Patent Application
20210174285
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a medium.
Heretofore, in an agricultural field, various tasks (works) have been executed depending on crop growing conditions, weather conditions, occurrence of disease or pest, or the like. In particular, in a large agricultural field, a large number of workers are required to deal with a large number of tasks, and an agricultural field manager is positioned to manage the workers. The agricultural field manager allocates the workers to each task generated in the agricultural field, and causes the workers to execute the task. In this case, if an appropriate number of workers cannot be allocated depending on the scale of each task, the task cannot be completed within a predetermined period of time, or some workers will not know what to do during their work time, which causes problems in terms of outcome and cost. Meanwhile, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-254356 discusses a technique for estimating the scale of a task based on the area of an agricultural field and calculating a required resource amount for executing the task based on the scale of the task and the unit resource amount corresponding to the scale of the task.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, an information processing apparatus comprises one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors function as: a resource amount determination unit configured to determine a required resource amount for executing a task to be executed in at least a partial section of an agricultural field in which a crop is grown based on a size of the section in which the task is executed and a state of an object on which the task is executed; and an output control unit configured to control the required resource amount determined by the resource amount determination unit to be displayed in association with the section in which the task is executed on a map representing the agricultural field displayed on a predetermined display unit.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, an information processing method comprises: determining a required resource amount for executing a task to be executed in at least a partial section of an agricultural field in which a crop is grown based on a size of the section in which the task is executed and a state of an object on which the task is executed; and controlling the determined required resource amount to be displayed in association with the section in which the task is executed on a map representing the agricultural field displayed on a predetermined display unit.
According to still another embodiment of the present invention, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores a program for causing a computer to perform a method comprising: determining a required resource amount for executing a task to be executed in at least a partial section of an agricultural field in which a crop is grown based on a size of the section in which the task is executed and a state of an object on which the task is executed; and controlling the determined required resource amount to be displayed in association with the section in which the task is executed on a map representing the agricultural field displayed on a predetermined display unit.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Note, the following embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention. Multiple features are described in the embodiments, but limitation is not made an invention that requires all such features, and multiple such features may be combined as appropriate. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same or similar configurations, and redundant description thereof is omitted.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-254356, information indicating, for example, crop growing conditions or occurrence of disease or pest, which has a great influence on the scale of a task in the actual agricultural field, is not taken into consideration. Thus, the accuracy of the calculated resource amount is not high.
An embodiment of the present invention can make it possible to accurately obtain a required resource amount for executing a task.
A network interface (hereinafter referred to as a NETIF) 104 controls input and output of data to be transmitted and received via a network. A display device 105 is, for example, a cathode-ray tube (CRT) display or a liquid crystal display. An input device 106 is used to receive an operation instruction from a user, and is, for example, a touch panel, a keyboard, or a mouse. The HDD 107 is a storage device. The HDD 107 is used to store data such as application programs. An input/output bus (an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus) 108 is used to connect the above-described units.
The information processing apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment manages resources required for tasks such as observation of growing conditions and dealing with disease or pest in an agricultural field.
The task amount calculation unit 303 calculates a task amount. The term “task” used herein refers to a work. The term “task amount” refers to the amount of tasks to be executed. The task amount is calculated depending on the size of a task target range and the state of an object (crop) on which the task is executed. The resource amount calculation unit 304 calculates a required resource amount based on the task amount calculated by the task amount calculation unit 303. The term “required resource amount” used herein refers to the amount of resources required for executing a task. In the present exemplary embodiment, the required resource amount corresponds to the number of workers. The required resource amount is not limited to the number of workers, but instead may be an amount of subjects that execute a task. The display processing unit 305 controls various information to be displayed on the display device 105. The display processing unit 305 performs control such that, for example, the required source amount calculated by the resource amount calculation unit 304 is displayed.
