JP7722686B2 - Reward determination device, reward determination program, reward determination method, reward determination system, and farm work support device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a reward determination device, a reward determination program, a reward determination method, a reward determination system, and an agricultural work support device.

Systems that support the work of orderers and contractors have been proposed in the past. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a work support system for orderers and contractors in recruitment and job-seeking activities that includes matching functions, chat functions, payment functions, and mutual evaluation functions, allowing employment considerations to be made after actual work has been carried out. This system allows mutual evaluations between orderers and contractors to be realized on a website.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-170489

However, the above-mentioned prior art documents do not describe how to determine the reward for agricultural work performed by remotely controlling or autonomously operating a work vehicle.

One aspect of the present invention has as its main objective the realization of a reward determination device or the like that can appropriately determine rewards for agricultural work performed by remotely controlled or autonomously operated working machines.

To solve the above-mentioned problems, a remuneration determination device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises an agricultural work information acquisition unit that acquires, from a requester, agricultural work information for a target agricultural work to be performed by remote control of a work machine or autonomous operation of the work machine; an evaluation acquisition unit that acquires, from the requester, an evaluation of the target agricultural work that has been performed; and a remuneration determination unit that determines a remuneration for performing the target agricultural work based on the agricultural work information and the evaluation.

A reward determination device according to one aspect of the present invention further includes a worker information acquisition unit that acquires the remote operation proficiency of the work assistant performing the remote operation, the remote operation performance of the remote operation device performing the remote operation, or the autonomous operation performance of the work machine, and the reward determination unit may further determine the reward by referring to the remote operation proficiency, the remote operation performance, or the autonomous operation performance.

The remuneration determination device according to one aspect of the present invention may further include a proficiency management unit that changes the remote operation proficiency level by referring to the farm work information for the target farm work.

A reward determination device according to one aspect of the present invention further includes a reward type information acquisition unit that acquires reward type information indicating the type of reward from the client, the reward type information indicating whether the reward is an agricultural product or an exchange value that can be exchanged for an agricultural product, and the reward determination unit may further determine the reward by referring to the reward type information.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one aspect of the present invention provides a reward determination program for causing a computer to function as the reward determination device, and for causing a computer to function as the farm work information acquisition unit, the evaluation acquisition unit, and the reward determination unit.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a remuneration determination method according to one aspect of the present invention includes an agricultural work information acquisition step in which a remuneration determination device acquires, from a requester, agricultural work information for a target agricultural work to be performed by remote control of a work machine or autonomous operation of the work machine; an evaluation acquisition step in which the remuneration determination device acquires, from the requester, an evaluation of the target agricultural work that has been performed; and a remuneration determination step in which the remuneration determination device determines a remuneration for performing the target agricultural work by referring to the agricultural work information and the evaluation.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one aspect of the present invention provides a reward determination system that is controlled by at least one control device and comprises a client terminal through which a client of a target agricultural work to be performed by remote control of a work machine or autonomous operation of the work machine inputs information, and a server that can send and receive information to and from the client terminal. The control device executes a farm work information acquisition process that acquires farm work information for the target agricultural work from the client terminal via the server, an evaluation acquisition process that acquires an evaluation of the performed target agricultural work from the client terminal via the server, and a reward determination process that determines a reward for performing the target agricultural work by referencing the farm work information and the evaluation.

To solve the above-mentioned problems, one aspect of the present invention provides a farming support device that includes a registration information acquisition unit that acquires at least one of the assistant information and the machine information of the work machine from a database in which multiple pieces of information, which are at least one of the assistant information of work assistants who can perform farming work by remotely operating the work machine, and the machine information of the work machine, are registered; a farming work information acquisition unit that acquires, from a requester, farming work information for a target farming work to be performed by remotely operating the work machine or autonomously operating the work machine; a request target selection unit that selects a target for the target farming work by comparing the farming work information for the target farming work with multiple pieces of assistant information and at least one of the machine information; a monitoring processing unit that acquires the work status of the work machine that performs the target farming work; a trouble processing unit that determines, when a problem occurs in the target farming work, whether the problem can be resolved by remotely operating the work machine or autonomously operating the work machine; an evaluation acquisition unit that acquires, from the requester, an evaluation of the target farming work that has been performed; and a remuneration determination unit that determines a remuneration for performing the target farming work based on the farming work information and the evaluation.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to appropriately determine the reward for agricultural work performed by remotely controlled or autonomously operated working vehicles.

1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a farm work support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a control method for the agricultural work support system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a selection process included in the control method. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a remote control process included in the control method. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a remuneration determination process included in the control method. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a display on the operator terminal during remote operation or monitoring. 10A and 10B are schematic diagrams illustrating examples of notifications displayed on the worker terminal and the client terminal.

One embodiment of the present invention is described in detail below.

[Configuration of agricultural work support system 1]
Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the agricultural work support system 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the agricultural work support system 1 includes a grass cutter (working machine) 10, a client terminal 20, a worker terminal 30, a fixed image capturing device 40, and a server 50.

With the agricultural work support system 1, a requester of agricultural work, who operates the requester terminal 20, can request the agricultural work from a work assistant who is suitable for carrying out the agricultural work, among work assistants who have worker terminals 30. A work assistant is someone who can accept a request for agricultural work and carry out the agricultural work by monitoring and remotely operating a work machine such as a brush cutter 10. Therefore, the work assistant does not need to reside near the land where the agricultural work will actually be carried out.

In this invention, the term "agricultural work" refers not only to work related to the production of agricultural crops, but also to work related to agriculture that does not contribute to the production of agricultural crops, such as work outside the field, such as weeding ridges or slopes. In other words, the agricultural work performed by the agricultural work support system 1 includes not only work for producing agricultural crops, but also work related to agriculture that is not directly related to crop production. Examples of agricultural work include work related to crop production within the field, such as sowing, planting, management, or harvesting, work such as weeding or water management around the field, and work such as creating various records of seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, or work history required for field management.

The requested work assistant carries out the farm work by monitoring and remotely operating the grass cutter 10. At this time, even if there is some kind of trouble with the grass cutter 10 and it is difficult for the work assistant to restore it, the farm work assistance system 1 can notify local personnel, etc., and take appropriate action. The farm work assistance system 1 can also determine appropriate compensation for the work assistant.

In this specification, the agricultural work requested by the requester may be referred to as the "target agricultural work," the land on which the target agricultural work will be performed may be referred to as the "work area," and the work supporter who performs the agricultural work in response to the request may be referred to as the "remote worker." Furthermore, when simply referring to the "requester" in this specification, it refers to the requester who requests agricultural work using the agricultural work support system 1.

(Grass cutter 10)
The grass cutter 10 is a working machine that moves within a work area for a specific agricultural task and performs agricultural tasks such as mowing. The grass cutter 10 can be remotely controlled and can also operate autonomously. Here, "remotely controlled operation" includes not only remote operation performed by a remote operator, but also operation of the grass cutter 10 by remote control without human intervention, such as operation by a signal from another control device such as the server 50. In other words, the server 50 may be a remote control device that remotely controls the grass cutter 10. The grass cutter 10 may also function as an area information acquisition device that acquires topographical information at each position within the work area.

The brush cutter 10 is equipped with a machine control device 11, a machine imaging device 12, a position acquisition device 13, a status detection sensor 14, and a machine communication device 19.

The vehicle imaging device 12 captures images of the area around the grass cutter 10 (e.g., the area in which the grass cutter 10 is expected to move) and generates image data. The vehicle imaging device 12 outputs the image data to the vehicle control device 11.

