WO2023187367A1

WO2023187367A1 - Improved deposition mapping layout for an autonomous ground deposition machine and method thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2023187367A1
Application number: PCT/GB2023/050810
Authority: WO
Inventors: Anthony David George Rhoades; Michael John Owen; Lee John PLATT
Original assignee: Micropply Limited
Priority date: 2022-03-29
Filing date: 2023-03-29
Publication date: 2023-10-05

Abstract

A method for mapping the deposition of a material onto a ground surface by an autonomous deposition machine, and an autonomous deposition machine operable to carry out the method, the method comprising: a user selecting at least one region of a surface for a material deposition; a user selecting at least one material for the deposition and applying that material to the at least one region; and processing the selection of the at least one region and the at least one material to derive one or more deposition instructions for depositing one or more materials to the at least one region of the surface. Thus, improving the accuracy of the deposition of the deposition of material, for example in image printing or fertiliser deposition. This allows the optimisation of material deposition, and material use, minimising environmental impact with no compromise to quality of finished product, e.g. a fertilised pitch.

Description

IMPROVED DEPOSITION MAPPING LAYOUT FOR AN AUTONOMOUS GROUND DEPOSITION MACHINE AND METHOD THEREOF

The present invention relates to an Autonomous Deposition Robot (ADR) of a type equipped to deposit materials such as sand, seed, fertiliser, pesticide, or other ground treatment chemicals onto a ground surface, or for injection under pressure and/or aeration into a ground surface. Specifically, the provision of a mapping layout capability for different areas of deposition with a high accuracy allowing for the optimisation of material deposition, and material use, minimising environmental impact.

Weed control and aeration are two grounds techniques that are important in keeping a flat playing surface for the high-quality play that professional members or the public require, eliminating trip hazards and extending the life of the playing surface itself. The type and frequency of weed killing, and/or aeration technique needed, is course specific. Grounds people adjust aeration and/or weed killing programs based on soil conditions, turf and/or surface requirements, weather, available labour and equipment, course events, etc.

In the art, manual 'Walkover Sprayers' have been the market leader in trolley sprayers for domestic and professional users for decades. The sprayers work as you push them. A durable pump which is driven by the wheels, pumps the liquid under pressure through the spray nozzles, as a user walks forward. However double dosing and/or over spraying is a real risk, for the example, the Green DT 0.75 deflector nozzle needs to be at only 15cm height to deliver a 30cm band width and, being so close to the ground, makes it hard to achieve accurate coverage, mainly due to a user's uneven walking speed. An uneven ground also may be a factor.

The EvenSprey CLUB™ is another example of a walking sprayer and when using the sprayer, users are advised to use a required speed of 2.25mph, or 1 metre per second. In use, it is advised to practice walking at a speed so that 1 metre per second can be achieved. To do this, a measured distance of 10 metres is required. User are advised to practice covering the 10 metres in 10 seconds. Thus, the correct speed of travel will then become evident. As mentioned above, 'aeration' is also an essential program to keep grass playing surfaces healthy and in good condition. Aeration primarily is performed to control organic matter - i.e., decaying roots and grass stems - relieve soil compaction, stimulate root growth and improve drainage. If organic matter becomes too thick, it acts like a sponge and holds water at the surface after rain or irrigation. Excessive organic matter also inhibits root growth, reduces oxygen levels in the soil, encourages disease and eventually can lead to turf failure. Furthermore, excessive organic matter creates soft surfaces prone to ball marks, foot printing and inconsistent playing conditions.

Core aeration involves physically removing small soil cores - e.g., 0.5-inch diameter cores - from the turf and is the most common type of aeration. Aeration holes allow excess moisture to evaporate and promote gas exchange in the soil, resulting in stronger root systems and turf that is better able to tolerate golfer traffic. There are many types of aeration that grounds people use throughout the season; some are more labour-intensive and disruptive to playing surfaces than others. Less-disruptive forms of aeration, including venting aeration with smalldiameter, solid tines, also are beneficial because they can alleviate turf stress by promoting oxygen levels in the soil. Aeration programs that have a small impact on a playing surface generally can be performed throughout the season with little or no disruption to play.

Known aerators such as the Toro™ ProCore™ 648 takes many person hours to cover a football pitch. When in Aerating mode the speed range is 0.77-1.51 MPH and for example, football clubs have staff walking behind these machines all day. Which leads to many lost person hours. When Golf Clubs also aerate, it takes 7 hours to aerate 18 greens all manually. Again, many person hours are wasted.

