U.S. patent application number 09/912084 was filed with the patent office on 2001-12-06 for user modifiable geographical zones for the variable application of substances thereto.
This patent application is currently assigned to Centrak LLC.. Invention is credited to Wiens, Daniel W..
Application Number | 20010048755 09/912084 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22650850 |
Filed Date | 2001-12-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010048755 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wiens, Daniel W. |
December 6, 2001 |
User modifiable geographical zones for the variable application of
substances thereto
Abstract
A method and system for applying substance formulations to a
land area is disclosed. A flexible, easily modifiable graphical
representation of subareas of the area is provided, wherein to each
subarea it is desired to apply a combination of one or more
substance formulations uniformly throughout the subarea. A user
(e.g., a farmer) needs only to specify a boundary for each subarea
on a graphical image of the land area for computationally defining
the subarea. Subsequently, since the land area image and the
subarea boundaries thereon are geographically referenced to
latitude and longitude coordinates, when applying such formulations
to the land area, the present invention utilizes global positioning
system (GPS) signals to thereby determine when such a subarea
boundary has been traversed so that a corresponding change in the
applied formulation(s) can be performed.
Inventors: |
Wiens, Daniel W.; (Fort
Morgan, CO) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Dennis J. Dupray, Ph.D.
SHERIDAN ROSS P.C.
Suite 1200
1560 Broadway
Denver
CO
80202-5141
US
|
Assignee: |
Centrak LLC.
|
Family ID: |
22650850 |
Appl. No.: |
09/912084 |
Filed: |
July 23, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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09912084 |
Jul 23, 2001 |
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09504223 |
Feb 15, 2000 |
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6266432 |
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09504223 |
Feb 15, 2000 |
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09178021 |
Oct 22, 1998 |
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6115481 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
382/113 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10S 111/903 20130101;
G06Q 99/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
382/113 |
International
Class: |
G06K 009/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for determining formulations of one or more substances
to apply to a geographic area, comprising: displaying an electronic
image of the geographic area; receiving input from a user for
specifying a representation of substantially only a boundary
portion of a first subarea of the geographic area, wherein said
first subarea has an interior portion different from and bounded by
said boundary portion; generating a representation of said first
subarea from said input; associating with said first subarea
representation, first data representing a first formulation of said
one or more substances so that during an application of said one or
more substances, said first formulation of said substances is
applied to said first subarea, and a different formulation of said
substances is applied to a second subarea of said area.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of receiving
includes obtaining one or more manual inputs representative of one
or more locations for determining said boundary portion
representation without the user manually identifying a
representation of said interior portion of the first subarea.
3. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said step of obtaining
includes identifying one or more pixels selected by the user for
generating said boundary portion.
4. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said interior portion
includes at least one pixel not manually identified by the
user.
5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said boundary portion
representation is included within a closed curve representation of
a closed boundary distinguishing said interior of said first
subarea from an exterior of said first subarea.
6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein said boundary portion
representation is defined by a minority of pixels on said boundary
portion representation.
7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of displaying
includes amplifying a characteristic of said image to further
distinguish subareas of the geographic area on said image.
8. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of displaying
includes identifying, with each of one or more graphical points, a
geographical location identifiable on said image, and a
corresponding latitude and longitude.
9. A method as claimed in claim 1, further including a step of
applying one or more of a fertilizer, a pesticide, and a herbicide
to the geographic area in varying formulations depending on said
subareas encountered during an application thereof.
10. A method for determining where to apply a formulation of one or
more substances to a geographic area, comprising: obtaining an
electronic image of the geographic area; displaying, on said image,
one or more representations of subareas of the geographic area,
wherein at least a first and second of said subareas are
distinguishable from one another by a predetermined characteristic
identifiable on said image; recording a first formulation of said
one or more substances to be applied to said first subarea, and a
different second formulation of said one or more substances to be
applied to said second subarea; receiving, from a user, input
identifying one or more geographic locations for specifying an area
change in said first subarea, wherein at least a portion of an
interior of said area change is not provided in said input;
generating, with said input, a representation of said area change;
associating with said representation of the area change, first data
indicating that said first formulation of said one or more
substances is to be applied to said area change.
11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said step of
generating includes representing of said area change with
substantially only a representation of a boundary of said area
change.
12. A method as claimed in claim 10 further including displaying a
representation of a boundary of said area change that is visibly
different from said interior, wherein said boundary representation
displays as connected to a boundary representation of said first
subarea for forming a closed curve.
13. An apparatus for determining formulations of one or more
substances to apply to a geographic area, comprising: an image
processor for receiving image data of the geographic area, wherein
said image processor generates an image of the image data, said
image being a view of the geographic area from substantially
directly overhead; a first collection of one or more programs for
partitioning the geographical area into subareas, wherein for at
least a first of the subareas, said first collection determines at
least one of: (a) a formulation of said one or more substances to
apply to said first area; and (b) a measurement related to an
application of said one or more substances; a data representation
of a boundary of said first area, wherein said boundary separates
an interior of said first area from an exterior of said first area;
a second collection of one or more programs for use by a user for
modifying said data representation, wherein said second collection
controls a modification of said data representation when supplied
with information for changing said interior of said first subarea,
said information being substantially indicative of only a change in
said boundary.
14. An apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said data
representation includes a graphical display of said boundary.
15. An apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein said graphical
display is different from a graphical display of said interior.
16. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein said image processor
includes a means for geographically referencing said image so that
a latitude and longitude pair are determined for some pixels of
said image.
17. An apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said second
collection of programs includes one or more programs for changing a
data representation of a second of said subareas when said
information for changing said first subarea is supplied.