The work type ID 504 is information for identifying the type of a work to be executed on a crop. Examples of the work type include powdery mildew, downy mildew, and observation of growing conditions. A work (task) to be executed to deal with powdery mildew is a work for prevention and treatment of powdery mildew. The observed value 505 is an index value for a crop. The observed value 505 is a value corresponding to a work identified by the work type ID 504. For example, when the work type indicates powdery mildew, the observed value 505 is an index value indicating progression of powdery mildew, and when the work type indicates growing conditions, the observed value 505 is an index value indicating growing conditions.
The coordinate information 506 is information indicating the position of a crop. The coordinate information 506 is represented by geographic coordinates in a geographical coordinate system. In another example, the coordinate information 506 may be represented by relative coordinates with any point in a block as an origin.
Each record in the crop table 500 is information indicating the state of a crop obtained by observing the crop. For example, the record corresponding to the crop ID “1” indicates that the crop belongs to the block corresponding to the crop block ID “5” and the crop is located at coordinates (x1, y1). Further, the record corresponding to the crop ID “1” indicates that the observed value for the work corresponding to the work type ID “3” is “2”.
The block table 400, the crop table 500, and the work type table 600 are set in advance by a manager or the like and are updated, as needed. On the other hand, a record is added to the task table 700 depending on the input of a task by the user.
The marker 906 corresponding to the crop information is displayed in such a manner that the marker 906 is superimposed on the region 905, thereby enabling the user to learn the observed value for a crop on which a task is executed. A button 907 is used to save the input value in the text field 901. The value saved in this case is stored as a record in the task table 700. A button 908 is used to save the input value in the text field 901 and continuously input the next task. A button 908 includes not only the function of the button 907, but also a function for initializing the contents in the fields 901 to 905 and enabling the user to input the next task.
First, the calculation of the task amount (steps S1102 to S1107) will be described. In step S1102, the task amount calculation unit 303 acquires block information corresponding to the block ID 703 in the block table 400 (
Next, in step S1105, the task amount calculation unit 303 calculates work information coefficients. It is considered that the magnitude of the observed value for each crop and a variation in the observed value may affect the task amount. On the other hand, the task amount calculation unit 303 calculates a first coefficient depending on the magnitude of the observed value for each crop and a second coefficient depending on a variation in the observed value as crop information coefficients.
In the agricultural field, a countermeasure (task) is required depending on the degree of damage. In other words, the type or scale of the countermeasure varies depending on the degree of damage. Assume herein that as the degree of damage increases, the scale of the countermeasure to be taken increases. Accordingly, the task amount in the case of
αa=fa(o1,o2,o3, . . . ,on) (1)
In another example, the task amount calculation unit 303 may obtain the first coefficient aa with reference to the table in which the degree of damage is associated with the first coefficient aa. In still another example, the task amount calculation unit 303 may obtain the first coefficient aa using a function with which the first coefficient aa decreases as the degree of damage increases, which is opposite to that described above. This is suitable when the degree of damage is extremely large and thus the crop should be discarded.
Next, the second coefficient will be described with reference to
Accordingly, the task amount calculation unit 303 calculates a value that increases as a variation in the observed value increases as a second coefficient αv. That is, the second coefficient αv is a coefficient indicating a statistic representing a variation. Specifically, the task amount calculation unit 303 calculates the second coefficient αv by Expression (2). In Expression (2), fv represents a function for obtaining a statistic representing a variation in the arguments o1, o2, o3, . . . , and on. Specifically, the function fv only needs to be any function for obtaining a statistic of a dispersion, a standard deviation, or the like.
αv=fv(o1,o2,o3, . . . ,on) (2)
Referring again to
Accordingly, the task amount calculation unit 303 calculates, as a third coefficient βv, a value that increases as the range in which the crops with powdery mildew are present increases. That is, the third coefficient βv is a coefficient depending on the size of the range in which the crops for which a work is required are present. Specifically, the task amount calculation unit 303 obtains the third coefficient βv by Expression (3).
