Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) especially the present invention relates the robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) in urban gardening using a sensor-based platform.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This section is intended to provide information relating to the field and background of the invention and thus any approach/functionality described below should not be assumed to be qualified as prior art merely by its inclusion in this section.
Urban gardening and agriculture are the practice of cultivating crops in densely populated areas such as city open spaces. These gardens produce fresh vegetables and fruits for daily consumption. In the USA and EU, urban gardening and agriculture has become increasingly popular and is referred to in a variety of ways, e.g., allotment gardening, leisure gardening, urban homesteading, edible landscaping. Urban and peri-urban agriculture in developing countries represents an opportunity for improving food supply, living standards, and local economy. Urban gardening and agriculture have an important role in enhancing food production, but with significant costs and constrains. It utilises significant amount of municipal water for crops growing. Moreover, municipal water supplies are typically much more expensive than agricultural water supplies and also may be more energy-intensive, as municipal water has been treated to drinking water standards. Thus, efficient use of municipal water supplies in urban gardening and agriculture is a priority target.
Urban gardening is becoming increasingly popular due to the benefits of growing fresh produce in limited spaces. However, managing the water supply in urban gardens can be challenging, as overwatering or underwatering can negatively impact plant growth and health. Monitoring soil water content (SWC) is essential to ensure optimal plant growth and water use efficiency. Traditional SWC measurement methods are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and can only provide a snapshot of soil moisture status at specific times. Therefore, there is a need for an efficient and automated system that can monitor SWC in real-time for urban gardening.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
This section is intended to introduce certain objects of the disclosed methods and systems in a simplified form, and is not intended to identify the key advantages or features of the present disclosure.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC).
Another object of the present invention is to provide economical and eco-friendly system.
.A further object of the present invention is to provide compact and lightweight system
It is still further object of the present invention to provide easy operation.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which shows, for the purpose of illustration only, one embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified format that are further described in the detailed description of the invention. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the invention, nor is it intended for determining the scope of the invention.
The present invention is about robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) (100). The robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) (100) in urban gardening using a sensor-based platform consisting of a soil reservoir (110); a plurality of access tube (120); a soil water sensing unit installed on the sensor-based platform (130); a mobile platform (140); a data logger (150); a handheld electronic unit (160); a ground station (170) (170); a coupling unit; a suspension unit; a bumper; a flexible member; a electronic control unit; a capacitance sensing unit is installed on the mobile platform; a motor; and a computer software application.
The plurality of access tube (120) placed along the soil reservoir (110) and under the soil surface through which the sensor-based platform passes to monitor soil water content (SWC) in real time.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the mobile platform (140) consists of pair of articulated wheeled bases which are linked by the coupling unit, the wheeled bases body is circular in shape, and is adequate to support the driving and sliding wheels. The driving wheels are supported by bumper suspensions and controlled by high quality DC motors. The suspension unit of the present invention allows motion only along the vertical direction and rely its function on flexible members to hold the bumper loosely in place, thereby providing foldable characteristics to the driving wheels and maintaining steady contact with the plurality of access tube walls (120).
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic control unit installed in a ground station (170) to drive the motors and allows the motor speed to be controlled in both the forward and reverse directions.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the data logger (150) is configured for storing, displaying, and converting the sensor data. The data logger (150) is connected with the handheld electronic unit (160) consisting of the computer software application by a standard serial port and can store data in a backup file or export backed-up data to a comma-separated variables file format, which can be viewed and analyzed. The data logger (150) is a compact, lightweight device with a user-friendly interface, allowing easy operation and monitoring of the SWC data in real-time.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the capacitance sensing unit has resolution of 10 cm and radial sensitivity of 5-10 cm from the outer wall of the plurality of the access tube (120). The capacitance sensing unit is a cylindrical ring capacitance probe that operates in excess of 100 MHz and passes frequencies in air, water, and soil through a normalization equation to determine a scaled frequency (SF).
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensor-based platform is a wall-press type robotic system. The sensor-based platform measures the soil water content (SWC) at fixed positions of the plurality of the access tube (120) spaced out every 24 cm of length increment, and the data logger (150) records the average value of three readings for each position, resulting in a total of 18 measurements for the plurality of the access tubes (120).
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the disclosure are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawing. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the disclosure can be employed and the subject disclosure is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features will become apparent from the following detailed description of the disclosure when considered in conjunction with the drawing.
To further clarify advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawing. It is appreciated that this drawing depicts only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
In order to better understand the present invention of a robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC), the characteristics of object of the present invention, will be better viewed from the detailed description hereinafter, which is only for a way of example, associated to the drawing referenced below, which are an integral part of this application. The parts in the drawing are not drawn to scale; the main objective is to understand the components, their arrangement and their working.
FIG. 1 is a complete view of a robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC);
Fig. 2 is a representative view of a robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) architecture;
Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawing are illustrated for simplicity and may not have been necessarily been drawn to scale. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the product, have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawing may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system and/or method, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are explanatory of the invention and are not intended to be restrictive thereof.
Reference throughout this specification to “an aspect”, “another aspect” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrase “in an embodiment”, “in another embodiment” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.
As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “includes”, “comprises”, “including” and/or “comprising” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. Furthermore, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations and arrangements of one or more of the associated listed items.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.
Any headings provided herein are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed invention.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing.
The detailed description of a robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC); object of the present invention will be made in accordance with the identification of components that form the basis of the figure described above.
