Agricultural information sensing and retrieval

1. An agricultural data search engine, comprising:

a processor generating an index of performance data, stored in a data store, the performance data being indicative of performance of a plurality of different agricultural machines having different operators, the index indexing the performance data based on machine and worksite context criteria and on performance metric values;

a set of sensors detecting current machine and worksite context data corresponding to a selected agricultural machine;

a performance metric generator generating a current performance metric value indicative of machine performance of the selected agricultural machine;

a search system detecting a data retrieval trigger;

a criteria identifier component selecting context filter criteria from a context filter criteria hierarchy based on the detected current machine and worksite context data;

a context filter system filtering the performance data using the index and the selected context filter criteria to identify a first set of performance data;

a score range identifier component identifying a score range, relative to the current performance metric value;

a performance metric filter system filtering the first set of performance data using the index and the identified score range to modify the first set of performance data to identify a second set of performance data that is different from the first set of performance data;

a data volume analysis component identifying a quantity of underlying data, in the data store, underlying the second set of performance data and from which the second set of performance data was generated and, if the quantity of underlying data is above a first quantity value, then reducing the score range and repeating filtering the first set of performance data to decrease the quantity of underlying data and, if the quantity of underlying data is below a second quantity value, then increasing the score range and repeating the step of filtering the first set of performance data to increase the quantity of underlying data;

a data retrieval component generating a database control signal to retrieve the underlying data underlying the second set of performance data; and

an output component returning the retrieved underlying training data based on the detected data retrieval trigger.

2. The agricultural data search engine of claim 1 wherein the context filtering system filter the performance data by using:

the search system to search for the first set of operator performance data that matches the context filter criteria and wherein the performance metric filter system filters the first set of performance data by using the search system to search the first set of performance data for the second set of operator performance data based on the identified range and the first set of operator performance data.

3. The agricultural data search engine of claim 2 and further comprising:

a data store that stores the context filter criteria hierarchy so it is configurable by an operator.

4. The agricultural data search engine of claim 3 and further comprising:

a first data volume analysis component that determines whether a volume of underlying data underlying the first set of performance data meets a statistical significance threshold.

5. The agricultural data search engine of claim 4 wherein the criteria identifier component is configured to access the context filter criteria hierarchy and change the selected context filter criteria used in identifying the first set of performance data, based on the first data volume analysis component determining that the volume of underlying data does not meet the statistical significance threshold, to increase an amount of underlying data when the context filter system filters the performance data.

6. The agricultural data search engine of claim 1 wherein the data retrieval component retrieves the operator performance data in units comparable to units of the operator performance data upon which the current performance metric value is generated.

7. The agricultural data search engine of claim 1 wherein the set of sensors comprise at least one of a geographic location sensor, a machine type sensor, a machine configuration source or a crop sensor.

8. The agricultural data search engine of claim 1 wherein the performance metric filter system is configured to identify the second set of operator performance data as a subset of the first set of performance data.

9. A computer implemented method, comprising:

generating, using a processor, an index of performance data, stored in a data store, the performance data being indicative of performance of an agricultural machine having an operator, the index indexing the performance data based on machine and worksite context criteria;

detecting, using a set of sensors, current machine and worksite context data corresponding to a selected agricultural machine;

generating a current performance metric value indicative of machine performance of the selected agricultural machine;

selecting context filter criteria from a context filter criteria hierarchy based on the detected current machine and worksite context data;

filtering, using a search system, the performance data using the index and the selected context filtering criteria to identify a first set of performance data;

identifying a score range, relative to the current performance metric;

filtering, using the search system, the first set of performance data using the index and the identified score range to modify the first set of performance data to identify a second set of performance data that is different from the first set of performance data;

identifying a quantity of underlying data, in the data store, underlying the second set of performance data and from which the second set of performance data was generated;

if the quantity of underlying data is above a first quantity value, then reducing the score range and repeating filtering the first set of performance data to decrease the quantity of underlying data;

if the quantity of underlying data is below a second quantity value, then increasing the score range and repeating the step of filtering the first set of performance data to increase the quantity of underlying data; and

generating a database control signal to retrieve the underlying data underlying the second set of performance data.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 9 and further comprising:

receiving a hierarchy change operator input; and

configured the context filter criteria hierarchy based on the hierarchy change operator input.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 10 and further comprising:

determining whether a volume of underlying data corresponding to the first set of performance data meets a statistical significance threshold;

if not, accessing the filter criteria hierarchy and changing the context filter criteria used in identifying the first set of performance data; and

modifying the first set of performance data based on the changed context filter criteria.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 9 wherein detecting current machine and worksite context information comprises: sensing the machine context information as at least one of a geographic location, a machine type, a machine configuration or a crop characteristic.