PROPERTY LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT APPARATUS AND METHOD

• US 20170172077A1
• Filed: 12/17/2015
• Published: 06/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2015
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Beckwith, Richard T., Kitner, Kathi R., Tatourian, Igor, Florez, Omar U., Wouhaybi, Rita H., Li, Hong
• Application Number:
  US14/973,207
• Publication Number:
  US 20170172077A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/16 Control of watering
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/167 Control by humidity of the soil itself or of devices simulating soil or of the atmosphere; Soil humidity sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/0265 the criterion being a learning criterion

Abstract

Embodiments of techniques, apparatuses, systems and computer-readable media for managing landscape of a property are disclosed. In some embodiments, a configuration module may be configured to receive data that specifies landscape or preferences for the landscape, and a sensor control module may configured to control operation of one or more sensors to record and report landscape associated operational data. In embodiments, a data aggregation and analysis module may be configured to receive environmental data for surroundings of the landscape and aggregate and analyze the environmental data, management preference data, and landscape data, and may cause appropriate irrigation to be provided to the landscape. Other embodiments may be disclosed and/or claimed.

Claims

1. An apparatus for managing a landscape of a property, comprising:

one or more processors;

a configuration module, to be executed by the one or more processors, to receive data that specify the landscape or management preferences for the landscape;

a sensor control module, to be executed by the one or more processors, to control operation of one or more sensors that record and report landscape associated operational data;

a data aggregation and analysis module, to be executed by the one or more processors, to;

receive environmental data for surroundings of the landscape; and

aggregate and analyze the environmental data, the management preference data, and the landscape data; and

an irrigation control module, to be executed by the one or more processors, to control an irrigation system to provide irrigation for the landscape, based at least in part on a result of the analysis.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a plant care module, to be executed by the one or more processors, to determine a plant care process to be implemented, based at least in part on a result of the analysis.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the plant care module is further to present a property landscape profile and one or more indications of the plant care process for review.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the landscape specification data includes identifications of a plurality of plants of the landscape and locations of the plurality of plants;

and

wherein management preferences include respective desired conditions of the plurality of plants.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the respective desired conditions of the plurality of plants are determined from the contents of a learning system that is based at least in part on a human evaluation of the landscape or of one or more landscape images.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the landscape associated operational data include soil composition data, soil wetness data, soil disease indications, or soil temperature data.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the one or more sensors include an image sensor;

and

wherein the sensor control module is to control the image sensor to record and report images of a plurality of plants of the landscape.

8. A method for managing a landscape of a property, comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, data that specify the landscape or management preferences for the landscape;

controlling, by the computing device, operation of one or more sensors that record and report landscape associated operational data;

receiving, by the computing device, environmental data for surroundings of the landscape;

aggregating and analyzing, by the computing device, the environmental data, the management preference data, and the landscape data; and

controlling, by the computing device, an irrigation system to provide irrigation for the landscape, based at least in part on a result of the analyzing.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein analyzing, by the computing device, the aggregated data further includes:

receiving, by the computing device, a plurality of images of the landscape; and

performing, by the computing device, an inference of landscape conditions using convolutional neural networks.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein analyzing, by the computing device, the aggregated data further includes providing, by the computing device, the aggregated data to a learning system of plant health and plant reactions to multiple conditions.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining, by the computing device, a plant care process to be implemented, using at least the learning system and the management preferences, wherein the plant care process includes times, amounts, or locations of water or chemicals to be applied to a plurality of plants in the landscape.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising outputting, by the computing device, a description of the plant care process for implementation by a human.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising outputting, by the computing device, recommendations for planting plants in areas of the landscape, based at least in part on the management preferences.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving, by the computing device, from data sources external to the apparatus, learning system data for a second landscape.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the second landscape is selected based at least on one or more similar preference items between the management preferences and management preferences associated with the second landscape.

16. One or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that cause a computing device, in response to execution of the instructions by the computing device, to:

receive data that specify the landscape or management preferences for the landscape;

control operation of one or more sensors that record and report landscape associated operational data;

receive environmental data for surroundings of the landscape;

aggregate and analyze the environmental data, the management preference data, and the landscape data; and

control, by the computing device, an irrigation system to provide irrigation for the landscape, based at least in part on a result of the analysis.

17. The computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the one or more sensors include one or more in-ground sensors, robotic sensors, fixed-location cameras, cameras on a drone, sensors on a drone, cameras on an overhead plane, or satellites.

18. The computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein to receive environmental data is to further include to receive environmental data from local, regional, national, or international weather monitoring sites that provide temperature, humidity, precipitation, cloud cover, weather forecasting, satellite imagery, watershed status, and upcoming weather events associated with the surroundings of the landscape.

19. The computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein to analyze the aggregated data further includes:

to receive a plurality of images of the landscape; and

to perform an inference of landscape conditions using convolutional neural networks.

20. The computer-readable media of claim 19, wherein to analyze the aggregated data further includes to provide the aggregated data to a learning system of plant health and plant reactions to multiple conditions.

21. The computer-readable media of claim 20, further comprising:

to determine a plant care process to be implemented, using at least the learning system and the management preferences, wherein the plant care process includes times, amounts, or locations of water or chemicals to be applied to a plurality of plants in the landscape.

22. The computer-readable media of claim 21, further comprising to output a description of the plant care process for implementation by a human.

23. The computer-readable media of claim 22, further comprising to output recommendations for planting plants in areas of the landscape, based at least in part on the management preferences.

24. The computer-readable media of claim 20, further comprising to receive from data sources external to the apparatus, learning system data for a second landscape.

25. The computer-readable media of claim 24, wherein the second landscape is selected based at least on one or more similar preference items between the management preferences and management preferences associated with the second landscape.