Obtaining and displaying agricultural data

• US 10,068,354 B2
• Filed: 01/02/2014
• Issued: 09/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Deere & Company
• Original Assignee: Deere & Company
• Inventors: Mentzer, Matt
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnson, M Good
• Application Number:
  US14/146,460
• Publication Number:
  US 20150187109A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,706 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/00 2D [Two Dimensional] image generation

Abstract

An image of an agricultural item is captured on a mobile device. Agricultural data is received that corresponds geographically to the agricultural item. Visual indicia are displayed that are indicative of the received agricultural data.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for displaying agricultural data on a mobile device, comprising:

displaying, on a display of the mobile device, a real-time feed of an agricultural item, wherein the agricultural item is a piece of ground currently visible to a user of the mobile device through a viewing component of the mobile device;

detecting actuation of a user interface mechanism, generated by an agricultural application on the mobile device, indicating a request for agricultural data corresponding to a drain tile location for the piece of ground currently visible through the viewing component;

in response to the actuation of the user interface mechanism, determining a position of the piece of ground both globally and relative to the mobile device using both a distance calculation component and positioning system of the mobile device while the real-time feed of the piece of ground is being displayed;

initiating, utilizing a communication component of the mobile device, the request for agricultural data corresponding to the drain tile location for the piece of ground;

receiving from a remote source, using a processing component of the mobile device, the requested agricultural data corresponding to the drain tile location, as well as an indication of how the drain tile location corresponds geographically to the piece of ground based on the position of the piece of ground; and

while maintaining the real-time feed of the agricultural environment, displaying, on the display, visual indicia indicative of the received agricultural data by superimposing the visual indicia of the drain tile location over the real-time image of the piece of ground based on the geographic correspondence of the received agricultural data corresponding to the drain tile location to the piece of ground.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

manipulating the mobile device to display a real-time image of a different agricultural item that is visible using the viewing component of the mobile device; and

repeating the steps of receiving agricultural data and superimposing visual indicia over the real-time image of the different agricultural item based on the geographic correspondence of the received agricultural data to the different agricultural item.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

prior to receiving the agricultural data, initiating the request for a set of agricultural data, geographically corresponding to the piece of ground, to the data service.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 wherein initiating the request for the set of agricultural data comprises:

sending the determined position of the piece of ground; and

sending a data identifier identifying the set of agricultural data requested.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 further comprising:

prior to initiating the request for the set of agricultural data determining the the position of the piece of ground both globally and relative to the mobile device based on a location of the mobile device, an orientation of the mobile device, and a displacement of the piece of ground from the mobile device using the distance calculation component and positioning system of the mobile device.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 wherein the request for the set of agricultural data comprises a characteristic of the piece of ground at a particular geographic location, and wherein -superimposing the visual indicia over the image of the piece of ground comprises:

superimposing the visual indicia of the drain tile location and the characteristic of the piece of ground over the image of the piece of ground currently visible through the viewing component.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 wherein displaying the real-time feed of the agricultural item comprises displaying a plurality of user actuatable input mechanisms, each corresponding to a different set of agricultural data and wherein initiating the request comprises:

receiving user actuation of at least one of the plurality of user actuatable input mechanisms; and

initiating the request for the set of agricultural data based on the at least one of the plurality of user actuatable input mechanisms.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein receiving the agricultural data comprises:

receiving the agricultural data from a remote agricultural data service.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein receiving the agricultural data comprises:

receiving the agricultural data from a cloud-based agricultural data service.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein receiving agricultural data comprises:

receiving the agricultural data from an agronomist.