18. An apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said second
collection of programs includes one or more programs for changing a
measurement indicative of one of: (a) a size of said first subarea,
and (b) an amount of a formulation of said one or more substances
for applying to said first subarea.
19. An apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein at least one of
said first and second program collections activates an artificial
neural network for determining at least one of said subareas.
20. An apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said image data is
obtained using a plurality of images of the geographic area,
wherein at least some of said images are obtained from one or more
of: (a) reflectance and absorption, wherein said reflectance and
absorption relates to one of visible light, infrared light,
multispectral light, and hyperspectral light; (b) a themed nutrient
plan; (c) a yield map; and (d) remotely sensed data.
21. An apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said second
collection of programs is activatable from substantially any
location in said geographic area.
22. An apparatus as claimed in claim 13, further including a
receiver for receiving a satellite signal for determining a
location of the user when the user supplies said information for
changing said first subarea.
23. A method for variably applying one or more substances to a
geographic area, comprising: traversing said geographic area one or
more times; during one of said times for performing said step of
traversing, the following steps (A1) through (A4) are performed:
(A1) first displaying an electronic image of the geographic area;
(A2) determining repeatedly a current location; (A3) receiving,
from a user, data indicative of a boundary of a subarea of the
geographic area, wherein said subarea has an interior portion
bounded by said boundary, and wherein it is desired to apply a
first of one or more formulations of the one or more substances to
said subarea; (A4) second displaying said boundary on said
electronic image; during one of the times of said step of
traversing, the following steps (B1) through (B3) are performed:
(B1) applying one or more formulations of the substances to said
geographic area; (B2) detecting a traversal of said boundary; (B3)
modifying an amount of said first formulation when said boundary is
traversed.
24. A method as claimed in claim 23, wherein said modifying step
includes applying said first formulation according to a
predetermined value when said subarea is entered.
25. A method as claimed in claim 24, wherein said modifying step
includes ceasing to apply said first formulation according to said
predetermined value when said subarea is exited.
26. A method as claimed in claim 23, wherein said step of receiving
includes determining geographic locations related to said boundary
by identifying pixels of said electronic image.
27. A method as claimed in claim 26, wherein said second displaying
step includes determining said boundary as a replacement for a
previous boundary portion of the subarea.
28. A method as claimed in claim 23, wherein said second displaying
step includes generating a representation of said boundary as one
or more: lines, splines, arcs, polynomial interpolation functions,
b-splines and non-uniform rational b-splines.
29. A method for variably applying one or more substances to a
geographic area, comprising: displaying an electronic image of the
geographic area, wherein geographic location data for each of one
or more pixels of the images is used for determining a
corresponding formulation of substances for applying to a portion
of the geographic area represented by the pixels; for each of a
plurality of different locations in the geographic area, perform
steps (A1) and (A2); (A1) receiving user input for determining a
modification of a representation of a subarea of said geographic
area while the user is substantially at the location; (A2)
redisplaying said image with a graphical representation of the
modification to said subarea, while the user is substantially at
the location; identifying a traversal of a boundary of said subarea
by using said modification; and changing an application rate of at
least one of said substances.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method for
applying substance formulations to a land area, and in particular,
to a system and method for computationally determining land
management zones within the land area, wherein each land management
zone may require a substance formulation specific to the zone.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] There have been various application systems for applying
substances to geographical areas such as farmland, forests, etc. In
some application systems, the application of formulations of such
substances as fertilizers, pesticides, seed and land inputs is
determined according to location within the geographic area. That
is, the formulations and/or application rates thereof are
determined according to the location of an applicator (e.g., a
dispensing vehicle) as it moves through the geographic area.
[0003] Such application systems may include computer subsystems
used for variably applying various substances to the geographic
area. Heretofore, however, application systems for variably
applying substances have not been designed to utilize a user's
experiential knowledge regarding the geographic area. For example,
a user such as a farmer may have substantial experiential knowledge
regarding the effectiveness of applying substances to his/her
farmland. Further, the farmer may have certain personal preferences
(e.g., farming strategies) that he/she desires to implement
regarding the application of substances. However, such personal
knowledge and/or preferences are not easily incorporated into such
computer subsystems for thereby modifying how such substances (and
formulations thereof) are applied to the farmer's land. In fact, to
incorporate such personal knowledge and/or preferences into the
computer subsystems may require the user to perform one or more of
the following tasks:
[0004] (a) enter fallacious soil sample assay data into the
computer subsystem together with associated latitude and longitude
coordinates for "tricking" the computer subsystem into assigning a
desired substance formulation to a particular subarea of the
geographic area;
[0005] (b) specifying, at each pixel of an electronic map of the
geographic area, the desired substance formulation(s) to apply;
and
[0006] (c) individually identify each pixel used in representing a
subarea of the geographic area that is to have the desired same
formulation(s) applied thereto.
[0007] Moreover, such computer subsystems are not, in general,
capable of incorporating the user's personal knowledge and/or
preferences while the user is, for example, inspecting the
geographic area to which the one or more substances are to be
applied. Thus, during such an inspection, if the user comes across
a subarea to which he/she desires to apply a different formulation,
then he/she will likely be required to make note of locations
defining the subarea and then return to the site having the
computer subsystem and enter his/her modifications via one or more
of the above tasks (a)-(c). Accordingly, such computer subsystems
are batch-like in their processing in that the user is likely to
collect a list of changes before commencing to enter them into the
computer subsystem.
