JP7598342B2 - Area management method, area management system, and area management program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an area management method, an area management system, and an area management program.

In recent years, there has been research into analyzing cultivation management using information about work carried out in fields. In order to analyze cultivation management, the fields where work is carried out may be registered in a system.

Patent document 1 discloses a technology that estimates the work area in which a work vehicle has worked based on the position information of the work vehicle that has worked in a field.

Patent No. 6946217

The work area estimated by the technology described in Patent Document 1 may not match the area where the work vehicle actually performed work. For example, multiple adjacent work areas may be estimated as a single work area. This may make it difficult to analyze cultivation management. For this reason, the user needs to check whether the estimated work area matches the area where the work was actually performed by the work vehicle. However, when there are multiple work areas, the workload on the user is not small.

In view of the above circumstances, one of the objectives of the present disclosure is to assist users in efficiently checking the work area. Other objectives can be understood from the following description and explanation of the embodiment.

The means for solving the problems will be explained below using the numbers and symbols used in the description of the embodiment of the invention. These numbers and symbols are added in parentheses for reference purposes to show an example of the correspondence between the description of the claims and the description of the embodiment of the invention. Therefore, the description in parentheses should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the claims.

An area management method according to one embodiment for achieving the above object includes determining, based on the area of a plurality of work areas (400) in which work is performed by a work device (30), a confirmation area (410) among the plurality of work areas (400) whose range may be incorrect. The area management method also includes outputting confirmation information that indicates the confirmation area (410) among the plurality of work areas (400) in a manner that makes it distinguishable from the other work areas (400).

The area management system (1000) according to one embodiment for achieving the above object includes a confirmation area determination unit (160) and an output unit (170). The confirmation area determination unit (160) determines a confirmation area (410) whose range may be incorrect among the multiple work areas (400) based on the area of the multiple work areas (400) where work is performed by the work device (30). The output unit (170) outputs confirmation information that indicates the confirmation area (410) among the multiple work areas (400) in a manner that makes it distinguishable from the other work areas (400).

To achieve the above object, an area management program (310) according to one embodiment causes the computing device (120, 220) to determine, based on the area of the multiple work areas (400) in which work is performed by the work device (30), a confirmation area (410) whose range may be incorrect among the multiple work areas (400). The area management program (310) also causes the computing device (120, 220) to output confirmation information that indicates the confirmation area (410) among the multiple work areas (400) in a manner that makes it distinguishable from the other work areas (400).

The above embodiment can assist the user in efficiently checking the work area.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an area management system according to an embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a confirmation image displayed on a terminal in one embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating functional blocks executed by an area management system according to an embodiment. 1 is a flowchart showing a process performed by an area management system in one embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a region management system according to one embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
A region management system 1000 according to the present embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 1, the region management system 1000 includes a region management device 100 and a terminal 200. The region management device 100 is communicably connected to the terminal 200 and a working device 30 via a network 20, for example, the Internet.

The working device 30 is equipped with a positioning device, for example a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver, and acquires position information indicating the position at each time, for example the position measured at one-minute intervals. Therefore, the position information indicates the position along the trajectory along which the working device 30 has moved. The working device 30 outputs the acquired position information to the area management device 100. The working device 30 includes devices that perform work in a farm field, such as a combine harvester that performs harvesting work alone, a tractor that performs work by towing a working machine (for example a rotary tiller that performs tilling), and a drone that sprays pesticides.

Based on the position information of the work device 30, the area management device 100 estimates the work area in which the work device 30 performed work, for example, the area of a field. On the other hand, generally, the area of fields in the same region is often the same. For this reason, when the area of an estimated work area is significantly different from the area of other work areas in the same region, there is a relatively high possibility that the range of this work area is incorrect. Therefore, the area management device 100 compares the area of the determined work area with the area of fields in the same region, and determines a confirmation area among multiple work areas whose range may be incorrect. The area management device 100 outputs confirmation information representing one or more work areas including the confirmation area to the terminal 200.

The terminal 200 displays an image that distinguishes between the confirmation area and other work areas based on the confirmation information acquired from the area management device 100. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the terminal 200 displays a confirmation image 500 that distinguishes between the confirmation area 410, whose area range may be incorrect, and the other work areas 400 on a map. For example, the terminal 200 displays the area that represents the confirmation area 410 in a different color from the area that represents the other work areas 400.

This allows a user, for example a worker, to easily identify the work area 400 that should be checked as a higher priority, and to check the work area 400 efficiently.

