switch to an alternative sensor if it fails. Alternatively, a plurality of sensors may be used at the same time, and if the measurement results do not match, it may be considered that a failure has occurred.

The flow rate sensor 510 is a means for measuring the flow rate of the sprayed material, and is provided at a plurality of locations on the path from the tank 104 to the nozzle 103. The liquid out sensor 511 is a sensor that detects that the amount of sprayed material is less than a predetermined amount.

The growth diagnosis camera 512a is a means for photographing the field 403 and acquiring data for the growth diagnosis. The growth diagnostic camera 512a is, for example, a multispectral camera and receives a plurality of light rays having different wavelengths from each other. The plurality of light rays are, for example, red light (wavelength of about 650 nm) and near-infrared light (wavelength of about 774 nm). Further, the growth diagnosis camera 512a may be a camera that receives visible light.

The pathological diagnosis camera 512b is a means for photographing crops growing in the field 403 and acquiring data for pathological diagnosis. The pathological diagnosis camera 512b is, for example, a red light camera. The red light camera is a camera that detects the amount of light in the frequency band corresponding to the absorption spectrum of chlorophyll contained in the plant, and detects, for example, the amount of light in the band near the wavelength of 650 nm. The pathological diagnosis camera 512b may detect the amount of light in the frequency band of red light and near infrared light. Further, the pathological diagnosis camera 512b may include both a red light camera and a visible light camera such as an RGB camera that detects the amount of light having at least three wavelengths in the visible light band. The pathological diagnosis camera 512b may be a multispectral camera, or may be a camera that detects the amount of light in the band having a wavelength of around 650 nm to 680 nm.

Known diseases that occur in plants include lesions on leaves, leaf sheaths, stems, or ears. Diseases in which lesions occur are, for example, blast disease, sesame leaf blight, blight, striped leaf blight and the like. The mechanism of lesion development is that chlorophyll is first altered, decomposed or deficient, then the site withers and becomes a visible lesion, and then the lesion expands. Therefore, according to the multispectral camera, it is possible to acquire an image of an early lesion at an invisible stage.

FIG. 13 shows an image diagram of a photographed image of a leaf obtained by photographing a leaf of rice infected with blast with a red light camera. When shooting with a red light camera, the part where chlorophyll that absorbs red light is present appears black, and the part where chlorophyll in the leaves is destroyed due to a disease such as blast absorbs red light. It looks white because it does not. When a disease such as blast occurs, the chlorophyll of the leaf is destroyed in the form of spots, so that an image in which the spot L1 appears in the leaf L can be obtained as shown in FIG.

Further, according to the visible light camera, it is possible to obtain an image of a visible lesion and an image in which the color and shape of leaves, stems and ears can be analyzed.

The growth diagnosis camera 512a and the pathology diagnosis camera 512b may be realized by one hardware configuration.

The obstacle detection camera 513 is a camera for detecting a drone intruder, and since the image characteristics and the orientation of the lens are different from the growth diagnosis camera 512a and the pathology diagnosis camera 512b, what are the growth diagnosis camera 512a and the pathology diagnosis camera 512b? Another device. The switch 514 is a means for the user 402 of the drone 100 to make various settings. The obstacle contact sensor 515 is a sensor for detecting that the drone 100, in particular, its rotor or propeller guard part, has come into contact with an intruder such as an electric wire, a building, a human body, a standing tree, a bird, or another drone. .. The obstacle contact sensor 515 may be replaced with a 6-axis gyro sensor 505. The cover sensor 516 is a sensor that detects that the operation panel of the drone 100 and the cover for internal maintenance are in the open state. The inlet sensor 517 is a sensor that detects that the inlet of the tank 104 is in an open state.

These sensors may be selected according to the cost target and performance requirements of the drone, and may be duplicated or multiplexed. Further, a sensor may be provided at the base station 404, the actuator 401, or some other place outside the drone 100, and the read information may be transmitted to the drone. For example, the base station 404 may be provided with a wind sensor to transmit information on the wind and wind direction to the drone 100 via the mobile communication network 400 or Wi-Fi communication.

The flight controller 501 sends a control signal to the pump 106 to adjust the discharge amount and stop the discharge. The current status of the pump 106 (for example, the number of revolutions) is fed back to the flight controller 501.

The LED 107 is a display means for informing the drone operator of the state of the drone. Display means such as a liquid crystal display may be used in place of or in addition to the LED. The buzzer is an output means for notifying the state of the drone (particularly the error state) by an audio signal. The communication device 530 is connected to a mobile communication network 400 such as 3G, 4G, and LTE, and can communicate with a farming cloud composed of a base station and a server, and an operator via the mobile communication network 400. Will be done. Instead of or in addition to the communication device, other wireless communication means such as Wi-Fi, infrared communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark), ZigBee (registered trademark), NFC, or wired communication means such as USB connection. You may use it. The speaker 520 is an output means for notifying the state of the drone (particularly the error state) by means of recorded human voice, synthetic voice, or the like. Depending on the weather conditions, it may be difficult to see the visual display of the drone 100 in flight. In such cases, voice communication is effective. The warning light 521 is a display means such as a strobe light for notifying the state of the drone (particularly the error state). These input / output means may be selected according to the cost target and performance requirements of the drone, and may be duplicated / multiplexed.

