Camera-SENSORSYSTEM for site-specific working depth control

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Development of an online sensor system for measuring the degree of ground cover.

goal of this project

The goal of this project is the development of a camera-sensor system for site-specific working depth control in conservation tillage (especially minimum tillage): A certain amount of straw is necessary to ensure a complete crop germination, at the same time sufficient soil cover leeds to erosion control.

This thesis is part of a joint research project with the objective to develop a site-specific tillage where the working depth of a cultivator is controlled depending on different soil properties and the amount of surface cover. The aim of this subproject was to provide a determination of the percent residue cover by means of fast image processing so that the tillage intensity can be adapted during field operation: A camera which is assembled to the front of the tractor observes the soil surface, the residue cover is determined and a signal for site-specific adjustment is given to a unit which controls the working-depth of a
cultivator.

 

basics

Reflection Spectroscopic studies show a maximum difference between the intensity of various straw and soil samples in the near infrared (NIR).

Image Acquisition

In this online approach, the image processing time must not exceed a value of about 1000 ms. Therefore, the image capturing conditions have to be optimized in such a way that a maximum of the desired informationshould be in the raw image.

 

image processing

To determine thedegree ofsoil coveran initial testalgorithm has beendeveloped usingcommercially availableimage processing software.Therunning time is1000 ms.

The various straw coverings after flat processing (about 5 cm).

The stubble plane
0 kg/m² (stubble only!)
0.3 kg/m²
0,6kg/m²
0,9kg/m²

Publications within the framework of the research project

Online-measurement of percent residue cover for implement control in conservation tillage. XVI CIGR World Congress, Bonn 2006

Online-measurement of percent residue cover for implement control in conservation tillage. 4th Workshop Precision Farming, Hohenheim 2007

Development of an automatable reference method for the determination of soil cover in mulch sowing. Conference Land.Technik, Hohenheim 2008

Adapting intensity to specific areas  -   New Agriculture 2/2010

Development of an algorithm for online measurement of percent residue cover -   Biosystems Engineering, Vol. 106(3), July 2010, 260-267

Development of an algorithm for online measurement of percent residual cover during stubble cultivation to mulch seeding methods, VDI-MEG 488, ISSN 0931-6264 (PhD thesis, 2010)