(Configuration of area management system)
The configuration of the area management device 100 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The area management device 100 includes an input/output device 110, a computing device 120, a communication device 130, and a storage device 140. The area management device 100 is, for example, a computer. Information for the computing device 120 to execute processing is input to the input/output device 110. The input/output device 110 also outputs the results of the processing executed by the computing device 120. The input/output device 110 includes various input devices and output devices, including, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a display, a speaker, a touch panel, and the like. The input/output device 110 may be omitted.

The communication device 130 is electrically connected to the network 20 and communicates with each device via the network 20. The communication device 130 transfers position information acquired from the operation device 30 to the calculation device 120. The communication device 130 also transfers signals generated by the calculation device 120 to the terminal 200. The communication device 130 includes various interfaces, such as a network interface card (NIC) and a universal serial bus (USB).

The storage device 140 stores various data for estimating the working area 400, such as the field data 300, and the area management program 310. The storage device 140 is used as a non-transitory tangible storage medium for storing the area management program 310. The area management program 310 may be provided as a computer program product recorded on a computer-readable storage medium 1, or may be provided as a computer program product downloadable from a server.

The field data 300 stores area information representing a plurality of work areas 400, for example, areas of a field. For example, the area information includes information representing the work area 400 estimated based on the position information of the work device 30.

The computing device 120 reads and executes the area management program 310 from the storage device 140, and performs various data processing to estimate the working area 400. For example, the computing device 120 includes a central processing unit (CPU) and the like.

The computing device 120 reads and executes the area management program 310 to realize an area estimation unit 150, a confirmation area determination unit 160, and an output unit 170, as shown in FIG. 3. The area estimation unit 150 estimates the work area 400 in which work has been performed by the work device 30, based on the position information of the work device 30. The confirmation area determination unit 160 determines, based on the field data 300, a confirmation area 410 from the estimated work area 400 that may have an incorrect area range. The output unit 170 outputs confirmation information representing one or more work areas 400 to the terminal 200. The output unit 170 also updates the area information representing the work area 400 stored in the field data 300, based on correction information acquired from the terminal 200.

Next, the configuration of the terminal 200 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal 200 includes an input/output device 210, a computing device 220, a communication device 230, and a storage device 240. The terminal 200 includes, for example, a computer, a tablet, a mobile phone, and the like. Information for the computing device 220 to execute processing is input to the input/output device 210. The input/output device 210 also outputs the results of the processing executed by the computing device 220. The input/output device 210 includes various input devices and output devices, and includes, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a display, a speaker, a touch panel, and the like.

The communication device 230 is electrically connected to the network 20 and communicates with the area management device 100 via the network 20. The communication device 230 transfers signals acquired from the area management device 100 to the calculation device 220. The communication device 230 also transfers signals generated by the calculation device 220 to the area management device 100. The communication device 230 includes various interfaces such as a transceiver used for wireless communication such as a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or a cellular network, a NIC (Network Interface Card), and a USB (Universal Serial Bus).

The storage device 240 stores various data for displaying the confirmation information, such as the display program 320. The storage device 240 is used as a non-transitory tangible storage medium for storing the display program 320. The display program 320 may be provided as a computer program product recorded on a computer-readable storage medium 2, or may be provided as a computer program product downloadable from a server.

The computing device 220 reads and executes the display program 320, thereby implementing the display unit 250 in cooperation with the input/output device 210 as shown in FIG. 3. The display unit 250 acquires confirmation information from the area management device 100, and displays the confirmation information, for example, a confirmation image 500 showing a confirmation area 410 whose range may be incorrect, on a map. The display unit 250 also accepts correction information indicating that the work area 400 is to be corrected, and outputs the correction information to the area management device 100.

(Operation of the area management system)
1 performs work in a field, it transmits position information to the computing device 120 of the area management device 100. When the computing device 120 receives the position information from the working device 30, it reads and executes an area management program 310. When the area management program 310 is read and executed, the computing device 120 starts the process shown in FIG 4, which is part of an area management method.

In step S110, the area estimation unit 150 realized by the calculation device 120 estimates the working area 400, for example, the area of a field, in which the working device 30 has performed work, based on the position information of the working device 30. For example, the area estimation unit 150 estimates the convex hull of the position represented in the position information of the working device 30 as the working area 400. The convex hull represents the smallest area that includes all positions. The working area 400 may also represent an area in which the outline of the convex hull is expanded outward by the working width of the working device 30. The working width of the working device 30 is registered in advance by the working device 30. For example, the working width represents the distance from the position of the device provided on the working device 30 to the edge of the area in which the working device 30 performs work in the width direction of the working device 30. The working width represents the distance from the position of the device provided on the working device 30 to the edge of the area in which the working device performs work in the width direction of the working device 30 when the tractor tows the agricultural machine. The area estimation unit 150 may also estimate a concave hull corresponding to the position indicated in the position information of the working device 30 as the working area 400. The area information indicating the estimated working area 400 is stored in the field data 300 by the area estimation unit 150.

