Patent Application
20180098499
The present invention relates generally to a method for implementing a vehicle based automated vegetation removal process and in particular to a method and associated system for dividing an area into sectors and directing a vehicle to sectors comprising undesirable vegetation for removal.
Implementing weed control processes typically includes an inaccurate process with little flexibility. Weed control herbicides process may enhance negative environmental impacts and typically involve an unreliable process that may be time consuming and require a large amount of resources. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome at least some of the deficiencies and limitations described herein above.
A first aspect of the invention provides an automated vegetation removal method comprising: receiving, by a processor of a first vehicle, data describing a specified geographical area for scanning; dividing, by the processor, the specified geographical area into a plurality of sectors; directing, by the processor, a second vehicle to a first sector of the plurality of sectors; receiving, by the processor from the second vehicle, first geographical coordinates associated with areas of undesirable vegetation growth located within the first sector; determining, by the processor based on analysis of the first geographical coordinates, an optimal travel path from a current location of the first vehicle to the areas of undesirable vegetation growth located within the first sector; directing, by the processor, the first vehicle to the areas of undesirable vegetation growth via the optimal travel path; executing upon arrival of the first vehicle to the areas of undesirable vegetation growth, by the processor via the first vehicle, a process for eliminating the areas of undesirable vegetation growth.
A second aspect of the invention provides a computer program product, comprising a computer readable hardware storage device storing a computer readable program code, the computer readable program code comprising an algorithm that when executed by a processor of a first vehicle implements automated vegetation removal method, the method comprising: receiving, by the processor, data describing a specified geographical area for scanning; dividing, by the processor, the specified geographical area into a plurality of sectors; directing, by the processor, a second vehicle to a first sector of the plurality of sectors; receiving, by the processor from the second vehicle, first geographical coordinates associated with areas of undesirable vegetation growth located within the first sector; determining, by the processor based on analysis of the first geographical coordinates, an optimal travel path from a current location of the first vehicle to the areas of undesirable vegetation growth located within the first sector; directing, by the processor, the first vehicle to the areas of undesirable vegetation growth via the optimal travel path; executing upon arrival of the first vehicle to the areas of undesirable vegetation growth, by the processor via the first vehicle, a process for eliminating the areas of undesirable vegetation growth.
A third aspect of the invention provides a first vehicle comprising a processor coupled to a computer-readable memory unit, the memory unit comprising instructions that when executed by the processor executes automated vegetation removal method comprising: receiving, by the processor, data describing a specified geographical area for scanning; dividing, by the processor, the specified geographical area into a plurality of sectors; directing, by the processor, a second vehicle to a first sector of the plurality of sectors; receiving, by the processor from the second vehicle, first geographical coordinates associated with areas of undesirable vegetation growth located within the first sector; determining, by the processor based on analysis of the first geographical coordinates, an optimal travel path from a current location of the first vehicle to the areas of undesirable vegetation growth located within the first sector; directing, by the processor, the first vehicle to the areas of undesirable vegetation growth via the optimal travel path; executing upon arrival of the first vehicle to the areas of undesirable vegetation growth, by the processor via the first vehicle, a process for eliminating the areas of undesirable vegetation growth.
The present invention advantageously provides a simple method and associated system capable of implementing weed control processes.
System 100 of
The following implementation example illustrates a vegetation removal process executed by vehicles 114a . . . 114n (i.e., an aerial vehicle) and control vehicle 15 (a land based vehicle) thereby enabling vehicles 114a . . . 114n to determine locations for the undesirable vegetation and control vehicle 15 to perform a removal process as follows:
Control vehicle 15 determines a target geographical area for scanning for undesirable vegetation and divides the target geographical area into sectors (i.e., as illustrated with respect to
Aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” or “system.”
The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.
The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.
Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing apparatus receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device.
Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.
Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, device (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions.
These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing device, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing device, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable device or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable device, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The computer system 90 illustrated in
In some embodiments, rather than being stored and accessed from a hard drive, optical disc or other writeable, rewriteable, or removable hardware memory device 95, stored computer program code 84 (e.g., including an algorithm) may be stored on a static, nonremovable, read-only storage medium such as a Read-Only Memory (ROM) device 85, or may be accessed by processor 91 directly from such a static, nonremovable, read-only medium 85. Similarly, in some embodiments, stored computer program code 97 may be stored as computer-readable firmware 85, or may be accessed by processor 91 directly from such firmware 85, rather than from a more dynamic or removable hardware data-storage device 95, such as a hard drive or optical disc.
Still yet, any of the components of the present invention could be created, integrated, hosted, maintained, deployed, managed, serviced, etc. by a service supplier who offers to enable a process for automatically dividing a geographical area into sectors and directing an undesirable vegetation removal process. Thus, the present invention discloses a process for deploying, creating, integrating, hosting, maintaining, and/or integrating computing infrastructure, including integrating computer-readable code into the computer system 90, wherein the code in combination with the computer system 90 is capable of performing a method for enabling a process for automatically dividing a geographical area into sectors and directing an undesirable vegetation removal process. In another embodiment, the invention provides a business method that performs the process steps of the invention on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis. That is, a service supplier, such as a Solution Integrator, could offer to enable a process for automatically dividing a geographical area into sectors and directing an undesirable vegetation removal process. In this case, the service supplier can create, maintain, support, etc. a computer infrastructure that performs the process steps of the invention for one or more customers. In return, the service supplier can receive payment from the customer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or the service supplier can receive payment from the sale of advertising content to one or more third parties. While
While embodiments of the present invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, many modifications and changes will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to encompass all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.
