"Soil sampling ""on the fly"""
US6016713A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 29, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jan 25, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 29, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02A40/10
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A site-specific precision farming system for acquiring soil samples from a field of land using a vehicle remaining in the operative motion normal to a field or crop operation being performed simultaneously is disclosed. The system includes a tractor, harvester, or other agricultural vehicle provided with an implement or other device appropriate to the operation being simultaneously performed; a soil sample acquiring device movable with respect to the vehicle such that the device is substantially stationary with respect to the soil while it acquires a sample; a locational identification system; a device for inserting each soil sample into an individual container and for marking the sample site locational identification thereon as alphanumeric indicia or as a barcode; and an on-board computer for control of the above processes. The vehicle may be provided with soil analysis equipment for real-time soil sample analysis or with sensors for other soil or crop parameters, and the computer may then log the resulting site-specific data correlated with the corresponding locational data to a portable memory device for removal to an off-site computer for data archiving and for generation of a…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.