×

Sensor and system for plant canopy measurement

  • US 10,591,352 B2
  • Filed: 01/10/2018
  • Issued: 03/17/2020
  • Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2018
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
Patent Images

1. A sensor apparatus, comprising:

  • a housing having a first end shaped for placing on, or inserting into, a ground;

    a first photo-sensor disposed at a second end, opposite the first end, of the housing and having a near-infrared (IR) bandpass filter, the first photo-sensor oriented to be sensitive to near-IR light received from above the sensor opposite the first end;

    a second photo-sensor disposed at the second end of the housing and having a red light bandpass filter, the second photo-sensor oriented to be sensitive to red light received from above the sensor opposite the first end;

    a third photo-sensor disposed at the second end of the housing, the third photo-sensor oriented to be sensitive to solar light incident from above the ground when the first end of the housing is placed in or on the ground, wherein the third photo-sensor is configured and oriented to measure broadband visible spectrum solar illumination for normalizing sensor values from the first and second photo-sensors;

    a wireless transmitter disposed within the housing; and

    a controller coupled to the first, second, and third sensors to acquire the sensor values from the first, second, and third photo-sensors and coupled to the wireless transmitter to wirelessly transmit the sensor values via the wireless transmitter,wherein the sensor apparatus comprises a plant canopy sensor and the first, second, and third photo-sensors are orientated on the housing for collectively mapping a shape or tracking changes in the shape of a plant canopy from below the plant canopy.

View all claims
  • 3 Assignments
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×