KR20180041463A - Apparatus for growing crops - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a crop growth and development device for automatically identifying a growth and development state of a crop. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the crop growth and development device comprises: a communication part receiving a near-infrared image from a near-infrared camera part generating the near-infrared image with respect to the crop; a memory part storing the near-infrared image with respect to the crop; a processor controlling the near-infrared camera part through the communication part, accessing the memory part to perform at least one of generation of time-laps for the near-infrared image and analysis of the near-infrared image; and a display part displaying the analysis of the near-infrared image.

Description

{APPARATUS FOR GROWING CROPS}

The present invention relates to a crop growing apparatus.

Recently, researches and developments have been made on various systems for cultivating crops by applying IoT (Internet of Thing) technology to agriculture.

These systems increase the efficiency of agricultural production and management by managing various factors necessary for the growth of crops through the network.

However, general systems are unable to determine the growth status of crops and provide them to users.

Accordingly, studies are being made on a system capable of automatically grasping the growth state of a crop and providing it to users.

Patent Document 10-2015-0112154 (Publication date: October 10, 2015)

A crop growing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is for automatically grasping a growing state of a crop.

The task of the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and another task which is not mentioned can be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising: a communication unit for receiving the near-infrared ray image from a near-infrared ray camera unit for generating a near-infrared ray image for a crop; A memory unit for storing the near-infrared ray image for the crop; A processor that controls the near infrared ray camera unit through the communication unit and accesses the memory unit to perform at least one of generation of time-laps for the near-infrared image and analysis of the near-infrared image; And a display unit for displaying an analysis of the near-infrared image.

The processor analyzes the near infrared ray image to generate an analysis graph of the state of the crop in accordance with a near infrared ray component and a visible light component, and the display unit may display the analysis graph.

The processor can display a message that the growth of the crop is normal as the near infrared ray component of the near infrared ray image is larger than the visible light component through the display unit.

The near-infrared ray camera unit generates the near-infrared ray image for each set distance in the process of moving along the guiding unit under the control of the processor, and the processor generates a position where the near-infrared ray image is generated according to the set distance, And the near infrared ray image may be stored in the memory unit.

The sensing node unit senses an environmental factor required for the growth of the crop, and the control node unit controls the supply and suspension of water required for the growth of the crop, and the processor receives environment element information received from the sensing node unit May be stored in the memory unit in association with the ID of the sensing node unit, and a command for supplying and stopping the water may be transmitted to the control node unit through the communication unit.

Wherein the processor stores schedule information for at least one of acquisition of the environment element input through the input unit and supply and stop of the water to the memory unit and sets the sensing node unit and the control node unit according to the schedule information Can be controlled.

The processor may store the reference value of the environment element input through the input unit in the memory unit and generate an alarm according to the comparison of the reference value and the environmental element information received from the sensing node unit through the communication unit.

The crop growth apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can automatically grasp the growth state of the crop through the near infrared ray image.

The effects of the present application are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

1 shows a crop growing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 shows a crop growing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 3 shows an example of a type-lap of a near-infrared image for a crop generated by a near-infrared camera part.
Figs. 4 and 5 show an example of analysis for a near infrared ray image.
6 shows a near infrared ray camera unit of a crop growing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 shows schedule information of a crop growing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 shows an alarm operation of the crop growing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the appended drawings illustrate the present invention in order to more easily explain the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. You will know.

Also, the terms used in the present application are used only to describe certain embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In the present application, the terms "comprises" or "having" and the like are used to specify that there is a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a component or a combination thereof described in the specification, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

FIG. 1 shows a crop growing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a crop growing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Before describing the crop growing system of FIG. 1, the crop growing apparatus 100 of FIG. 2 will be described first.

The crop growing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a bus 102 or other communication mechanism for conveying information. Such a bus 102 or other communication mechanism may include a communication unit 112 (e.g., a modem or an Ethernet card) such as a processor 104, a computer readable recording medium RM, a network interface, a display unit 114, (E.g., a CRT or LCD), an input 118 (e.g., keyboard, keypad, virtual keyboard, mouse, trackball, stylus, touch sensing means, etc.), and / or subsystems.

