In-soil data monitoring system and method
First Claim
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1. An in-soil data monitoring system comprising:
- a soil sensor disposed adjacent soil, wherein said soil sensor is configured to measure soil sensor data associated with a condition of the soil, and to transmit said soil sensor data; and
an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein said unmanned aerial vehicle is configured to passively interrogate said soil sensor in order to read said soil sensor data, and to determine relative location data pertaining to a relative location of said soil sensor to said unmanned aerial vehicle,wherein said soil sensor employs passive radio frequency identification (RFID) to wirelessly transmit said soil sensor data,wherein the system further comprises (i) a first RFID interrogator array disposed on a first wing of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and (ii) a second RFID interrogator array disposed on a second wing of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the first wing and the second wing extending in opposite directions, the first RFID interrogator array and the second RFID interrogator array being separated by a predefined distance, the first RFID interrogator array and the second RFID interrogator array being configured to wirelessly interrogate said soil sensor, and, having interrogated said soil sensor, to determine the relative location of said soil sensor to said unmanned aerial vehicle, andwherein said unmanned aerial vehicle is further configured;
to perform a data fusion process on at least the relative location data and said soil sensor data to create a fused data set;
to perform an analysis of the fused data set; and
to determine an appropriate action to take relative to the condition of the soil based on the analysis of the fused data set.
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Abstract
An in soil data collection and analysis system and process is disclosed where the data from a plurality of in soil sensors is combined with other data that is acquired by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to create a fused data set that can be used to determine an appropriate corrective action or response to the fused data.
9 Citations
22 Claims
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1. An in-soil data monitoring system comprising:
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a soil sensor disposed adjacent soil, wherein said soil sensor is configured to measure soil sensor data associated with a condition of the soil, and to transmit said soil sensor data; and an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein said unmanned aerial vehicle is configured to passively interrogate said soil sensor in order to read said soil sensor data, and to determine relative location data pertaining to a relative location of said soil sensor to said unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein said soil sensor employs passive radio frequency identification (RFID) to wirelessly transmit said soil sensor data, wherein the system further comprises (i) a first RFID interrogator array disposed on a first wing of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and (ii) a second RFID interrogator array disposed on a second wing of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the first wing and the second wing extending in opposite directions, the first RFID interrogator array and the second RFID interrogator array being separated by a predefined distance, the first RFID interrogator array and the second RFID interrogator array being configured to wirelessly interrogate said soil sensor, and, having interrogated said soil sensor, to determine the relative location of said soil sensor to said unmanned aerial vehicle, and wherein said unmanned aerial vehicle is further configured; to perform a data fusion process on at least the relative location data and said soil sensor data to create a fused data set; to perform an analysis of the fused data set; and to determine an appropriate action to take relative to the condition of the soil based on the analysis of the fused data set. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21)
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6. A method for improving the health of a crop comprising the steps of:
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dispersing a plurality of in-soil sensors adjacent the crop, said sensors being configured to measure soil sensor data concerning the soil; flying an unmanned aerial vehicle adjacent the crop, said unmanned aerial vehicle being configured to communicate with said plurality of in-soil sensors; reading the soil sensor data from said plurality of in-soil sensors; determining a location of an in-soil sensor of said plurality of in-soil sensors; applying a corrective action to the crop based on the soil sensor data and the location of said in-soil sensor, wherein the determining of the location of said in-soil sensor includes; affixing a pair of radio frequency identification (RFID) interrogators to said unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein affixing said pair of RFID interrogators to said unmanned aerial vehicle includes (i) disposing a first RFID interrogator array on a first wing of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and (ii) disposing a second RFID interrogator array on a second wing of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the first wing and the second wing extending in opposite directions, and the first RFID interrogator array and the second RFID interrogator array being disposed from each other by a predefined distance; wirelessly interrogating, by each of the first RFID interrogator array and the second RFID interrogator array, said in-soil sensor to obtain the soil sensor data; and having interrogated said in-soil sensor, determining, by the first RFID interrogator array and the second RFID interrogator array, relative location data pertaining to a relative location of said in-soil sensor from said unmanned aerial vehicle based on a respective wireless signal received at each of the first RFID interrogator array and the second RFID interrogator array from said in-soil sensor; and operating said unmanned aerial vehicle to perform a data fusion process on at least the relative location data and said soil sensor data to create a fused data set, to perform an analysis of the fused data set, and to determine the corrective action to apply based on the analysis of the fused data set. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19)
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22. An in-soil data monitoring system comprising:
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a soil sensor disposed adjacent soil, said soil sensor being configured to measure soil sensor data associated with a condition of the soil, and to transmit said soil sensor data; an unmanned aerial vehicle configured to passively interrogate said soil sensor in order to read said soil sensor data, and to determine relative location data pertaining to a relative location of said soil sensor to said unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle includes a first wing, a second wing, a first RFID interrogator array disposed on the first wing of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and a second RFID interrogator array disposed on the second wing of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the first wing and the second wing extending in opposite directions, and the first RFID interrogator array and the second RFID interrogator array being separated by a predefined distance, the first RFID interrogator array and the second RFID interrogator array being configured to wirelessly interrogate said soil sensor, and, having interrogated said soil sensor, to determine the relative location of said soil sensor to said unmanned aerial vehicle, and wherein said unmanned aerial vehicle is further configured; to perform a data fusion process on at least the relative location data and said soil sensor data to create a fused data set; to perform an analysis of the fused data set; and to determine an appropriate action to take relative to the condition of the soil based on the analysis of the fused data set.
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Specification