The position acquisition device 13 acquires the position of the grass cutter 10. For example, the position acquisition device 13 acquires the position of the grass cutter 10 using a satellite positioning system such as GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System). The position acquisition device 13 outputs position information indicating the position of the grass cutter 10 to the machine control device 11. Note that the grass cutter 10 does not need to be equipped with a position acquisition device 13. For example, the grass cutter 10 may have a structure that reels out a string, one end of which is fixed to a predetermined position in or around the work area, and the position of the grass cutter 10 within the work area can be easily acquired from the length of the string.

The status detection sensor 14 is a sensor that detects the status of the lawnmower 10. The lawnmower 10 may be equipped with, for example, an acceleration sensor that measures acceleration, or an inclination sensor such as a gyroscope that measures the inclination angle of the lawnmower 10, as the status detection sensor 14. The status detection sensor 14 outputs the detection results to the machine control device 11.

The machine control device 11 controls the overall operation of each part of the brush cutter 10. The machine control device 11 controls the movement and mowing operation of the brush cutter 10, for example, in accordance with instructions (movement instructions and operation instructions) from the operator terminal 30 remotely operated by a remote operator. The machine control device 11 may also control the autonomous operation of the brush cutter 10. The machine control device 11 may have the function of switching between a remote control mode in which it accepts remote operation from a remote operator, and an autonomous operation mode in which it performs autonomous operation under control from the machine control device 11 itself or the server 50.

The machine communication device 19 communicates with the server 50. The machine communication device 19 may also communicate with the client terminal 20 and the worker terminal 30.

The brush cutter 10 may be a work vehicle that operates completely autonomously and does not accept remote control of its operation via remote operation. Furthermore, the work vehicle that performs agricultural work is not limited to the brush cutter 10, and may perform any type of agricultural work. For example, the work vehicle that performs agricultural work may be a liquid fertilizer mixing device or liquid fertilizer spreading device that is installed in a fixed position and does not move within its working range.

(Requester terminal 20)
The requester terminal 20 is a communication terminal used by a requester, and includes a first terminal control device 21, a first touch panel 22, and a first terminal communication device 29.

The first terminal control device 21 comprehensively controls the processing of each part of the client terminal 20. The first touch panel 22 serves as both an input device for accepting instructions from the client and a display device for displaying images. The first terminal communication device 29 communicates with the server 50.

The client terminal 20 may be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or laptop, or a fixed terminal such as a personal computer.

(Worker terminal 30)
The worker terminal 30 is a communication terminal used by a work assistant and includes a second terminal control device 31, a second touch panel 33, and a second terminal communication device 39.

The second terminal control device 31 comprehensively controls the processing of each part of the operator terminal 30. The second terminal control device 31 includes a machine control unit 32. The machine control unit 32 outputs signals that control the operation of the brush cutter 10 based on input by the remote operator using the second touch panel 33.

The second touch panel 33 serves as both an input device for receiving instructions from the work assistant and a display device for displaying images. The second terminal communication device 39 communicates with the server 50. The second terminal communication device 39 may also communicate directly with the brush cutter 10.

The worker terminal 30 may be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or laptop, or a fixed terminal such as a personal computer. The worker terminal 30 has the function of remotely controlling the brush cutter 10 using the machine control unit 32, but is not limited to this. For example, the agricultural work support system 1 may also be equipped with a separate remote control or the like that can remotely control the brush cutter 10, in which case the worker terminal 30 may not include the machine control unit 32. Furthermore, if the brush cutter 10 is a work machine that does not accept remote control of its operation via remote operation and operates completely autonomously, the worker terminal 30 may not include the machine control unit 32.

(Fixed imaging device 40)
The fixed imaging device 40 captures an image of all or part of the work area of the target agricultural work and generates image data. The fixed imaging device 40 is capable of communicating with the server 50 and outputs the image data to the server 50. The fixed imaging device 40 may also communicate with the worker terminal 30 and output the image data directly to the worker terminal 30. The fixed imaging device 40 may be an imaging device that captures an image of a specific area, or may be an imaging device that captures images in all directions, such as a 360° camera.

The agricultural work support system 1 may also be equipped with a mobile imaging device instead of a fixed imaging device 40. A mobile imaging device may be, for example, an imaging device mounted on a mobile vehicle capable of traveling within the work area and its surrounding areas, an imaging device mounted on an aircraft such as a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), or an imaging device mounted on a small satellite. The movement of such a mobile imaging device may be controlled autonomously or remotely by an operator.

Furthermore, if the grass cutter 10 is equipped with a machine body imaging device 12, the agricultural work support system 1 does not need to have a fixed imaging device 40. Similarly, if the agricultural work support system 1 has a fixed imaging device 40, the grass cutter 10 does not need to have a machine body imaging device 12. If the agricultural work support system 1 has both the machine body imaging device 12 and the fixed imaging device 40 of the grass cutter 10, as in this embodiment, the remote worker performing the agricultural work can monitor and remotely operate the grass cutter 10 using multiple viewpoints.

(Server 50)
The server 50 is an information processing device that comprehensively processes information of the farm work support system 1. The server 50 includes a server control device 51, a server storage device 52, and a server communication device 59.

The server storage device 52 is a storage device that stores various data related to the server 50. The server storage device 52 stores a database 53. The database 53 may register multiple pieces of assistant information for work assistants and machine information for work machines such as brush cutters 10, as long as multiple pieces of either information are registered.

Assistant information may include information such as the work assistant's registration number, personal information such as age, past history of agricultural work performed remotely, past evaluations received from clients, remote operation proficiency for each work machine, available work dates and times, and desired remuneration. Furthermore, machine information may include information such as the type of work machine, model year, available agricultural work, possible types of trouble, past trouble history, autonomous operation performance, and whether or not it can be remotely controlled.

The information on the work assistant's proficiency in remotely operating each work machine may be, for example, information on the work assistant's usage history for each work machine, such as the number of times the work assistant has operated each work machine, the operating time, and the number of times they have recovered from problems. The proficiency information may also include proficiency information for each work area, generated for each work area in which agricultural work has been performed by the work assistant in the past. The proficiency information may also include the work assistant's attendance history of seminars, etc. on the work machine or the target agricultural work.

The autonomous operation performance of a work vehicle is information that indicates the degree to which the work vehicle is capable of autonomous operation. For example, information such as (a) all tasks can be performed autonomously, (b) only some agricultural tasks can be performed autonomously, or (c) movement can be performed autonomously, but actual agricultural tasks require remote control may be registered as autonomous operation performance. Furthermore, the autonomous operation performance may further include information indicating the operation accuracy and speed for tasks that can be performed autonomously.

Farm work information for the target farm work is also registered in database 53. The farm work information for the target farm work may include information such as the content of the target farm work entered by the client, the work period for the target farm work, land information for the work area of the target farm work, past farm work history, and history of past problems. The land information for the work area may include image data of the work area, topographical information such as slope and curvature, and a suitability index for each work machine. The suitability index is an index that indicates the suitability of a work machine, such as the brush cutter 10, for the work area (for example, whether the work machine can be used appropriately for the work area).

The database 53 may also include evaluations of remote workers entered by the client, emergency contact information in case of trouble, etc. The database 53 may also include weather information acquired by the server 50 via the server communication device 59. The weather information may include information on past weather conditions and weather forecast information.

Note that this example shows various types of information registered in database 53. However, for example, server storage device 52 may include multiple databases, and information such as supporter information, machine information, and farm work information may be registered in different databases for each type of information.