[0008] If, however, it would be desirable to have an application
system that allowed a user to easily input personal knowledge
and/or preferences related to the application of substances to a
geographic area. Moreover, it would also be desirable that each
change related to how substances are applied could be entered as
each location where the change is to apply is encountered.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention is a method and system for applying
formulations of substances to a land area. In particular, the
present invention includes a computational system for determining
which (and/or an amount) of one or more formulations of substances
are to be distributed on various subareas of the land area. That
is, for each subarea (hereinafter also denoted a "management
zone"), there is a uniform application of a particular combination
of one or more formulations throughout the management zone. More
particularly, the computational system of the present invention
provides:
[0010] (a) a graphical display of the land area, wherein this
graphical display is an enhanced version of a pictorial image of
the land area such that salient features of the land area are
emphasized. For example, when the image is from reflectance-of
visible light, various shades of brown and/or green may be
transformed into easily distinguished colors such as blue and
orange; and
[0011] (b) a novel capability for graphically modifying how the
substance formulations are applied to the management zones of the
land area. In particular, a user may perform such application
modifications by creating, modifying and deleting graphical
representations of one or more management zones and these graphical
changes are provided using user interaction techniques where
boundaries of the management zones (and changes thereto) are input
for defining (and modifying) the management zones.
[0012] Accordingly, referring to (a) above, the present invention
allows for an aerial image of the land area to be adjusted from an
angled view of this area to a view that appears to be from directly
overhead the area. Additionally, note that the present invention
may use one or more images, singly or combined, wherein, e.g., the
images may be obtained from visible light reflectance and/or
absorption, infrared light reflectance and/or absorption, multi-
and hyperspectral light reflectance and/or absorption, plus any
kind and type of themed nutrient plans, yield maps, and other
remotely sensed data, as well as themed derived maps using any or
all of the above types of image data.
[0013] Referring to (b) above, the present invention allows a user
to define management zone boundaries in terms of computational
geometry data objects such as lines, splines, arcs and other
geometric entities that are of a higher dimension than that of a
point (i.e., pixel). Thus, a user can create and/or modify a
management zone without manually having to identify each point of
the management zone or its boundary.
[0014] Furthermore, it is an aspect of the present that global
positioning system (GPS) signals may be used for graphically
tracking (e.g., on a computer display of a portable management
subsystem included in the present invention) a representation of a
vehicle traversing the land area. Accordingly, such a management
subsystem may be used for tracking a vehicle while applying one or
more of the formulations of substances to the land area. Note,
however, that it is an aspect of the management subsystem that it
may receive GPS signals while traversing the land area so that
accurate management subsystem locations within the land area may be
periodically determined. Moreover, note that since the graphical
representation of the land area and its corresponding management
zones are correlated with latitude and longitude coordinates, the
portable management subsystem is capable of being used in the land
area of application for determining when a management zone boundary
is crossed for-thereby changing the application of one or more of
the substance formulations (or amounts thereof) that are being
applied to the land area.
[0015] Additional features and benefits of the present invention
will become evident from the Detailed Description and the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram illustrating the components of
the land management system 20 and its interactions with a user(s)
and other devices.
[0017] FIG. 2 is an illustration of an aerial photo 90 of an
agricultural area having an area 100 to which the present invention
can be applied.
[0018] FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the area 100.
[0019] FIG. 4 illustrates the results of applying a color contrast
enhancement process of the present invention to area 100.
[0020] FIG. 5 shows a computer display with each point 112a through
112d in the left portion of the display (i.e., on photo image 90)
to be identified with a corresponding point 116a through 116d on
the right portion of the display, wherein each point 116 has a
corresponding latitude and longitude associated therewith. By
identifying corresponding points 112 and 116, the image 90 can be
geo-referenced wherein each pixel of the photo image 90 is then
able to be identified by a latitude/longitude pair.
[0021] FIG. 6 shows a transformed version of the photo image 90,
wherein the image is adjusted so that any viewing angle (other than
from directly overhead) from which the image 90 was obtained is
transformed into a directly overhead (i.e., perpendicular)
perspective. Note that this can be performed once the image 90 is
geographically referenced FIG. 7 shows a computer display generated
by the present invention wherein land subarea management zones 150a
through 150d are defined by the management zone boundaries 160.
[0022] FIG. 8 is a flowchart indicating the high level steps
performed for constructing the initial collection of management
zone data representations.
[0023] FIG. 9 is a flowchart describing how a user manually enters
data for representing boundaries of management zones when, e.g.,
constructing the initial collection of management zones as per FIG.
8
[0024] FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a flowchart for determining the
amount of each formulation of one or more substances to be applied
to the management zones of an area such as an agricultural
field.
[0025] FIGS. 11A-11C illustrate a flowchart describing the steps
performed by a subsystem of the present invention that is utilized
in the application area (e.g., an agricultural field) having
management zone representations. In particular, this flowchart
illustrates the process performed by the present invention: (a)
when applying different formulations of substances to different
management zones, and (b) when a user changes a shape of one or
more management zones.
[0026] FIG. 12 is an illustration of a graphical representation of
area 100, where the management zones shown in FIG. 7 have been
modified.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0027] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the land management system
20 of the present invention. Included within the land management
system 20 is a map processing unit 24 for processing digital photo
image data 28 according to instructions by a user interacting with
the map processing unit. In particular, the map processing unit 24
provides the user with the ability to digitally adjust the
perspective of a photo image resulting from the display of the
photo image data 28. That is, the photo image or a desired portion
thereof, is transformed to obtain a view from substantially
directly overhead. Further, the map processing unit 24 allows a
user to geographically reference the photo image by identifying a
latitude/longitude pair with each of a small number of pixels on
the photo image so that subsequently all other pixels on the photo
image may be automatically identified with a corresponding
latitude/longitude pair. Note that the processing of the map
processing unit 24 will be described in more detail
hereinbelow.
