Method and system for treating plants for use in agriculture, analyzing images captured by camera, and identifying the plants to be treated
A system for treating plants for use in agriculture, comprising a spray boom provided with a plurality of spray nozzles supplied by a spray control device, the apparatus comprising a set of cameras capable of capturing images of a crop area, a digital processing device capable of analyzing the images captured by the camera, identifying plants to be treated and sending commands to the spray control device with a view to selectively spraying a product on plants to be treated, the apparatus also comprising an arrangement for lighting the crop area captured by the cameras. According to the invention, the lighting arrangement comprises a plurality of projectors distributed along the boom and having fields of illumination such that each point of a scene captured by a camera receives light from at least two projectors in at least two different orientations in a plane passing through the point and the projectors in question.
1. A system for treating plants for use in agriculture, comprising a spray boom provided with a plurality of spray nozzles supplied by a spray control device, the system further comprising a set of cameras capable of capturing images of a crop area, a digital processing device capable of analyzing the images captured by the camera, identifying plants to be treated and sending commands to the spray control device with a view to selectively spraying a product on plants to be treated, the system further comprising an arrangement for lighting the crop area captured by the cameras, the lighting arrangement comprising plurality of projectors distributed along the boom and having fields of illumination such that each point of a scene captured by a camera receives light from at least two projectors in at least two different orientations in a plane passing through said point and the projectors in question.
2. The system according to claim 1 , characterized in that each projector is capable of generating a beam which is generally rectangular and the angular width of which is greater than its angular height.
3. The system according to claim 2 , characterized in that the horizontal angular amplitude of the beam is between approximately 35 and 1500°.
4. The system according to claim 2 , characterized in that the angular amplitude of the beam, in a vertical plane, is between approximately 3 and 60°.
5. The system according to claim 1 , characterized in that the emission characteristics of the projectors in the horizontal direction, the orientation, and their main axes, are such that, passing through a work zone captured by the cameras in a direction transverse to the movement direction, the variation in the quantity of light received does not exceed approximately 30%, preferably approximately 20%.
6. The system according to claim 1 , characterized in that the projectors are arranged in lighting groups capable of creating light fluxes according to main axes of different orientations.
7. The system according to claim 6 , characterized in that the lighting groups are located in the vicinity of respective cameras.
8. The system according to claim 7 , characterized in that a light flux has a main axis neighboring the axis of the camera in the vicinity of which the group is located, and at least one other light flux has a main axis that is oblique with respect to the axis of said camera.
9. The system according to claim 8 , characterized in that two other light fluxes have two main axes which are oblique with respect to the axis of said camera.
10. The system according to claim 6 , characterized in that said at least one lighting group comprises a set of light sources and a set of associated optics, forming just as many projectors.
11. The system according to claim 6 , characterized in that at least one lighting group comprises at least one light source that is common to two fluxes, and at least two optics capable of generating at least two corresponding fluxes according to two different main axes.
12. The system according to claim 6 , characterized in that it comprises differentiated control means for light fluxes having different main axes.
13. The system according to claim 6 , characterized in that the light fluxes have a higher emission power the more their main axis is inclined with respect to the viewing axes of the cameras.
14. The system according to claim 1 , characterized in that the light sources are light-emitting diodes of a color temperature of between approximately 5000 and 6500° K, and more particularly close to 6000° K.
15. The system according to claim 14 , characterized in that the light-emitting diodes have a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of at least equal to 70, and preferably at least equal to 80.
16. The system according to claim 1 , characterized in that it further comprises a light polarizer in front of at least some of the projectors, and a light polarizer in front of at least some cameras.
17. The system according to claim 16 , characterized in that the polarizers associated with the projectors and the polarizers associated with the cameras are orthogonal linear polarizers.