● Overview of control system As shown in Figure 8, the spraying system 1000 is a system that includes, for example, a drone 100, a user interface device 200, a measuring instrument 500, a diagnostic device 600, and a planning device 700, which communicate with each other through a network network NW. It is connected as possible. The diagnostic device 600 and the planning device 700 may have a hardware configuration or may be configured on the server 405. The drone 100, the user interface device 200, the diagnostic device 600, and the planning device 700 may be connected to each other wirelessly, or may be partially or wholly connected by wire. The diagnostic device 600 and the planning device 700 constitute a spray management device according to the present invention.

The configuration shown in FIG. 8 is an example, and one component may include another component, and the functional unit of each component may be included in another component. .. For example, some or all of the functions of the diagnostic device 600 and the planning device 700 may be mounted on the drone 100.

The user interface device 200 may be provided with an input unit and a display unit by an operator, and may be realized by the function of the operation device 401. Further, the user interface device 200 may be a personal computer, or information may be input to and displayed in the UI on the Web via a Web browser installed in the personal computer.

● Functional part of the drone The drone 100 is equipped with an arithmetic unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for executing information processing and a storage device such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory). As resources, it has at least a flight control unit 1001, a spray control unit 1002, a growth information acquisition unit 1003, and a pathological information acquisition unit 1004.

The flight control unit 1001 is a functional unit that operates the motor 102 and controls the flight and takeoff and landing of the drone 100. The flight control unit 1001 is realized by, for example, a flight controller 501, and controls the flight altitude, flight speed, and flight path to fly the drone 100 over the field.

The spray control unit 1002 is a functional unit that operates the pump 106 and controls the spraying of the sprayed material from the nozzles 103-1, 103-2, 103-3, 103-4. The spray control unit 1002 is realized by, for example, a flight controller 501.

The growth information acquisition unit 1003 is a functional unit that acquires growth information of crops growing in the field while the drone 100 is flying over the field. The growth information includes images of the crop for diagnosing the growth state of the crop.

Utilizing the fact that the density of chlorophyll (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid, etc.) in leaves changes depending on the amount of nitrogen absorbed, the density of chlorophyll is estimated by analyzing the characteristics of reflected light in leaves, and nitrogen to leaves is estimated. It is known that the amount of absorption can be estimated and the degree of growth of crops can be measured based on the amount of nitrogen absorbed. Therefore, the growth information acquisition unit 1003 acquires the data used for the analysis of the growth condition of the crop by receiving the reflected light of the sunlight obtained from the field 403.

The growth information acquisition unit 1003 acquires an image of the crop with the growth diagnosis camera 512a. The growth information acquisition unit 1003 has a beam splitter and acquires only light rays in a predetermined frequency range from a light source. The light rays received by the growth information acquisition unit 1003 include reflected light mainly reflected from the crop by the light rays transmitted from the growth information acquisition unit 1003. The drone 100 acquires the growth information of the crops growing in the field 403 by receiving the reflected light reflected from the field 403 by the growth information acquisition unit 1003 while flying in the field 403 by the flight control unit 1001.

In addition, instead of or in addition to this, the growth information acquisition unit 1003 provides visual information such as the number of tillers, the color of the stem or the ear of rice, the amount of the ear of rice, or the length or the amount of deflection of the stem. You may get it. When acquiring only this visual information, the growth information acquisition unit 1003 can use a camera capable of receiving visible light.

The pathological information acquisition unit 1004 is a functional unit that acquires pathological information, that is, pathological information of crop diseases in the field while the drone 100 is flying over the field. The pathological information acquisition unit 1004 acquires an image of the crop for diagnosing the pathological state of the crop by the pathological diagnosis camera 512b. The pathological information acquisition unit 1004 acquires an image of at least one of a site where a lesion appears, for example, a leaf, a leaf sheath, a stem, and an ear. In addition, the pathological information acquisition unit 1004 may photograph the color or shape of the stem or ear. This is because there is a possibility of discoloration or deformation due to illness.

In the present embodiment, the drone 100 is provided with a spray control unit 1002, a growth information acquisition unit 1003, and a pathology information acquisition unit 1004, but the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to this. , The drone 100 may be provided with at least a flight control unit 1001 and a pathological information acquisition unit 1004. Further, the spray control unit 1002 may be included in the land traveling machine included in the spray system 1000.

● Functional part of the diagnostic device As shown in Fig. 8, the diagnostic device 600 is a functional part that diagnoses plants, that is, crops, that grow in the field 403 to which the drone 100 flies, based on the information acquired by the drone 100. .. The diagnostic device 600 includes an arithmetic unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for executing information processing, and a storage device such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory), whereby at least as software resources, It is equipped with a medical history memory unit 601, a growth diagnosis unit 602, a climate information acquisition unit 603, a spot measurement unit 604, and a pathological diagnosis unit 605.