After observing all the above problems in the prior art, the idea of constructing robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) disclosed in the present invention detailed description which is effective and efficient comparing to the conventional.
A complete and detailed view of robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) according to the embodiment of present invention is shown in FIG. 1 & FIG .2. As shown in FIG. 1 the robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) (100) in urban gardening using a sensor-based platform consisting of: , a soil reservoir (110); a plurality of access tube (120); a soil water sensing unit installed on the sensor-based platform (130); a mobile platform (140); a ground station (170); a coupling unit; a suspension unit; a bumper; a flexible member; a electronic control unit; a capacitance sensing unit is installed on the mobile platform; a motor; and a computer software application.
The FIG. 2 shows the robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) (100) in urban gardening using a sensor-based platform consisting of sensor-based platform (130); a data logger (150); a handheld electronic unit (160) and a ground station (170).
The plurality of access tube (120) As shown in FIG. 1 placed along the soil reservoir (110) and under the soil surface through which the sensor-based platform passes to monitor soil water content (SWC) in real time.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the mobile platform (140) consists of pair of articulated wheeled bases which are linked by the coupling unit, the wheeled bases body is circular in shape, and is adequate to support the driving and sliding wheels. The driving wheels are supported by bumper suspensions and controlled by high quality DC motors. The suspension unit of the present invention allows motion only along the vertical direction and rely its function on flexible members to hold the bumper loosely in place, thereby providing foldable characteristics to the driving wheels and maintaining steady contact with the plurality of access tube walls (120).
The electronic control unit installed in a ground station to drive the motors and allows the motor speed to be controlled in both the forward and reverse directions.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the data logger (150) is configured for storing, displaying, and converting the sensor data. The data logger (150) is connected with the handheld electronic unit (160) consisting of the computer software application by a standard serial port. The computer software application used to download and store data in a backup file or to export backed up data to a comma-separated variables file format. This text-based file format can be viewed and analysed with third party software (such as a Microsoft Excel document).
The data logger (150) is a compact, lightweight device with a user-friendly interface, allowing easy operation and monitoring of the SWC data in real-time.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the capacitance sensing unit has resolution of 10 cm and radial sensitivity of 5-10 cm from the outer wall of the plurality of the access tube (120). The capacitance sensing unit is a cylindrical ring capacitance probe that operates in excess of 100 MHz and passes frequencies in air, water, and soil through a normalization equation to determine a scaled frequency (SF).
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensor-based platform is a wall-press type robotic system. The sensor-based platform measures the soil water content (SWC) at fixed positions of the plurality of the access tube (120) spaced out every 24 cm of length increment, and the data logger (150) records the average value of three readings for each position, resulting in a total of 18 measurements for the plurality of the access tubes (120).
, Claims:CLAIMS
We Claim:
1. A robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) (100) in urban gardening consisting of: ,
a soil reservoir (110);
a plurality of access tube (120);
a soil water sensing unit installed on the sensor-based platform (130);
a mobile platform (140);
a data logger (150);
a handheld electronic unit (160);
a ground station (170);
a coupling unit;
a suspension unit;
a bumper;
a flexible member;
a electronic control unit;
a capacitance sensing unit is installed on the mobile platform (140);
a motor;
a computer software application;
wherein the plurality of access tube (120) placed along the soil reservoir (110) and under the soil surface through which the sensor-based platform passes to monitor soil water content (SWC) in real time;
wherein the mobile platform (140) consists of pair of articulated wheeled bases which are linked by the coupling unit, the wheeled bases body is circular in shape, and is adequate to support the driving and sliding wheels.
wherein the driving wheels are supported by bumper suspensions and controlled by high quality DC motors;
wherein the suspension unit allows motion only along the vertical direction and rely its function on flexible members to hold the bumper loosely in place, thereby providing foldable characteristics to the driving wheels and maintaining steady contact with the plurality of access tube walls (120);
wherein the electronic control unit installed in a ground station (170) to drive the motors and allows the motor speed to be controlled in both the forward and reverse directions;
wherein the data logger (150) is configured for storing, displaying, and converting the sensor data;
wherein the data logger (150) is connected with the handheld electronic unit (160) consisting of the computer software application by a standard serial port and can store data in a backup file or export backed-up data to a comma-separated variables file format, which can be viewed and analyzed.
2. The robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) in urban gardening as claimed in claim 1, wherein the capacitance sensing unit have resolution of 10 cm and radial sensitivity of 5-10 cm from the outer wall of the plurality of the access tube (120).
3. The robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) in urban gardening as claimed in claim 1, wherein the capacitance sensing unit is a cylindrical ring capacitance probe that operates in excess of 100 MHz and passes frequencies in air, water, and soil through a normalization equation to determine a scaled frequency (SF).
4. The robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) in urban gardening as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensor-based platform is a wall-press type robotic system.
5. The robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) in urban gardening as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensor-based platform measures the soil water content (SWC) at fixed positions of the plurality of the access tube (120) spaced out every 24 cm of length increment, and the data logger (150) records the average value of three readings for each position, resulting in a total of 18 measurements for the plurality of the access tubes (120).
6. The robotic system for real-time monitoring soil water content (SWC) in urban gardening as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data logger (150) is a compact, lightweight device with a user-friendly interface, allowing easy operation and monitoring of the SWC data in real-time.