A crop-extraction system includes a crop-conveying medium, a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles tethered together and configured to suspend the crop-conveying medium in air, and at least one crop-extraction device configured to extract crop and transfer the crop to the crop-conveying medium. Other crop-extraction systems include a ground vehicle carrying a storage bin, a crop-conveying medium coupled to the ground vehicle, and an unmanned aerial vehicle coupled to the crop-conveying medium and configured to extract crop and transfer the crop to the crop-conveying medium for deposit into the storage bin. Related methods are also disclosed.

A system comprising a reel, a tether configured to be wound about the reel, and at least one unmanned aerial vehicle attached to the tether. When unmanned aerial vehicle is at rest, the unmanned aerial vehicle resides on the reel. Related methods are also disclosed.

Pruning robot including means for removing processionary caterpillar nests, the robot being characterized in that it is carried by a drone provided with an onboard automaton, which is equipped with an electromechanical tool consisting of a gripper associated with a cutting device intended to cut the branches supporting the nests that are to be removed.

The present disclosure provides methods and devices for controlling unmanned aerial vehicles, spraying systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, and storage media. The method includes: obtaining location information of an unmanned aerial vehicle having a plurality of nozzles disposed thereon and attitude information of the unmanned aerial vehicle; for each nozzle: determining a spraying area corresponding to the nozzle in a target area based on the location information and the attitude information; determining whether there are one or more target object in the spraying area corresponding to the nozzle; controlling the nozzle to be ON in response to determining that there are one or more target objects in the spraying area; and controlling the nozzle to be OFF in response to determining that there is no target object in the spaying area.

The present invention relates to method of spraying a field with a vehicle. The method comprises: moving a vehicle over a plant within a field and spraying the plant with a liquid spray. The liquid spray comprises at least one agrochemical active ingredient and at least one adjuvant. The at least one adjuvant is selected from the group comprising mono-and diesters of sulfosuccinate metal salts with branched or linear alcohols comprising 1-10 carbon atoms, organosilicone ethoxylates, ethoxylated diacetylene-diols with 1 to 6 EO and alcohol ethoxylates. The liquid spray is sprayed at a liquid spray rate such that the volume of liquid spray to be sprayed per area is less than 60 litres per hectare. The liquid spray is sprayed with a hydraulic nozzle and/or an atomising disc wherein, when the liquid spray is sprayed with a hydraulic nozzle the hydraulic nozzle is configured to spray droplets having a Volume Median Diameter (VMD) of at least 170 microns, and wherein, when the liquid spray is sprayed with an atomising disc the atomising disc is configured to spray droplets having a VMD of at least 120 microns.

A method for monitoring rice bacterial blight includes: obtaining a multi-spectral image, severities of the rice bacterial blight, and accumulated temperature data of a rice field at different growth stages; obtaining resistance of rice varieties to the bacterial blight; extracting a mean canopy spectral reflectance of each plot in the rice field; conducting regression of the severity of the rice bacterial blight using a convolutional neural network based on the mean canopy spectral reflectance and the severity of the rice bacterial blight, and outputting a depth spectrum feature; training a disease severity regression model with the accumulated temperature data, the depth spectrum feature, and the resistance to the bacterial blight for each plot as an input and the corresponding severity as an output; and monitoring a severity of the rice bacterial blight in a to-be-monitored rice field using the disease severity regression model.

A wired vehicle fleet having a first vehicle connected with a supply unit by a first bendable connection element and a second vehicle connected with the supply unit by a second bendable connection element is controlled by a control unit to avoid a collision between the first and the second bendable connection elements.

Wind speed, wind direction, and field boundary information are detected and used to identify a monitor area indicative of a likely overspray condition. Control signals are generated to obtain information from a sprayed substance sensor, in the monitor area. When an overspray condition is detected, an overspraying signal from the sprayed substance sensor indicating the detected overspray condition is received and overspray processing is performed, based upon the received overspray signal.

A sensor module is assigned to a vehicle that can be displaced in a terrain or designed for being positioned in the terrain. The sensor module has a sensor system with sensors that acquire sensor data in a contactless fashion. The sensors are designed for detecting the spatial extent of the plant at a location in the terrain. The sensor data makes it possible to determine whether the plant should be pruned. To this end, the sensor data is evaluated by utilizing a knowledge database.

A sensor system for monitoring vapor concentrations associated with an agricultural implement is disclosed. The sensor system comprises a first sensor coupled to a support structure that is configured to sense a concentration of at least one component of a vapor sample associated with dispensed ammonia that is emitted from the soil. A controller is communicatively coupled to the first sensor, and is configured to receive and process output signals generated by the first sensor to determine an amount of the concentration of the at least one component that is loss during emission.