The medical history storage unit 601 is a functional unit that stores the medical history of diseases that have occurred in the field 403 in the past. The medical history includes at least one of the area of occurrence of the disease, the type of disease, and the time of occurrence within the field 403. In addition, the medical history may include climate information of the outbreak area at the time of the outbreak.

The medical history storage unit 601 may memorize the response record to the disease carried out in the field 403. Responses include spraying drug to the outbreak area and removing pathological leaves or strains. The response record may include the type or concentration of the sprayed drug. The medical history storage unit 601 may receive the countermeasure measures determined by the planning device 700 and store them as the response results. Further, the medical history and the response record may be input from the user interface device 200 by, for example, an operator.

The growth diagnosis unit 602 is a functional unit that diagnoses the growth status of crops in the field based on the growth information acquired by the growth information acquisition unit 1003. The growth diagnosis unit 602 calculates the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) based on the image obtained by the reflected light of red light (wavelength about 650 nm) and near infrared light (wavelength about 774 nm), and obtains the absorption rate of red light. In addition, the effective light receiving area can be estimated by NDVI. Generally, NDVI is calculated by the formula (IR-R) / (IR + R) (where IR is the reflectance of near-infrared light and R is the reflectance of red light). IR and R are obtained by analyzing the image of the field for each frequency band.

The growth diagnosis unit 602 applies a frequency filter to the light rays received by the growth information acquisition unit 1003 in a hard or soft manner, so that the amount of light rays in a predetermined frequency range related to the growth situation, for example, the power spectral density. To get. The light amount calculation process may be performed by the growth information acquisition unit 1003, and the growth diagnosis unit 602 may diagnose the growth state based on the received light amount.

The growth diagnosis unit 602 diagnoses the growth state of the field based on the information stored in advance that associates the amount of light with the amount of growth in a predetermined frequency band. The growth diagnosis unit 602 may predict the yield in the field based on the growth condition.

The climate information acquisition unit 603 is a functional unit that acquires climate information of the field 403. Climate information includes at least one of temperature, humidity and wind speed information. In addition, the climate information may include information on the wind direction. The climate information acquisition unit 603 may receive each measured value from, for example, a measuring instrument 500 arranged in the field 403, for example, a thermometer, a hygrometer, and an anemometer. Further, the drone 100 may include a part or all of each configuration of the measuring instrument 500.

The climate information acquisition unit 603 may receive information transmitted from the outside of the spraying system 1000. The climate information acquisition unit 603 may acquire information from a meteorological satellite. Meteorological satellites are, for example, sunflowers. The climate information acquisition unit 603 may acquire information (public information) processed by various organizations such as the Japan Meteorological Agency, particularly public organizations, as climate information.

The spot measurement unit 604 is a functional unit that measures the state of spots occurring on the crop based on the image acquired by the pathological information acquisition unit 1004. The spot measuring unit 604 measures at least one parameter of the size, density, and number of spots generated on the crop based on the image. That is, the spot measuring unit 604 includes at least one of a spot counting unit 604a, a spot size measuring unit 604b, and a spot density measuring unit 604c.

The spot counting unit 604a is a functional unit that counts spots generated on at least one of the leaves, leaf sheaths, stems and ears of a plant by image analysis. The spot counting unit 604a may count the number of spots for each site where the spots are generated. Counting for each site of occurrence is performed by distinguishing, for example, leaves, leaf sheaths and stems. In addition, the tip of the leaf, the middle of the leaf, and the origin of the leaf may be counted separately. The spot size measuring unit 604b is a functional unit that measures the size of spots by image analysis. The spot density measuring unit 604c is a functional unit that measures the number of spots generated per predetermined region, that is, the spot density. The spot density measuring unit 604c may obtain the spot density by measuring the distance between the spots.

The pathological diagnosis unit 605 is a functional unit for diagnosing the prevalence of plant diseases in the field. The pathological diagnosis unit 605 makes a pathological determination as to whether or not the disease is a disease based on the measurement results of at least one of the parameters of the spot size, the spot density, and the number of spots. That is, the pathological diagnosis unit 605 may determine that the patient is ill when the spots are larger than a predetermined size. In this case, for example, the disease can be determined on condition that the area of the spot is 100 square millimeters or more. The pathological diagnosis unit 605 may determine that the patient is ill when the spot density is equal to or higher than a predetermined value. In this case, for example, when the distance between the spots is 10 cm or less, it may be determined that the disease has occurred. The pathological diagnosis unit 605 may determine that the patient is ill when the number of spots is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. In this case, for example, it may be determined that the disease has occurred when the number of spots having a spot area of 4 square millimeters or more is 10 or more per predetermined area. Alternatively, the pathological diagnosis unit 605 may make a pathological determination based on a plurality of parameters of the spot size, the spot density, and the number of spots.

When making a pathological determination based on one or more of the parameters of spot size, spot density, and spot number, the pathology is based on the likelihood distribution table by the value of one parameter or the combination of the values of multiple parameters. It is also possible to generate an occurrence likelihood. In this case, the generated pathological occurrence likelihood value may be output, or the fact that the pathological occurrence is detected when the generated pathological occurrence likelihood value exceeds a predetermined threshold value is output. Alternatively, both the pathological occurrence likelihood and the pathological occurrence detection information may be output.