US10649457B2 discloses a system and method for autonomous vehicle system planning, wherein there is disclosed a system processor which is configured to derive one or more partitions of a field based on a vehicle system data via a learning system. The processor is further configured to derive one or more turn features representative of vehicle turns in the field based on the vehicle system via the learning system. The processor is also configured to derive an autonomous vehicle plan based on the partitions of the field and the turn features via a planning system, wherein the autonomous vehicle plan comprises a planned route of the autonomous vehicle in the field.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for mapping the deposition of a material onto a ground surface by an autonomous deposition machine, the method comprising: a user selecting at least one region of a surface for a material deposition; a user selecting at least one material for the deposition and applying that material to the at least one region; and processing the selection of the at least one region and the at least one material to derive one or more deposition instructions for depositing one or more materials to the at least one region of the surface.

Preferably wherein the processing of the selection of the at least one region and the at least one material to derive one or more deposition instructions, further comprises the step of transforming the at least one region and the at least one material into a series of 'pixels' such as an image would be, the pixels, corresponding to each nozzle in a sweep of nozzles of autonomous deposition machine.

Further preferably, wherein the step of a user selecting at least one region of a surface for a material deposition; further comprises a user selecting at least one region for deposition on a graphical layout of a surface.

Preferably wherein the graphical layout of a surface is obtained using computer vision, or wherein the graphical layout of a surface may be input by an operator.

Preferably wherein the processing the selection of the at least one region and the at least one material is processed in the cloud and the one or more deposition instructions are wireless communicated and/or uploaded to the autonomous deposition apparatus.

In a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an autonomous ground deposition robot comprising: at least one receptacle to hold a deposition material; at least one deposition arrangement; a locomotion arrangement; a control unit, the control unit and the control unit controlling the least one deposition arrangement and the locomotion arrangement to autonomously deposit the deposition material onto the surface, according to the method of the first aspect.

Preferably wherein autonomous ground deposition robot the further comprises a chassis with a nozzle array on a traverse guide and/or, wherein the traverse guide permits movement of the nozzle array beyond the width of the locomotion arrangement of the autonomous deposition apparatus.

Thus, there us provided a method which reduces the man hours needed to a whole cover area, such as a football pitch for aeration, weed control or other chemical spraying. Advantageously the method and apparatus can be used to accurately deposit the correct material in the correct location and not in other unwanted locations, so to reduce over spraying and double dosing.

Thus, allowing for improvements in the accuracy of the deposition of material, for example in image printing or fertiliser deposition, due to a possible run off, or unwanted spread, of the deposition material. This allows the optimisation of material deposition, and material use, minimising environmental impact, with no compromise to quality of finished product, e.g. a fertilised football pitch.

The ADR is equipped with a suite of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms for optimisation of any deposition, or deposition processes, whilst adapting in real-time to environmental factors, location constraints and /or deposition accuracy feedback. ADRs may be completely autonomous (i.e. free from human operation and/or supervision) or may require at least partial human operation and/or supervision depending on the application.

LIST OF FIGURES

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an autonomous deposition robot comprising an array of primary packaging comprising bags filled with a deposition material, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the primary packaging of Figure 1, comprising a flexible chemical bag with a hose connected to a nozzle array;

Figures 3a and 3b are plan views of the autonomous deposition robot of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the autonomous deposition robot of Figure 1, showing an aerator towing attachment, according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a plan view of a deposition operation in progress, in this embodiment performing tiled run segments with an adjustable gap between the segments;

Figure 6 is a side view of the nozzle array of the autonomous deposition robot of Figure 1, showing the impact of an adjustable gap on the deposition process;

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a smart communications module as used in the autonomous deposition robot of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a secure communications network between the autonomous deposition robot of Figure 1, the edge, the cloud and a data processing device; and

Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a data processing device screen in the process of selecting, or mapping, a region for deposition, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The present techniques will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Parts of the autonomous ground printer are not necessarily to scale and may just be representative of components of the ground print machines, or other described entities.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present techniques will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Referring to Figure 1 a schematic diagram of an autonomous deposition robot 10 comprises an outer case 12 cut away to reveal an array of primary packaging 14, 16, 18 and 20. The primary packaging 14, 16, 18 and 20 shown here comprises various chemicals held within a bag (not shown in Figure 1). Each primary packaging 14, 16, 18 and 20 is supported on a weight measuring plate 14a, 16a, 18a and 20a, connected to a smart communications module 22 described more fully in Figure 6, which may also serve as, or be connected to, an on-board control system (not shown in Figure 1). The smart communications module 22 comprises a transceiver 22a for communication with remote resources (not shown in Figure 1).

