JP6499570B2 - Stem number measuring system and farming management system using it - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a stem number measuring system for measuring the number of stems in a cereal stock (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as the number of stems), and an agricultural management system using the stem number measuring system.

As this type of technology, there is one that measures the number of stems in a strain that is growing in the field with a growth diagnostic machine during the growth diagnostic work. The measured number of stems is used to obtain a fertilization support plan up to harvest, a pest control support plan, a harvest time prediction, and the like (see Patent Document 1 below).
In addition, when harvesting a combine (an example of an agricultural machine) that includes a harvesting unit that harvests the planted cereal and a threshing unit that threshs the harvested cereal, the planted cereal before harvesting by the harvesting unit Some of them measure the number of stems in a strain with a combine measuring unit. The measured number of stems is used for fertilization management that sets the fertilization amount for the following year (see Patent Document 2 below).

JP 2002-149744 A JP 2005-2111045 A

  By the way, since the number of stems is strongly related to the number of planted seedlings, it is also used for planting number management that sets the number of planted plants (number of seedlings per strain) for the next fiscal year based on the results of this year. It is possible to do. If this planting number management makes the planting number appropriate for the next fiscal year, it is expected to produce a great merit for farmers in terms of increased yield. For this purpose, it is required to simply and highly accurately measure the number of stems as the basis of management.

However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, since the growth diagnosis work using the growth diagnosis machine is required in addition to the farm work by the farm work machine in order to measure the number of stems, the work man-hours increase and takes time. There is.
Moreover, since the stems in the growing strain to be measured have ears and leaves, the stems are easily hidden by the ears and leaves. Furthermore, since the tip side of the stem in the growing strain hangs down, the stems are likely to overlap each other even when viewed from the upper side as well as from the lateral side. Therefore, the technique described in Patent Document 1 that measures the number of stems in a growing strain has a serious problem that the measurement accuracy of the number of stems is lowered.

  On the other hand, in the technique described in Patent Document 2, since the number of stems is measured at the time of harvesting by a combine, the number of stems can be easily measured without increasing the number of work steps. However, the stem in the planted cereal strain before cutting to be measured is also easily hidden by the ears and leaves, like the stem in the growing strain described above, and moreover, it is easy to overlap each other. The serious problem that the measurement accuracy of the number of stems becomes low remains.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the main problem thereof is a stem number measuring system capable of easily and accurately measuring the number of stems in a strain, and using the same. The point is to provide an agricultural management system.

The first characteristic configuration of the present invention relates to a stem number measuring system,
An imaging unit is deployed on the side of the agricultural machine with a mowing unit that harvests cereals,
While being configured to image the stubble after harvesting cereals with the harvesting unit from the upper side with the imaging unit,
There exists a measurement part which measures the number of the stems in a stub from the image information imaged with the said imaging part.

That is, according to this configuration, during the harvesting work by the farm machine, the stubble after harvesting the cereal by the harvesting unit is imaged from the upper side by the imaging unit arranged on the farm machine side, and the captured image The number of stems in the stubble per strain is measured from the information by the measuring unit.
Here, the stubble is in a state in which the stems are not hidden by the ears and leaves or the stems overlap each other when viewed from above because the stems are cut short and aligned.
According to this configuration, the image information for measuring the number of stems in the measurement unit is the image information of the stubble viewed from above, and as described above, the stems are hidden in the ears and leaves or between the stems. Therefore, the number of stems can be measured with high accuracy.
In addition, since the number of stems is measured from the stub at the time of cutting with the agricultural machine, the number of stems can be easily measured without requiring a separate operation from the cutting operation. In addition, the number of stems can be measured before morphological changes that are unfavorable for measuring the number of stems such as withering of stems over time. It can be avoided.

According to a second characteristic configuration of the present invention, the measuring unit measures the diameter dimension of each stem existing in the stub from the image information captured by the imaging unit, and compares the measured diameter dimension with a set diameter dimension. to, to determine the valid stems from getting ear, and immature invalid stem, in that it is configured to measure the number of at least an effective stems.
Here, the “effective stem with ears” is a stem from which the grain is properly harvested. This number of effective stems may be referred to as the number of effective stems, and may be used synonymously with the number of spikes. On the other hand, the “unskilled invalid stem” is a stem from which the grain is not properly harvested, for example, a stem with a short delayed ear or a stem without any ear.