βv=g(p1,p2,p3, . . . ,pn) (3)
In Expression (3), p1, p2, p3, . . . , and pn represent crop coordinate vectors. “g” represents a function for obtaining a statistic representing a geographical variation in the arguments p1, p2, p3, . . . , and pn. Expression (4) can be used to calculate the function g (p1, p2, p3, . . . , pn). In this case, “c” represents a gravitational center of each of crop coordinate vectors p1, p2, p3, . . . , and pn.
Referring again to
St=Sb*aa*av*βv (5)
Thus, the calculation of the task amount (steps S1102 to S1107) is completed. Next, the resource amount calculation unit 304 calculates the required resource amount. Specifically, in step S1108, the resource amount calculation unit 304 obtains work type information associated with the work type ID 704 in the work type table 600 using the work type ID 704 corresponding to the input task as a search key. The unit worker number 603 of the obtained work type information is acquired as the required resource amount per unit task amount.
Next, in step S1109, the resource amount calculation unit 304 calculates a required resource amount Rt for the input task by Expression (6) based on the task amount St and a required resource amount Ru per unit task amount. In this case, the task amount St corresponds to the value calculated in step S1107, and the required resource amount Ru per unit task amount corresponds to the value acquired in step S1108.
Rt=St*Ru (6)
In step S1110, the display processing unit 305 controls the required resource amount calculated in step S1109 to be displayed on the display device 105. Specifically, the display processing unit 305 controls the display screen 1000 indicating the required resource amount to be displayed.
As described above, the information processing apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment can determine the required resource amount for executing each task based on the size of the task target range and the state of the object, and can output the required resource amount. Thus, the information processing apparatus 100 can accurately obtain the resource amount required for executing each task.
As a first modified example, in a case where a plurality of tasks is input, the resource amount calculation unit 304 may calculate a statistic, such as a total value of the required resource amount for all tasks, based on the required resource amount for each task. Further, the display processing unit 305 may display the statistic together with the required resource amount for each task.
As a second modified example, the destination to which the required resource amount is output is not limited to the display device 105. In another example, the information processing apparatus 100 may output the required resource amount to an external apparatus.
A third modified example will be described. In the present exemplary embodiment, the information processing apparatus 100 uses the number of pieces of crop information as an index for the task execution range in the calculation of the task amount, but instead may use an area in which crop information is distributed. In this case, the information processing apparatus 100 may obtain the area by calculating a convex hull based on the coordinate information 506 about the crop information.
A fourth modified example will be described. While the present exemplary embodiment illustrates an example where the calculation of the required resource amount is applied to an agricultural field, the application field is not limited to agriculture. An example where the calculation of the required resource amount is applied to a maintenance work for a manufacturing device (product) in a manufacturing field will be described with reference to
In a case where a target completion date/time for a task is set, the information processing apparatus 100 according to a second exemplary embodiment calculates the required resource amount for completing the task on or before the target completion date/time for the task. Differences between the information processing apparatus 100 according to the second exemplary embodiment and the information processing apparatus 100 according to the first exemplary embodiment will be mainly described below.
In step S1801, the acquisition unit 301 acquires the target completion date/time 1601 from the input task. Next, in step S1802, the task amount calculation unit 303 calculates a grace period. The term “grace period” used herein refers to a period from a date/time when processing is executed to the target completion date/time. The grace period corresponds to a task execution period. The task amount calculation unit 303 calculates a grace period Te by Expression (7). In Expression (7), Td represents the target completion date/time and Tc represents the date/time when processing is executed.
Te=Td−Tc (7)
Next, in step S1803, the task amount calculation unit 303 acquires a working efficiency. Assume that the working efficiency is set in advance in the information processing apparatus 100. In this case, the working efficiency corresponds to the amount of tasks that can be executed by a worker per hour. In the present exemplary embodiment, assume that the working efficiency is constant regardless of the worker. After the processing of step S1803, the CPU 101 proceeds the processing to step S1102. After the processing of steps S1102 to S1107, the CPU 101 proceeds the processing to step S1804. In step S1804, the task amount calculation unit 303 calculates the required resource amount Rt by Expression (8) based on the task amount St, the grace period Te, and a working efficiency E. After the processing of step S1804, the CPU 101 proceeds the processing to step S1110.