The pathological diagnosis unit 605 may make a pathological diagnosis for each plant strain. Further, the pathological diagnosis unit 605 may subdivide the field 403 into a plurality of regions and make a pathological diagnosis for each region. The pathological diagnosis unit 605 subdivides the field 403, for example, into a mesh shape. Each area has a rectangular shape of, for example, 1 m square. Further, the pathological diagnosis unit 605 may make a pathological diagnosis for each image taken by the pathological diagnosis camera 512b.

The pathological diagnosis unit 605 may diagnose the type of disease affecting the plant based on the size of the spots, the density of the spots or the number of spots. The pathological diagnosis unit 605 may diagnose the type of disease based on the site where the spots are generated. For example, the pathological diagnosis unit 605 stores the type of the disease in association with the shape, size, density, number of spots, or spot occurrence site or range of the spots that occur, and refers to the information to store the disease. Diagnose the type.

Further, the pathological diagnosis unit 605 may make a pathological determination based on the past medical history information stored in the medical history storage unit 601. For example, if there is a history of disease outbreaks in the same area last year, it may be determined that there is a high probability that the area has a disease. Specifically, even when a part or all of the measurement results of the spots do not satisfy the first threshold value, it may be determined that the patient is ill based on the occurrence history. Further, a second threshold value smaller than the first threshold value is defined in advance for the measurement result of the spot, and if the measurement result is equal to or more than the second threshold value and less than the first threshold value and there is an occurrence history, the disease is found in the area. It may be determined that it has occurred. Alternatively, the above-mentioned pathological likelihood may be calculated in consideration of past medical history information.

The pathological diagnosis unit 605 may make a pathological determination based on the climate information. Specifically, it may be determined that the lower the temperature, the higher the humidity, and the lower the wind speed, the higher the probability that the disease has occurred. This condition is due to the known climate in which diseases occur and are prone to progress. The pathological diagnosis unit 605 has a threshold value for at least one of temperature, humidity and wind speed, and when the acquired climate information is equal to or higher than the threshold value, a part or all of the measurement results of the spots do not meet the first threshold value. In some cases, it may be determined that the patient is ill. Alternatively, the above-mentioned pathological likelihood may be calculated in consideration of climate information.

The pathological diagnosis unit 605 may determine the progress of the disease. The progress is, for example, three stages of early, middle and late stages, but may be two stages or may be further subdivided into multiple stages. Further, even if the condition is not diagnosed as illness, the condition that may be ill may be determined as the "suspicious pathological occurrence" condition. The pathological diagnosis unit 605 determines the progress of the disease based on at least one of the shape and size of the spot. The shape of the spot is, for example, the length of the spot. The length of the spots may be calculated by acquiring the minor axis and the major axis of the oval-shaped spots and calculating the ratio of the minor axis to the major axis. This is because it is known that the spots grow as the disease progresses. When the length of the spot is equal to or greater than a predetermined third threshold value, the pathological diagnosis unit 605 determines that the condition is more advanced than the earliest stage of development, for example, "middle stage" or "late stage".

The pathological diagnosis unit 605 may determine the progress of the disease based on the information obtained by the visible light camera. For example, it is known that the area around the lesion turns black as the disease progresses after the chlorophyll is destroyed and the lesion develops. According to the visible light camera, the discolored region can be detected. Since discoloration around the lesion occurs after the development of the lesion, the pathological diagnosis unit 605 determines that the discolored region is more advanced than the earliest stage of development, for example, "middle stage" or "late stage". do.

The pathological diagnosis unit 605 may use the growth status of the plant for pathological determination or determination of disease progression. For example, the pathological diagnosis unit 605 may determine that the disease is ill by referring to the specific growth condition in determining the disease that is likely to be affected in the case of the specific growth condition.

In addition, the pathological diagnosis unit 605 may make a pathological diagnosis based on the color or shape of the stem or ear.

The target plant for which the diagnostic apparatus 600 makes a pathological determination is assumed to be paddy rice, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to this, and another plant that can be pathologically diagnosed mainly by photographing from the sky may be used. The diagnostic apparatus 600 can perform pathological diagnosis based on images of leaves, stems, fruits and the like having chlorophyll. The diagnostic apparatus 600 may perform pathological determination of a plurality of types of plants, or may store pathological determination criteria different for each type of plant, and may perform pathological determination according to different determination criteria for each type of plant.

● Functional part of the planning device As shown in Fig. 8, the planning device 700 is an arithmetic unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for executing information processing, RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. It has at least a countermeasure decision unit 701 and a result output unit 704 as software resources.

The countermeasure decision unit 701 is a functional unit that determines the necessity of dealing with a disease based on the result of pathological diagnosis. The countermeasure decision unit 701 decides whether or not to deal with the disease for each strain or each area. The countermeasure determination unit 701 decides to take countermeasures when the diagnostic device 600 determines that the patient is ill.