Each weight measuring plate 14a, 16a, 18a and 20a is an integral part of a frame 26 capable of holding the primary packaging 14, 16, 18, 20 firmly in place and comprises a load sensor 28 for registering the presence of the primary packaging 14, 16, 18, 20 when firmly in place in the frame 26. Load sensor 28 may be a photodiode or a RFID tag that communicates with an ID tag 30 of the primary packaging 14, 16, 18, 20. ID tag 30 may also comprise a barcode or other smart label, which is used for identification of the primary packaging 14, 16, 18, 20 and therefore the chemicals and/or materials held within them.

More than one load sensor 28 can be used for load balancing. For example, two, three, four or more load sensors can be positioned as part of or under a platform or frame (which may, for example, be the weight measuring plate 14a) supporting the chemical bag and primary packaging and is further described in the Applicant's co-pending patent applications. As best seen in Figure 2, a flexible chemical bag 32 comprises an airtight valve outlet 34 sealed to the flexible chemical bag 32, with the appropriate connection part for secure connection to a hose 36. The hose 36 may also be a tube, piping or any suitable means to transport the material for deposition.

The autonomous deposition robot 10 comprises wheels 24 for movement, a position sensor 38 and laser 40. Position sensor 38 may comprises a Global Positioning Device for navigation or the autonomous deposition robot 10 may use triangulation with known positioning reflectors and the laser 40 for positioning. In operation, the autonomous deposition robot 10 may be in constant communication with a positioning device and may reposition itself based on communication from a Global Positioning Device, as shall be further described with reference to Figure 5.

Turning to Figure 2, the primary packaging 14 comprising the flexible chemical bag 32 with the hose 36 is connected to a nozzle array 42, via an actuator pump 35. Here the nozzle array 42 acts as the means to deposit the material for deposition. Any such suitable nozzle, nozzle array or means to deposit the material, depending on the actual material to be deposited, may be used. Each chemical bag of the primary packaging 14, 16, 18 and 20 of Figure 1 will have a hose 36 and valve 34 to connect to the nozzle array 42 via the actuator pump 35.

The autonomous deposition robot 10 may have a single actuator pump 35 for all primary packaging/chemical bag/hose (14,16,18,20/32/36), or there may be multiple actuator pumps, i.e. one for each primary packaging/chemical bags/hose (14,16,18,20/32/36), such that different chemicals/materials can be deposited at different times. Each nozzle of the nozzle array 42 may be designated for each primary packaging/chemical bag/hose (14,16,18,20/32/36) present, so that each nozzle is for deposition of only the material held in each primary packing/chemical bag (14,16,18,20/32).

Thus, in operation, the nozzle array 42 can deposit materials from each primary packing/chemical bag (14,16,18,20/32) individually, or multiple nozzles of an array 42 can operate to blend materials together, to deposit at the same time, or at different times within the same deposition area, as shall be further described with reference to Figure 9.

The flexible chemical bag 32 comprises a chemical or material suitable for depositing on a ground, for example herbicides, pesticides, insecticides, chemicals, coloured materials, powders, fertilizers, plant growth aids or water, or the like provided that compatible hoses 36 and nozzle arrays 42 are attached. The hose 36 is connected to a manifold 44, connected to a tank 46, containing further liquids 48 which may serve a variety of further purposes.

In operation, a user may registerthe chemical material using the ID tag 30 to match chemicals or materials held in a database (not shown) by way of communication with module 22, to ensure the correct chemical or material is deployed in the correct amount, in the correct location. The database may contain a list of verified deposition materials authorised for use and may in return, grant permission for the autonomous deposition robot 10 to accept the material and may, depending in the type of material or chemical, make mechanical or software adjustments. For example, good calibration is essential for efficient use of herbicides and, and so the machines will automatically recalibrate whenever the product, situation or nozzle type is changed.

For example, a nozzle 42 height may be adjusted to spray fertilizer in a different way to that nozzle 42 arrangement for an herbicide. For example, when spraying glyphosate products using hydraulic nozzles choose those rated at 1.5-2.5 bar which produce an even distribution. A medium or coarse spray is required to avoid damaging drift from fine droplets (see Figure 6). Roundup™ ProActive™ and Roundup™ ProVantage™ formulations have low drift properties built-in, producing 33% less drift than standard glyphosates through flat fan nozzles.