The server communication device 59 communicates with the brush cutter 10, the client terminal 20, the worker terminal 30, and the fixed imaging device 40. In other words, the server 50 is configured to be able to send and receive data with other devices included in the agricultural work support system 1. Transmission and reception between the server 50 and other devices included in the agricultural work support system 1 may be wireless or wired. The server 50 may remotely control the brush cutter 10 through this communication.

The server control device 51 includes a selection processing unit 60, a remote control processing unit 70, and a reward determination processing unit 80. The server control device 51 is a control device that controls the agricultural work support system 1, and can also be considered an agricultural work support device.

(Selection processing unit 60)
The selection processing unit 60 includes a registration information acquisition unit 61 , a candidate extraction unit 62 , a work time estimation unit 63 , and a request target selection unit 64 .

The registration information acquisition unit 61 acquires supporter information and machine information from the database 53. The machine information acquired here is not limited to the brush cutter 10, but may be machine information for multiple work machines registered in the database 53. The registration information acquisition unit 61 may acquire only either the supporter information or the machine information.

The registration information acquisition unit 61 also acquires agricultural work information for the target agricultural work requested by the requester. The registration information acquisition unit 61 may also acquire weather information stored in the database 53.

The candidate extraction unit 62 compares the farming work information of the target farming work with the supporter information to extract as candidates work assistants who can be requested to perform the target farming work. The candidate extraction unit 62 may also compare the farming work information of the target farming work with the machine information to extract as candidates work machines that can be requested to perform the target farming work. In this case, it is preferable that the work machines extracted as candidates are work machines that are capable of fully autonomous operation and do not require remote control.

Furthermore, when the registration information acquisition unit 61 acquires weather information, the candidate extraction unit 62 may use the weather information to estimate the dates and times within the work period when the target agricultural work can be performed, and use the results of this estimation to extract candidates. For example, the candidate extraction unit 62 may exclude from the work period dates and times when weather unsuitable for performing the target agricultural work, such as heavy rain, is forecast. Furthermore, if muddy ground is unsuitable for performing the target agricultural work, the candidate extraction unit 62 may exclude from the work period dates on which rain is forecast and the several days following. Furthermore, if the target agricultural work is agricultural work that requires sunny weather even after completion, such as sowing or liquid fertilizer application, the candidate extraction unit 62 may exclude from the work period dates on which rain is forecast and the day before.

Furthermore, if multiple consecutive days of sunny weather are required to carry out the target agricultural work, the candidate extraction unit 62 may specify a period of continuous sunny weather as the work period. Examples of such agricultural work include "plowing - fertilizing/chemical application - sowing - covering with soil," "plowing - ridge making - mulching," "herbicide application - harvesting," "harvesting (binder) - scouring," and "cutting grass - drying - turning over." Continuous sunny weather is also preferable when harvesting multiple nearby fields at the same time in order to obtain a large yield.

Furthermore, if the target agricultural work is agricultural work that is required after rainfall, such as spraying fungicide, the candidate extraction unit 62 may use only the day after rainfall is forecast during the work period to extract candidates.

The candidate extraction unit 62 may extract candidates on the assumption that the request target selection unit 64 will select multiple request targets. This is the case, for example, when agricultural work is performed using multiple work vehicles through division of labor. In this case, the candidate extraction unit 62 may extract multiple candidates for each work vehicle so that different work assistants can be selected as request targets for each of the multiple work vehicles. In this case, if the preferred weather differs for each work vehicle, the candidate extraction unit 62 may extract candidates for each work vehicle by taking into account the content of the target agricultural work, the weather, and the work period. Furthermore, if agricultural work using multiple work vehicles is scheduled to be requested to a single work assistant, the candidate extraction unit 62 may use only dates and times during the work period when the weather is suitable for all of the multiple work vehicles to perform the agricultural work, in extracting candidates.

With this configuration, the candidate extraction unit 62 can estimate the date and time when the target agricultural work can be performed, taking into account the effects of weather. As a result, it is possible to extract as candidates work assistants who can perform the target agricultural work on the estimated date and time. This prevents the request target selected by the selection processing unit 60 from being unable to perform the target agricultural work due to weather conditions.

The work time estimation unit 63 estimates the work time required for the target agricultural work for each extracted candidate. If the candidate is a work assistant, the work time estimation unit 63 estimates the work time using the remote operation proficiency level included in the assistant information. For example, the work time estimation unit 63 may use the average work time of someone with no experience in the same or similar type of agricultural work as the target agricultural work as a standard, and assume that the higher the proficiency level, the faster the work speed, and estimate a shorter work time.

The standard for average work time may be calculated from past farm work history included in the farm work information for the target farm work. Furthermore, if there is no past farm work history for farm work of the same type as the target farm work, the standard for average work time may be calculated from past work history for similar farm work. Furthermore, the requester may register the standard for work time in database 53 at the time of request.

The work time estimation unit 63 may also extract the area of the work area from the land information included in the agricultural work information and use this information to estimate the work time. For example, the work time estimation unit 63 may estimate a longer work time the larger the area of the work area. With this configuration, the work time estimation unit 63 can more accurately estimate the work time for each candidate compared to when the area of the work area is not taken into account.

The work time estimation unit 63 may also use topographical information included in the land information of the work area to estimate the work time. For example, the work time estimation unit 63 may estimate a longer work time based on information on the curvature and inclination angle of the work area, the greater the undulations of the topography of the work area.

When the candidate is a working machine, the work time estimation unit 63 estimates the work time required for the target agricultural work using the autonomous operation performance included in the machine information. For example, the work time estimation unit 63 may estimate a shorter work time the more work the candidate working machine can perform autonomously, or the faster the work speed of the work it can perform autonomously.

The request target selection unit 64 selects a request target for the target agricultural work from among the candidates based on at least the estimated work time. The request target selection unit 64 may, for example, select the candidate with the shortest estimated work time as the request target. In addition to the work time, the request target selection unit 64 may also select a request target based on factors other than the work time, such as the candidate's available work dates and times, past evaluations received from the requester, and whether or not the candidate has received other agricultural work orders, which are included in the supporter information. For example, the request target selection unit 64 may exclude candidates with work times longer than a predetermined time, and then prioritize candidates that have received high evaluations from the requester in the past as the request target.

In this way, the selection processing unit 60 extracts candidates from the agricultural work information for the target agricultural work. Then, when selecting the request target, the selection processing unit 60 uses the work time estimated for each candidate based on the remote operation proficiency of the work assistant or the autonomous operation performance of the work vehicle. Therefore, the selection processing unit 60 can select the candidate that best suits the work content of the target agricultural work as the request target.

(Remote control processing unit 70)
The remote control processing unit 70 includes a land information acquisition unit 71 and a work management unit 72 .

The land information acquisition unit 71 acquires agricultural work information, including land information for the target agricultural work, registered in the database 53. Note that if the remote control processing unit 70 is capable of acquiring the agricultural work information acquired by the registered information acquisition unit 61, the land information acquisition unit 71 can be omitted.

The work management unit 72 monitors the work machine and handles problems. The work management unit 72 includes a monitoring processing unit 73 and a trouble processing unit 74.

The monitoring processing unit 73 acquires the working status of the grass cutter 10 as it is remotely operated by a remote worker who is a work assistant performing the target agricultural work. The monitoring processing unit 73 may acquire image data acquired by the grass cutter 10's machine imaging device 12 and/or the fixed imaging device 40 as information indicating the working status of the grass cutter 10. The monitoring processing unit 73 may also acquire the detection results of the grass cutter 10's status detection sensor 14 as information indicating the working status of the grass cutter 10.