In step S120, the confirmation area determination unit 160 determines a confirmation area 410 whose area range may be incorrect based on area information representing the multiple work areas 400 stored in the field data 300. For example, first, the confirmation area determination unit 160 determines a statistical value, such as an average value or a median value, regarding the area of the multiple work areas 400 based on the area of the multiple work areas 400 stored in the work information. For example, the confirmation area determination unit 160 extracts multiple work areas 400 included in the same area from the field data 300, and determines a statistical value regarding the area of the extracted multiple work areas 400. The multiple work areas 400 included in the same area may be determined based on, for example, administrative divisions, such as cities and counties. In addition, the multiple work areas 400 included in the same area may be determined based on the distance from the target work area 400. For example, the confirmation area determination unit 160 may determine the work areas 400 whose distance from the target work area 400 is within a threshold value as the work areas 400 included in the same area. The distance between the two work areas 400 may represent any distance between the two work areas 400, for example, the distance between the geometric centers of the work areas 400.

Next, the confirmation area determination unit 160 compares the statistical value relating to the area of the determined multiple work areas 400 with the areas of the multiple work areas 400 to determine a confirmation area 410 from the multiple work areas 400. For example, the confirmation area determination unit 160 determines, as the confirmation area 410, a work area 400 for which the difference between the statistical value and the area of the work area 400 is greater than a threshold value.

In step S130, the output unit 170 outputs to the terminal 200 confirmation information that represents the determined confirmation area 410 in a manner that allows it to be distinguished from the other work areas 400. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the confirmation information includes information for constructing a confirmation image 500 that represents the confirmation area 410 and the other work areas 400 on a map in a manner that allows them to be distinguished from each other. In this case, the area representing the confirmation area 410 is represented in a display form that differs from the display form of the area representing the other work areas 400, such as a color, pattern, etc. Furthermore, the confirmation information may represent a list that shows the confirmation area 410 and the other work areas 400 in a manner that allows them to be distinguished from each other.

In step S140, the display unit 250 of the terminal 200 displays the confirmation information acquired from the output unit 170 of the area management device 100 on the input/output device 210. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the display unit 250 displays a confirmation image 500 that shows the confirmation area 410 and other work areas 400 on a map in a distinguishable manner. A user, for example, a worker, checks the estimated work area 400 and the confirmation area 410 based on the confirmation image 500.

In step S150, the display unit 250 receives correction information indicating that the range of the work area 400, particularly the confirmation area 410, is to be corrected. For example, when the work area 400 and the confirmation area 410 shown in the confirmation image 500 are incorrect, the user inputs a correction operation to the input/output device 210 to correct the incorrect work area 400 and the confirmation area 410. For example, the user selects the incorrect work area 400 and inputs the positions representing the correct range of the work area 400, for example, the corners (for example, the four corners) of the area in order. The display unit 250 outputs correction information indicating that the range of the work area 400 is to be corrected to the area management device 100 based on the input correction operation. For example, the correction information indicates the range of the corrected work area 400. The correction information may also include information indicating the confirmation area 410 that is not to be corrected.

In step S160, the output unit 170 of the area management device 100 updates the work area 400 represented in the area information stored in the field data 300 based on the correction information acquired from the display unit 250 of the terminal 200. For example, the output unit 170 extracts the work area 400 corrected by the user and the range of the work area 400 from the correction information. The output unit 170 updates the range of the area corresponding to the extracted work area 400 from the area information stored in the field data 300 to the range of the work area 400 extracted from the correction information. In addition, when the correction information includes information representing the confirmation area 410 that is not corrected, the output unit 170 updates the field data 300 by treating the confirmation area 410 that is not corrected as the work area 400 confirmed by the user.

In this way, the user can easily determine which confirmation area 410 should be checked as a higher priority, and can correct the range of the confirmation area 410 when the estimated confirmation area 410 is incorrect.

(Modification)
The configuration described in the embodiment is an example, and the configuration can be changed without impairing the function. For example, the confirmation area determination unit 160 of the area management device 100 may use any statistical value representing a representative value regarding the areas of the multiple work areas 400 in step S120 shown in FIG. 4. For example, the statistical value may include a mode. In this case, the area management device 100 determines, as the statistical value, the area represented by the most frequent class in a histogram representing the distribution of the areas of the multiple work areas 400.

The confirmation area determination unit 160 may also use area statistics for some of the multiple work areas 400. For example, when the multiple work areas 400 are arranged in order of area size, the confirmation area determination unit 160 may determine the area statistics excluding the work areas 400 that are in a predetermined range at the top or bottom, for example 5%.