The countermeasure decision unit 701 determines the countermeasures to be taken in the field based on the progress of the disease. Countermeasures include, for example, at least one of strain origin visual confirmation instructions, rephotographing, wait-and-see, pesticide spraying, pathological leaf removal, pathological strain removal, and pathological strain development area strain removal.

The stock yuan visual confirmation instruction is a measure to encourage the stock yuan to be visually confirmed. In the field 403, the humidity around the plant root is higher than that around the leaves, and the probability of developing the disease is high. On the other hand, since the plant root is difficult to see from above, it may not be possible to detect the disease by photographing from the sky. According to the stock origin visual confirmation instruction, even if the condition is difficult to detect by the drone 100, the disease can be detected at an early stage.

Pesticide spraying is the work of spraying pesticides on a predetermined area including a plant in which a disease has been found. The area to be sprayed, the type and concentration of the pesticide are determined by the spraying mode determining unit 702 described later.

Removal of pathological leaves is the task of removing only the diseased leaves, that is, the pathological leaves. Removal of pathological strains is the task of removing diseased strains, i.e. pathological strains. The removal of the strains in the pathological strain development area is an operation of removing all the crops growing in the predetermined area including the pathological strains.

Elimination of the disease requires severe countermeasures as the disease progresses. Specifically, as the disease progresses, it is recommended to in order to visually confirm the strain origin, rephotograph, wait, spray pesticide, remove pathological leaves, remove pathological strains, and remove strains in the pathological strain occurrence area. In addition, the instruction to visually confirm the stock origin, the re-shooting, and the wait-and-see are in no particular order, and may be presented at the same time as a countermeasure. For example, the countermeasure decision unit 701 outputs "waiting" when the progress is "early" when it has a function of judging the progress of the disease in at least two stages including "early stage" and "late stage". , "Agricultural chemical spraying", "Pathological leaf removal" or "Pathological strain removal" is output in the case of "late stage" in which the progress is more advanced than the initial stage.

In addition, the countermeasure decision unit 701 outputs "pesticide spraying" when the progress is "early", and outputs "removal of pathological leaves" or "removal of pathological strain" when the progress is "late". It may be a thing.

Further, the countermeasure determination unit 701 may output "removal of pathological leaves" when the progress is "early" and "removal of pathological strains" when the progress is "late".

The countermeasure decision unit 701 outputs "waiting" when the progress is "early" when the progress of the disease is judged in at least three stages including "early", "middle" and "late". "Agricultural chemical spraying" is output when the progress is more advanced than the initial stage, and "pathological leaf removal" or "pathological strain removal" is output when the progress is more advanced than the middle stage. It may be output.

In addition, the countermeasure decision unit 701 outputs "pesticide spraying" when the progress is "early", outputs "removal of pathological leaves" when the progress is "middle", and the progress is "late". In the case of, "removal of pathological strain" may be output.

The countermeasure decision unit 701 may determine countermeasures by referring to the climate information. This is because the disease may not progress and may not spread to surrounding crops depending on the weather. For example, when the humidity is below the specified value, the temperature is above the specified value, and the wind speed is at least the specified value, the countermeasure determination unit 701 outputs a countermeasure that is lighter than the countermeasure associated with the determined progress. May be. That is, for example, the countermeasure determination unit 701 outputs "wait and see" when the above conditions are satisfied in a mode in which the progress is determined to be "initial" and "pesticide spraying" is associated with "initial". You may. Assuming that the disease is cured only in the early stage, a milder countermeasure may be output only when the climate information meets the predetermined conditions and the progress is in the early stage. With this configuration, the characteristics of the disease can be used to more accurately determine appropriate countermeasures. In particular, it is possible to suppress excessive measures and prevent excessive spraying of pesticides and reduction in yield due to excessive removal.

According to the measure determination unit 701, suitable measures can be determined to stop the spread of the disease in the field 403. Further, according to the countermeasure determination unit 701, appropriate countermeasures can be determined according to the progress of the disease, so that excessive spraying of pesticides can be prevented. As a result, the cost of pesticides can be suppressed, and crops with a small amount of pesticides can be grown. Further, according to the countermeasure determination unit 701, since the pathological leaves can be appropriately removed and the pathological strains can be removed, excessive removal work can be prevented. As a result, the labor cost of the removal work can be suppressed. In addition, the yield can be maintained because the leaves and strains are not excessively removed.

The countermeasure determination unit 701 includes a spray mode determination unit 702 and a countermeasure timing calculation unit 703.

The spraying mode determining unit 702 is a functional unit that determines the mode in which the drug is sprayed on the field 403. The spraying mode determining unit 702 has a spraying area determining unit 702a, a pesticide determining unit 702b, and a concentration determining unit 702c.

The spraying area determination unit 702a is a functional unit that determines a predetermined range including a pathological strain determined to be disease as a spraying area. The spraying area determination unit 702a determines the spraying area based on information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain and at least one of the embodiments of the pathological strain. Information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain includes wind speed information or wind direction information. In addition, the information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain may include temperature or humidity. The information indicating the aspect of the pathological strain includes the progress of the disease in the pathological strain. The aspect of the pathological strain may include the size, density, or number of spots that have occurred.

