System and method for creating demo application maps for site-specific farming

• US 20030208319A1
• Filed: 06/05/2001
• Published: 11/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: AGCO Corporation
• Original Assignee: AGCO Corporation
• Inventors: Tevis, Joe, Ell, Todd
• Application Number:
  US09/874,936
• Publication Number:
  US 20030208319A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/5
• CPC Class Codes: A01B 79/005 Precision agriculture
• CPC Class Codes: A01C 7/102 Regulating or controlling the seed rate

Abstract

The present invention is a system and method for creating demo application maps for site-specific farming. The demo application maps contain a blend of agricultural products. The blend of agricultural products can be viewed or printed either numerically or graphically. Once the demo application maps are combined with a map payment system, the blend of agricultural products can be used by an application machine to apply products to a field. The demo application maps are created by first inputting product information into a mapping system. The agricultural product information contains a percentage of crop inputs contained in the products. Next, the mapping system accesses crop input requirement maps. The crop input requirement maps contain a prescription of crop inputs to apply to a field. The product information and crop input requirement maps are combined to create a blend of agricultural products. The blend of agricultural products is then converted into a geographical-tagged-image-file format with unique data tags.

Claims

1. A method of creating application maps, the method comprising:

inputting agricultural product information, where each product contains a percentage of crop inputs contained in the product;

inputting crop input requirement maps, where the maps are broken into a grid that represents a field, and each cell of the grid contains crop input requirements to apply to each cell;

creating a blend of agricultural products for each cell of the grid based on the agricultural product information and crop input requirement maps;

converting the blend of agricultural products for each cell into a geographical-tagged-image-file format; and

adding unique data tags to the blend of agricultural products for each cell of the grid.

2. The method of claim 1 and further comprising inputting blending instructions, wherein the blend of agricultural products is further based on the blending instructions.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the blending instructions contain a priority for solving each crop input defined in the crop input requirement maps.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the blending instructions contain directions for applying each crop input defined in the crop input requirement maps.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the blending instructions contain an application rate for each product.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein the blending instructions contain a combination of a priority for solving each crop input defined in the crop input requirement maps, directions for applying each crop input, and an application rate for each product.

7. The method of claim 1 and further comprising inputting economic constraints, wherein the blend of agricultural products is further based on economic constraints.

8. The method of claim 1 and further comprising inputting application machine constraints, wherein the blend of agricultural products is further based on the application machine constraints.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the application machine constraints contain metering limitations for agricultural products.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the application machine constraints contain metering limitations for product carriers.

11. The method of claim 1 and further comprising:

inputting blending instructions;

inputting economic constraints; and

inputting application machine constraints, wherein the blend of agricultural products is further based on a combination of blending instructions, economic constraints, and application machine constraints.

12. The method of claim 1 and further comprising storing the agricultural product information and crop input requirement maps in a data storage system.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the unique data tags contain a checksum for verifying the integrity of the data.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the unique data tags contain information on the expiration of the application maps.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the unique data tags contain information on the paid-for status of the application maps.

16. A system for generating application maps, the method comprising:

a first input device for inputting agricultural product information that includes percentages of crop inputs contained in each product;

a second input device for inputting crop input requirement maps, where the maps are broken into a grid that represents the field, and each cell of the grid contains crop input requirements to apply to each cell;

a data processor for creating a blend of agricultural products for each cell of the grid based on the agricultural product information and crop input requirement maps, and converting the blend of agricultural products for each cell into a geographical-tagged-image-file format, and adding unique data tags to the blend of agricultural products for each cell of the grid.

17. The system of claim 16 and further comprising a third input device for inputting blending instructions, wherein the blend of agricultural products is further based on the blending instructions.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the blending instructions contain a priority for solving each raw ingredient defined in the crop input requirement maps.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein the blending instructions contain directions for applying each crop input defined in the crop input requirement maps.

20. The system of claim 17 wherein the blending instructions contain an application rate for each agricultural product.

21. The system of claim 17 wherein the blending instructions contain a combination of a priority for solving each crop input defined in the crop input requirement maps, directions for applying each crop input, and an application rate for each agricultural product.

22. The system of claim 16 and further comprising a third input device for inputting economic constraints, wherein the blend of agricultural products is further based on economic constraints.

23. The system of claim 16 and further comprising a third input device for inputting application machine constraints, wherein the blend of agricultural products is further based on the application machine constraints.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the application machine constraints contain metering limitations for agricultural products.

25. The system of claim 23 wherein the application machine constraints contain metering limitations for product carriers.

26. The system of claim 16 and further comprising:

a third input device for inputting blending instructions;

a fourth input device for inputting economic constraints; and

a fifth input device for inputting application machine constraints, wherein the blend of agricultural products is further based on a combination of blending instructions, economic constraints, and application machine constraints.

27. The system of claim 16 and further comprising a storage system for storing the agricultural product information and crop input requirement maps.

28. The system of claim 16 wherein the unique data tags contain a checksum for verifying the integrity of the data.

29. The system of claim 16 wherein the unique data tags contain information on the expiration of the application maps.

30. The system of claim 16 wherein the unique data tags contain information on the paid-for status of the application maps.

31. A spatial blending module, the module comprising:

a main module for converting information input to the spatial blending module into a standard format; and

a spatial blending engine for creating an optimal blend of agricultural products based on pre-defined blending algorithms and the information input into the spatial blending module.