Communications: directive radio wave systems and devices (e.g. – Directive – Including a satellite
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-22
2002-07-23
Beaulieu, Yonel (Department: 3661)
Communications: directive radio wave systems and devices (e.g.,
Directive
Including a satellite
C342S357490, C342S02600R, C701S213000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06424295
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to the dispensing of chemicals to agricultural fields. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a high accuracy GPS (Global Positioning System) based method and system for recording weather conditions as agricultural chemicals are dispensed to an agricultural field.
BACKGROUND ART
Crop-dusting is the term generally used for the dispensing of chemicals (e.g., fertilizers, pesticides, and the like) to an agricultural field (e.g., field crops, orchards, etc.) from a dispensing vehicle. During crop-dusting, the dispensing vehicle (e.g., tractor) makes numerous sequential, adjacent passes, dispensing chemicals in a swath across the field in each pass. The tractor's driver carefully follows a ground track which ensures that each successive swath over the field is correctly spaced, distance wise, from the previous swath in order to avoid gaps or overlaps in coverage. For example, should one swath occur too far from a previous swath, the area of the field will not receive an sufficient amount of chemicals (e.g., pesticides, fertilizer, herbicides, and the like). Similarly, should one swath occur too close to a previous swath, the overlap area receives excessive amounts of chemicals. This can prove very expensive to the farmer. The crops of the field can be damaged or rendered unusable.
Certain types of agricultural chemicals needed to be closely tracked in order to ensure they are not inadvertently applied to neighboring fields. For example, while a particular agricultural chemical is selected specifically for application to the “targeted” field, the inadvertent application of this chemical to a neighboring field can be highly undesirable. For example, the application of an herbicide to a crop that is specifically prepared for the herbicide is beneficial for the owner of the crop, while an inadvertent application of the herbicide to a neighboring crop that is not prepared for the herbicide is harmful to the neighboring crop. Hence, it becomes essential that the application of the agricultural chemical (e.g., the herbicide) is precisely controlled and precisely tracked.
Additionally, unusual types of field geometry (e.g., rectangular, circular, irregular, etc.) can make precise control of the chemical application operations more difficult. While conventional, rectangular, agriculture fields, having neatly ordered rows of crops laid out in a rectangular pattern, readily lend themselves to the orderly, rank and file, back and forth maneuvers of a crop-dusting tractor, circular/irregular types of fields are more difficult to ensure regular, even coverage.
Regardless of the field geometry, the presence of wind makes the chemical application operation much more difficult to control and track. The geometry of the agricultural field is constant, while the wind conditions during the application can be highly variable. Accordingly, the position of the dispensing vehicle needs to be closely tracked along with the wind conditions as the vehicle traverses the field.
Prior art
FIG. 1
shows a diagram of a vehicle
101
dispensing chemicals across a first field (field A), which is adjacent to a second field (field B). As depicted in
FIG. 1
, the vehicle
101
traverses field A in an orderly, rank and file manner, as shown by ground track
102
, dispensing chemicals as the vehicle proceeds. However the vehicle operator needs to exercise care as vehicle
101
approaches the southern boundary of field A.
FIG. 1
shows a wind
103
blowing from the Northeast. Thus, as vehicle
101
traverses the southern boundary of field A, wind
103
greatly increases the likelihood that some portion of the chemical spray from vehicle
101
will be blown onto field B which lies immediately to the South. Accordingly, as shown in
FIG. 1
, that only must the ground track of vehicle
101
be closely monitored, the instantaneous wind velocity must also be monitored to ensure agricultural chemicals are not inadvertently dispensed onto the neighboring field B. This problem is made more difficult by the fact that the wind observed by the operator of the vehicle
101
is typically different from the true when due to the vehicle's forward velocity.
Prior art
FIG. 2
shows a diagram depicting the difference between the apparent wind
201
observed by the operator of vehicle
101
and the true wind
103
. As described above, the problem of monitoring the true wind
103
to ascertain the location of the dispersion of the chemicals from vehicle
101
is made more difficult by the fact that the driver of vehicle
101
observes an apparent wind
201
due to the vehicle's forward velocity. This is graphically depicted in
FIG. 2
, which shows the apparent wind vector
201
being comprised of a true wind vector
103
and a wind due to the vehicle velocity
203
.
Hence, the driver of tractor
101
is incapable of accurately assessing the true wind
103
based upon observations made from tractor
101
as it traverses the field. This makes the dispensing of agricultural chemicals along boundaries between fields extremely hazardous. Although measurements of wind direction can be made prior to the actual dispensing operation, as is known, wind velocity can be highly variable. Wind conditions at the commencement of dispensing operations can be very different from wind conditions halfway through or near the end of dispensing operations.
Additionally, even in a case where the driver of tractor
101
accurately assesses wind conditions during dispensed operations, and dispenses agricultural chemicals in such a manner that no chemicals are inadvertently dispensed onto the adjacent field, the driver may still be liable at some later date for damage to the adjacent field. This is due to the fact that there exists no reliable means of accurately tracking wind conditions with respect to the vehicle's location as the chemicals were being dispensed. Hence, the driver of tractor
101
is often unable to positively prove the prior dispensing operations are not responsible to any present damage to the adjacent field. In other words, the driver of tractor
101
is unable to positively prove he did not harm his neighbors field.
Thus what is required is a solution which accurately tracks wind conditions with respect to vehicle position. What is further required is a solution which accurately records field position during dispensed operations and the corresponding weather conditions which affect the dispersion of the chemicals dispensed. The record should be easily accessible with respect to time and position. In addition, what is further required is a solution which provides visual feedback with respect to the dispersal of chemicals and with respect to the weather conditions (wind direction, humidity, temperature, etc.). The method and system of present invention provide a novel solution to the above requirements.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a solution which accurately tracks wind conditions with respect to vehicle position. The method and system of the present invention accurately records vehicle field position during dispensed operations and the corresponding weather conditions which affect the dispersion of the chemicals dispensed from the vehicle. The method and system of the present attention provides a record that is easily accessible with respect to time and vehicle position. In addition, the present invention provides visual feedback with respect to the dispersal of chemicals and with respect to the weather conditions.
In one embodiment, the system of the present invention is implemented as a GPS weather data recording system for use with the dispensing of chemicals to agriculture fields. In this embodiment, a GPS receiver is used to determine a series of positions of a vehicle and vehicle velocity as the vehicle traverses an agricultural field. The series of positions trace the vehicle's ground track across the agricultural field. A weather sensor (e.g., a wind sensor) is used to measure wind velocity with respect to the
Beaulieu Yonel
Trimble Navigation Limited
Wagner , Murabito & Hao LLP
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