According to the above configuration, effective stems with ears and immature invalid stems are discriminated, and at least the number of effective stems is measured, so the number of effective stems that directly affects the yield Can be measured easily and with high accuracy.
In addition to the number of effective stems, the number of immature ineffective stems can also be measured. In this case, for example, the existence rate or absolute number of invalid stems can be grasped, and analysis can be performed from a viewpoint different from the number of effective stems.

According to a third characteristic configuration of the present invention, a cutting determination unit that determines a cutting blade state of the cutting unit or a height position of the cutting blade as a cutting state of the cutting unit from image information captured by the imaging unit. It is in the point provided.
Here, the “cutting state of the cutting unit” is a state related to the cutting function of the cutting unit, for example, the state of the cutting blade being used in the cutting unit (such as the degree of deterioration or the presence or absence of breakage) and the height of the cutting blade. This corresponds to the position.

  The image information picked up by the image pickup unit is image information of the stubble imaged from above, and the image information of the stubble includes a cut mark in which the cutting state of the cutting unit appears. According to the above configuration, since the cutting state of the cutting unit is determined by the cutting determination unit from the image information including the cut marks in this way, the cutting unit does not need to perform a separate operation from the cutting operation by the farm machine. The state can be easily determined.

4th characteristic structure of this invention is comprised so that the said imaging part may image the imaging object area | region containing several adjacent stubble,
The measurement unit measures, in addition to the number of the stems, an interval between a plurality of adjacent stubs or the number of stubs per unit area from the image information of the imaging target region captured by the imaging unit. It is in the point comprised as follows.

The interval between a plurality of adjacent strains is referred to as an inter-strain or a streak or the like, and serves as an index indicating the seedling planting state. In addition, the number of strains per unit area is referred to as planting density or the like and serves as an index indicating the planting state or seeding state of seedlings. Therefore, this information can be used effectively for evaluation of farming this year and planning for the next year.
According to this configuration, an imaging target area including a plurality of adjacent stubble is imaged by the imaging unit, and from the image information of the imaging target area, in addition to the number of stems, the interval between the plurality of adjacent stubble, or Since the number of stubble per unit area is measured by the measuring unit, it is possible to easily obtain effective information as described above.

5th characteristic structure of this invention is a position which shows the position of the said agricultural working machine when it images with the said imaging part as a measurement position by the stem number measurement system in any one of 1st-4th characteristic structure regarding a farming management system. Information, measurement information indicating a measurement result at the position of the agricultural machine when imaged by the imaging unit as the measurement position by the stem number measurement system, and the farm work when imaged by the imaging unit as the measurement position The information acquisition part which acquires the harvest amount information which shows the crop yield of the grain in the position of a machine, and the management database which links | relates and stores these information are provided.

According to the said structure, the positional information which shows the measurement position by a stem number measurement system, the information which shows the number of stems as measurement information which shows the measurement result in the measurement position by a stem number measurement system, and the grain in a measurement position The information acquisition unit acquires the harvest amount information indicating the harvest amount, and stores the information in the management database in association with each other. Therefore, the farmer can analyze the relationship between the number of stalks and the harvest amount at each position, and can evaluate the farming of this year and make a plan for the next year.
Furthermore, as measurement information indicating the measurement result at the measurement position by the stem count measurement system, in addition to information indicating the number of stems, information indicating the interval between the strains and information indicating the number of strains per unit area are associated with the management database. In this case, the farmer analyzes the relationship between the number of stalks at each position, the yield, the interval between the stocks, and the number of stocks per unit area, and evaluates the current year's farming. And it becomes possible to make plans for the next fiscal year from various aspects.