In addition, even when the target agricultural work is performed by a lawnmower 10 that is capable of completely autonomous operation without the need for remote control, the monitoring processing unit 73 acquires the work status of the lawnmower 10 in the same way as when remote control is performed by a remote operator.

The monitoring processing unit 73 may accumulate historical information about problems that have occurred in the target agricultural work. For example, the monitoring processing unit 73 may register historical information about problems in the database 53 in a format that includes the information about the land within the work area or the information about the brush cutter 10 used in the target agricultural work. Trouble will be discussed later.

When a problem occurs in the target agricultural work, the trouble processing unit 74 determines whether the problem can be recovered from by remote operation by a remote operator or the server 50, or by autonomous operation of the mower 10.

A trouble may include any phenomenon that prevents the grass cutter 10 from carrying out the specified agricultural work. Examples of trouble include the grass cutter 10 malfunctioning due to a malfunction, the grass cutter 10 getting stuck due to overturning, and the grass cutter 10 detecting an area where it cannot travel. Examples of trouble with work equipment other than the grass cutter 10 include a liquid fertilizer mixing device where the mixing ratio of fertilizer and solution is out of specification, and a liquid fertilizer spraying device where liquid fertilizer cannot be sprayed due to clogging or the spraying cannot be stopped even after the specified amount of liquid fertilizer has been sprayed.

In addition, in the example of a malfunction, if the liquid fertilizer spraying device is unable to spray, it is possible that the remaining amount of liquid fertilizer runs out midway through operation. In this case, recovery from the malfunction can be achieved by replenishing liquid fertilizer to continue spraying. Furthermore, if it is determined that more liquid fertilizer than the specified amount is being sprayed, spraying can be stopped and the unsprayed area identified. An example of a situation in which more liquid fertilizer than the specified amount is being sprayed is when there is a malfunction in the liquid fertilizer valve control, causing the liquid fertilizer to be consumed faster than expected. The amount of liquid fertilizer sprayed by valve control is related to the valve opening, as well as air pressure, water pressure, and the movement speed of the mower 10. Therefore, possible valve control malfunctions include loose valves, as well as errors in the link setting between spraying and the speed of the mower 10 and the liquid fertilizer spray volume setting. Note that the spraying device does not only spray liquid fertilizer, but could also spray pesticides, for example.

It is preferable that the type of trouble is registered in advance in the database 53. Furthermore, it is preferable that the trouble processing unit 74 be able to detect the occurrence of trouble even if the type of trouble is not registered in the database 53. For example, the trouble processing unit 74 may compare the agricultural work information for the target agricultural work with the working status of the grass cutter 10, and detect the occurrence of a trouble if the grass cutter 10 performs an operation such as a stop that is not scheduled for the target agricultural work.

The trouble processing unit 74 may determine whether recovery from a trouble is possible if the historical information on past troubles contained in the land information or machine information includes information on a similar type of trouble. For example, if the historical information on troubles includes cases in which the brush cutter 10 recovered through autonomous operation or remote control when a similar type of trouble occurred, the trouble processing unit 74 may determine that recovery is possible. Furthermore, if the brush cutter 10 stops in front of an impassable location, the trouble processing unit 74 may determine that recovery is possible if the land information includes information on an alternative route that can avoid the impassable location.

The trouble processing unit 74 may determine that recovery from the trouble is impossible if it determines from the trouble history information that recovery is not possible through autonomous operation or remote control, or if a type of trouble not included in the trouble history information has occurred. If it determines that recovery from the trouble is impossible, the trouble processing unit 74 notifies the emergency contact associated with the target agricultural work of a request for assistance.

The emergency contact person may be a local person in charge of the work area where the subject agricultural work is carried out and who handles problems related to the subject agricultural work, or an emergency response team for the area that includes the work area. The local person may be the person who requested the subject agricultural work, or a third party other than the requester and the remote worker.

If the emergency contact is local personnel, the trouble processing unit 74 may notify the local personnel of the occurrence of the trouble and the working status of the brush cutter 10 when a trouble occurs. Furthermore, the trouble processing unit 74 may notify the local personnel that the trouble has been resolved when the trouble has been resolved. With this configuration, when a trouble occurs, the local personnel can easily determine whether or not to wait to deal with the trouble.

The emergency contact may also be a recovery device (not shown) other than the lawnmower 10 that can recover the lawnmower 10 from a problem, or the operator of such a device. The recovery device may be, for example, a device equipped with a robotic arm that can lift an overturned lawnmower 10 and return it to its normal position.

Furthermore, if the working machine is a device other than the brush cutter 10, such as a liquid fertilizer mixing device, and the problem is a malfunction in the liquid fertilizer mixing ratio, the recovery device may be a device that opens and closes the adjustment valve for the solution supplied to the liquid fertilizer mixing device. Such an adjustment valve may be provided on the solution tank or facility that stores the solution, rather than on the liquid fertilizer mixing device. Therefore, such a problem cannot be recovered by remotely operating the liquid fertilizer mixing device or by autonomously operating the liquid fertilizer mixing device, but the recovery device can easily recover by opening and closing the adjustment valve. In this case, if the operator of the recovery device that opens and closes the adjustment valve remotely or the recovery device is capable of autonomous operation, recovery work by on-site personnel is not required.

The trouble processing unit 74 may notify the user of the occurrence of a trouble, the working status of the brush cutter 10, recovery from the trouble, or a request for assistance by, for example, sending a text message, email, or automated voice call. Furthermore, the trouble processing unit 74 may also notify the user of a request for assistance by sending an emergency signal to an emergency contact.

The trouble processing unit 74 may refer to trouble history information and notify the remote operator remotely operating the grass cutter 10 or the server 50 of areas where trouble may occur during the target agricultural work. This allows the remote operator or server 50 to remotely operate the grass cutter 10 so that the grass cutter 10 travels while avoiding areas where trouble may occur.

The trouble processing unit 74 may also notify the lawnmower 10 of areas where trouble may occur. In this case, the lawnmower 10 can operate autonomously to avoid areas where trouble may occur.

In this way, if a problem occurs during the target agricultural work performed by remote control or autonomous operation of the grass cutter 10 and recovery by remote operation by the remote operator or autonomous operation of the grass cutter 10 is not possible, the remote control processing unit 70 can request assistance from an emergency contact point. Therefore, the remote control processing unit 70 can reduce the possibility of the target agricultural work being suspended due to a problem.

(Remuneration determination processing unit 80)
The remuneration determination processing unit 80 includes a farm work information acquisition unit 81, a remuneration type information acquisition unit 82, a worker information acquisition unit 83, an evaluation acquisition unit 84, a remuneration determination unit 85, a proficiency management unit 86, and a registration information update unit 87.

The farm work information acquisition unit 81 acquires farm work information for the target farm work from the requester. Here, "acquired from the requester" includes a situation in which the farm work information acquisition unit 81 etc. acquires information registered in the database 53 by the requester from the requester terminal 20 from the database 53. The same applies hereinafter.

The remuneration type information acquisition unit 82 may acquire from the requester remuneration type information indicating the type of remuneration for performing the target agricultural work. The remuneration type information indicates whether the remuneration for performing the target agricultural work is exchange value exchangeable for agricultural products or agricultural products themselves. Agricultural products include not only agricultural products themselves, but also, for example, merchandise containing agricultural products or processed agricultural products. Furthermore, exchange value exchangeable for agricultural products may include, for example, points or discount coupons that can be used to purchase products on an electronic commerce (EC) site or in a physical store. Furthermore, exchange value exchangeable for agricultural products may be regional currency or digital regional currency. Points or discount coupons may be electronically added to a registered account, or may be in the form of a point code or coupon code, or may be in the form of a ticket or the like printed with these codes sent by mail.