A memory unit RM that may include various computer-readable recording media includes volatile memory 106 (e.g., RAM), non-volatile memory 108 (e.g., ROM), disk drive 110 (E.g., HDD, SSD, optical disk, flash memory drive, etc.). At this time, the disk drive may be a non-transitory recording medium. The optical disc may be a CD, a DVD, or a Blu-ray disc, but is not limited thereto. The crop growing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include one or more disk drives 110. Also, as shown in FIG. 2, the disk drive 110 may be included in the housing 120 with the processor 104, but may be remotely installed to perform remote communication with the processor 104. One or more disk drives 110 may include a database.

The memory unit RM may store an operating system, a driver, an application program, data and a database necessary for the operation of the crop growing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The display unit 114 may display the operation and the user interface of the crop growing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The processor 104 may be, but is not limited to, a CPU, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), and the like, and controls the operation of the crop growth apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The processor 104 is connected to the memory unit RM to execute the one or more sequences of instructions or logic stored in the memory unit RM to generate a sequence of the instructions of the crop growth apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, And controls the operation.

These instructions may be read into the memory 106 from another computer readable recording medium, such as the static storage 108 or the disk drive 110. In other embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used instead of or in combination with software instructions to implement the present disclosure.

The logic may be encoded in a recording medium (RM), which may refer to any medium that participates in providing instructions to the processor (104). Such a recording medium RM may take many forms including, but not limited to, non-volatile recording media, volatile recording media.

The processor 104 may communicate with the hardware controller for the display unit 114 to display the operation of the crop growth apparatus 100 and the user interfacing operation on the display unit 114. [

In one embodiment, the memory portion RM comprising the computer readable recording medium may be non-volatile. In various implementations, non-volatile memories 108 include optical or magnetic disks, and volatile memory 106 may include dynamic recording media such as system memory.

Transmission media including wires, including the bus 102, include coaxial cables, copper wires, and optical fibers.

In one example, the transmission mediums may take the form of sound waves or light waves, such as those generated during radio and infrared data communications.

Some common forms of memory units RM, including computer readable recording media, may include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD- Any other physical medium having a pattern of punch cards, paper tape, holes, RAM, PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other Media.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, execution of the instruction sequences for implementing the present disclosure may be performed by the crop growth apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In various other embodiments of the present disclosure, communication links (e.g., such as LAN, WLAN, PTSN, and / or other wired or wireless networks including telecommunications, mobile, and cellular phone networks) A plurality of computing devices coupled to the network may cooperate with one another to execute the instruction sequences for implementing the present disclosure.

The crop growing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured to transmit and receive commands including messages, data, information, and one or more programs (i.e., application code) via the communication link and the communication unit 112 It is possible.

 The communication unit 112 may include separate or integrated antennas to enable transmission and reception via a communication link. The received program code may be executed by the process 104 when received and / or may be stored in the disk drive 110 or some other non-volatile memory for execution.

Next, the operation of the crop growing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In order to explain the operation of the crop growing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, a greenhouse grower is exemplified as shown in FIG. 1, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The communication unit 112 receives the near-infrared ray image from the near-infrared ray camera unit 210 that generates the near-infrared ray image for the crop. The near-infrared ray camera unit 210 can sense a near-infrared ray reflected by a crop to generate a near-infrared ray image for the crop.

At this time, the near-infrared ray camera unit 210 is equipped with a filter, which can transmit near infrared rays in the 850 nm range and red visible light in the 660 nm range. Therefore, the near-infrared image is due to near infrared rays and red visible light.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the filter transmits near infrared rays and red visible light, but is not limited thereto. Depending on the type of filter, near infrared rays and blue visible light, or near infrared rays and green visible light can be transmitted.

The memory unit RM stores a near-infrared image of the crop.

The processor 104 controls the near infrared ray camera unit 210 through the communication unit 112 and accesses the memory unit RM to generate at least one of the time-laps for the near-infrared image and the analysis for the near- Perform one.

The display unit 114 displays an analysis of the near-infrared image.

3 shows an example of a type-Lap of a near infrared ray image for a crop generated by the near-infrared ray camera unit 210. In FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the near-infrared ray camera unit 210 is installed inside the greenhouse cultivator and can generate a near infrared ray image for the crop at the set time.