Overall configuration diagram of stem count measurement system and farming management system Side view of a farm vehicle during harvesting work on a farm field Horizontal projection diagram schematically showing a farm vehicle during harvesting on a farm field The figure which shows the image information imaged with the imaging part typically The figure which shows the display screen of the display section

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a stem number measuring system 100 and a farm management system 200 according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the stem number measuring system 100 and the farming management system 200. The stem count measurement system 100 is a system that measures the number of stems per strain. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the stem count measurement system 100 can be configured by arranging various processing units on the farm work machine side.
The farm management system 200 is a system that manages information about farming including measurement information of the stem count measurement system 100, and has a management device such as a computer that can exchange information with a farm machine, for example. It can be configured in different places from the farm machine side.
Hereinafter, details of the stem count measurement system 100 and the farming management system 200 will be described in order.

<Stem count measuring system 100>
First, the outline of the agricultural machine will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows a state in which a combine 101 having a cutting function and a threshing function is performing a harvesting operation on the field 1 as an example of an agricultural machine.
As shown in FIG. 2, the combine 101 is provided with a machine base 103 having a pair of left and right crawler travel devices 102, and the planted cereal of the farm field 1 along with the travel on the front side of the machine base 103. A cutting unit 105 is provided that cuts the cocoon 2 with the cutting blade device 104 and cuts it from the stock side, and conveys the harvested cereal rice cake to the rear side of the machine body.
In addition, on the machine base 103 of the combine 101, the control unit 106 provided with a driver's seat, various operation levers, and a handle, an engine (not shown), and the harvested cereals conveyed from the harvesting unit 105 are shown in the body. The threshing unit 107 for carrying out the threshing process while being transported to the rear side, the Glen tank 108 for storing the threshed grain, and the waste after the threshing that has been transported from the threshing unit 107 are shredded by the staking cutter 109. A waste disposal unit 111 that discharges from the waste discharge port 110 is provided.

  In other words, the combine 101 is a harvesting operation that combines cutting and threshing / storage operations. Is sent to the threshing unit 107 at the front and rear intermediate parts of the machine and threshed. It is configured to be shredded and discharged to the field 1. Reference numeral 3 in the figure denotes a stubble after harvesting the cereal.

Next, each processing unit of the stem number measuring system 100 deployed on the combine 101 side will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the combine 101 captures, as a processing unit of the stem count measuring system 100, the stubble 3 (see FIGS. 2 to 4) from which the culm has been harvested by the reaper 105 from above. The image pickup unit 112, the harvest amount detection unit 113 that detects the amount of grain harvest, the moisture amount detection unit 114 that detects the amount of moisture contained in the harvested grain, and the position detection unit 115 that detects the position of the combine 101. Etc. are provided.
Further, the control unit 116 of the combine 101 includes a measurement unit 117 that measures at least the number of stems from the image information ID (see FIG. 4) captured by the imaging unit 112 as a processing unit of the stem number measurement system 100, and an imaging unit 112. A cutting determination unit 118 and the like that determine the cutting state of the cutting unit 105 from the image information ID captured in FIG.
Further, the combine 101 is provided with a communication unit 119 as a processing unit of the stem count measuring system 100, and information acquired from the farm management system 200 via the communication unit 119 and various types of information acquired on the combine 101 side. A display unit 120 such as a monitor for displaying the information is provided. The display unit 120 is provided in the control unit 106 of the combine 101.
Note that the measurement unit 117 and the cutting determination unit 118 may be configured in a different location from the combine 101. In addition, for communication with the farm management system 200 by the communication unit 119, various communication methods such as a communication method using an Internet line and a direct communication method can be adopted.

  The imaging unit 112 is configured by a camera or the like attached to the combine 101 in a state where the lower side can be imaged. FIG. 3 is a horizontal projection diagram schematically showing the relationship between the combine 101, the planted culm 2 before cutting and the stubble 3, and the stubble to be imaged by the imaging unit 112 with reference to FIG. 3 and the location where the imaging unit 112 is provided will be described.