Accurate nozzle height in important for accurate application. Most herbicides are designed to work at 50cm above the target and application rate is a function of nozzle output, operating speed and swath width. The swath width is dependent on this height and halving it will also halve the swath width and double the application rate. The nozzle height adjustment is also discussed in relation to Figures 5 and 6.

The hose 36 is attached to the valve 34 and with appropriate setting up of the autonomous deposition robot 10, as best described in Figures 3a, 3b, 4 and 5, so deposition can commence.

Figures 3a and 3b are plan views of the autonomous deposition robot 10, wherein Figure 3a is a top view and Figure 3b is an underneath view. Figure 4 is a side elevation and Figure 5 is a plan view of a deposition operation in progress. The ground deposition robot 10 comprises the case 12, held securely by a chassis supporting the ground wheel arrangement 24 with a deposition head 60 on a traverse guide 62, the traverse guide 62 permitting movement of the deposition head 60 beyond the width W of the ground wheel arrangement 24, along the length of the deposition width 68.

The nozzle array 42 as described above may be attached to the deposition head 60. The nozzles maybe fixed and the deposition head 60 moveable in an x, y and/or z direction. The deposition head 60, via the deposition guide 62, may be moveable along the length of a deposition width 64 (see Figure 5 in particular), which is the area the deposition head can cover. The deposition head 60 many also be movable vertically, for example the deposition head 60 can be moved up and down depending on the density or amount of chemical to be deposited. The deposition head can have a means (not shown) to monitor the ground height and adjust the height of the deposition head 60 accordingly, allowing for more accurate material deposition. The description of Figure 6 comprises further detail regarding the nozzle height.

The ground wheel arrangement 24 comprises wheels 24a, 24b, 24c and 24d to steer the autonomous deposition robot 10 along a path to affect the deposition, and this may be under the control of a deposition file that can be loaded into the on-board control system, such as may be contained communications module 22. A user or operator may also input a deposition gap 66, which is required to ensure that due to seepage or other unwanted means, the chemicals or material deposit don't over lay each other at the edges of each run, otherwise known as over spray, drift, or double dosing. This is significant as the deposition of too much pesticide, for example, may burn lines in the ground, as the pesticide seeps out due to rainwater, or drift. This is further described in relation to Figure 6.

As it is known in the art of ground printing, the actual progression of a second path segment may deviate from the theoretical target progression. As such, the trajectory of the autonomous deposition robot 10 needs to be continuously corrected, while moving through the second path segment to adapt the trajectory of the second path segment of the autonomous deposition robot to the first deposition section in order to maintain the width of the deposition gap. Many methods using Local Positioning beacons, Global Positioning Techniques and/or SLAM algorithms, as disclosed in the applicant's co-pending applications and as known in the art, can be used to perform such a function.

The traverse guide 62 is fixed in relation to the ground wheel arrangement 24, so that it covers one area along the deposition width 68. The ground wheel arrangement 24 then notches forward, moving the whole autonomous deposition robot 10 forward for it to deposit another segment.

In another arrangement not illustrated, the traverse guide 62 can be movable relative to the ground wheel arrangement 24 in the direction of travel, so that an area may be covered while the ground wheel arrangement 24 is stationary, and then the ground wheel arrangement 24 moves forward by the length of the area covered to cover an adjacent area. The deposition head 60 can, for example, deposit a line of 10mm width, then the ground wheel arrangement 24 notch forward by 10mm. Or an area, say of A4 or A3 paper size can be covered and only then does the robot 10 move forward. The autonomous deposition robot 10 can therefore cover a strip 64, Figure 3, of a deposition area wider than the width W of the ground wheel arrangement 24 and when an entire strip 64 of the deposition area has been covered, turn around to cover an adjacent strip. In this way, the ground wheel arrangement 24 does not run over any part of the freshly covered ground, the outer tracks 66 of the ground wheel arrangement 24 being seen in Figure 3, to be well within the width of the strips 64. As particularly shown in Figure 4, the autonomous deposition robot 10 may further be configured to tow an aerator 70, mowing machine or other machine required for lawn care for example.

Turning to Figure 6, there is shown is a side view of the nozzle array of the autonomous deposition robot 10 of Figure 1, showing the benefit of an adjustable deposition gap on the deposition process.