The worker information acquisition unit 83 may acquire the remote operation proficiency of the remote operator performing the remote operation, the remote operation performance of the server 50 performing the remote operation, or the autonomous operation performance of the work machine. Note that the farm work information acquisition unit 81, the remuneration type information acquisition unit 82, and the worker information acquisition unit 83 do not need to reacquire information that has already been acquired by the registration information acquisition unit 61.

The evaluation acquisition unit 84 acquires from the requester an evaluation of the target agricultural work performed by the remote worker. If the target agricultural work is performed by completely autonomous operation of the brush cutter 10, the evaluation acquisition unit 84 may acquire an evaluation of the target agricultural work performed by the autonomous operation of the brush cutter 10. The evaluation of the target agricultural work may be a score indicating a percentage of the perfect score, a relative value based on an average value, a graded evaluation such as "good," "average," or "poor," or a specific amount of compensation.

The evaluation of the target agricultural work may be determined by the client, taking into account the condition or yield of the work area after the target agricultural work is performed, as well as the priority of the target agricultural work and the weather at the time the target agricultural work is performed. The evaluation may also be based on the results of a comparison between the work time estimated by the work time estimation unit 63 and the actual work time required for the target agricultural work. If a problem occurs during the target agricultural work, the evaluation may be high even if the actual work time is long, depending on the response to recover from the problem. Therefore, the remote control processing unit 70 may display, on the client terminal 20, information such as the comparison between the estimated work time and the actual work time and the response history for recovering from the problem, along with the notification of completion of the target agricultural work.

The client may determine the evaluation subjectively, or may incorporate objective indicators based on evaluation criteria data, etc., to determine the evaluation. Therefore, the remote control processing unit 70 may acquire the evaluation criteria data stored in the database 53 and display the evaluation criteria data on the client terminal 20 along with the notification of completion of the target agricultural work.

The remuneration determination unit 85 determines the remuneration for performing the target agricultural work based on the acquired agricultural work information and evaluation. The remuneration may be determined, for example, by multiplying the target unit price of the target agricultural work by a client factor coefficient and an evaluation coefficient. For example, if the client factor coefficient and evaluation coefficient are greater than 1, the remuneration may be added to the target unit price, and if they are less than 1, the remuneration may be subtracted from the target unit price.

The estimated unit price for the target agricultural work can be determined by multiplying the estimated hourly rate for the target agricultural work by the actual work time. The estimated hourly rate for the target agricultural work may be calculated, for example, from past agricultural work history included in the agricultural work information. In addition, a unit price table for each type of agricultural work may be pre-registered in the database 53, and the remuneration determination unit 85 may determine the estimated hourly rate by referring to this unit price table.

The requester factor coefficient may be a coefficient determined by the requester's desired budget, whether the requester has designated a work assistant, the importance of the target farming work, the priority of the target farming work, etc. For example, if the requester's desired budget is lower than the estimated hourly rate, or if the importance or priority of the target farming work is low, the remuneration determination unit 85 may set the requester factor as a coefficient smaller than 1. Conversely, if the requester's desired budget is higher than the estimated hourly rate, or if the requester has designated a work assistant, or if the importance or priority of the target farming work is high, the remuneration determination unit 85 may set the requester factor as a coefficient larger than 1.

The evaluation coefficient may be a coefficient determined based on the client's evaluation. For example, if the client's evaluation is higher than the standard "normal" evaluation, or if it is higher than the average evaluation based on past farm work history, the reward determination unit 85 may set the evaluation coefficient to a coefficient greater than 1.

The remuneration determination unit 85 may further determine the remuneration by referring to the remote operator's level of proficiency in remote operation or the remote operation performance of the server 50. For example, the remuneration determination unit 85 may increase the estimated hourly rate for the target agricultural work the higher the level of proficiency of the remote operator or the remote operation performance of the server 50 included in the supporter information. Note that if the target agricultural work is performed by fully autonomous operation of the brush cutter 10, the remuneration determination unit 85 may determine the remuneration by referring to the autonomous operation performance.

When the remuneration type information acquisition unit 82 acquires remuneration type information, the remuneration determination unit 85 may refer to the remuneration type information and determine an appropriate amount of remuneration for each type of remuneration. For example, if the remuneration is an agricultural product, the remuneration determination unit 85 may first calculate the monetary value of the remuneration and then determine as the remuneration an amount of agricultural product with a market value slightly higher than the calculated monetary value.

With this configuration, the client can select the reward from agricultural products or exchange value that can be exchanged for agricultural products. This makes it possible to set an appropriate reward for remotely operated agricultural work, which is difficult to reward highly.

The proficiency management unit 86 may refer to the agricultural work information for the target agricultural work and change the remote operator's remote operation proficiency or the remote operation performance of the server 50. For example, the proficiency management unit 86 may increase the remote operation proficiency if the number of times the remote operator has performed the target agricultural work by remote operation exceeds a predetermined value. Furthermore, the proficiency management unit 86 may increase the remote operator's remote operation proficiency for the grass cutter 10 if the remote operator's remote operation time or number of remote operations exceeds a predetermined value after the target agricultural work is performed. Furthermore, the proficiency management unit 86 may increase the remote operation proficiency if the requester's evaluation of the remote operator is higher than average, and may decrease the remote operation proficiency if the evaluation is significantly below average.

The types of remuneration determined by the remuneration determination unit 85 may also include an increase in proficiency level by the proficiency level management unit 86. For example, if the target agricultural work is extremely simple, it may be difficult for the client to set an appropriate remuneration. However, even if the target agricultural work is simple, the remote worker can become accustomed to remote operation by remotely operating the brush cutter 10. Furthermore, the higher the remote worker's proficiency in remote operation, the more likely the remote worker will be selected as a candidate for future request for the target agricultural work, and the more likely a higher remuneration will be determined. Therefore, even if the remuneration is simply an increase in proficiency level, the remuneration can motivate the work assistant to accept the target agricultural work.

With this configuration, the remuneration determination processing unit 80 changes the proficiency level of the remote worker depending on the target agricultural work performed. This allows the proficiency level of the remote worker registered in the database 53 to be managed to an appropriate value.

The registration information update unit 87 registers or updates information in the database 53, such as the client's evaluation acquired by the evaluation acquisition unit 84, the remuneration determined by the remuneration determination unit 85, and the remote operation proficiency level changed by the proficiency management unit 86.

In this way, the reward determination processing unit 80 can determine the reward according to the remote operation proficiency or autonomous operation performance. Therefore, a larger reward is awarded for performing the target agricultural work using a remote operator with a higher level of remote operation proficiency or a brush cutter 10 with higher autonomous operation performance. Therefore, the reward determination processing unit 80 can provide incentives for becoming skilled in remote operation and selecting a work machine with high autonomous operation performance.

The server control device 51 may include only one or two of the selection processing unit 60, the remote control processing unit 70, and the reward determination processing unit 80. In other words, the farm work support system 1 may be, for example, a selection system in which the server control device 51 includes only the selection processing unit 60, a remote control system in which the server control device 51 includes only the remote control processing unit 70, or a reward determination system in which the server control device 51 includes only the reward determination processing unit 80.