[0028] Additionally, the land management system 20 also includes a
user editable management zone subsystem 32 (hereinafter also
abbreviated as management zone subsystem). Upon receiving
geographically referenced photo image data from the map processing
unit 24 (wherein this image data provides sufficient information so
that substantially all pixels of the map may be geographically
referenced with, for example, a latitude and longitude), a user may
perform one or more of the following tasks using the management
zone subsystem 32:
[0029] (1.1) Display the geographically referenced image data on a
computational display device.
[0030] (1.2) Define subareas of an area on the map such that each
subarea becomes a "management zone" that is managed substantially
as a homogenous subarea of the larger area being managed.
[0031] (1.3) Modify one or more management zones that have
previously been defined. In particular, user interaction techniques
are provided for modifying management zone boundaries, or some
other user interaction technique, wherein the user need not
explicitly enter a management zone identification for substantially
every image pixel of an area assigned to a different management
zone.
[0032] (1.4) Delete a management zone(s) and thereby either
coalesce the deleted management zone area into another management
zone selected by the user, or coalesce the area of the deleted
management zone into a predetermined management zone that acts as a
default management zone.
[0033] (1.5) Using the GPS data 36, obtained via signals from
global positioning system (GPS) satellites, display on a graphical
image of the area, the current location of the user (more
precisely, the current location of a GPS receiver operably
connected to the management zone subsystem 32) when the user is in
the area being managed.
[0034] (1.6) Again using the GPS data 36, determine a management
zone within which the user (more precisely the GPS receiver) is
currently located so that a particular substance formulation for
application to the management zone can be determined and output to
a formulation application controller 40 for thereby dispensing the
substance formulation onto the management zone.
[0035] Prior to describing the detailed processing steps performed
by the land management system 20, illustrations of various display
outputs provided by the present invention are described in
reference to FIGS. 2 through 7. In particular, FIG. 2 illustrates
an aerial digital photo image 90 (derived from image data 28) of an
area having circular agricultural fields therein, wherein the
circular area 100 is an area that is desired to be processed
according to the present invention. Note that the image of FIG. 2
may not be from a perspective of directly overhead the area 100 and
therefore may appear skewed.
[0036] Once the map processing unit 24 has received the image data
28 for thereby displaying the image 90, the user is able to zoom in
on the area 100 and identify it by inputting a boundary about the
area. For example, FIG. 3 is an illustration of a display provided
by the map processing unit 24 which shows the area 100 on a larger
scale, and wherein the user has identified and displayed a dashed
boundary 108 about the area 100. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4,
the user is able to use the map processing unit 24 to enhance the
distinctions between various subareas of the area 100. In
particular, color differences displayed on FIG. 3 may be enhanced
to thereby obtain the illustration of FIG. 4. Note that such
enhancements may be performed in any one of a number of ways. For
example, the following techniques may be used:
[0037] (2.1) Select color bands or combinations thereof to display
desired properties, e.g., such properties may include: shades of
green; NOVI (a red and infrared combination indicating vegetation);
shades of red indicating soil brightness; and shades of infrared
indicating crop stress;
[0038] (2.2) Accomplish histogram stretch of pixels of selected
areas to contrast color differences;
[0039] (2.3) Divide pixels into two bins or categories;
[0040] (2.4) Apply a filter to cluster substantially similar pixels
into similarly identified subareas, wherein substantially similar
pixels are determined, via one or more filters such as e.g.,
median, Weiner, or Sobel filters; and
[0041] (2.5) Color code the pixels in each of the bins or
categories.
[0042] Subsequently, in FIG. 5, the user may identify locations on
the image 90 with known latitude and longitude coordinates. For
example, the user may select points (i.e., pixels) 112a through
112d and associate each one of these points with a latitude and
longitude for identifying the location of the point. Note that the
latitude and longitude data may be provided either with the map
data 28 and/or from another source. In FIG. 5, the geographic
reference points 116a through 116d having the latitude and
longitude data associated therewith are displayed in their relative
orientations to one another in an adjacent window 120 so that the
user can more easily identify a point on image 90 with a
corresponding point 116 in window 120. Accordingly, such a display
assists the user in properly identifying latitude and longitude
coordinates with particular pixels on the image 90. In one
embodiment of this user interaction technique, the points 116 in
window 120 are iteratively highlighted and the user is requested to
identify the corresponding location on the image 90 to which the
latitude and longitude coordinates of the highlighted point 116
corresponds.
[0043] Once the geographic referencing data is associated with the
image 90 (at, for example, points 112), the image 90 (and/or the
area 100) is able to be displayed as if viewed from directly
overhead as shown in FIG. 6.
[0044] Subsequently, the image data 28 used in the display of FIG.
6 is provided to the management zone subsystem 32 for further
processing according to the functions itemized above in (1.1)
through (1.6). FIG. 7 shows a map of the area 100 as displayed by
the management zone subsystem 32, wherein the land area
distinctions within the area 100 have been enhanced, and
additionally, the user has inserted boundary curves for
partitioning the area 100 into subareas (also denoted management
zones) 150a, 150b, 150c, and 150d. Note that in one embodiment for
displaying such partitions of the area 100, a graphical layering
technique is used wherein the boundary curves are provided on a
graphical layer separate from the graphical layer used in
displaying the image of area 100, as one skilled in the art will
understand.
[0045] Additionally, note that once management zones 150 have been
defined, the management zone subsystem 20 provides the user with
the ability to assign data descriptors to each of the management
zones 150a through 150d. In particular, for each management zone
150, its corresponding data descriptor may have a management zone
identification number, a textual description of the management zone
(e.g. a description of soil type being light, medium, or dark), a
factor indicative of the relative proportion to which a substance
formulation is to be applied to the management zone, a proposed
application rate (e.g. gallons per acre), an actual application
rate (once the formulation has been applied to the management
zone), and a measurement of the total area of the management zone
(e.g. in acres). Moreover, additional attributes can also be
associated with each management zone. In particular, such
attributes as visible light reflectance and/or absorption, infrared
light reflectance and/or absorption, multi and hyper spectral light
reflectance and/or absorption, plus any kind and type of themed
nutrient plans, yield maps and other remotely sensed data, as well
as themed derived maps using any or all of the above types of data
in combination.
