Systems and methods for cooling sensor packages
Implementations are disclosed for a cooling system for cooling sensor packages disposed on an agricultural vehicle, robot, etc. In various implementations, the cooling system includes: a reservoir containing a coolant; one or more sprayers to dispense the coolant from the reservoir at a target; a conduit that fluidly couples the reservoir with the one or more sprayers; and a sensor package that includes at least one processor. At least a portion of the sensor package is in contact with the conduit so that heat is dissipated from the sensor package by the coolant flowing through the conduit.
1 . A cooling system, the cooling system comprising:
a sensor package comprising one or more processors, the sensor package configured to measure a temperature of the one or more processors;
a reservoir containing an application fluid;
one or more sprayers to dispense the application fluid from the reservoir into a field at an application target or into the field absent the application target;
a conduit that fluidly couples the reservoir with the one or more sprayers, with a portion of the conduit thermally coupled to the sensor package, wherein:
the one or more sprayers are configured to spray the application fluid by flowing the application fluid from the reservoir through the conduit and out of the one or more sprayers; and
heat generated by the sensor package is dissipated into the application fluid as it flows through the conduit into the field;
a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when actuated by the one or more processors cause the system to:
responsive to identifying, using the sensor package, the measured temperature is below a threshold, spraying the application fluid at the application target in the field.
2 . The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor package is thermally coupled to the conduit through one or more thermal interface materials that conduct heat between the sensor package and the conduit.
3 . The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the conduit is a fluid channel for a boom of a farming machine, and the application fluid is water, liquid fertilizer, liquid pesticide, or a combination thereof.
4 . The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the conduit is constructed of a metal and the metal is a heat sink for heat dissipated by the sensor package.
5 . The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the conduit is part of a hydraulic system.
6 . The cooling system of claim 1 further comprising:
a temperature sensor disposed on a machine carrying the sensor package, the temperature sensor disposed in a position to sense temperature from the sensor package and coupled to one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
detect, by the temperature sensor, a temperature; and
based the detected temperature satisfying a threshold, alter a flow of the application fluid through the conduit.
7 . The cooling system of claim 6 , wherein the one or more processors include the at least one processor of the sensor package.
8 . The cooling system of claim 6 , wherein:
the sensor package is a first sensor package of a plurality of sensor packages,
the temperature sensor is a first temperature sensor of a plurality of temperature sensors, and
each sensor package of the plurality of sensor packages includes one temperature sensor of the plurality of temperature sensors; and
the one or more processors of cooling system are further configured to:
detect, for each of the plurality of temperature sensors, a temperature;
determine, for each of the plurality of temperature sensors, whether the detected temperature is above a predetermined threshold temperature; and
alter the flow of the application fluid based on the determination that the detected temperature is above the predetermined threshold temperature.