The near infrared ray image thus generated is displayed through the display unit 114 according to the passage of time so that the user can confirm the change of the growth state of the crop.

Also, when the user selects a specific near-infrared image through the input unit 118, the processor 104 can display a pop-up window including the selected near-infrared image through the display unit 114.

Fig. 4 shows an example of an analysis for a near infrared ray image. As described above, the near-infrared image can be generated by the near infrared ray component and the visible light component due to the filter provided in the near-infrared ray camera unit 210.

As the normal crops with smooth photosynthesis smoothly reflect the near-infrared light and reflect the visible light, the larger the difference between the near-infrared light component and the visible light component of the near-infrared light image, the more smooth the photosynthesis.

As such, the near-infrared image of the crop has a reddish color, and the non-infrared image of the crop may have a bluish color.

For this, the processor 104 may use the following equation, and such equation may be stored in the memory unit RM.

[Mathematical Expression]

NDVI = (NIR-VIS) / (NIR + VIS)

Where NIR represents the magnitude of the near infrared ray component and VIS represents the magnitude of the visible light component. According to the above equation, NDVI is a positive value when NIR is larger than VIS, so that photosynthesis of the crop is smooth, and when NIR is less than VIS, it becomes negative value and the photosynthesis of the crop is not smooth. The denominator of the above equation is for normalizing the difference between NIR and VIS.

The processor 104 may also count the number of pixels of each NDVI, as well as the computation of the NDVI. For example, the value of NDVI is a value between -1 and 1, and if there are 10 values between -1 and 1, the number of pixels of the near infrared image corresponding to each of 10 values can be counted.

Through this, the processor 104 can analyze the near-infrared image to generate an analysis graph. The display unit 114 may display such an analysis graph.

The analysis graph may be in the form of a histogram as shown in FIG. 4, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and various types of analysis graphs may be provided, such as dot-connected points.

In the histogram of FIG. 4, the horizontal axis corresponds to NDVI, and the vertical axis corresponds to the number of pixels corresponding to each NDVI. As described above, in the case of the crop A in which the photosynthesis is not smoothly performed, since the crop A does not reflect much of the near-infrared rays, the near-infrared image of the crop A can be displayed bluish, as shown in Fig.

Accordingly, it can be seen that the histogram, which is the result of analyzing the near infrared ray image of the crop A,

On the other hand, in the case of the crop B in which the photosynthetic action is smoothly performed, the crop B smoothly reflects the near-infrared rays, so that the near-infrared image of the crop B can be displayed bluish, as shown in FIG.

Accordingly, it can be seen that the histogram, which is the result of the analysis of the near infrared ray image of the crop B by the processor 104, is mostly zero or more.

Through this analysis graph, the user can more easily confirm the growth condition of the crop. In addition, the processor 104 can evaluate the growth state of the crop by calculating and comparing the area area of 0 or more and the area of 0 or less through the analysis graph.

That is, the processor 104 can display, through the display unit 114, a message that the growth of the crop is normal as the near-infrared component of the near-infrared image is larger than the visible light component.

The near infrared ray camera unit 210 may generate a near infrared ray image for each set distance in the process of moving along the guiding unit 230 under the control of the processor 104. In addition, the processor 104 may generate a position where the near infrared ray image is generated according to the set distance, and may store the position and the near infrared ray image in the memory unit RM in association with each other.

An embodiment related to this will be described with reference to Fig.

6 shows a near-infrared ray camera unit 210 of the crop growing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6, the near-infrared ray camera unit 210 may include a camera 211, a light emitting unit 213, and a light receiving unit 215. [

The near infrared ray camera unit 210 can move along the guiding unit 230 under the control of the processor 104. [ For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 6, a guiding unit 230 may be installed inside the greenhouse cultivator. At this time, the guiding portion 230 may include a belt, and a motor 231 and a roller 233 for rotating the belt may be provided. The number of revolutions and the direction of rotation of the motor 231 can be controlled by the processor 104.

The light emitting portion 213 may emit light such as infrared rays or laser light. The light receiving unit 215 can output a light emitting signal every time light of the light emitting unit 213 is incident.