As previously described, the deposition nozzles 42 can be height adjustable, whereby to deposit finer or coarser amounts, adjust a chemical spray pattern, or to adapt to ground irregularities. As described in relation to Figure 5, the autonomous deposition robot 10 can be steered along a path to affect the deposition, and this may be under the control of a deposition file that can be loaded into the on-board control system, such as may be contained communications module 22, or maybe calculated on the fly using GPS, or other location means. Using various techniques as disclosed in the Applicant's co-pending applications.

A user or operator may also input, or pre-set, a deposition gap 66, which is calculated to ensure that, due to seepage or other unwanted means, the chemicals or material deposit don't over lay each other at the edges of each run segment. This is significant as the deposition of too much pesticide, for example, may burn lines in the ground, as the pesticide seeps out due to rainwater, drift, or in the case of a solid material, is blown due the wind. As mentioned, this is called overspray, or double dosing, in the art.

This allows for improvements in the accuracy of the deposition of material, for example in fertiliser or pesticide deposition, due to a possible run off, or unwanted spread due to environmental factures, such as wind, of the deposition material. This allows the optimisation of material deposition, and material use, minimising environmental impact, with no compromise to quality of finished product, e.g. a fertilised football pitch. Turning to Figure 7, a smart communications module 22 includes processing circuitry 80 coupled to memory circuitry 82 e.g. volatile memory (V)/non-volatile memory (NV), such as such as flash and ROM.

The memory circuitry 82 may store programs executed by the processing circuitry 80, as well as data such as user interface resources, time-series data, credentials (e.g. cryptographic keys) and/or identifiers for the remote resource (which may for convenience be referred to as the cloud 100 or the edge 102(s) (e.g. URL, IP address).

The module 22 may also comprise input/output (I/O) circuitry 88 such as sensing circuitry to sense inputs (e.g. via sensors (not shown)) from the surrounding environment and/or to provide an output to a user e.g. using a buzzer or light emitting diode(s) (not shown). The module 22 may generate operational data based on the sensed inputs, whereby the operational data may be stored in memory 82. The I/O circuitry 88 may also comprise a user interface e.g. buttons (not shown) to allow the user to interact with the module 22.

The processing circuitry 80 may control various processing operations performed by the module 22 e.g. encryption of data, communication, processing of applications stored in the memory circuitry 82. The module 22 may also comprise a display e.g. an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display (not shown) for communicating messages to the user.

The module 22 may generate operational data based on the sensed inputs. Although, the module 22 may comprise large scale processing devices, often the autonomous deposition robot 10 will be constrained to battery power and so power may need to be managed and prioritised for movement of the autonomous deposition robot 10 and actuation of the deposition process. Therefore, the module 22 may comprise a relatively small-scale data processing device having limited processing capabilities, which may be configured to perform only a limited set of tasks, such as generating operational data and pushing the operational data to a remote resource 100, 102 such as shown in Figure 8. The cloud 100 or the edge 102 may by return send instructions back to the autonomous deposition robot 10, via a communications link 104 for the real-time adjustment of deposition properties based on the data. In the present example, the cloud 100 and edge 102 may also communicate with each other via a communications link 108 and 110. This could be to update the instructions, send new instructions, initiate, or prevent the operation of the autonomous deposition robot 10. The edge 202 may be between the communication between the autonomous deposition robot 10 and the cloud 102. The robot laser 40 and position sensor 38 may communicate with the cloud 100 and/or the edge 102 to feedback into the real-time adjustment of deposition properties based on the data.

Figure 8 schematically shows an example of the autonomous deposition robot 10 in communication with the cloud 100, the edge 102, such as remote resource, which may be a tablet, smartphone or laptop when the present techniques are applied. The edge 102 may be a tablet controlled by a user, such as a Groundsman located on site responsible for the upkeep of a pitch within a football or rugby stadium.

In the present example, it will be appreciated that the cloud 100 may comprise any suitable data processing device or embedded system which can be accessed from another platform such as a remote computer, or cloud platform which receives data posted by the autonomous deposition robot 10. Use of a cloud 100 means that the onboard memory 82 of the robot does not need to store everything, data e.g. machine learning libraries, deposition instructions, operation instructions, and/or history data can be stored in the cloud 100.

The web-application 108 will start in the browser on client device 106 and cause the client device 106 to fetch data from the remote resource 100, 102. The web application will process the fetched data to provide a user interface to the user on the client device 106, whereby the user interface comprises the data presented in a human friendly form such as may be shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a data processing and input device 118 in the process of, for example, selecting a region for deposition 126, and the selection of three different chemicals 124 (Cl, C2, C3) for deposition. It should be clear to someone skilled in the art that more chemical options can be displayed and in different ways, for example using drop down menus as well as 'drag and drop' techniques. Figure 9 further shows a deposition area, 120, such as a football field.

