IP Library Granted Patent US 10,925,210
Granted Patent B2
US 10,925,210 · App. 16/001,995 · Granted Feb 23, 2021

Work vehicle for managing a lawn based on lawn activity

Inventors: Kazuaki Matsuda (Sakai, JP); Katsuhiko Uemura (Sakai, JP)
Assignee: Kubota Corporation
A01D34/006A01D34/66A01D43/00G06T7/0002A01D2101/00G06T2207/30188H04N5/33
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,925,210
App. No.
16/001,995
Granted
Feb 23, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

A work vehicle for managing lawn while traveling includes a positioning module for outputting positioning data, a self-vehicle position calculation section for calculating a self-vehicle position based on the positioning data, an activity determination device for determining activity of the lawn, and a lawn condition information generation section configured to generate lawn condition information by correlating the activity with the self-vehicle position as a determination point of the activity.

Claims (26)

1. A work vehicle for managing a lawn while traveling comprising:

a chlorophyll meter configured to calculate and output a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) value based on a reflection wavelength of a light beam having a red to infrared band irradiated from the chlorophyll meter; and

one or more processors programmed and/or configured to:

receive positioning data;

calculate a self-vehicle position based on the positioning data;

generate lawn condition information by correlating the NDVI value with the self-vehicle position as a determination point of the NDVI value; and

control a torque of a mower motor of the work vehicle according to the lawn condition information.

2. The work vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:

at least one of a speaker and a display configured to report the lawn condition information.

3. The work vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:

a temperature determination device for determining a surface temperature and an ambient temperature of the lawn; and

a camera for photographing the lawn;

wherein the lawn condition information includes at least one of a determination result of the temperature determination device, a photographic image captured by the camera, and a result of image processing effected on the photographic image.

4. The work vehicle of claim 3 , further comprising:

a mower deck having a cutter blade for cutting the lawn, the cutter blade driven by the mower motor,

wherein the chlorophyll meter is disposed forwardly of the mower deck in a work traveling direction and the camera is disposed rearwardly of the mower deck in the work traveling direction.

5. The work vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the one or more processors are further programmed and/or configured to synthesize the photographic image based on a traveling route and produce a cut lawn surface image for confirmation of a lawn condition.

6. The work vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:

a camera configured to photograph the lawn,

wherein the one or more processors are further programmed and/or configured to generate the lawn condition information from a photographic image obtained by the camera.

7. A system comprising:

the work vehicle of claim 1 ; and

a management computer providing a cloud service, wherein the management computer is programmed and/or configured to input the lawn condition information, evaluate the lawn condition information using a statistical technique to obtain lawn evaluation information, and to output the lawn evaluation information evaluating a condition of the lawn.

8. A system comprising:

the work vehicle of claim 1 ; and

a mobile communication terminal configured to be carried into the work vehicle, wherein the mobile communication terminal is configured to input the lawn condition information, evaluate the lawn condition information using a statistical technique to obtain lawn evaluation information, and to output the lawn evaluation information evaluating a condition of the lawn.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 30, 2019
From: MATSUDA, KAZUAKI; UEMURA, KATSUHIKO
To: KUBOTA CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 048191/0418 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP JP2017-220855 · Nov 16, 2017 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20190141887A1 · May 16, 2019
Cited By (1)
US 12,276,985