IP Library Granted Patent US 11,564,357
Granted Patent B2
US 11,564,357 · App. 17/087,219 · Granted Jan 31, 2023

Capture of ground truthed labels of plant traits method and system

Inventors: William R. Regan (San Carlos, CA); Matthew A. Bitterman (Mountain View, CA); Benoit G. Schillings (Los Altos Hills, CA); David R. Brown (San Francisco, CA); Elliott Grant (Woodside, CA)
Assignee: X Development LLC
A01G7/00B64C39/024G06K9/6256G06N3/08G06V20/10G06V20/188B64C2201/127G01N2021/8466G06N3/04G06N3/0445G06N3/0454
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 11,564,357
App. No.
17/087,219
Granted
Jan 31, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

In embodiments, acquiring sensor data associated with a plant growing in a field, and analyzing the sensor data to extract one or more phenotypic traits associated with the plant from the sensor data. Indexing the one or more phenotypic traits to one or both of an identifier of the plant or a virtual representation of a part of the plant, and determining one or more plant insights based on the one or more phenotypic traits, wherein the one or more plant insights includes information about one or more of a health, a yield, a planting, a growth, a harvest, a management, a performance, and a state of the plant. One or more of the health, yield, planting, growth, harvest, management, performance, and the state of the plant are included in a plant insights report that is generated.

Claims (36)

1. A method comprising:

acquiring sensor data associated with a plant growing in a field, wherein the sensor data is acquired from one or more of an optical sensor, an acoustic sensor, a chemical sensor, a geo-location sensor, an environmental sensor, or a weather sensor;

autonomously predicting one or more phenotypic traits associated with the plant based on the sensor data and a computerized model;

presenting indications of the one or more phenotypic traits predicted;

obtaining a confirmation, modification, or addition indication for at least one of the indications of the one or more phenotypic traits predicted;

determining one or more ground truth labeled phenotypic traits associated with the plant based on the one or more phenotypic traits predicted and the confirmation, modification, or addition indication obtained; and

indexing the one or more ground truth labeled phenotypic traits to one or both of an identifier of the plant or a virtual representation of a part of the plant.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computerized model includes a machine learning system, a deep learning system, an optical flow technique, a computer vision technique, a convolutional neural network (CNN), a recurrent neutral network (RNN), or a machine learning dataflow library.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the acquiring sensor data; the autonomously predicting one or more phenotypic traits; the obtaining the confirmation, modification, or addition indication; the determining the one or more ground truth labeled phenotypic traits associated with the plant; and the indexing the one or more ground truth labeled phenotypic traits is performed by a remote server or a remote compute device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the confirmation, modification, or addition indication comprises determining the confirmation, modification, or addition indication based on one or both of viewing of an image of the plant by a user or direct observation of the plant by the user.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining one or more plant insights based on the one or more ground truth labeled phenotypic traits, wherein the one or more plant insights includes information about one or more of a health, a yield, a planting, a growth, a harvest, a management, a performance, or a state of the plant; and

generating a plant insights report that includes one or more of the health, the yield, the planting, the growth, the harvest, the management, the performance, or the state of the plant.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining the one or more plant insights comprising determining the one or more plant insights while in the field.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising identifying, while in the field, one or more metadata associated with the plant or a condition of an environment proximate to the plant based on the sensor data.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the condition of the environment proximate to the plant comprises soil properties, soil chemical composition, light, solar characteristics, temperature, or humidity, and wherein determining the one or more plant insights comprises determining the one or more plant insights based on the one or more ground truth labeled phenotypic traits and the condition of the environment proximate to the plant.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more phenotypic traits predicted comprises physical attributes of the plant, and wherein the plant comprises a crop plant, a fruit bearing plant, a vegetable bearing plant, or a seed bearing plant.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the sensor data comprises acquiring the sensor data using a human-operated vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV).

11. One or more computer-readable storage media comprising a plurality of instructions to cause at least one apparatus, in response to execution by one or more processors of the at least one apparatus, to:

acquire sensor data associated with a plant growing in a field, wherein the sensor data is acquired from one or more of an optical sensor, an acoustic sensor, a chemical sensor, a geo-location sensor, an environmental sensor, or a weather sensor;

autonomously predict one or more phenotypic traits associated with the plant based on the sensor data and a computerized model;

present indications of the one or more phenotypic traits predicted;

obtain a confirmation, modification, or addition indication for at least one of the indications of the one or more phenotypic traits predicted;

determine one or more ground truth labeled phenotypic traits associated with the plant based on the one or more phenotypic traits predicted and the confirmation, modification, or addition indication obtained; and

index the one or more ground truth labeled phenotypic traits to one or both of an identifier of the plant or a virtual representation of a part of the plant.

12. The computer-readable storage media of claim 11 , wherein the computerized model includes a machine learning system, a deep learning system, an optical flow technique, a computer vision technique, a convolutional neural network (CNN), a recurrent neutral network (RNN), or a machine learning dataflow library.

13. The computer-readable storage media of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the acquiring sensor data; the autonomously predicting one or more phenotypic traits; the obtaining the confirmation, modification, or addition indication; the determining the one or more ground truth labeled phenotypic traits associated with the plant; and the indexing the one or more ground truth labeled phenotypic traits is performed by a remote server or a remote compute device.

14. The computer-readable storage media of claim 11 , wherein to obtain the confirmation, modification, or addition indication comprises to determine the confirmation, modification, or addition indication based on one or both of viewing of an image of the plant by a user or direct observation of the plant by the user.

15. The computer-readable storage media of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus, in response to execution by the one or more processors of the apparatus, to:

determine one or more plant insights based on the one or more ground truth labeled phenotypic traits, wherein the one or more plant insights includes information about one or more of a health, a yield, a planting, a growth, a harvest, a management, a performance, or a state of the plant; and

generate a plant insights report that includes one or more of the health, the yield, the planting, the growth, the harvest, the management, the performance, or the state of the plant.

16. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein to determine the one or more plant insights comprises to determine the one or more plant insights while in the field.

17. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus, in response to execution by the one or more processors of the apparatus, to identify, while in the field, one or more metadata associated with the plant or a condition of an environment proximate to the plant based on the sensor data.

18. The computer-readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein the condition of the environment proximate to the plant comprises soil properties, soil chemical composition, light, solar characteristics, temperature, or humidity, and wherein to determine the one or more plant insights comprises to determine the one or more plant insights based on the one or more ground truth labeled phenotypic traits and the condition of the environment proximate to the plant.

19. The computer-readable storage media of claim 11 , wherein the one or more phenotypic traits predicted comprises physical attributes of the plant, and wherein the plant comprises a crop plant, a fruit bearing plant, a vegetable bearing plant, or a seed bearing plant.

20. The computer-readable storage media of claim 11 , wherein to acquire the sensor data comprises to acquire the sensor data using a human-operated vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV).

Assignments (3)
MERGER Recorded Jun 26, 2024
From: MINERAL EARTH SCIENCES LLC
To: DEERE & CO.
Reel/Frame 067923/0084 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 14, 2023
From: REGAN, WILLIAM R.; BITTERMAN, MATTHEW A.; SCHILLINGS, BENOIT G.; BROWN, DAVID R.; GRANT, ELLIOTT
To: X DEVELOPMENT LLC
Reel/Frame 062972/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 27, 2023
From: X DEVELOPMENT LLC
To: MINERAL EARTH SCIENCES LLC
Reel/Frame 062516/0456 →