Using the data processing and input device 118, a user may assign different chemicals 124 to different areas of the deposition area 120, to create a deposition 'map'. Thus, using an image or CAD drawings of a football ground to map different chemicals, and /or chemical combinations to different areas of a surface. For example, depositing both fertiliser and pesticide to areas on a football pitch of most use, such as centre circle and goal mouth (Fig 9), but only deposit pesticide to the less worn areas to manage weed control, for example. The user input map then being analysed and turned into a series of 'pixels' such as an image would be, the pixels, corresponding to each nozzle in a sweep of nozzles (as described with reference to Figures 3a, 3b, 4 & 5).

Thus, an autonomous deposition robot 10, using this map as an input, can deposit the correct chemical via the correct nozzle at the correct time in the correct amount, on a per pixel basis. As well as taking into account any overspray and/or double dosing, using a programmable deposition gap between sections of the deposition, if required.

Areas of the location being managed can be particularly highlighted for special aeration, mowing or other functions. Whilst leaving alone other areas. This can all be done in a preplanned way, using a map or image input by a user or ground person. Computer vision can also be used to detect areas that need special attention, feeding back hot spots to a user that can be used to build up a knowledge base of information about the location.

In some embodiments, the client device 106 may download an application (e.g. an loS application) from the remote resource 100, 102, which was pushed to the remote resource 100, 102 from the autonomous deposition robot 10, whereby the application is executed on the client device 106 to control fetching and processing of data. For example, instructions to the autonomous deposition robot 10 could be to deposit fertilised over an entire pitch or target specific worn patches when working in tandem with inspection data, overhead imagery, or other pitch growth or health capture and appraisal mechanism.

The robots, systems, and methods described herein can be adapted for use with different surfaces, such as sports (e.g. football, cricket, racing, rugby, hockey, ice hockey, skiing, shooting) pitches, race courses, indoor sports venues and running tracks. In examples, the material for deposition is a herbicide, pesticide, insecticide, plant growth aid, water or marking material, optionally wherein the marking material is a paint, chemical, coloured material, powder. The robots and method of using such robots described herein may also carry out multiple functions at the same time. For example, bags may contain paint for deposition to mark a logo on a pitch and may also contain fertiliser to fertilise the pitch.

It will be clear to one skilled in the art that many improvements and modifications can be made to the foregoing exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of the present technique.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1 A method for mapping the deposition of a material onto a ground surface by an autonomous deposition machine, the method comprising: a. a user selecting at least one region of a surface for a material deposition; b. a user selecting at least one material for the deposition and applying that material to the at least one region; and c. processing the selection of the at least one region and the at least one material to derive one or more deposition instructions for depositing one or more materials to the at least one region of the surface.

2 A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the processing of the selection of the at least one region and the at least one material to derive one or more deposition instructions, further comprises the step of transforming the at least one region and the at least one material into a series of 'pixels' such as an image would be, the pixels, corresponding to each nozzle in a sweep of nozzles of autonomous deposition machine.

3 A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the step of a user selecting at least one region of a surface for a material deposition; further comprises a user selecting at least one region for deposition on a graphical layout of a surface.

4 A method according to claim 3, wherein the graphical layout of a surface is obtained using computer vision.

5 A method according to claim 3, wherein the graphical layout of a surface is input by an operator.

6 A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the processing the selection of the at least one region and the at least one material is processed in the cloud and the one or more deposition instructions are wireless communicated and/or uploaded to the autonomous deposition apparatus. An autonomous ground deposition robot, the autonomous ground deposition robot comprising: i. at least one receptacle to hold a deposition material; ii. at least one deposition arrangement; iii. a locomotion arrangement; iv. a control unit, the control unit and the control unit controlling the least one deposition arrangement and the locomotion arrangement to autonomously deposit the deposition material onto the surface, according to the method of any preceding claim. An autonomous ground deposition robot according to claim 7, wherein the further comprises a chassis with a nozzle array on a traverse guide. An autonomous ground deposition robot according to claim 8, wherein the traverse guide permits movement of the nozzle array beyond the width of the locomotion arrangement of the autonomous deposition apparatus. A method or apparatus as claimed in any preceding claims, wherein the material for deposition is a herbicide, pesticide, insecticide, plant growth aid, water or marking material, optionally wherein the marking material is a paint, chemical, coloured material, powder.