(Setting of stubble to be imaged)
The imaging unit 112 can set the stub 3 existing on the rear side of the machine body from the trailing edge X1 of the cutting blade device 104 in the range of the cutting width W of the cutting blade device 104 as the stub 3 to be imaged.
Further, when the stubble 3 is stepped on the crawler traveling device 102, the stock appearance is disturbed. Therefore, even if such a stubble 3 is imaged, the measurement processing in the measurement unit 117 and the reaping determination unit 118 as post-processing are performed. There is a possibility that the accuracy of the determination process is lowered. Therefore, in order to take an image of the stubble 3 that has not been stepped on by the crawler traveling device 102, other than the stubble 3 existing in the stepping zone Pf (gray portion in the figure) consisting of the area directly below the crawler traveling device 102 and the area behind it. Can be set as an imaging target. In addition, when the combine 101 is not a crawler type provided with the crawler traveling device 102 but a wheel type provided with a plurality of wheels, a zone immediately below the wheel and a rear zone thereof become the stepping zone Pf.

  Further, when the waste discharged from the waste discharge port 110 falls on the stub 3, the stem in the stub 3 is hidden by the waste, and in this case also, the measurement processing by the measurement unit 117 and the cutting determination unit are performed. There is a possibility that the accuracy of the determination process at 118 is lowered. Therefore, in order to capture an image of the stub 3 that does not overlap with the sewage discharged from the sewage discharge port 110, stubs other than the stub 3 existing on the rear side of the body from the front edge line X2 of the sewage discharge port 110 3 can be set as an imaging target.

  From these viewpoints, in the present embodiment, in the range of the cutting width W of the cutting blade device 104, from the rear edge line X1 of the cutting blade device 104 and from the front edge line X2 of the discharge outlet 110. Also, on the front side of the machine body, the stubble 3 existing in the set area Pc excluding the stepping area Pf (the hatched portion in the figure) is set as an imaging target, and the stubble 3 suitable for measurement is imaged. Among these, in the left-right width direction of the fuselage where there is no portion stepped on by the crawler traveling device 102 at a position between the stepping areas Pf where the dust is less affected by the cutting operation by moving away from the cutting blade device 104 to some extent. It is particularly preferable to set the stubble 3 located on the center side of the image to be imaged.

(Location of the imaging unit 112)
The location of the imaging unit 112 may be any location on the combine 101 side as long as the stubble 3 to be imaged can be imaged. Since it is possible to acquire the image information ID that is most suitable for stem number measurement to image the stubble 3 to be imaged from directly above to directly below, the location where the image capturing unit 112 is arranged is the image capturing object at the time of image capturing in the combine 101. It is preferable to set it at a location located directly above or near the cutting stock 3 to be cut.
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, as positions located immediately above or in the vicinity of the stub 3 located on the center side in the lateral direction of the machine body at the position between the stepping areas Pf at the time of imaging, In addition, an imaging unit 112 is provided at a central portion in the lateral direction of the body between the crawler travel devices 102 on the bottom surface side of the combine 101.

  As described above, the stem count measuring system 100 appropriately sets the stubble 3 to be imaged by the imaging unit 112 and the location where the imaging unit 112 is disposed, thereby increasing the height of the measuring unit 117 as a post-processing. Achieves accurate stem count measurement.

FIG. 4 is an example of the image information ID imaged by the imaging unit 112. A specific imaging area of the imaging unit 112 will be described with reference to FIG.
As long as the imaging area of the imaging unit 112 includes at least the stubble 3 to be imaged, various areas can be set. If the imaging area is appropriately set according to a measurement item in the measurement unit 117 described later. Good.
For example, if the measurement item in the measurement unit 117 is measurable from one stub 3, the area including one stub 3 is set as the imaging area as shown in FIG. Can do.
On the other hand, if the measurement item in the measurement unit 117 is measurable from a plurality of stubs 3 adjacent in the longitudinal direction of the aircraft or in the lateral direction of the aircraft, as shown in FIG. An area including a plurality of stubble 3 adjacent in the body left-right width direction can be set as an imaging area.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the measurement unit 117 includes a program that processes the image information ID to acquire the measurement information, the stem number measurement processing unit 117 a that measures the number of stems in the stub 3 from the image information ID, and the image information. , An interval measurement processing unit 117b that measures the interval between a plurality of adjacent stubble 3 and a density measurement processing unit 117c that measures the number of stubble 3 per unit area from image information are provided.