In this case, the server control device 51 in the selection system can be considered a selection device that selects a request target for the target agricultural work. This selection device is a control device that controls the selection system, capable of executing the selection process S1, described below, using the selection processing unit 60. Furthermore, the server control device 51 in the remote control system can be considered a remote control device that supports responding to problems that occur in the target agricultural work. This remote control device is a control device that controls the remote control system, capable of executing the remote control process S2, described below, using the remote control processing unit 70. Furthermore, the server control device 51 in the reward determination system can be considered a reward determination device that determines the reward for performing the target agricultural work. This reward determination device is a control device that controls the reward determination system, capable of executing the reward determination process S3, described below, using the reward determination processing unit 80.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, an example is shown in which the selection processing unit 60, remote control processing unit 70, and reward determination processing unit 80 are all included in the server control device 51. However, each of these functional blocks may be included in the control device of any of the devices included in the agricultural work support system 1.

[Processing of agricultural work support system 1]
A control method according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 2 to 5, taking the processing of the agricultural work support system 1 as an example. As shown in Figure 2, the server control device 51 executes a selection process S1, a remote control process S2, and a reward determination process S3 in this order. Each of these processes will be described in detail below.

(Selection process S1)
3, the registration information acquisition unit 61 first acquires agricultural work information for the target agricultural work registered by the client from the database 53 (S11), and also acquires land information for the work area of the target agricultural work (S12). The registration information acquisition unit 61 also executes a registration information acquisition process to acquire assistant information for the work assistant and machine information for the work machine, such as the brush cutter 10, from the database 53 (S13, registration information acquisition step). If multiple pieces of assistant information and multiple pieces of machine information are registered in the database 53, the registration information acquisition unit 61 acquires this multiple pieces of assistant information and machine information.

In addition, if weather information is stored in the database 53, the registration information acquisition unit 61 acquires weather information for the work period of the target agricultural work and the periods before, during, and after the work period (S14).

Next, the candidate extraction unit 62 determines whether the agricultural work information for the target agricultural work includes a designation of a request target (S15). If the agricultural work information includes a designation of a request target (Yes in S15), the candidate extraction unit 62 determines whether the available work dates and times for the designated target, which is the designated work assistant or work machine, match the work period of the target agricultural work (S16). If the available work dates and times for the designated target match the work period of the target agricultural work (Yes in S16), the candidate extraction unit 62 executes a candidate extraction process to extract the designated target as a candidate for a request target (S17, candidate extraction step). In this case, the selection processing unit 60 skips the process of S18 described below.

If the agricultural work information does not include a specification of the requested target (No in S15), or if the available work dates and times for the specified target do not match the work period of the target agricultural work (No in S16), the candidate extraction unit 62 executes a candidate extraction process. Specifically, the candidate extraction unit 62 extracts as candidates work assistants and work machines that can perform the work during the work period of the target agricultural work (S18, candidate extraction step). The candidate extraction unit 62 may refer to weather information when executing the candidate extraction process in S17 or S18.

Next, the work time estimation unit 63 executes a work time estimation process to estimate the work time required for the target agricultural work for each candidate extracted by the candidate extraction unit 62 (S19, work time estimation step). The work time estimation unit 63 may refer to weather information when executing the work time estimation process.

Next, the request target selection unit 64 calculates the priority of each candidate based on information including the estimated work time (S20). The priority of the candidates may be calculated in ascending order of estimated work time. Alternatively, the priority of the candidates may be calculated based on other information, such as past evaluations, for the remaining candidates after excluding candidates whose estimated work time exceeds a predetermined time.

Next, the request target selection unit 64 executes a request target selection process to select the candidate with the highest priority as the request target (S21, request target selection step). At this time, the request target selection unit 64 may select two or more candidates with the highest priority as request targets, present them to the requester, and allow the requester to select the final request target. In this case, the requester can easily narrow down the most preferred request target from only the high-priority candidates.

Next, the request target selection unit 64 notifies the selected request target of the farm work information for the target farm work (S22). The request target selection unit 64 then determines whether the request target has accepted the request for the target farm work (S23). If it determines that the request target has not accepted the request for the target farm work (No in S23), the request target selection unit 64 returns to S21 and selects the next highest priority candidate as the request target (S21). The request target selection unit 64 repeatedly executes the processes from S21 to S23 until it determines Yes in S23.

If the request target selection unit 64 determines that the request target has accepted the request for the target agricultural work (Yes in S23), the selection processing unit 60 terminates the selection process S1. In this way, the selection process S1 can also be considered a selection method executed by the selection processing unit 60 to select a request target for the target agricultural work.

Note that while the above description has been given using an example of the target agricultural work being performed by the brush cutter 10 alone, it is also possible that the target agricultural work may encompass multiple types of agricultural work that should be performed by multiple types of working vehicles. In this case, the selection processing unit 60 may repeat or parallelly execute the selection process S1 for each type of agricultural work and select the most appropriate request target for each type of agricultural work. Alternatively, the selection processing unit 60 may select request targets that can be performed in parallel for multiple types of agricultural work. If the autonomous operation performance of the working vehicles performing each agricultural work is high, the remote operator only needs to focus on monitoring each working vehicle. Therefore, multiple types of agricultural work can be performed in parallel by a single remote operator.

(Remote control process S2)
As shown in Figure 4, first, the remote control processing unit 70 determines whether the brush cutter 10 (working machine) for performing the target agricultural work and the fixed imaging device 40 (surveillance camera) are installed within the work area of the target agricultural work (S31).

In making this determination, the remote control processing unit 70 may make the determination in S31 based on whether or not it has received notification from local personnel in the work area of the target agricultural work that the brush cutter 10 and fixed imaging device 40 have been installed. The remote control processing unit 70 may also make this determination based on whether or not the location information acquired by the position acquisition device 13 of the brush cutter 10 indicates that it is within the work area of the target agricultural work. To enable a similar determination for the fixed imaging device 40, it is preferable that the fixed imaging device 40 also be equipped with a position acquisition device (not shown), just like the brush cutter 10.

If it is determined that the brush cutter 10 and the fixed image capture device 40 are not installed within the work area (No in S31), the remote control processing unit 70 executes the process of S31 again. On the other hand, if the remote control processing unit 70 determines that the brush cutter 10 and the fixed image capture device 40 are installed within the work area (Yes in S31), the land information acquisition unit 71 acquires land information for the work area from the database 53 (S32).

Next, the work management unit 72 determines whether the grass cutter 10 is capable of autonomously operating to perform the target agricultural work (S33). If it is determined that the grass cutter 10 is not capable of autonomously operating to perform the target agricultural work (No in S33), the work management unit 72 adjusts the settings for remote operation of the grass cutter 10 to match the land information (S34). Furthermore, if it is determined that the grass cutter 10 is capable of autonomously operating to perform the target agricultural work (Yes in S33), the work management unit 72 adjusts the settings for autonomous operation of the grass cutter 10 to match the land information (S35).

Here, the remote operation setting values may be the travel speed of the mower 10, the mowing speed of the mower 10, the imaging direction of the machine-mounted imaging device 12, etc. The work management unit 72 optimizes the remote operation setting values to match the land information, making it easier for the remote operator to perform the target agricultural work remotely. Furthermore, the autonomous operation setting values may be the work route of the autonomous operation of the mower 10, the positions to be mowed, the autonomous travel speed for each position, etc. The work management unit 72 optimizes the autonomous operation setting values to match the land information, allowing the mower 10 to efficiently perform the target agricultural work autonomously.