The optical sensing signal may be transmitted to the crop growing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention through a communication module of the near-infrared ray camera unit 210 or may be transmitted through a separate communication facility installed outside the near- And may be transmitted to the crop growing apparatus 100.

The reflective portion 217 may be provided on the guiding portion 230 or adjacent to the guiding portion 230. The reflective portion 217 may reflect the light of the light emitting portion 213 and reflect the light incident on the light receiving portion 215 .

The processor 104 generates the position of the near infrared ray camera unit 210 according to the optical sensing signal received through the communication unit 112 and stores the near infrared ray image according to the position in the memory unit RM.

That is, the reflection unit 217 may be provided for each set distance D, so that the optical sensing signal may be periodically output during the movement of the near-infrared ray camera unit 210. At this time, the camera 211 may generate a near infrared ray image for the crop according to the light sensing signal.

At this time, the set distance D of the reflecting portion 217 can be set in consideration of the angle of view of the camera 211. [ When the set distance D of the reflecting portion 217 is excessively shorter than the angle of view, the camera 211 can photograph the same area overlapping. On the contrary, if the installation distance of the reflecting portion 217 is excessively large in comparison with the angle of view, crop areas that can not be photographed can be generated.

For example, when the length of the guiding part 230 and the length of the cropping area are 20 m and the reflection part 217 is installed every 1 m, one near-infrared image corresponds to 1/20 area of the cropping area So that the position of the crop area in which the near infrared image is generated can be derived.

Therefore, the crop growth apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention can provide the user with the growth state of the crops by position through the color analysis of the near infrared ray image.

The light emitting unit 213 and the light receiving unit 215 are included in the near infrared ray camera unit 210. Alternatively, the light emitting unit 213 is included in the near infrared ray camera unit 210, 215 may be provided for each set distance D. [

Also, in FIG. 6, the guiding portion 230 may be a belt type or a rail type. When the guiding portion 230 is a rail type, the motor may be configured to rotate a wheel provided on the camera 211. [

The position of the near infrared ray image is set through the operation of the light emitting unit 213 and the light receiving unit 215. Alternatively, the processor 104 may be operated without the light emitting unit 213 and the light receiving unit 215, And the position of the near infrared ray image may be derived in accordance with the set distance D, as shown in FIG.

Also, the communication unit 112 may receive the ID of the near-infrared ray camera unit 210 that has captured the near-infrared ray image together with the near-infrared ray image. Thus, the installation area of the near infrared ray camara part can be confirmed.

1, a crop growing system according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a sensing node unit 250 and a control node unit 270. The sensing node unit 250 can sense environmental factors required for the growth of the crop. The sensing node unit 250 may include a sensor data receiver 251 and a sensing unit 253.

The sensor data receiver 251 and the sensing unit 253 may perform RF communication with a frequency band of 2.4 Ghz or 433 MHz, but the present invention is not limited to this frequency band.

The environmental factor may include, but is not limited to, temperature, air humidity, carbon dioxide, illuminance, soil temperature and humidity, wind direction, air flow rate, The sensing unit 253 may include a sensor capable of sensing one or more environmental factors.

The control node unit 270 can control the supply and suspension of water required for the growth of the crop. At this time, the fertilizer component may be dissolved in water. For this purpose, the control node unit 270 may include a valve that can control the flow of water.

In addition, the control node unit 270 may control a driving unit for opening or closing the window of the plastic house, a fan for blowing air into or out of the plastic house, or an operation control of the illumination unit of the plastic house .

One control node may include a plurality of relays, and each relay may be connected to a motor, a roughening device, a valve control device, and the like.

The processor 104 stores the environmental element information received from the sensing node unit 250 through the communication unit 112 in association with the ID of the sensing node unit 250 in the memory unit RM, The control node unit 270 may transmit a command for supplying and stopping the water.

1, a crop growing system according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an Ethernet device 310 for establishing a trailing network, and the Ethernet device 310 may include an Ethernet card (311) .

The Ethernet device 310 and the control node unit 270 may communicate with each other through the RS485 interface or the UART interface, but this is not limitative.