The stem number measurement processing unit 117a performs the following processing.
As shown in FIG. 4A, extraction processing such as edge detection is performed on the image information ID to extract each of a large number of stems existing in one mushroom 3.
Next, the stem number measurement processing unit 117a measures the diameter dimension (an example of the outer dimension) of each extracted stem, and compares the measured diameter dimension A with the set diameter dimension Ac. Then, a stem whose measured diameter dimension A is equal to or larger than the set diameter dimension Ac is determined as an effective stem 4a with a spike, and a stem whose measured diameter dimension A is less than the set diameter dimension Ac is determined as an immature invalid stem 4b. .
Subsequently, the number of stems determined to be effective stems 4a (that is, the number of effective stems) is measured to generate stem number information.
The stem number measurement processing unit 117a may generate stem number information by separately measuring the number of effective stems 4a and the number of invalid stems 4b. The stem number measurement processing unit 117a performs the same process on the image information ID shown in FIG. 4B, and measures stem number information of one or a plurality of stubble 3s.

The interval measurement processing unit 117b executes the following process.
As shown in FIG. 4B, the center point 3 c of each stubble 3 is extracted from the image information ID of the imaging region including a plurality of adjacent stubble 3.
Next, the measurement unit 117 measures the distance L1 between the center points 3c of the adjacent stubs 3 in the longitudinal direction of the machine body (vertical direction in the drawing), and generates first interval information (information corresponding to the strains). At the same time, the distance L2 between the center points 3c of the adjacent stubs 3 in the left-right width direction (the left-right direction in the figure) is measured to generate second interval information (information corresponding to the stripes).

  As shown in FIG. 4B, the density measurement processing unit 117c extracts each stubble 3 from the image information ID, measures the number of stubble (four in the example in the figure), and measures the measured number of stubble. The density information is generated by dividing by a preset area corresponding to.

The reaping determination unit 118 includes a program that processes the image information ID and generates determination information related to the reaping unit 105, and executes the following processing.
First, extraction processing such as edge detection is performed on the image information ID, and contour lines of a large number of stem cutting portions existing in the stub 3 are individually extracted.
Next, for example, the contour line is compared with a circular shape, and if the amount of misalignment is less than the set value, the state of the cutting blade, which is an example of the cutting state, is determined as “good”, while the contour line is If the shape deviation amount is equal to or greater than the set value due to the shredded shape or the like, the cutting blade state, which is an example of the cutting state, is determined as “bad”, and cutting determination information is generated. In addition, the cutting determination unit 118 may determine whether or not the cutting height is an example of the cutting state and generate cutting determination information.

Information such as the image information ID, the harvest amount information, and the moisture amount information is obtained by the imaging unit 112, the harvest amount detection unit 113, the moisture amount detection unit 114, and the like at every fixed pitch such as the pitch corresponding to the stock and the pitch corresponding to the section. Or continuously acquired. Then, the control unit 116 of the combine 101 associates the acquired information with the position of the combine 101 detected by the position detection unit 115, and for each measurement position, the number of stems information, the cutting determination information, and the yield information. The apparatus is configured to generate moisture content information and the like.
The harvest amount detection unit 113, the moisture amount detection unit 114, and the position detection unit 115 can employ various known configurations.
For example, the harvest amount detection unit 113 is configured by a sensor that detects a collision force of a grain to the measurement plate at the time of entering the Glen tank 108, a sensor that detects a stored weight of the grain in the Glen tank 108, and the like. Can do. The moisture amount detection unit 114 can be configured by a sensor or the like that detects a moisture amount from a change in electric capacity or an electrical resistance. The position detection unit 115 can be composed of a position sensor and a speed sensor using a global positioning system (GPS).

<Agricultural management system 200>
As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 201 of the farm management system 200 stores an information acquisition unit 202 that acquires information from the stem number measurement system 100, and map information about the farm field 1, crop information such as crop types, and the like. A storage unit 203 and an information creation unit 204 that creates information such as output information are provided.
The farm management system 200 includes a management database 205 that stores information, a display unit 206 such as a monitor that displays output information, and a communication unit 207.

  The information acquisition unit 202 of the farming management system 200 communicates with the stalk number measurement system 100 using the communication unit 207 as stem information, first interval information, second interval information, and density as measurement information for each measurement position. In addition to acquiring information, harvest information, moisture information, position information, and the like are acquired as additional information for each measurement position.