Depending on the content of the target agricultural work or the state of the work area, the brush cutter 10 may perform some work autonomously and other work remotely. In this case, the work management unit 72 may adjust both the remote control setting values and the autonomous operation setting values.

Next, the work management unit 72 notifies the remote worker of any dangerous areas contained in the land information. The work management unit 72 may also notify the brush cutter 10 of these dangerous areas. This allows the remote worker or brush cutter 10 to carry out the target agricultural work while avoiding the dangerous areas. This reduces the possibility of problems occurring with the brush cutter 10. The work management unit 72 then notifies the remote worker or brush cutter 10 that work can begin, and causes the target agricultural work to begin (S37).

While the target agricultural work is being performed, the monitoring processing unit 73 executes a monitoring process to acquire image data captured by the machine imaging device 12 or the fixed imaging device 40 regarding the working status of the grass cutter 10 performing the target agricultural work (monitoring processing step). Therefore, the remote operator can monitor the working status of the target agricultural work from the second touch panel 33 of the operator terminal 30 even while the grass cutter 10 is performing the target agricultural work through autonomous operation, other than when it is being remotely operated.

Next, the trouble processing unit 74 determines whether a problem has occurred in the grass cutter 10 (S38). If it is determined that a problem has occurred in the grass cutter 10 (Yes in S38), the trouble processing unit 74 determines whether the problem has been resolved by remote operation by a remote operator or by autonomous operation of the grass cutter 10 (S39). If it is determined that the grass cutter 10 has not resolved from the problem (No in S39), the trouble processing unit 74 determines that manual resolution is required and executes trouble processing to notify an emergency contact point of a request for assistance (S40, trouble processing step).

The trouble processing unit 74 then determines whether the grass cutter 10 has recovered from the trouble by local personnel or the like who rushed to the scene in response to an emergency request (S41). If it is determined that the grass cutter 10 has recovered from the trouble (Yes in S39 or S41), the trouble processing unit 74 notifies the remote operator that the grass cutter 10 has recovered from the trouble (S42). As a result, if a trouble occurs that cannot be recovered from by remote operation, the remote operator does not need to continue monitoring the grass cutter 10 until the grass cutter 10 has recovered from the trouble by local personnel or the like.

If it is determined in S41 that the brush cutter 10 has not recovered from the trouble (No in S41), the trouble processing unit 74 determines that the target agricultural work cannot be continued.

The trouble processing unit 74 does not execute the processes from S39 to S42 unless it determines in S38 that a problem has occurred in the brush cutter 10 (No in S38). Then, when a work completion notification indicating the cancellation or completion of the target agricultural work is received from the remote operator or the brush cutter 10, the remote control processing unit 70 ends the remote control process S2.

In this way, the remote control process S2 can also be considered a remote control method executed by the remote control processing unit 70 to respond to problems that occur in the target agricultural work.

(Reward determination process S3)
5 , the farm work information acquisition unit 81 executes a farm work information acquisition process to acquire farm work information for a target farm work that the requester has registered in the database 53 from the requester terminal 20 (S51, farm work information acquisition step). The remuneration type information acquisition unit 82 acquires remuneration type information for the target farm work that the requester has registered in the database 53 from the requester terminal 20 (S52). The worker information acquisition unit 83 acquires supporter information for the remote worker from the database 53, and acquires information on the proficiency of the remote worker included in the supporter information (S53).

The evaluation acquisition unit 84 acquires from the database 53 the actual work time required for the remote operator or the brush cutter 10 to perform the target agricultural work (S54). The actual work time may be, for example, the result of measuring the elapsed time (the elapsed time from S37 to S43) from when the remote control processing unit 70 starts the target agricultural work using the brush cutter 10 in the remote control process S2 until the completion of the work is notified. The evaluation acquisition unit 84 also executes an evaluation acquisition process to acquire an evaluation of the target agricultural work that has been performed, which the requester has registered in the database 53 from the requester terminal 20 (S55, evaluation acquisition step).

The remuneration determination unit 85 executes a remuneration determination process to determine the remuneration for performing the target agricultural work from the various information acquired in the processes from S51 to S55 (S56, remuneration determination step). Next, if the target agricultural work is performed by remote operation of a remote worker, the proficiency management unit 86 changes the remote worker's proficiency with the brush cutter 10 (S57). Then, the registration information update unit 87 registers or updates information such as the requester's evaluation of the remote worker or brush cutter 10, the remote worker's proficiency, etc. in the database 53 (S58). Thereafter, the remuneration determination processing unit 80 terminates the remuneration determination process S3.

In this way, the remuneration determination process S3 can also be considered a remuneration determination method executed by the remuneration determination processing unit 80 to determine the remuneration for performing the target agricultural work.

Here, the registration information update unit 87 may also update the history of the remote operation or autonomous operation of the grass cutter 10 as machine information for the grass cutter 10. Accumulating history information on the remote operation or autonomous operation of the grass cutter 10 is expected to improve the autonomous operation performance of the grass cutter 10. A configuration in which the grass cutter 10 is operated by remote control from a remote operator or server 50, as in the agricultural work support system 1, makes it easier to collect the big data required for an autonomous grass cutter 10 than if a person were to directly operate the grass cutter 10. This makes it easier to advance the use of AI (artificial intelligence) for the autonomous operation of working machines such as the grass cutter 10. In this way, the agricultural work support system 1 can contribute to improving the autonomous operation performance of working machines such as the grass cutter 10 and promoting smarter agricultural work through the use of AI, etc.

When the autonomous operation performance of the grass cutter 10 reaches a level sufficient to perform the target agricultural work completely autonomously, the agricultural work support system 1 can select only the grass cutter 10 as the target for requesting the target agricultural work. In this case, the agricultural work support system 1 will be able to complete the target agricultural work request from the requester almost automatically, without the need for human intervention such as a remote worker, except in the case where a problem occurs with the grass cutter 10 that is difficult to recover from.

[Image of agricultural work support system in use]
6 shows an example of a display on the second touch panel 33 of the operator terminal 30 when a remote operator monitors or remotely operates the brush cutter 10. As shown in Fig. 6, in addition to image data captured by the fixed imaging device 40, augmented reality data AR may be displayed on the second touch panel 33 superimposed on the image data. The augmented reality data AR may include the status of the autonomous operation, the planned route traveled by the autonomous operation, topographical information about the operation range, caution or warning information, weather information, elapsed time information, remaining battery power information, and the like.

In this way, by displaying augmented reality data AR on the second touch panel 33, the remote operator can easily understand the autonomous operation of the brush cutter 10 while monitoring. Furthermore, the remote operator can easily grasp the next work position and dangerous areas, etc., even while remotely operating the brush cutter 10. Therefore, the remote operator can easily and reliably monitor or remotely operate the brush cutter 10.

Figure 7 also shows an example of the content displayed on the requester terminal 20 and the worker terminal 30 from the time the requester makes a request for the target agricultural work until the target agricultural work is completed. Here, an example is shown in which all notifications are displayed on the messenger app possessed by the requester terminal 20 and the worker terminal 30. Such a messenger app may be a general-purpose messenger app, or may be a messenger function provided in an app dedicated to the agricultural work support system 1. Furthermore, such notifications are not limited to being displayed as text using a messenger app, and may take the form of, for example, an email being sent for each notification.

As shown in FIG. 7, the agricultural work support system 1 may notify the requester and remote workers of the progress of the target agricultural work on a point-by-point basis. This allows the requester and remote workers to easily understand the current status of the target agricultural work. In addition, the remote workers and the requester can intuitively and easily input evaluations and other information regarding the target agricultural work.