[0046] FIG. 8 is a flowchart for the program performed by the map
processing unit 24 illustrating the steps performed for
constructing the initial collection of data for an area such as
area 100. Assuming the image data 28 includes a photo image of a
region containing the area 100, in step 304 this image data is
scanned to obtain a digital image, I, of the area 100 to be
partitioned into management zones. Subsequently, in step 308, the
digitized image I is enhanced so that color differences are
amplified for the area 100, thus obtaining I.sub.A as image data
that may be displayed as in FIG. 4. In step 312, the amplified
color image I.sub.A of area 100 is transformed to reduce aerial
perspective distortions as discussed with regard to FIGS. 5 and 6
hereinabove. As a first substep of step 312, a plurality of known
locations (collectively denoted, REF_SET) of the image I.sub.A have
their latitude/longitude pairs associated therewith. Subsequently,
I.sub.A is transformed to reduce aerial perspective distortions,
wherein the result, I.sub.A.sup.T, is a directly overhead image of
the area shown in I.sub.A.sup.T. Note that each pixel of I.sub.A
may have its latitude and longitude computed in this step; however,
this is not required. Subsequently, in step 316, the variable, , is
assigned (access to) the enhanced and transformed image
I.sub.A.sup.T that has been modified to remove or render
transparent all portions thereof except for that of area 100.
Finally, in step 320, the program corresponding to the flowchart of
FIG. 9 is invoked to determine the management zones of the area
100. Note that at least some activations of step 320 may occur in
the map processing unit 24. However, the processing of this step is
provided by the management zone subsystem 32, and can be initiated
manually by the user once the set, REF_SET, of geographic reference
points and the image, , is determined.
[0047] Referring to FIG. 9, this flowchart provides the high level
steps for determining management zones when provided with the
image, , and the collection, REF_SET, of geographic reference
points, wherein the geographic reference points represent
geographical reference locations that: (a) have associated latitude
and longitude coordinates for the locations, and (b) can be used
for determining a latitude and longitude of any pixel of .
Accordingly, beginning with decision step 404, a determination is
made as to whether the user wishes to create a new management zone
for the area of image . Note that at least in one embodiment
wherein the present invention is provided on a personal computer
having a windows operating system such as WINDOWS95.RTM., this step
may be easily provided as a menu choice on a pull-down menu.
Assuming the user wishes to create a new management zone, in step
408, the identifier, i, is incremented so that it denotes the
number of previously created management zones plus 1 (which, in an
initial performance, implies that i is equal to 1). Subsequently,
in step 412, the image is displayed (on a computer display) as a
background bit map image. In step 416, the user defines a set,
C.sub.i, of one or more closed curves on the image , wherein the
set C.sub.i represents a boundary for the new management zone to be
created. Note that in one embodiment, the portion of the set
C.sub.i entered by the user is displayed on a different graphical
layer from that of the image . Moreover, the user need not provide
the boundary portions of the newly desired management zone that is
coincident with the perimeter of the area 100. That is, in one
embodiment of the present invention, it detects when a user defined
portion of the new management zone boundary is sufficiently close
to a portion of the perimeter of the area 100 so as to
automatically include such a portion of the perimeter as part of a
desired closed curve used in defining the boundary of the new
management zone. In particular, the user can specify that the user
defined portion of a management zone boundary "snap to" the
perimeter of area 100 when the two are within a predetermined
graphical distance from one another. Further, note that it is
straightforward to determine the portion of the perimeter of image
to use in completing a boundary of a new management zone in that,
for example, the user can be requested to specify a point within
the newly desired management zone, as one skilled in the art will
understand. Further, note that in creating a new management zone,
one or more other previously created management zones may have to
be modified in that the newly created management zone may be formed
from areas initially residing in one or more of the previously
created management zones. Thus, the present step 416 may also
include substeps for determining if there is an intersection
between the proposed newly created management zone and previous
management zones so that such intersection areas can be deleted
from previously created management zones.
[0048] In step 420, the present embodiment of the invention
utilizes the set of geographic reference points, REF_SET, for
determining a geographic representation, GB.sub.i, of the boundary
of the new management zone corresponding to the set C.sub.i. In
particular, the geographic (i.e., latitude and longitude) values of
at least some pixels of C.sub.i may be included in CB.sub.i.
Accordingly, these geographic values may be determined by
preassigning to each pixel of the image a corresponding latitude
and longitude, as one skilled in the art will understand. In one
embodiment, GB.sub.i includes each pixel residing on each closed
curve of the set C.sub.i, and for each such pixel, a corresponding
geographic latitude and longitude position for the subarea
represented by the pixel. In another embodiment, GB.sub.i may be
defined in terms of computational geometry entities such as a
series of one or more lines, arcs, splines, etc., wherein the
coordinates used in defining these entities have latitude and
longitude pairs associated therewith. Thus, although the
latitude/longitude pair for each boundary pixel may not be stored,
all such pairs can be computed when desired. Accordingly, by
computationally associating with each management zone, MZ.sub.i, a
geographic representation, BG.sub.i, of the boundary for MZ.sub.i,
a straightforward determination can be made about the positional
relationships between locations in the area 100 and the boundaries
of the management zones. Alternatively in another embodiment of the
present invention, the step 420 may be unnecessary in that the set
of closed curves C.sub.i may be stored as a set of graphical
objects positioned in a graphical coordinate system. Accordingly,
in order to determine whether a location, L, in the area 100 is
inside or outside of the boundary of a management zone, MZ.sub.i,
the location L is converted into a graphical position, P.sub.L, of
the graphical coordinate system, and subsequently a determination
is made as to whether P.sub.L is interior to the set C.sub.i of
boundary curves. In any of the above embodiments, note that one
skilled in the art will also understand how to determine when an
object being tracked in the area 100 crosses a boundary of a
management zone.
