Method and system for optimizing planting operations
First Claim
1. An adaptive condition-based agricultural planting system configured for real-time soil sensing in situ and interactive seed placement based on soil sensing, which planting system comprises:
- a planter configured for traversing a crop field and including a toolbar and multiple planter row units transversely movably mounted on said toolbar;
a processor connected to said system and programmed for receiving as real-time input crop growth factors, said crop growth factors chosen from the group comprising moisture levels, nutrient content and chemical composition;
a soil sensing and analysis subsystem mounted on said equipment and connected to said processor, said sensing and analysis subsystem configured for;
extracting physical soil samples from said field;
receiving said soil samples;
analyzing said retrieved soil samples; and
sensing crop growth factors including moisture level, nutrient content and chemical composition from said extracted soil samples concurrently with equipment travel over field locations being sensed;
said multiple planter row units dynamically movably mounted on said toolbar and each including a furrow opener and a seed discharge configured for placing seeds subsurface in a furrow opened by said opener;
a seed source mounted on said equipment and configured for supplying seed to said seed discharges;
a planter row unit positioning mechanism connected to said processor and configured for individually positioning said planter row units;
said processor programmed for dynamically positioning said planter row units and depositing seeds therefrom subsurface at locations determined by said processor based on optimal crop growing conditions at said seed-planting locations;
said processor further programmed to control additions of chemicals to said soil to add nutrients configured to optimize crop growing conditions upon detection of a lack of said nutrients by said processor;
the planting system is configured for planting seeds in positions directly beneath the planting system;
the data gathered from the analyzed soil samples is used to determine the optimal placement of seeds or plants in a field in order to take advantage of the soil conditions present and to optimize crop yield;
the planting system further comprises multiple pick-and-plant planters each movably mounted on said toolbar, each pick-and-plant planter comprising a translation platform and a planting tool located on the underside of the translation platform capable of interacting with the ground; and
each planting tool configured for depositing one or more seeds at optimal locations as determined by the processor.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An agricultural planting system and method comprising a soil sampling and analysis means, wherein soil samples are taken and analyzed in real-time during a planting operation (or, optionally, via a separate, prior operation) to determine the conditions and nutrient content of the soil, and a planting system, wherein the planting system is capable of planting seeds in any arbitrary position on an X-Y plane directly beneath the planting system, whereby the data gathered from the analyzed soil samples are used to determine the optimal placement of seeds or plants in a field in order to take advantage of the soil conditions present and to optimize crop yield.
26 Citations
3 Claims
-
1. An adaptive condition-based agricultural planting system configured for real-time soil sensing in situ and interactive seed placement based on soil sensing, which planting system comprises:
-
a planter configured for traversing a crop field and including a toolbar and multiple planter row units transversely movably mounted on said toolbar; a processor connected to said system and programmed for receiving as real-time input crop growth factors, said crop growth factors chosen from the group comprising moisture levels, nutrient content and chemical composition; a soil sensing and analysis subsystem mounted on said equipment and connected to said processor, said sensing and analysis subsystem configured for;
extracting physical soil samples from said field;
receiving said soil samples;
analyzing said retrieved soil samples; and
sensing crop growth factors including moisture level, nutrient content and chemical composition from said extracted soil samples concurrently with equipment travel over field locations being sensed;said multiple planter row units dynamically movably mounted on said toolbar and each including a furrow opener and a seed discharge configured for placing seeds subsurface in a furrow opened by said opener; a seed source mounted on said equipment and configured for supplying seed to said seed discharges; a planter row unit positioning mechanism connected to said processor and configured for individually positioning said planter row units; said processor programmed for dynamically positioning said planter row units and depositing seeds therefrom subsurface at locations determined by said processor based on optimal crop growing conditions at said seed-planting locations; said processor further programmed to control additions of chemicals to said soil to add nutrients configured to optimize crop growing conditions upon detection of a lack of said nutrients by said processor; the planting system is configured for planting seeds in positions directly beneath the planting system; the data gathered from the analyzed soil samples is used to determine the optimal placement of seeds or plants in a field in order to take advantage of the soil conditions present and to optimize crop yield; the planting system further comprises multiple pick-and-plant planters each movably mounted on said toolbar, each pick-and-plant planter comprising a translation platform and a planting tool located on the underside of the translation platform capable of interacting with the ground; and each planting tool configured for depositing one or more seeds at optimal locations as determined by the processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
Specification