System and method for the automatic adjustment of the height of an agricultural implement using 3D reconstruction
The invention relates to a system for adjusting the height of an agricultural implement, including an arm that can be controlled to raise and lower the implement, a height measuring sensor, and a calculator configured to provide a control set point for the height of the arm on the basis of the measurements obtained by the height measuring sensor. The height measuring sensor is an imaging system including at least one camera mounted such that the sensor can form an image of a scene located in front of the agricultural implement in the direction of travel of the vehicle equipped with the arm. A computer processing unit is configured to produce, on the basis of the images delivered by the at least one camera, a 3D reconstruction representative of the depth of the aforementioned scene.
1. System for adjusting a height of an agricultural implement, comprising: an arm that can be controlled so as to raise and lower the implement; a height measuring sensor; and a calculator configured to provide a control set point for the height of the arm on the basis of measurements obtained by the height measuring sensor, wherein the height measuring sensor is an imaging system comprising at least one camera mounted such that it can form an image of a scene located in front of the agricultural implement in a direction of travel of a vehicle equipped with the arm, and a computer processing unit configured to produce, on the basis of the images delivered by the at least one camera, a 3D reconstruction representative of depth of the aforementioned scene.
2. System according to claim 1 , wherein the imaging system is a stereoscopic imaging system comprising two cameras mounted in such a way as to form an image of the same scene from two distant points of view, and wherein the computer processing unit is configured to produce the 3D reconstruction based on a pair of stereoscopic images delivered by the cameras.
3. System according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one camera of the imaging system is a flight time camera, with the computer processing unit being configured to make a flight time measurement between the aforementioned scene and the camera.
4. System according to claim 1 , wherein the 3D reconstruction providing information representative of the depth of the aforementioned scene in the form of a matrix in lines and columns, the computer processing unit is further configured to identify for each line or portion of a line of the 3D reconstruction a highest point.
5. System according to claim 1 , wherein the computer processing unit is configured to identify one or several rows of plants in the 3D reconstruction.
6. System according to claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a memory in which are recorded the measurements taken by the height measuring sensor, and the calculator is configured to provide the control set point for the height of the arm based on measurements previously recorded in the memory and corresponding to several 3D reconstructions of scenes of which at least one point is at a distance from a current position of the implement less than a predetermined distance.
7. System according to claim 6 , further comprising a measurement sensor of the forward speed in the direction of travel of the vehicle, and wherein the calculator is further configured to determine the distance travelled along the direction of travel between two 3D reconstructions produced successively by the computer processing unit.
8. System according to claim 7 , wherein the calculator is configured to provide the control set point for the height of the arm using an average of said measurements previously recorded in the memory.
9. System according to claim 7 , wherein the calculator is configured to provide the control set point for the height of the arm using the maxima of said measurements previously recorded in the memory.
10. System according to claim 7 , wherein the calculator is configured to calculate a foliage density that indicates, for each height interval of a set of successive intervals, a percentage of measurements among said measurements previously recorded in the memory which indicate a height greater than the lower limit of the height interval, and to provide the control set point for the height of the arm on the basis of the lower limit of a height interval corresponding to a threshold percentage.
11. System according to claim 1 , wherein the agricultural implement is an implement for cutting or tearing plants, including corn.
12. Vehicle equipped with a system according to claim 1 .
13. Method for adjusting a height of an agricultural implement by means of a system comprising an arm that can be controlled so as to raise and lower the agricultural implement, comprising the steps of:
acquiring measurements from a height measuring sensor, the height measuring sensor being an imaging system comprising at least one camera mounted such that it can form an image a scene located in front of the agricultural implement in a direction of travel of a vehicle equipped with the arm, and a computer processing unit configured to produce, on the basis of the images delivered by the at least one camera, a 3D reconstruction representative of the depth of the aforementioned scene;
determining a control set point for the height of the arm on the basis of the measurements acquired.