[0049] Subsequently, in step 424, a data representation of the new
management zone, MZ.sub.i, is stored for subsequent access when,
for example, an application of one or more substance formulations
are being applied to the area 100. In particular, the
representation GB.sub.i (or another representation of the closed
management zone boundary curve(s)) is stored. Note that the data
representation of the management zone MZ.sub.i may include both a
representation of the pixels in the image residing within the
management zone, and/or an identification of the boundary
surrounding the management zone.
[0050] Referring once again to step 404, if the user does not wish
to create a new management zone, then decision step 428 is
encountered wherein a determination is made as to whether there is
any remaining area of the area 100 that is not contained in a
management zone. Accordingly, if such a subarea remains outside of
all currently defined management zones, then in step 432 the
variable i is incremented to reflect the number of management zones
plus 1, and in step 436 a default management zone, MZ.sub.i,
representing the subarea not included in any previously defined
management zone is defined. Note that this default management zone
may be different from previously defined management zones in that
there may be more than one subarea contained within this default
management zone, wherein the subareas are not connected to one
another. Accordingly, this management zone may include descriptions
of each of the subareas that are mutually disconnected from other
such subareas within the default management zone. Thus, a
representation similar to a non-default management zone may be
provided for each of the subareas of the default management zone
that are mutually disconnected from the other subareas of the
default management zone. Subsequently following step 436, the
flowchart of FIG. 9 ends. Alternatively, in referring again to step
428, if there are no further subareas outside of the defined
management zones, then the flowchart also ends.
[0051] FIGS. 10A and 10B show the processing performed for
determining the total amounts of various formulations of substances
to be applied to the area 100. In particular, the flowchart of
FIGS. 10A and 10B show the processing performed to determine the
amount of each substance formulation to be applied to each
management zone. Accordingly, in step 504, a value, AREA[MZ], is
determined for each management zone MZ, wherein AREA[MZ] is
indicative of the size of the management zone. Such values may be
in terms of acres, square feet, square miles, square meters or
other measurements of area. Subsequently, in step 508, an estimate
is provided that is indicative of a factor related to a change in
application rate due to overlapping paths through area 100 when
applying the one or more formulations to the area. Note that this
application factor, AppFactor, is typically between 0 and 1,
wherein 1 indicates that there is no overlap between paths when
applying the one or more formulations to the area 100, and as
AppFactor decreases to 0, there is a greater overall lap of paths
across the area 100 when applying the formulation(s). Thus, an
application factor of 0.75 may be interpreted as, on the average,
the paths traversing the area 100 during application of the
formulation(s) overlap approximately 0.25 of the area of each path.
Thus, in this case, a typical path through the area 100 may overlap
adjacent paths by a strip on each side of the path, wherein each
strip includes approximately 12.5% of the area of the path.
[0052] In step 512, the first formulation of substances to be
applied to the area 100 is assigned to the variable, S. Note that
one or more such formulations may be applied to the various
management zones in the area 100. Further, note that not all such
formulations need be applied to each management zone. Thus, this
first formulation may be applied to one or more of the management
zones for the area 100 and may not be applied to one or more other
management zones of the area 100.
[0053] Subsequently, in step 516, a management zone, MZ.sub.S, is
selected, wherein this management zone is to have the substance
formulation denoted by S applied thereto, and wherein this
management zone is determined to be a baseline or reference
management zone whereby the application rate for the formulation S
for other management zones is determined relative to the
application to management zone MZ.sub.S. Subsequently, in steps 520
through 536, a determination is made of the relative amount of the
formulation S to be applied to each management zone in comparison
to the management zone identified by MZ.sub.S. That is, once a
first of the management zones is assigned to the variable MZ (step
520), the steps 524 through 536 form a loop wherein for each
management zone, the user first supplies (if not previously
supplied) a text description of the management zone (step 524).
Then in step 528, the two-dimensionally indexed variable, ReLAmt[S,
MZ], is assigned a value indicative of a relative amount of the
formulation S to be applied to the currently-being-processed
management zone, MZ, wherein this value is relative to the amount
of the formulation S applied to the management zone MZ.sub.S.
Accordingly, if the relative amount (per some uniform measure of
area such as acre) of the formulation S is identical to the amount
to be applied (e.g., per acre) to the management zone MZ.sub.S,
then RelAmt[S, MZ] will be equal to 1. Alternatively, the value,
RelAmt[S, MZ], may be proportionally adjusted to be less than 1
when a lesser amount of the formulation S is to be applied to the
management zone MZ, and adjusted to be proportionally greater than
1 when a greater relative amount of the formulation S is to be
applied to MZ. Thus, if there is to be only half as much of the
formulation S to be applied to the management zone MZ, then
RelAmt[S, MZ] will be 0.5. Note that it is an aspect of the present
invention that as with the estimate for AppFactor determined in
step 508, that these values may be determined interactively by
requesting them from the user. Thus, in one embodiment of the
present invention, user knowledge about the area 100 and about the
method by which formulations are applied thereto may be relied upon
in determining how each formulation of substances is to be applied
to the various management zones of the area 100. In particular,
when using the present invention in agriculture, wherein a farmer
may have substantial experience with growing crops in the area 100,
the present invention allows the farmer to utilize his knowledge of
the area 100 to provide not only the estimate of step 508, to
select a particular management zone MZS in 516, and to enter the
relative amounts of the formulation S in step 528, but the present
invention also allows the farmer to modify the management zones for
the area 100. Thus, the farmer (or any other user using the present
invention) can utilize his/her knowledge of the area 100 to a
greater extent than prior art formulation application systems.