The spraying area determination unit 702a sprays pesticides in areas where there is a high risk of disease spread. The cause of diseases affecting plants is the growth of fungi. Since the spores of the fungus are blown by the wind and move, it is presumed that the higher the wind speed, the wider the spores spread. It is also estimated that spores are spreading leeward. Furthermore, if the disease in the found pathological strain is advanced, it is presumed that time has passed since the onset of the disease, that is, the spores are presumed to be widespread.

Therefore, the spraying area determination unit 702a determines the distance from the pathological strain to which the pesticide is sprayed based on the wind speed information in and around the field where the pathological strain is located. That is, the spraying area determination unit 702a increases the distance from the pathological strain on which the pesticide is sprayed as the wind speed increases. The spraying area determination unit 702a may determine the distance from the pathological strain to which the pesticide is sprayed based on the wind speed information before and after the outbreak of the disease. In addition, the spraying area determination unit 702a determines the area where the pesticide is sprayed based on the wind direction information. That is, the spraying area determination unit 702a decides to spray the pesticide on the area extending from the pathological strain toward the leeward side. In other words, the spraying area determination unit 702a makes the distance from the pathological strain in the leeward direction to the edge of the spraying area longer than the distance from the pathological strain in the leeward direction to the edge of the spraying area. The spraying area determination unit 702a may determine the area where the pesticide is sprayed based on the wind direction information before and after the outbreak of the disease. The wind speed information and the wind direction information may receive information from the measuring instrument 500.

The spraying area determination unit 702a determines the area to spray the pesticide based on the progress of the disease in the found pathological strain. That is, the spraying area determination unit 702a increases the area of the spraying area as the disease of the pathological strain progresses. In other words, the spray area determination unit 702a increases the distance from the pathological strain to the edge of the spray area as the disease progresses.

The spraying area determination unit 702a may estimate the elapsed time from the onset of the disease based on the progress of the disease, and determine the area to spray the pesticide based on the elapsed time. The spraying area determination unit 702a increases the spraying area as the elapsed time increases. The elapsed time may be estimated by referring to the temperature, humidity, and wind speed information as well as the progress. For example, the lower the temperature, the higher the humidity, or the lower the wind speed, the faster the disease progresses, and the shorter the elapsed time from the onset of the disease may be estimated.

In addition, the countermeasure determination unit 701 may determine the area in which the spraying area determination unit 702a determines the spraying as the information of the target range in the area requiring the removal of the strain, that is, the "removal of the strain in the pathological strain occurrence area". ..

The area where the spraying area determination unit 702a determines the spraying is not limited to the flight range of the drone 100, and may include the area around the flight range. The area may be a field managed by another worker, regardless of the field directly managed by the worker using the spraying system 1000. Information on the area requiring spraying may be managed by the comprehensive manager of the field in the area, and the comprehensive manager may notify each worker. Further, the information of the determined spraying area may be output to another system to be linked.

The pesticide determination unit 702b is a functional unit that determines the type of pesticide according to the progress of the disease. The pesticide determination unit 702b has a table for associating the progress of the disease with the appropriate pesticide, and the type of pesticide may be determined with reference to the table. In this description, pesticide is a concept that broadly includes various liquids, powders, granules, etc. that are effective for spraying as a countermeasure against diseases.

The concentration determination unit 702c is a functional unit that determines the concentration of the pesticide to be sprayed according to the progress of the disease. The concentration determination unit 702c decides to apply a higher concentration of pesticide as the disease progresses. When spraying high-concentration pesticides with Drone 100, the tank 104 is filled with high-concentration pesticides in advance and sprayed, and the pesticide is sprayed while flying at a lower speed than when spraying the standard concentration. , The concentration of the pesticide in the field may be ensured by changing the flight mode such as increasing the discharge amount from the nozzle 103 or flying and spraying the same place a plurality of times. In this case, the concentration determination unit 702c may have a function of determining the flight mode of the drone 100 according to the spray concentration.

The countermeasure timing calculation unit 703 is a functional unit that calculates the deadline for taking countermeasures. Crop diseases progress day by day, and by taking countermeasures at an early stage, the diseases can be eliminated with mild measures. For example, it is advisable to take measures within a predetermined time from the outbreak of the disease. Therefore, the countermeasure timing calculation unit 703 estimates the elapsed time from the occurrence of the disease based on the progress of the disease, and calculates the time when the predetermined time is added to the time of the occurrence of the disease as the countermeasure deadline. The deadline for countermeasures is, for example, within 48 hours after the outbreak of the disease. Further, the countermeasure timing calculation unit 703 may determine the flight timing of the drone 100. The countermeasure timing calculation unit 703 may refer to the flight plan of the drone 100 and decide to take countermeasures at the timing when the flight is scheduled. The countermeasure timing calculation unit 703 may newly determine the flight timing and urge the operator.

