HORTICULTURAL MONITORING SYSTEM

• US 20170286772A1
• Filed: 03/31/2017
• Published: 10/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BeeSprout, LLC
• Original Assignee: BeeSprout, LLC
• Inventors: WORKMAN, Christopher, BOCANEGRA, Maria
• Granted Patent: US 10,028,452 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 22/00 Cultivation of specific crops or plants not otherwise provided for
• 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: G06V 20/10 Terrestrial scenes scenes under surveillance with static cameras G06V20/52; scenes perceived from the exterior of a vehicle G06V20/56; scenes perceived from the interior of a vehicle G06V20/59
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

An example plant monitoring system can include sensors connected to a horticultural monitor. The sensors can measure the soil, the environment, individual plant characteristics, etc. At least one horticultural monitor can send sensor data to a local beacon. The local beacon can then receive the data and send it to cloud resources which can process the data. The cloud resources can determine the health of the plant and monitor its development. A user can track this health and development using an interaction device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

capturing data for a monitored plant via one or more sensors;

comparing, via a processor, the data for the monitored plant with data associated with other plants of a same species as the monitored plant and at one or more plant life stages to yield a comparison; and

determining, based on the comparison and via a life stage determination algorithm, a one of the plant life stages associated with the monitored plant.

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

when the determining indicates that the one of the plant life stages for the monitored plant is a target plant life stage, sending a push notification to a user device, the push notification indicating that the plant has reached the target plant life stage.

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

when the determining indicates that the one of the plant life stages for the monitored plant is a target plant life stage, sending a push notification to a harvester device, the push notification comprising instructions for the harvester device to harvest at least a portion of the monitored plant.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the data for the monitored plant comprises image data, and further comprising determining at least one of a species of the monitored plant and the one of the plant life stages for the monitored plant based on the image data.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the monitored plant is a fruit bearing plant, the method further comprising:

estimating, based on the data for the monitored plant, a quantity of a type of fruit that is available for harvesting from the plant.

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

transmitting, over a wireless interface, the data for the monitored plant from a horticultural monitor to a local beacon; and

transmitting the data for the monitored plant from the local beacon to cloud resources via a wide area network, wherein the comparing is performed by the cloud resources.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plant life stages comprises a plant life stage associated with a suboptimal health condition.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising:

when the determining indicates that the one of the plant life stages for the monitored plant is associated with the suboptimal health condition, sending a push notification to a user device, the push notification indicating that a health of the monitored plant is suboptimal.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, using the data and a health determination algorithm, a cause for the health of the monitor plant to be suboptimal.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

based on the cause, providing one or more instructions to the user device for enhancing the health of the monitored plant.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

based on the cause, determining a remedial measure for enhancing the health of the monitored plant that does not require human intervention; and

implementing the remedial measure.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the remedial measure comprises activating at least one of an irrigation system or a nutrient delivery system.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the sensors comprise at least one of a soil sensor, a camera, or a water sensor.

14. A system comprising:

a processing system comprising at least one processor and a computer-readable medium; and

one or more horticultural monitors communicatively coupled to the processing system, each of the horticultural monitors comprising one or more sensors for monitoring at least one plant and configured for recording data from the sensors and transmitting the data to the processing system,

wherein the computer-readable medium comprises instructions for causing the at least one processor to perform steps comprising;

obtaining the data for the monitored plant;

comparing the data for the monitored plant with data associated with other plants of a same species as the monitored plant and at one or more plant life stages to yield a comparison; and

determining, based on the comparison and via a life stage determination algorithm, a one of the plant life stages associated with the monitored plant.

15. The system of claim 14, the steps further comprising:

when the determining indicates that the one of the plant life stages for the monitored plant is a target plant life stage, sending a push notification to a user device, the push notification indicating that the plant has reached the target plant life stage.

16. The system of claim 14, the steps further comprising:

when the determining indicates that the one of the plant life stages for the monitored plant is a target plant life stage, sending a push notification to a harvester device, the push notification comprising instructions for the harvester device to harvest at least a portion of the monitored plant.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the data for the monitored plant comprises image data, and the steps further comprising determining at least one of a species of the monitored plant and the one of the plant life stages for the monitored plant based on the image data.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the monitored plant is a fruit bearing plant, the method further comprising:

estimating, based on the data for the monitored plant, a quantity of a type of fruit that is available for harvesting from the plant.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein at least one of the plant life stages comprises a plant life stage associated with a suboptimal health condition.

20. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

when the determining indicates that the one of the plant life stages for the monitored plant is associated with the suboptimal health condition, sending a push notification to a user device, the push notification indicating that a health of the monitored plant is suboptimal.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising:

determining, using the data and a health determination algorithm, a cause for the health of the monitor plant to be suboptimal.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

based on the cause, providing one or more instructions to the user device for enhancing the health of the monitored plant.

23. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

based on the cause, determining a remedial measure for enhancing the health of the monitored plant that does not require human intervention; and

implementing the remedial measure.

24. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing system comprises a local beacon and remote cloud resources, the local beacon being communicatively coupled to one or more horticultural monitors and one or more local resources, and the remote cloud resources being communicatively coupled to the local beacon, wherein the comparing and the determining is performed by the remote cloud resources.