[0054] Thus, the present invention may synergistically combine
sophisticated digital image processing technology and the knowledge
known by, e.g., a farmer of area 100 to determine the substance
formulations and amounts to apply to the management zones of the
area 100. Moreover, in some embodiments of the present invention,
the user may incorporate his/her understanding of area 100 with the
results from multiple image analyses of area 100, wherein images of
area 100 may be taken using infrared, visible light, and/or multi
and hyper spectral light reflectance and/or absorption, plus any
kind and type of themed nutrient plans, yield maps and other
remotely sensed data, as well as themed derived maps using any or
all of the above types of data in combination.
[0055] In step 532 of FIG. 10, a determination is made as to
whether there are more management zones to be processed by the loop
of steps 524 through 536. If there are further management zones to
be processed, then in step 536 the next management zone is assigned
to the variable MZ and step 524 is a gain encountered. It is
important to note that the formulation S need not be applied to
each management zone. In particular, in step 528, the value of
RelAmt[S, MZ] may be zero for any management zone denoted by
MZ.
[0056] In steps 540 through 560, the amount of the formulation S to
be applied to each management zone MZ, and the total amount of the
formulation S to be applied to the area 100 are computed. In
particular, after the initialization (step 540) for assigning to
the variable MZ a value representing the first management zone, the
steps 544 through 560 are iteratively performed, wherein step 544
computes a value, AR[S, MZ], that is indicative of an application
rate of the formulation S for the management zone MZ. In
particular, the baseline rate of application for the management
zone MZ.sub.S (i.e., INIT_RATE[S, MZ.sub.S]) is multiplied by the
relative amount of the formulation S to be applied to the
management zone MZ and then multiplied by the application factor,
AppFactor. Subsequently, in step 548, the application rate for the
formulation S to the management zone MZ is multiplied by the area
for this management zone to obtain a value for the variable,
AMOUNT[S, MZ], that represents the amount of the formulation S to
be applied to the management zone represented by MZ. Following
this, in step 552, the variable, TOTAL_AMOUNT[S], is incremented by
the amount of the formulation S to be applied to the management
zone represented by MZ. Subsequently, in step 556, a determination
is made as to whether there are additional management zones to
process via the loop of steps 544 through 560. If so, then in step
560 the next management zone is assigned to the variable MZ and the
steps 544 through 556 are again performed. Alternatively, if in
step 556 it is determined that there are no further management
zones to process in the loop of steps 544 through 560, then step
564 is performed wherein the total amount of the formulation S is
output. Note, however, that various embodiments of the step 564 may
be provided so that, for example, the amount of the formulation S
applied to each management zone may also be output. Additionally,
any or all of the values used in determining the TOTAL_AMOUNT[S]
may also be stored in a data base so that they can be referenced at
some future time. In particular, storage of such values may be
advantageous during application of the formulation S to the area
100 in that if a substantially greater or lesser amount of the
formulation S is applied to a particular management zone, then the
user can be alerted to this during the application process.
[0057] In step 568, a determination is made as to whether there are
additional formulations to be applied to at least one management
zone of the area 100. If so, then in step 572 the next formulation
is determined and data indicative of this formulation is assigned
and/or referenced by the variable S. Following this latter step,
step 516 is again encountered for determining the amounts of this
next formulation to be applied to the management zones of the area
100. Note that each of the formulations to be applied to the area
100 may also be determined by a user that is familiar with the area
100. In particular, for at least agricultural fields, any and/or
all formulations may be determined by also incorporating the
results a chemical analysis of soil samples taken throughout the
area 100. Thus, by taking such samples from each of the management
zones the user (e.g. farmer) may be able to combine his/her crop
growing experience in the area 100 with the analytical information
provided by results from such sampling analyses (and with any image
analysis results as discussed hereinabove) to thereby make better
decisions as to the formulations to be applied to various
management zones within the area 100. In one embodiment, the
results from such soil sampling may be statistically correlated
with pixels colors of the aerial photo images. In this case, it may
be possible to analyze a relatively small number of samples taken
from locations having known latitude/longitude coordinates, and
extrapolate the soil sample results across the area 100 using a
statistical correlation with image pixel characteristics such as
color, hue, intensity, etc.
[0058] Alternatively, if in step 568 there are no further
formulations to be applied to the management zones, then the flow
chart of FIGS. 10A and 10B terminates.
[0059] Note, that one or more of the values determined in steps
508, 516, and 528 may be determined by synergistically combining
pixel image characteristics, soil sample measurements, user
knowledge, and optionally other area 100 characteristics (e.g.
elevation, expected and/or past weather measurements such as
rainfall, the number of sunny days or temperature fluctuation). In
particular, such information may be synergistically utilized by a
properly trained artificial neural network. Moreover, the user may
provide his/her knowledge to such an artificial neural network via
a fuzzy logic component that is incorporated into the artificial
neural network, or which pre-processes user input for obtaining
appropriate neural network input values.
[0060] FIGS. 11A through 11C illustrate a flowchart of the
processing performed when the in-field zone management subsystem is
being used in the area 100.
[0061] In step 604, the variable, CUR_LOC, is provided with the
location of the in-field management zone subsystem 32. In one
embodiment of the present invention, this location information is
received from a global positioning system (GPS) of satellites,
wherein wireless signals from the satellites may be used to
triangulate locations on the earth according to differences in
timing signals received from at least three such satellites
substantially simultaneously. Subsequently, in step 608, the
location of the in-field management zone subsystem 32 is translated
into a graphical representation for display on the image, , of the
area 100. In step 612, infield management zone subsystem 32 then
waits for one of the following events to occur:
[0062] (a) the receipt of new location data (from, e.g., GPS
signals) used for updating the geographic location of the infield
zone management subsystem 32;
[0063] (b) a user request to the in-field zone management subsystem
to change a management zone; and
[0064] (c) a user request to terminate management zone
processing.