The result output unit 704 is a functional unit that outputs the determination result of the countermeasure. The result output unit 704 outputs at least one of the determination result of the presence or absence of a disease, the progress of the disease, the recommended countermeasures, and the deadline for countermeasures to be taken. The result output unit 704 may display the determination result on the user interface device 200. Further, the result output unit 704 may display the determination result on the screen of the personal computer, or may display the determination result on the UI on the Web via the Web browser installed in the personal computer.

The result output unit 704 may display a plurality of recommended countermeasures and allow the operator to select the countermeasure to be executed. The result output unit 704 may display the recommended countermeasures in the recommended order. The worker can flexibly take measures according to the work convenience and the like. After displaying a plurality of recommended countermeasures, the user interface device 200 accepts the selection input of the countermeasures to be actually performed, and when the countermeasures are input, the input countermeasures are recorded in the medical history storage unit 601 as the response record. do.

The result output unit 704 may transmit the determination result to the flight control unit 1001 or the spray control unit 1002 of the drone 100. The drone 100 may fly for pathological diagnosis or for drug spraying based on the decision result. The drone 100 may also perform the necessary preparatory movements for those flights.

● Result output screen As shown in Fig. 9, the result output screen G1 is displayed on the user interface device 200. The result output screen G1 displays fields 403a, 403b, 403c and 403d, and virtual lines that divide each field into a mesh. Of the divided areas, the areas 403a-1 and 403b-1 where the pathological strains are present are displayed in a manner different from those of the other areas. In this embodiment, the fields 403a to 403d are shaded, and the areas 403a-1 and 403b-1 where the pathological strains are present are shown in white.

In other words, the result output screen G1 superimposes the shape of the field and the area where the pathological strain exists. For the shape of the field, the data of the aerial photograph or the farmland bank may be referred to, or the data input by the operator may be used. The field displayed on the result output screen G1 may be a photograph or an illustration. The area where the pathological strain is present is identified by, for example, the RTK-GPS information acquired by the drone 100 during flight. According to this configuration, the position of the pathological strain can be listed.

Further, on the result output screen G1, a progress display column g10 indicating the progress of the disease in the pathological strain and a countermeasure display column g11 displaying the countermeasures for the pathological strain displayed in the progress display column g10 are displayed. Has been done. When there are multiple areas where the pathological strain exists, the pathological strain existing area 403a-1 displayed in the progress display column g10 and the countermeasure display column g11 can be distinguished from the other existing area 403b-1. .. For example, pin P is displayed in the existence area 403a-1. By selecting the existence areas 403a-1 and 403b-1 on the result output screen G1, the existence area for displaying the progress and countermeasures is switched.

One or more countermeasure columns g12 and g13 are displayed in the countermeasure display column g11. By pressing the countermeasure columns g12 and g13, the details of the countermeasure and the response deadline may be displayed. Further, the user interface device 200 may be able to input that the operator has implemented the countermeasure based on the operation for the countermeasure columns g12 and g13.

When the countermeasure column g13 indicating pesticide spraying is pressed, the screen transitions to the result output screen G2 showing the determination result of the spraying area shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 10, the result output screen G2 has a spraying information display field g21 that displays the spraying deadline and the spraying pesticide deadline, and an environmental information display field g22 that shows environmental information of the field with the pathological strain and its surroundings. Is displayed. In the environmental information display column g22, an illustration showing the wind direction and speed, as well as the wind direction and speed is displayed.

Further, the result output screen G2 shows the range of the spraying area 403e on which the pesticide should be sprayed, superimposing on the fields 403a to 403d displayed in the same manner as the result output screen G1. The spraying area 403e is determined by the spraying area determination unit 702a. The spraying area 403e is an area containing the pathological strain presence area 403d-1. In the spraying area 403e, the greater the wind speed before and after the outbreak of the disease, the longer the distance from the pathological strain on which the pesticide is sprayed is displayed. Further, the distance d1 from the pathological strain in the leeward direction to the end of the spraying area 403e is longer than the distance d2 from the pathological strain in the leeward direction to the end of the spraying area 403e.

When the presence areas 403a-1, 403b-1, and 403d-1 are specified on the result output screen G1 shown in FIG. 9 or FIG. 10, detailed result output showing the pathological strain in the presence area is enlarged and displayed as shown in FIG. Transition to screen G3.

As shown in FIG. 11, the image g30 acquired by the pathological diagnosis camera 512b is displayed on the result output screen G3. In addition, the pathological region identification mark g31 indicating the pathological leaf or the pathological strain is superimposed and displayed on the image g30. According to this configuration, it is easy to search for pathological leaves or pathological strains in the field. It is especially useful for visual confirmation or removal of pathological leaves or pathological strains. By selecting the pathological region identification mark g31, it may be possible to input that the visual confirmation has been completed. According to this configuration, it is easy to manage the results of countermeasures against pathological strains.

