System and method for regulating agriculture storage facilities in order to promote uniformity among separate storage facilities

• US 7,004,401 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2002
• Issued: 02/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Targeted Grain Management Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Cerys Systems Inc.
• Inventors: Kallestad, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Tanner, Harry B.
• Application Number:
  US10/217,312
• Publication Number:
  US 20030033057A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,300 Days
• Field of Search: 236/49.1, 236/49.3, 236/51, 236/91.C, 236/94, 236/44.R, 236/44.A, 236/44.C, 454/174, 454/178, 454/180, 454/181, 454/182, 454/258, 454/256, 344/87, 344/91, 344/92, 345/65, 345/69, 345/70, 345/71
• US Class Current: 236/49.3
• CPC Class Codes: A01F 25/22 Ventilating arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: F26B 21/06 Controlling, e.g. regulating, parameters of gas supply F26B21/14 takes precedence; control in general G05
• CPC Class Codes: F26B 25/22 Controlling the drying process in dependence on liquid content of solid materials or objects
• CPC Class Codes: F26B 9/063 for drying granular material in bulk, e.g. grain bins or silos with false floor shallow layer rotary sweep drying bins F26B9/10; perforated wall silos with drying air channels in the stack F26B9/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0284 Time or distance, e.g. usage of parking meters or taximeters
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

In one embodiment, the invention is directed toward a networked grain aeration control system. For example, the system can provide centralized monitoring of the aeration of a number of grain storage facilities, thereby improving the management of stored grain. The networked grain aeration control system can allow the custodian of the system to offer an aeration service. Farmers, or other individuals, cooperatives, or companies can purchase the aeration service at a cost proportionate to the amount of stored grain to be aerated and the duration of storage. In this manner, the purchaser of the aeration service can avoid relatively high fixed costs that can be associated with various aeration hardware.

Claims

1. A crop storage control system for reducing defect levels to increase crop quality among remote crop storage facilities, comprising:

an operator interface in secure communication with a central computer, wherein the operator interface is configured to transmit a crop quality objective to a central computer;

a first controller coupled to a first sensor and a first aeration fan, the first sensor and the first aeration fan being positioned in proximity to a first agricultural crop storage facility located at a first site, wherein the first controller controls the operation of the first aeration fan to achieve a first crop quality objective;

a second controller coupled to a second sensor and a second aeration fan, the second sensor and the second aeration fan positioned in proximity to a second agricultural crop storage facility located at a second site, wherein the second controller controls the operation of the second aeration fan to achieve a second crop quality objective; and

a central computer in secure communication with the first controller, the second controller, and the operator interface, wherein the central computer enforces at least one of the first and second crop quality objectives by;

receiving at least one of the first and second crop quality objectives from the operator interface;

generating a secure control policy for controlling at least one of the first and second aeration fans to achieve at least one of the first and second crop quality objectives received from the operator interface, wherein the secure control policy is generated from at least one of the first and second crop quality objectives, and wherein the operator interface has restricted access to the control policy;

instantiating the secure control policy so that at least one of the first and second aeration fans are controlled in accordance with the secure control policy;

receiving information from at least one of the first and second controllers;

evaluating the received information to determine whether at least one of the first and second aeration fans is achieving at least one of the first and second crop quality objectives; and

generating a new secure control policy when the evaluated information indicates that at least one of the first and second aeration fans is not achieving at least one of the first and second crop quality objectives.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the information includes a log of operation time associated with the first and second aeration fans.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the information includes a log of conditions sensed by the first and second sensors.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the agricultural crop storage facilities include multiple grain storage bins.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the central computer is communicatively coupled to the first and second controller via a packet based network.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second controllers are coupled to the first and second aeration fans via control nodes.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the central computer stores first data indicative of the conditions sensed by the sensors, and second data indicative of the operation time associated with the aeration fans.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

a first client computer communicatively coupled to the central computer, the first client computer having access to crap quality data pertaining to the first agricultural crop storage facility located at the first site, wherein the first client computer cannot modify the control policy; and

a second client computer communicative coupled to the central computer, the second client computer having access to crop quality data pertaining to the second agricultural crop storage facility located at the second site, wherein the second client computer cannot modify the control policy.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first client computer does not have access to data pertaining to the second agricultural crop storage facility, and wherein the second client computer does not have access to data pertaining to the first agricultural crop storage facility.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a first set of sensors coupled to the first controller, wherein the first controller controls the operation of the first aeration fan according to conditions sensed by the first set of sensors; and

a second set of sensors coupled to the second controller, wherein the second controller controls the operation of the second aeration fan according to conditions sensed by the second set of sensors.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the central computer determines a control policy for the first and second controllers, the control policy for the first controller defining operational parameters for operation of the first aeration fan according to conditions sensed by the first set of sensors and the control policy for the second controller defining operational parameters for operation of the second aeration fan according to conditions sensed by the second set of sensors.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the control policy for the first controller is different from the control policy for the second controller.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the control policy for the first controller defines operational parameters including a temperature band and a temperature-dependent relative humidity band, wherein the first controller causes the first aeration fan to turn on when the ambient conditions sensed by the first set of sensors indicate the ambient temperature is within the temperature band and ambient relative humidity is within the temperature-dependent relative humidity band.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the control policy for the first controller further include an amount of time that the first aeration fan can operate per day, the amount of time accumulating into a backlog when the aeration fan does not operate, wherein the first controller causes the first aeration fan to operate only when the backlog has not been exhausted.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the first controller automatically adjusts the control policy by increasing the temperature band and the temperature-dependent relative humidity band when the backlog exceeds a backlog threshold.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein at least one of the temperature band and the temperature-dependent relative humidity band is truncated such that the truncated band is non-symmetric about a target value, the truncation being based on a climate surrounding the first agricultural crop storage facility located at the first site.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the first controller controls the operation of the first aeration fan according to ambient conditions sensed by the first sensor and heat produced by the first aeration fan;

and

wherein the second controller controls the operation of the second aeration fan according to ambient conditions sensed by the second sensor and heat produced by the second aeration fan.

