Patent classifications
A01G17/023
AUTOMATED FARMING SYSTEM FOR A ROW CROP INSTALLATION
A farming system (1) for row crop installations (10) comprises: a first plurality of plants (10A) and a second plurality of fruit or vegetable plants (10B), disposed along a first longitudinal axis (L1) and a second longitudinal axis (L2), respectively, and mutually spaced along a transverse direction (T) to form a first row (F1) and a second row (F2); a supporting structure (11), configured to support the plants and including, for the first row (F1) and the second row (F2), a first plurality of posts (11A) and a second plurality of posts (11B); a first rail (12A), connected to the first plurality of posts (11A); a second rail (12B), connected to the second plurality of posts (11B). The first rail (12A) and the second rail (12B) are oriented longitudinally and spaced transversely from each other to define a track (12). The system comprises a trolley (13), movable along the track (12) and including a movement actuator (131), configured to move the trolley (13) on the track (12).
MULTIPURPOSE MACHINE FOR CULTIVATING TREES
A multipurpose machine for cultivating trees, comprising an inverted U-shape structure that enables the machine to pass over existing trees or fruit trees to carry out pruning, disinfection or fruit picking tasks, provided at the bottom with wheels, driven by at least one motor that autonomously facilitates the movement thereof, and respective upper frames that telescopically couple to each other, being driven by means of respective cylinders to move the portion of the structure on the right with respect to the one on the left in order to vary the width of the machine. Likewise, the machine has the ability to raise or lower the upper structure of the same to adapt it to the height of the trees to be cultivated.
THORN EXTRACTOR APPARATUS
A thorn extractor apparatus has a frame, a roller, a screen that surrounds the roller, and a collection bin for receiving the thorny seeds. The frame includes a first and second side member, frame couplers, and a plurality of horizontal beams. The roller and screen work together to pick up and convey the thorny seeds to the collection bin to be discarded. The thorn extractor apparatus may feature a plurality of rollers coupled to a plurality of screens. The thorn extractor apparatus may also feature a vacuum, a kickstand, added weights, and a hitch mechanism configured to be pulled by a vehicle. Two or more frames may be coupled together in sequence to multiply the number of rollers clearing the ground of thorny seeds. The thorn extractor apparatus, in some examples, may feature an automatic drive system or be couplable to a vehicle.
PRUNING APPARATUS
A vine or cane pruning apparatus, comprising a toothed wheel for guiding the pruning apparatus over vegetation in use, the wheel comprising a multiplicity of generally radially projecting teeth distributed about the periphery of the wheel for catching vegetation between gaps of the teeth, and wherein the wheel rotates by consequence of its engagement with the vegetation and vine or cane posts as the apparatus is driven along a row of vines or canes for pruning; and a driven rotary cutter mounted co-axially to the wheel for cutting vegetation caught between the teeth, the cutter being configured such that its effective cutting area falls within the diameter of the wheel.
AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT
Agricultural equipment for the removal of suckers that shoot from vine, plant or tree trunks. The equipment comprising an elongate, vertically oriented shaft (21) which has a plurality of cord connection points (26) spaced along its length. The cord connection points (26) are operable to releasably connect a flexible cord (27) to the shaft (21) for the purpose of adjusting the height of cords (27) connected to the shaft (21) to suit the height or length of the trunk being treated. A plurality of cords (27) are connected to the shaft (21) to at least some of the cord connection points (26), and a driving arrangement (25) is provided for driving the shaft (21) to rotate about its longitudinal axis.
METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE OPENING OF A WORK APPARATUS HAVING PAIRWISE ARRANGED PROCESSING DEVICES FOR VITICULTURE, AND WORK APPARATUS
A device and method for controlling the opening of a work apparatus having pairwise arranged processing devices for viticulture. The work apparatus is attached to a work vehicle and comprises at least one piece of holding equipment which reaches over a row of plants and on which at least one of the processing devices is held. At least one processing device (is arranged on each side of the row. A clear opening is able to be established between the processing devices and/or is able to be changed in terms of an opening width and/or an opening length by at least one actuator. At least one image recording is generated by at least one electronic camera at least for at least one field of view.
Plant trimming apparatus and methods
An apparatus for trimming plant material includes a rotatable tumbler through which the plant material is to be axially propagated while rotationally tumbling, and a plurality of cutting reel systems adjacent the tumbler. The plurality of cutting reel systems includes a first cutting reel system adjacent the tumbler, and a second cutting reel system adjacent a landing zone of the rotatable tumbler. The landing zone is an angular range about the axis of the tumbler within which plant material tends to land on the tumbler after tumbling through a central volume of the tumbler.
Pruning apparatus
A vine or cane pruning apparatus, comprising a toothed wheel for guiding the pruning apparatus over vegetation in use, the wheel comprising a multiplicity of generally radially projecting teeth distributed about the periphery of the wheel for catching vegetation between gaps of the teeth, and wherein the wheel rotates by consequence of its engagement with the vegetation and vine or cane posts as the apparatus is driven along a row of vines or canes for pruning; and a driven rotary cutter mounted co-axially to the wheel for cutting vegetation caught between the teeth, the cutter being configured such that its effective cutting area falls within the diameter of the wheel.
Organic material and plant vine chopper assembly
An organic material and plant vine chopper assembly has two plant vine chopper rotor drum assemblies that chop plant vines and other organic material. Each rotor drum assembly has a plurality of rotor rings each ring having a plurality of angled blades that effectively cooperate with each other to guard each blade and the drum against the wrapping of clogging fibrous strands and other clogging material around the drum. Each chopper rotor drum assembly incorporates a plurality of rotor rings spaced along and encircling and attached to a main drum tube and distributed in a cutting zone along and surrounding the longitudinal rotational axis of the drum tube with each rotor ring having a pair or a plurality of pairs of cutting blades attached to respective alternately angled mounting tabs that alternate to the left and to the right to the general plane of the rotor ring.
Modeling and decision support for horticulture
Implementations include providing a baseline multi-dimensional model of a cultivar, determining an encoding based on the baseline multi-dimensional model, and a target multi-dimensional model, the encoding defining a string of symbols, and being based on an alphabet and a set of rules, providing an expected multi-dimensional model based on the encoding, and a modified set of rules, the modified set of rules being based on the set of rules, the expected multi-dimensional model representing the cultivar after a period of time, selecting a set of actions by determining multiple predicted multi-dimensional models for each set of actions in a plurality of sets of actions, and, for each predicted multi-dimensional model, providing a predicted yield that can be used to determine impact with respect an expected yield, the set of actions being selected based on a respective impact, and providing the set of actions as output for executing on the cultivar.