The area estimation unit 150 may estimate the range of the working area 400 by any method. For example, the area estimation unit 150 may estimate the working area 400 based on an image of the field captured from the sky. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the area management device 100 may estimate the working area 400 based on an image captured by an imaging device 45, for example, an artificial satellite. In this case, the artificial satellite captures an image of an area including the field from the sky and outputs image information representing the captured image to the image acquisition device 40. The area management device 100 acquires image information stored in the image acquisition device 40 and estimates the working area 400 by performing image processing, for example, edging, on the captured image represented by the image information. The captured image may be captured by any method and may include a radio wave image, for example, a SAR image, captured using radio waves, for example, a synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The captured image may also include a light wave image captured by receiving light waves, for example, visible light.

The area estimation unit 150 may estimate the multiple work areas 400 using both the captured image and the position information of the work device 30. For example, when the work device 30 performs work in a part of the multiple work areas 400, the area estimation unit 150 estimates a part of the work areas 400 based on the position information of the work device 30. The imaging device 45 also captures an image of an area having a work area group including at least a part of the multiple work areas 400 from the sky. The area estimation unit 150 estimates at least a part of the work areas 400 included in the captured work area group based on the captured image captured by the imaging device 45. In this way, the area estimation unit 150 may estimate a part of the work areas 400 of the multiple work areas 400 from the position information of the work device 30, and estimate a part of the work areas 400 of the multiple work areas 400 from the captured image. Additionally, the area estimation unit 150 may estimate all of the multiple work areas 400 from the position information of the work device 30, or may estimate all of the multiple work areas 400 from the captured image.

The above-described embodiments and modifications are merely examples, and the configurations described in each embodiment and modification may be modified and/or combined as desired without impairing functionality. Furthermore, some of the functions described in the embodiments and modifications may be omitted as long as the required functionality can be realized. For example, the area management system 1000 shown in FIG. 1 may not include the terminal 200. Furthermore, all or part of the processing of the area management device 100 may be executed by the terminal 200. Furthermore, all or part of the processing of the terminal 200 may be executed by the area management device 100. Furthermore, the area management program 310 may include a display program 320.

The area management device 100 may not include the area estimation unit 150. In this case, the area management device 100 obtains area information representing the working area 400 from another device that is not included in the area management system 1000.

1, 2: Storage medium 20: Network 30: Work device 40: Image acquisition device 45: Imaging device 100: Area management device 110: Input/output device 120: Computing device 130: Communication device 140: Storage device 150: Area estimation unit 160: Confirmation area determination unit 170: Output unit 200: Terminal 210: Input/output device 220: Computing device 230: Communication device 240: Storage device 250: Display unit 300: Farm field data 310: Area management program 320: Display program 400: Work area 410: Confirmation area 500: Confirmation image 1000: Area management system

Claims (9)

determining a confirmation area, the range of which may be incorrect, among a plurality of work areas based on the areas of the work areas in which work is performed by the work device;
outputting confirmation information that indicates the confirmation area among the plurality of work areas in a manner that makes the confirmation area distinguishable from other work areas;
A space management method including: Determining the verification region comprises:
determining a statistical value relating to the areas of the plurality of working areas based on the areas of the plurality of working areas;
determining the confirmation area from the plurality of working areas by comparing the statistical value with areas of the plurality of working areas;
The area management method according to claim 1 , further comprising: The step of comparing the statistical value with areas of the plurality of working areas to determine the confirmation area includes:
The method of claim 2 , further comprising: determining the confirmation region in which a difference between the statistical value and an area is greater than a threshold value. The area management method according to claim 1 , further comprising displaying an image that distinguishably represents the confirmation area and the plurality of work areas excluding the confirmation area, based on the confirmation information. The area management method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising receiving modification information indicating that the range of the confirmation area is to be modified. The area management method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising estimating a first work area that is at least a part of the plurality of work areas based on position information that indicates a position when the work device performed the work. The area management method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising estimating a second work area that is at least a part of the first work area group based on an image captured from above an area having a first work area group that includes at least a part of the plurality of work areas. a confirmation area determination unit that determines a confirmation area, the range of which may be incorrect, from among a plurality of work areas based on the areas of the work areas in which work is performed by the work device;
an output unit that outputs confirmation information that indicates the confirmation area among the plurality of work areas in a manner that makes the confirmation area distinguishable from other work areas;
A region management system comprising: determining a first working area, which is likely to have an incorrect range, from among the plurality of working areas based on the areas of the plurality of working areas in which work is performed by the working device;
outputting confirmation information that indicates the first work area among the plurality of work areas in a manner that makes the first work area distinguishable from other work areas;
An area management program that causes a computing device to execute the above.

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