18. A method for promoting a crop storage standard and increasing the predictability of crop spoilage through communication between a regulatory computing device and a remote agricultural crop storage facility, the method comprising:

receiving a crop quality objective, wherein the crop quality objective indicates a crop quality to be achieved during the storage of a crop;

generating a control strategy configured to instantiate the control of an aeration fan in accordance with the crop quality objective, wherein the control strategy is at least partially generated from the received crop quality objective, and wherein access to the control strategy is restricted;

instantiating the control of the aeration fan in accordance with the control strategy;

receiving aeration fan operation data associated with the remotely located agricultural crop storage facility;

logging a history, wherein the history is associated with the aeration fan operation data; and

evaluating the logged history to determine whether the remotely located crop storage facility is being controlled in accordance with the crop quality objective.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the information associated with the aeration fan operation includes at least one of:

a control strategy for fan operation of the remote agriculture crop storage facility, real time start/stop of fan operation of the remote agriculture crop storage facility, logged fan operation on the remote agriculture crop storage facility, and operation history of the remote agricultural crop storage facility.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein logging a history includes at least one of:

storing information relating to ambient conditions sensed at the remotely located agricultural storage crop facilities, storing operational run-time data, and storing received crop quality objectives.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

replacing an aeration controller for one of the aeration fans; and

downloading information from the regulatory computing device to the replaced aeration controller, the downloaded information including information relating to the operation time and ambient conditions in proximity to an aeration fan associated with the replaced aeration controller.

22. A computer-implemented method for regulating processes of storage facilities in order to promote a standard crop quality for a plurality of separate crop storage facilities, the method comprising:

providing communication between a crop storage facility, an operator interface, and a central computer separate from the crop storage facility;

transmitting environmental data to the central computer, wherein the environmental data is associated with an aeration operation of the crop storage facility;

evaluating the received environmental data on the central computer to determine a control procedure to maintain a standard crop quality, wherein the control procedure is associated with the aeration operation of the crop storage facility, wherein the operator interface does not have access to modify the control procedure; and

communicating the control procedure to the crop storage facility.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the crop storage facility includes at least one environmental sensor.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein the at least one environmental sensor includes at least one of:

ambient sensors and crop sensors.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein the at least one environmental sensor includes at least one of:

weather sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, crop moisture sensors, barometric pressure sensors, static pressure sensors, and aerator heat production sensors.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, further including monitoring control procedures of the crop storage facility and assigning a grade to a crop stored therein, wherein the central computer maintains a record of conditions associated with crop stored in the crop storage facility.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, further comprising generating a report of the control procedure and maintaining the report of the control procedure with the central computer.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 27, wherein the report indicates a crop condition at a moment in time.

29. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for promoting uniform crop storage procedures among a plurality of storage facilities, the instructions comprising:

providing a crop rating criteria;

receiving environmental data from the crop storage facility;

associating the environmental data with a control procedure to facilitate a crop rating according to the crop rating criteria;

controlling an aerator of the crop storage facility in accordance with the control procedure; and

monitoring the crop storage facility to verify a crop rating.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 29, wherein receiving environmental data from the crop storage facility further includes receiving environmental data associated with at least one environmental sensor.

31. The computer-implemented method of claim 30, wherein the at least one environmental sensor includes at least one of:

an ambient sensor and a crop sensor.

32. The computer-implemented method of claim 31, wherein the at least one environmental sensor includes at least one of:

weather sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, crop moisture sensors, barometric pressure sensors, static pressure sensors, and aerator heat production sensors.

33. The computer-implemented method of claim 29, wherein monitoring the crop storage facility to verify a crop quality further includes generating a report of the control procedure, wherein the crop storage facility does not have access to modify the report.

34. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein the report indicates a crop rating at a moment in time.

35. A crop storage regulation system for promoting uniformity in crop quality between remote crop storage facilities, comprising:

a crop storage means, wherein the crop storage means is configured to store a crop;

an aeration means, wherein the aeration means is associated with the crop storage means and is configured to aerate crops stored in the crop storage means; and

a central computing means, wherein the central computing means is configured to;

receive a crop quality objective;

generate a policy configured to instantiate the aeration means to achieve the crop quality objective, wherein the policy is generated from the received crop quality objective, and wherein access to the policy is restricted;

control the aeration means in accordance with the policy;

receive information from the crop storage means;

evaluate the received information to determine whether the aeration means is being controlled to achieve the crop quality objective;

generate a new policy when the evaluated information indicates that the aeration means is not being controlled to achieve the crop quality objective;

generate a report of the received crop quality objectives and the control history of the aeration means; and

maintain the report, wherein access to modify the report is restricted.