Rt=St/(Te*E) (8)
The other configuration and processing of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the second exemplary embodiment are similar to the configuration and processing of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the first exemplary embodiment. As described above, the information processing apparatus 100 according to the second exemplary embodiment can calculate the required resource amount for completing a task on or before the target completion date/time.
A modified example of the second exemplary embodiment will be described. The information processing apparatus 100 may manage different working efficiencies for each worker.
In still another example, the information processing apparatus 100 may store a worker table 2100 illustrated in
The information processing apparatus 100 according to a third exemplary embodiment adjusts the required resource amount so as not to exceed an upper limit when the upper limit of an available resource amount is determined. When the calculated required resource amount is lower than the upper limit, the information processing apparatus 100 according to the third exemplary embodiment distributes a surplus resource to other tasks.
After the processing of step S1109, in step S2502, the resource amount calculation unit 304 adds the required resource amount calculated in step S1109 to the resource total value. After completion of the series of processing, the CPU 101 proceeds the processing to step S2503. In step S2503, the resource amount calculation unit 304 compares the resource total amount with the upper limit resource amount. In this case, the upper limit resource amount is a value set in advance. When the resource total amount is equal to the upper limit resource amount (YES in step S2503), the resource amount calculation unit 304 proceeds the processing to step S2520. When the resource total amount is more than the upper limit resource amount (NO in step S2503 and YES in step S2504), the resource amount calculation unit 304 proceeds the processing to step S2513. When the resource total amount is less than or equal to the upper limit resource amount (NO in step S2503 and NO in step S2504), the resource amount calculation unit 304 proceeds the processing to step S2506.
The processing of steps S2506 to S2512 is processing to be executed when the resource total amount is less than or equal to the upper limit resource amount, and processing to be executed when a surplus resource amount is distributed to each task. In step S2506, the resource amount calculation unit 304 initializes the cumulative distribution amount table 2310. Specifically, the resource amount calculation unit 304 stores “0” in the task ID of the task input in the task ID 2311, the required resource amount allocated to the task input in the required resource amount 2312, and the cumulative distribution amount 2313.
Next, in step S2507, the resource amount calculation unit 304 obtains a surplus resource amount by subtracting the upper limit resource amount from the resource total amount. Next, in step S2508, the resource amount calculation unit 304 compares “0” with the value obtained by subtracting the reference distribution amount from the surplus resource amount. In this case, the reference distribution amount is a unit for distributing the required resource amount allocated to each task and is a value set in advance. In the present exemplary embodiment, assume that the reference distribution amount is “1”. In the present exemplary embodiment, assume that the same reference distribution amount is set for all tasks. In another example, the reference distribution amount may be determined depending on the importance. The information processing apparatus 100 may obtain the reference distribution amount based on the importance, for example, by using a function or a correspondence table. When the value obtained by subtracting the reference reduction amount from the surplus resource amount is greater than “0” (YES in step S2508), the resource amount calculation unit 304 proceeds the processing to step S2509. When the value obtained by subtracting the reference reduction amount from the surplus resource amount is less than or equal to “0” (NO in step S2508), the resource amount calculation unit 304 proceeds the processing to step S2520.
In step S2509, the resource amount calculation unit 304 refers to the task table 2200 (
Next, in step S2511, the resource amount calculation unit 304 updates the cumulative distribution amount 2313 in the record identified in step S2510. Specifically, the resource amount calculation unit 304 adds the reference distribution amount “1” to the cumulative distribution amount 2313. Next, in step S2512, the resource amount calculation unit 304 updates the surplus resource amount. Specifically, the resource amount calculation unit 304 substrates the reference distribution amount “1” from the surplus resource amount. After that, the CPU 101 proceeds the processing after the processing of step S2512 to step S2508.