In the case of the RS485 interface, since a plurality of control nodes can share one Ethernet card 311, the installation cost can be reduced. In the UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter) interface, since one control node uses one Ethernet card 311, more stable communication can be achieved.

The router may communicate with the sensor data receiver 251 and the Ethernet device 310 either in a wired or wireless manner and the main station 330 may receive sensor data or control data through a router as a Linux computing device, The crop growing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment can communicate with each other via a network.

However, one main station 330 may be installed for each vinyl house grower.

FIG. 7 shows schedule information of the crop growing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The processor 104 may store in the memory unit RM the schedule information for at least one of acquisition of the environmental element input through the input unit 118 and supply and stop of the water. The schedule addition menu of Fig. 7 can be set by the user through the input unit 118. Fig. The setting of the control node, relay setting of the control node, control start time, operation time and operation day can be set through the schedule addition menu.

Accordingly, the processor 104 can control the sensing node unit 250 and the control node unit 270 according to the schedule information. The processor 104 may also control the operation of the near infrared ray camera unit 210 according to the schedule information.

8 shows an alarm operation of the crop growing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 8, the processor 104 may store the reference value of the environmental element input through the input unit 118 in the memory unit RM. Such a setting can be made through the alarm correction menu shown in FIG. 8, and the set value of the alarm correction menu can be a reference value. 8, the minimum reference value for temperature may be 20 degrees Celsius and the maximum reference value may be 35 degrees Celsius. The reference value of all sensors can be set in this manner.

In FIG. 8, the log may be a numerical value of an environmental factor according to the sensed information, and such a value may be environmental factor information. The processor 104 may generate an alarm according to a comparison between the reference value and the environmental element information received from the sensing node unit 250 through the communication unit 112.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. . Therefore, the above-described embodiments are to be considered as illustrative rather than restrictive, and the present invention is not limited to the above description, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

The crop growth apparatus (100)
The memory unit (RM)
The processor 104,
The communication unit 112,
The display unit 114,
The input unit 118,
The near-
Camera 211
The light-
The light-
The reflector 217,
Guiding part 230,
Motor 231,
Rollers (233)
The sensing node unit 250,
The sensor data receiver (251)
The sensing unit 253,
The control node unit 270,
The Ethernet device 310,
The Ethernet card 311
The main station 330,

Claims (7)

A communication unit for receiving the near-infrared ray image from a near-infrared ray camera unit for generating a near-infrared ray image for the crop;
A memory unit for storing the near-infrared ray image for the crop;
A processor that controls the near infrared ray camera unit through the communication unit and accesses the memory unit to perform at least one of generation of time-laps for the near-infrared image and analysis of the near-infrared image; And
And a display unit for displaying an analysis of the near-infrared image.
The method according to claim 1,
The processor analyzes the near infrared ray image to generate an analysis graph of the state of the crop according to the near infrared ray component and the visible light component,
Wherein the display unit displays the analysis graph.
The method according to claim 1,
The processor
Wherein a message indicating that the growth of the crop is normal is displayed on the display unit as the near infrared ray component of the near infrared ray image is larger than the visible light component.
The method according to claim 1,
The near-
Infrared image for each set distance in the process of moving along the guiding portion under the control of the processor,
The processor
Generates a position at which the near infrared ray image is generated according to the set distance, and associates the position with the near infrared ray image, and stores the position in the memory unit.
The method according to claim 1,
The sensing node unit senses environmental factors required for the growth of the crop,
The control node unit controls supply and stop of water required for growing the crop,
The processor comprising:
Storing the environmental element information received from the sensing node unit through the communication unit in the memory unit in association with the ID of the sensing node unit,
And transmits a command for supplying and stopping the water to the control node unit through the communication unit.
6. The method of claim 5,
The processor comprising:
Storing the schedule information for at least one of acquisition of the environment element input through the input unit and supply and stop of the water in the memory unit,
And controls the sensing node unit and the control node unit according to the schedule information.
6. The method of claim 5,
The processor comprising:
Storing a reference value of the environment element input through an input unit in the memory unit,
And generates an alarm according to the comparison of the reference value and environmental element information received from the sensing node unit through the communication unit.

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