As described above, the agricultural work support system 1 can smoothly support the entire process from requesting the agricultural work to completing it, including matching requesting farmers and other agricultural workers who are interested in remotely controlled agricultural work. Work supporters can participate in agricultural work carried out in remote locations from the comfort of their own homes. This can reduce the increased burden on farmers, particularly in rural areas, due to a shortage of agricultural workers.

Furthermore, agricultural work support system 1 allows for a high degree of flexibility in setting remuneration. Therefore, requesters can easily request agricultural work that has traditionally been difficult to outsource due to its low unit price. Furthermore, even for simple agricultural work, work assistants can receive remuneration in the form of agricultural products obtained from the work they have been involved in, for example. Therefore, work assistants are more likely to be motivated to actively participate in agricultural work that has a low unit price.

In this way, agricultural work support system 1 allows farmers to request even detailed agricultural work from work supporters, particularly in agriculture carried out in rural areas or developing countries, thereby reducing the workload on farmers and preventing them from working long hours. This is expected to lead to agricultural development and increased food production regardless of region. In this way, agricultural work support system 1 can also support the creation of a system that supports sustainable agriculture on a global scale through its support for agricultural work. For example, agricultural work support system 1 can contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Goal 2, "Zero Hunger," and Goal 8, "Decent Work and Economic Growth."

[Software implementation example]
The functions of the server control device 51 (hereinafter referred to as the "device") can be realized by a program that causes a computer to function as the device, and a program that causes a computer to function as each control block of the device (particularly each part included in the selection processing unit 60, remote control processing unit 70 and/or reward determination processing unit 80).

In this case, the device includes a computer having at least one control device (e.g., a processor) and at least one storage device (e.g., a memory) as hardware for executing the program. The functions described in each of the above embodiments are realized by executing the program using this control device and storage device.

The program may be stored non-transitory on one or more computer-readable storage media. These storage media may or may not be included in the device. In the latter case, the program may be supplied to the device via any wired or wireless transmission medium.

Furthermore, some or all of the functions of each of the control blocks can be realized by logic circuits. For example, integrated circuits incorporating logic circuits that function as each of the control blocks are also included in the scope of the present invention. In addition, the functions of each of the control blocks can also be realized by, for example, a quantum computer.

Furthermore, each process described in each of the above embodiments may be executed by AI (Artificial Intelligence). In this case, the AI may run on the device, or on another device (such as an edge computer or cloud server).

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

1. Farm work support system (selection system, remote control system, reward determination system)
10. Grass cutter (working machine)
20 Client terminal 30 Worker terminal 50 Server 51 Server control device (agricultural work support device, selection device, remote control device, remuneration determination device, control device)
53 Database 61 Registration information acquisition unit 62 Candidate extraction unit 63 Work time estimation unit 64 Request target selection unit 71 Land information acquisition unit 73 Monitoring processing unit 74 Trouble processing unit 81 Farm work information acquisition unit 82 Remuneration type information acquisition unit 83 Worker information acquisition unit 84 Evaluation acquisition unit 85 Remuneration determination unit 86 Skill level management unit

Claims (8)

an agricultural work information acquisition unit that acquires agricultural work information of a target agricultural work to be performed by remote control of the working machine or autonomous operation of the working machine from a requester;
An evaluation acquisition unit that acquires an evaluation of the target agricultural work that has been performed from the requester;
a remuneration determination unit that determines a remuneration for performing the target farm work based on the farm work information and the evaluation,
further comprising a worker information acquisition unit that acquires the autonomous operation performance of the work vehicle, which is information indicating the degree of autonomous operation the work vehicle is capable of;
The reward determination device, wherein the reward determination unit further determines the reward by referring to the autonomous operation performance . an agricultural work information acquisition unit that acquires agricultural work information of a target agricultural work to be performed by remote control of the working machine or autonomous operation of the working machine from a requester;
An evaluation acquisition unit that acquires an evaluation of the target agricultural work that has been performed from the requester;
a remuneration determination unit that determines a remuneration for performing the target farm work based on the farm work information and the evaluation;
A remuneration determination device characterized by comprising : a proficiency management unit that changes the proficiency level of the remote operation by referring to the agricultural work information of the target agricultural work. an agricultural work information acquisition unit that acquires agricultural work information of a target agricultural work to be performed by remote control of the working machine or autonomous operation of the working machine from a requester;
An evaluation acquisition unit that acquires an evaluation of the target agricultural work that has been performed from the requester;
a remuneration determination unit that determines a remuneration for performing the target farm work based on the farm work information and the evaluation,
A remuneration type information acquisition unit that acquires remuneration type information indicating the type of remuneration from the client,
The remuneration type information indicates whether the remuneration is an agricultural product or an exchange value that can be exchanged for an agricultural product,
The reward determination device, wherein the reward determination unit further determines the reward by referring to the reward type information. a worker information acquisition unit that acquires the remote operation skill level of a work assistant performing the remote operation or the remote operation performance of a remote operation device performing the remote operation,
The reward determination device according to claim 1 , wherein the reward determination unit further determines the reward by referring to the remote operation proficiency or the remote operation performance. A reward determination program for causing a computer to function as the reward determination device described in claim 1, the reward determination program causing a computer to function as the farm work information acquisition unit, the evaluation acquisition unit, and the reward determination unit. an agricultural work information acquisition step in which the remuneration determination device acquires, from the client, agricultural work information of the target agricultural work to be performed by remote control of the work machine or autonomous operation of the work machine;
An evaluation acquisition step in which the remuneration determination device acquires an evaluation of the performed target agricultural work from the client;
a remuneration determination step in which the remuneration determination device determines a remuneration for performing the target farm work by referring to the farm work information and the evaluation ;
A remuneration determination method characterized by including a proficiency management step in which the remuneration determination device refers to the agricultural work information of the target agricultural work and changes the proficiency of the remote operation . A remuneration determination system comprising a client terminal into which a client of a target agricultural work to be performed by remote operation of a work machine or autonomous operation of the work machine inputs data, and a server capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from the client terminal, and controlled by at least one control device,
The control device
A farm work information acquisition process for acquiring farm work information for the target farm work from the client terminal via the server;
An evaluation acquisition process for acquiring an evaluation of the target agricultural work performed from the client terminal via the server;
a remuneration determination process that determines a remuneration for performing the target farm work by referring to the farm work information and the evaluation;
A reward determination system characterized by executing a skill management process that changes the skill level of the remote operation by referring to the farm work information of the target farm work . a registered information acquisition unit that acquires at least one of the assistant information and the machine information of the work machine from a database in which a plurality of pieces of information, which are at least one of the assistant information of work assistants who can perform agricultural work by remotely operating the work machine, and the machine information of the work machine, are registered;
an agricultural work information acquisition unit that acquires agricultural work information of a target agricultural work to be performed by remote control of the working machine or autonomous operation of the working machine from a requester;
A request target selection unit that selects a request target for the target agricultural work by comparing the agricultural work information of the target agricultural work with at least one of the plurality of supporter information and the machine information;
a monitoring processing unit that acquires the work status of the work machine that performs the target agricultural work;
a trouble processing unit that determines whether or not recovery from a trouble can be achieved by remote control of the working machine body or autonomous operation of the working machine body when a trouble occurs in the target agricultural work;
An evaluation acquisition unit that acquires an evaluation of the target agricultural work that has been performed from the requester;
and a reward determination unit that determines a reward for performing the target agricultural work based on the agricultural work information and the evaluation.