● Flow chart for pathological diagnosis As shown in Fig. 11, the drone 100 first flies over the field and acquires an image of the crop (S11). Then, based on the acquired image, at least one parameter of spot size, density and number is measured (S12). Next, it is determined whether the parameter measurement result is within the predetermined range (S13). When the measurement result of the parameter is within the predetermined range, it is determined that the determination target is not a disease (S14). When the measurement result of the parameter is out of the predetermined range, it is determined that the determination target is sick (S15). Next, the progress of the disease is determined (S16). Determine countermeasures based on the progress and output (S17). The determination in step S12 may be performed for each stock or for each image. When the determination is performed for each stock and a plurality of stocks are reflected in one acquired image, the processes of steps S12 to S17 are repeated for one acquired image.

Instead of determining the pathological occurrence based on the threshold value determination of each parameter, the pathological occurrence likelihood may be generated based on the value of each parameter, and the presence or absence of the pathological occurrence may be determined based on the pathological occurrence likelihood. In this case, S13 to S15 can be replaced as follows. That is, in S13, the pathological likelihood is generated based on the measurement result of the parameter (S13). Next, in S14, when the generated pathological likelihood is less than a predetermined value, it is determined that the determination target is not a disease (S14). Further, in S15, when the generated pathological likelihood is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, it is determined that the determination target is a disease (S15).

(Technically significant effect of the present invention)
In the plant spraying system according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively prevent the spread of crop diseases.

Claims (17)

The pathology information acquisition department that acquires images of crops growing in the field,
A pathological diagnosis unit that makes a pathological determination as to whether or not the crop is diseased based on the acquired image.
A spraying area determination unit that determines the spraying area of pesticides when the disease is detected,
A spray control unit that sprays pesticides in the spray area,
Equipped with
The spraying area determination unit determines the spraying area based on the position of the pathological strain in which the disease is detected and at least one of information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain and information indicating the mode of the pathological strain. decide,
Spraying system.
Further comprising a spot measuring unit for measuring at least one parameter of the size, density, and number of spots occurring on the crop based on the image.
The pathological diagnosis unit makes a pathological determination as to whether or not the crop is diseased based on the measurement results of the parameters.
The spraying system according to claim 1.
The information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain includes information on the wind speed in or around the field where the pathological strain is located.
The spraying area determination unit determines the distance from the pathological strain to which the pesticide is sprayed based on the wind speed information.
The spraying system according to claim 1 or 2.
The spraying area determination unit increases the distance as the wind speed increases.
The spraying system according to claim 3.
The information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain includes information on the wind direction in or around the field where the pathological strain is located.
The spraying area determination unit determines the spraying area based on the information of the wind direction at a certain position of the pathological strain.
The spraying system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The spraying area determination unit makes the distance from the pathological strain to the spraying area edge in the leeward direction longer than the distance from the pathological strain to the spraying area edge in the leeward direction.
The spraying system according to claim 5.
The information indicating the aspect of the pathological strain includes the progress of the disease in the pathological strain.
The pathological diagnosis unit determines the progress based on the image, and determines the progress.
The spraying area determination unit increases the spraying area as the disease progresses in the pathological strain determined by the pathological diagnosis unit.
The spraying system according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
At least the pathology information acquisition unit is mounted on a drone capable of flying over the field.
The spraying system according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
The pathological diagnosis unit determines the progress of the disease in the pathological strain based on the image, estimates the elapsed time from the onset of the disease based on the progress, and within a predetermined time from the onset of the disease. Is provided with a countermeasure timing calculation unit for determining the timing of spraying the pesticide so that the pesticide is sprayed.
The spraying system according to any one of claims 1 to 8.
A result output unit for displaying the determination result of the countermeasure timing calculation unit on the display unit or transmitting the determination result to the spray control unit is further provided.
The spraying system according to claim 9.
A result output unit for displaying the determination result of the spraying area determination unit on the display unit or transmitting the determination result to the spraying control unit is further provided.
The spraying system according to any one of claims 1 to 10.
Based on the photographed images of the crops growing in the field, the pathological diagnosis unit that makes a pathological determination as to whether or not the crop is diseased,
It is equipped with a spraying area determination unit that determines the spraying area of pesticides when the disease is detected.
The spraying area determination unit determines the spraying area based on the position of the pathological strain in which the disease is detected and at least one of information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain and information indicating the mode of the pathological strain. decide,
Spray management device. The information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain includes information on the wind speed in or around the field where the pathological strain is located.
The spraying area determination unit determines the distance from the pathological strain to which the pesticide is sprayed based on the wind speed information.
The spray management device according to claim 12.
The spraying area determination unit increases the distance as the wind speed increases.
The spray management device according to claim 13.
The information indicating the surrounding environment of the pathological strain includes information on the wind direction in or around the field where the pathological strain is located.
The spraying area determination unit determines the spraying area based on the information of the wind direction at a certain position of the pathological strain.
The spray management device according to any one of claims 12 to 14.
The spraying area determination unit makes the distance from the pathological strain to the spraying area edge in the leeward direction longer than the distance from the pathological strain to the spraying area edge in the leeward direction.
The spray management device according to claim 15.
The pathological diagnosis unit includes a countermeasure timing calculation unit that determines the progress of a disease in the pathological strain based on the photographed image and determines the timing of spraying the pesticide based on the progress of the disease.
The spray management device according to any one of claims 12 to 16.

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