A soil apparatus is drawn through a furrow and reflectance from the furrow is obtained from the soil apparatus, and a height off target is measured between the soil apparatus and the furrow.

System that automates crop maintenance activities, such as cultivating and weeding, with a device that intelligently and independently controls two blades that drag along either side of a crop row using sensors to repeatedly track the position of the blades and of the plants in the row. Blades may be moved in and out independently using an actuator for each blade to contour closely around the individual plants, even if plants or rows vary in their positions, and even if plant sizes and shapes differ. An illustrative system may use a single camera and a processor per crop row; the processor may analyze camera images to locate plant positions and shapes, to plan blade trajectories, and to control blade actuators. The processor may be able to control blade movement precisely to respond quickly to sensor input on changes in plant positions, shapes, and sizes along the row.

In one aspect, a system for monitoring seedbed conditions within a field may include an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) having a seedbed sensing assembly supported thereon. The sensing assembly may, in turn, include a plurality of pins configured to be extended relative to the body such that each pin penetrates a top surface of the field. Furthermore, a plurality of position sensors may be configured to capture data indicative of a position of a given pin of the plurality of pins relative to the body of the UAV. Additionally, a plurality of force sensors may be configured to capture data indicative of a force being applied to a given pin of the plurality of pins. As such, the data captured by the position sensors and the force sensors may be indicative of at least one of the seedbed surface profile or the seedbed floor profile of the field.

This disclosure relates generally to a system and method for monitoring performance of low-cost sensors plied in a field for soil moisture measurement. The low-cost sensors are calibrated to give useful derived parameters to support farming such as volumetric water content (VWC) of the soil. Further, the steps are being incorporated to de-noise their response to derive stable measurements similar to expensive rugged sensors. The calibration of the low-cost sensor and normalization of incoming values from the low-cost sensor are based on values determined through rugged sensors for soil moisture measurement. The normalization involves finding a minimum value and maximum value of soil moisture. Performance of the low-cost sensors are analyzed based on a range of values of the soil moisture. Finally, the performance analysis provides degradation stages and based on the degradation stages evaluated recommendations to modify the sensor are shared with the user.

An apparatus for controlling plants in a crop stand with a) at least one liquid reservoir for receiving liquid, b) at least one first liquid line system connected to the at least one liquid reservoir and provided with at least one controllable outlet opening controllable, c) a recognition device for recognizing plants and communicating the position data of the plants to the control device, d) a control device for controlling the at least one valve of the liquid line system,

wherein the recognition device distinguishes plants in the crop stand between wanted plants and unwanted plants, and the control device opens the valves of the at least one first line system so as to exclusively spray the unwanted plants in the crop stand with liquid, i.e., omit the wanted plants. Unwanted plants are damaged or killed by the action of the kinetic and/or thermal energy of the liquid.

In one aspect, an agricultural method for monitoring surface conditions for an agricultural field includes receiving, with a computing system, an image of an imaged portion of an agricultural field, with the imaged portion of the agricultural field being represented by a plurality of pixels within the image. The method also includes identifying, with the computing system, at least one pixel-related parameter associated with the plurality of pixels within the image, determining, with the computing system, whether at least one image quality metric for the image is satisfied based at least in part on the at least one pixel-related parameter, and estimating, with the computing system, a surface condition associated with the agricultural field based at least in part on the image when it is determined that the at least one image quality metric is satisfied.

Various embodiments described herein provide monitoring and intelligence generation for one or more farm fields by: using remote sensing to monitor progress of a developing crop; comparing a user's field to another field in the area; providing cropped area extent estimates for a current season; using one or more disease risk models to determine disease risk (or disease pressure) with respect to a field; or some combination thereof,

A system for monitoring the installation status of shank attachment members of an agricultural implement includes a shank assembly having a shank extending between a proximal end and a distal end opposite the distal end, with the proximal end of the shank being configured to be coupled to a portion of the agricultural implement. The shank assembly also includes a shank attachment member configured to be coupled to the distal end of the shank. The system further includes a load sensor provided in operative association with the shank assembly and being configured to generate data indicative of a load transmitted through the shank assembly. In addition, the system includes a computing system communicatively coupled to the load sensor, with the computing system being configured to determine an installation status of the shank attachment member relative to the shank based on the data received from the load sensor.

An integrated technology platform enables any application of autonomous agricultural equipment operation in an agricultural or other off-road setting, within a common software structural architecture. The platform represents a technology stack that is a modular architecture for multiple use cases and vehicle types. The platform includes a vehicle interface component responsible for the physical interface to agricultural equipment, a telematics component that enables stable in-field communications between all aspects of the integrated technology platform, and a perception component that operates as a safety mechanism and includes object detection and classification. Additionally, a cloud-side application performs account management, field setup and syncing of field equipment and operating systems in a common operating system. The platform also includes an executive control layer that enables rapid porting from one platform to another, so that software applications in the integrated technology platform can work with hardware of any manufacture.

A method of autonomously controlling the ground speed of a harvester, such as a self-propelled or towed wind rower, uses both the engine speed and the header speed as control parameters to increase or decrease the ground speed as necessary to maintain efficient harvester operation over varying terrain and crop conditions. A control system includes a controller which receives signals from sensors indicative of engine speed, header speed and harvester ground speed and uses actuators to control the header speed, engine speed and harvester ground speed. An operator interface permits an operator to engage or disengage the autonomous mode of control system operation, as well as to directly control the harvester.