  The management database 205 stores the measurement information and additional information for each measurement position acquired by the information acquisition unit 202 in association with each other. That is, the management database 205 stores stem number information, first interval information, second interval information, density information, harvest amount information, moisture amount information, and the like in association with each measurement position.

  The information creation unit 204 creates output information that associates the map information and crop information stored in the storage unit 203 with the measurement information and additional information for each measurement position stored in the management database 205.

  Then, the farm management system 200 displays the output information created by the information creation unit 204 on the display unit 206. The farm management system 200 displays the output information created by the information creation unit 204 on the display unit 120 of the stem number measurement system 100 via communication with the stem number measurement system 100 using the communication unit 207. It is also possible to do.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit 206. In this example, the map display g1 indicating the field 1 divided into a number of sections is displayed in the left column of the display screen, and corresponds to the selected section in the map display g1 (gray portion in the map display g1). A table g2 showing section information for each section is displayed in the right column in the display screen. The table g2 includes the name of the section (an example of an identification code), the crop type, the number of stems, the planting density, the streak, the inter-strain, the harvest amount, the moisture amount, and the like.
Therefore, the user of the farming management system 200 analyzes the crop type, the number of stems, the planting density, the streak, the inter-strain, the harvest amount, the water amount, etc. for each section, and plans the farming for the next year. It can be studied closely. In particular, since the indicators that have a large impact on the yield, such as the number of stems, planting density, streak, and inter-strain, can be accurately grasped, the number of planting and sowing management can be properly controlled, and the yield will increase in the following fiscal year. It becomes possible to connect to.

[Another embodiment]
(1) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the farming management system 200 is configured in a place different from the combine 101 side has been described as an example. However, the farm management system 200 may be configured on the combine 101 side together with the stem number measuring system 100. It may be appropriately selected depending on the usage situation or the like.

  (2) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the imaging unit 112 of the stem number measurement system 100 is configured by a camera or the like attached to the combine 101 has been described as an example. However, with a camera such as a smartphone or a tablet brought in by the operator It may be configured by a portable information terminal or the like.

  (3) In the above-described embodiment, the combine 101 having the mowing function and the threshing function is shown as an example of the farm working machine in which the imaging unit 112 of the stem number measuring system 100 is deployed. A simple reaper or the like that does not have may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Stem number measurement system 101 Agricultural work machine 105 Reaping part 112 Imaging part 117 Measuring part 118 Reaping judgment part 200 Agricultural management system 201 Information acquisition part 202 Management database

Claims (5)

An imaging unit is deployed on the side of the agricultural machine with a mowing unit that harvests cereals,
While being configured to image the stubble after harvesting cereals with the harvesting unit from the upper side with the imaging unit,
A stem number measuring system provided with a measuring unit that measures the number of stems in a stub from image information captured by the imaging unit. The measuring unit measures the diameter dimension of each stem existing in the stub from the image information captured by the imaging unit , compares the measured diameter dimension with the set diameter dimension, and an effective stem with a spike The stem number measuring system according to claim 1, wherein the stem number measuring system is configured to discriminate between immature and invalid stems and to measure at least the number of effective stems. The cutting determination part which determines the state of the cutting blade of the said cutting part or the height position of a cutting blade as the cutting state of the said cutting part from the image information imaged with the said imaging part is further provided. The stem number measuring system described. The imaging unit is configured to image an imaging target region including a plurality of adjacent stubble,
The measurement unit measures, in addition to the number of the stems, an interval between a plurality of adjacent stubs or the number of stubs per unit area from the image information of the imaging target region captured by the imaging unit. The stem number measuring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is configured as described above. And positional information indicating the position of the agricultural machine when captured by the imaging unit as the measurement position by the number of stems measuring system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, as the measurement position by the tiller number measuring system harvest showing the measured information indicating the measurement result at the position of the agricultural machine when captured by the imaging unit, the grain yield at the position of the agricultural machine when captured by the imaging unit as the measurement position An agricultural management system provided with an information acquisition unit for acquiring quantity information and a management database for storing the information in association with each other.

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