On the other hand, the processing of steps S2513 to S2519 is processing to be executed when the resource total amount is more than the upper limit resource amount, and is processing for reducing the resource amount. In step S2513, the resource amount calculation unit 304 initializes the cumulative reduction amount table 2300. Specifically, the resource amount calculation unit 304 stores “0” in the task ID of the task input in the task ID 2301, the required resource amount allocated to the task input in the required resource amount 2302, and the cumulative reduction amount 2303.
Next, in step S2514, the resource amount calculation unit 304 obtains an excess resource amount by subtracting the resource total amount from the upper limit resource amount. Next, in step S2515, the resource amount calculation unit 304 selects the task with the lowest importance 2201 as the resource reduction target with reference to the task table 2200 (
Next, in step S2516, the resource amount calculation unit 304 identifies the record corresponding to the task for which the amount of resources is reduced in the cumulative reduction amount table 2300 (
Next, in step S2517, the resource amount calculation unit 304 updates the cumulative reduction amount 2303 in the record of the cumulative reduction amount table 2300 identified in step S2516. Specifically, the resource amount calculation unit 304 adds the reference reduction amount “1” to the cumulative reduction amount 2303. Next, in step S2518, the resource amount calculation unit 304 updates the excess resource amount. Specifically, the resource amount calculation unit 304 subtracts the reference reduction amount “1” from the excess resource amount. Next, in step S2519, the resource amount calculation unit 304 compares the excess resource amount with “0”. When the excess resource amount is more than “0” (YES in step S2519), the resource amount calculation unit 304 proceeds the processing to step S2515. When the excess resource amount is less than or equal to “0” (NO in step S2519), the resource amount calculation unit 304 proceeds the processing to step S2520. In step S2520, the display processing unit 305 controls the required resource amount allocated to each task to be displayed on the display device 105. Specifically, the display processing unit 305 performs control such that one of the display screen 2400 and the display screen 2410 indicating the required resource amount is displayed. The other configuration and processing of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the third exemplary embodiment are similar to the configuration and processing of the information processing apparatuses according to other exemplary embodiments.
As described above, when the total amount of the required resource amount allocated to each task exceeds the upper limit resource amount, the information processing apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment reduces an excess resource amount from the amount of resources allocated to each task. On the contrary, when the total amount of the required resource amount allocated to each task is less than the upper limit resource amount, the information processing apparatus 100 distributes the surplus resource amount to each task. Thus, when the amount of available resources is small with respect to the number of tasks, the limited resources can be effectively allocated to each task. On the contrary, when the amount of available resources is large with respect to the number of tasks, the surplus resource amount can be effectively used.
While exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the specific exemplary embodiments. The present invention can be modified or changed in various ways within the gist of the present invention described in the scope of claims.
While the exemplary embodiments have been described in detail above, the present invention can be applied to, for example, a system, an apparatus, a method, a program, or a recording medium (storage medium), as exemplary embodiments. Specifically, the present invention can be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (e.g., a host computer, an interface device, an image capturing device, and a web application), or an apparatus composed of one device.
Needless to say, an object of the present invention can be achieved by the following configuration. That is, a recording medium (or a storage medium) recording a program code (computer program) of software for implementing the functions according to the exemplary embodiments described above is supplied to a system or apparatus. Needless to say, the storage medium is a computer-readable recording medium. A computer (or a CPU or a micro processing unit (MPU)) of the system or apparatus reads out and executes the program code stored in the recording medium. In this case, the program code read out from the recording medium implements the functions according to the exemplary embodiments described above, and the recording medium recording the program code constitutes the present invention.
Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). The computer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions. The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-156440 | Aug 2018 | JP | national |
This application is a Continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2019/029920, filed Jul. 31, 2019, which claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-156440, filed Aug. 23, 2018, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2019/029920 | Jul 2019 | US |
| Child | 17180392 | US |