[0065] It is worth mentioning at this point that if new location
data is received, then this location data can be used to determine
if a management zone boundary has been crossed, and therefore cause
the application of a different formulation of substances from the
management zone in which the in-field management zone subsystem 32
was previously located. Thus, for a farmer driving a formulation
application vehicle through an agricultural field, the in-field
management zone subsystem 32 of the present invention is capable of
outputting signals to induce a change in the formulation of
substances being applied to the area 100. Further, note that in (b)
above, the user request to change the set of management zones may
include any one of creation, modification, and deletion of a
management zone. Additionally note that in modifying any of the
management zones, it may be necessary to update at least the amount
of various formulations applied to the management zones to account
for changes in the area sizes of various management zones.
[0066] Step 616 is encountered once an event is received in step
612 that satisfies one of the above three event classifications.
Accordingly, step 616 makes a determination as to which of the
three events occurred. Thus, if new location information for the
in-field management zone subsystem 32 is received, then steps 620
through 648 are performed. Accordingly, in step 620, the previous
location of the in-field management zone subsystem 32 stored in
CUR_LOC is assigned to the variable OLD_LOC. Subsequently, in step
624, the new location is assigned to CUR_LOC. In step 628, the
display of the in-field management zone subsystem 32 is updated so
that the image, , of the area 100 has displayed thereon the new
location of the in-field zone management subsystem. In step 632, a
determination is made as to whether there are one or more
formulations of substances currently being applied to the area 100.
Accordingly, if no such formulations are currently being applied,
then the flow of control loops back to wait for the next event in
step 612. Alternatively, if one or more formulations of substances
are being applied to the area 100, then in step 636, a
determination is made as to whether the current location of the
in-field management zone subsystem 32 is in a different management
zone from the previous location. Note that such a determination can
be made by determining, for example, whether the current location
and the previous location are on the same side of each management
zone boundary. Alternatively, a line segment between the previous
location and the current location can be constructed, and a
determination can be made as to whether any management zone
boundary intersects this line segment. If no traversal of a
management zone boundary is detected, then from step 636 the flow
of control loops back to step 612 to wait for the next input event.
Alternatively, if the crossing of a management zone boundary is
detected, then in step 640 the in-field management zone subsystem
32 generates a signal that can be received by the formulation
application vehicle to cease applying any current formulation to
the area 100. Subsequently, in step 644, the in-field management
zone subsystem 32 retrieves the application formulation to be
applied to the newly entered management zone, and assigns data
indicative of this application formulation to the variable,
NEW_FORMULATION. Thus, in step 648, the in-field zone management
subsystem 32 outputs signals requesting that the formulation
indicated by NEW_FORMULATION be applied to the newly entered
management zone. Then, following this step, the flow of control
once again loops back to step 612 to wait for another input
event.
[0067] Referring again to step 616, if it is determined in this
step that the user has requested a change to the set of management
zones, then step 652 is encountered wherein the variable, MZ_SET,
is assigned information allowing access to the currently defined
management zones. Following this, in decision step 656, a
determination is made as to whether the user has requested a new
management zone to be created. Accordingly, if it is determined
that a new management zone is requested to be created, then steps
660 through 676 are performed. Accordingly, in step 660 the
in-field zone management subsystem 32 is configured to accept
graphical input from the user, wherein the user inputs are
indicative of a new management zone. In particular, the input
provided by the user allows one or more closed boundaries for the
new management zone to be determined, wherein there are one or more
pixel representations interior to the boundary of the new
management zone, and wherein the interior pixel representations are
not individually selected by the user in defining the new
management zone. Note that in one embodiment of this step, the
in-field management zone subsystem 32 includes a mouse or track
ball or other input device for selecting locations on the graphics
display of the subsystem 32 so that by using such an input device,
the user can identify points that determine at least a portion of
the new management zone boundary. Further, note that additional
portions of such a boundary can be automatically supplied if such
additional portions are coincident with, e.g., an outer perimeter
for the area 100. In particular, by providing the user with the
ability to snap to area 100 perimeter points, a user may only be
required to identify the portion of the boundary for the new
management zone that is interior to the area 100. Additionally,
note that there are numerous computational techniques that are
within the scope of the present invention for computing portions of
boundary from user inputs. In one embodiment, the user may simply
select a set of sequential vertices through which the boundary is
to extend and line segments are automatically determined between
the sequential boundary points selected for completing the boundary
therebetween. Alternatively, various computational geometry
techniques and algorithms may be used to compute boundary portions
for the new management zone. In particular, various curve-fitting
techniques may be used such as those used to compute polynomial
interpolation functions, Bezier curves, b-spline curves, and
non-uniform rational b-spline curves. However, regardless of the
boundary determining technique, it is an aspect of at least one
embodiment of the present invention that the user is able to define
the new management zone without individually being required to
identify each pixel that represents the new management zone. More
particularly, it is an aspect of the present invention that the
user need supply no more than a simple graphical selection of a
single point that represents a location desired to be in the
interior of the new management zone.
[0068] Subsequently, in step 664, a data representation for the new
management zone is generated. Note that this data representation
may be generated by performing the steps of 420 through 424 of FIG.
9 in one embodiment of the invention. Subsequently, in step 668,
for each management zone data representation MZ in the collection,
MZ_SET, this step determines whether the management zone MZ needs
to be updated in that a portion of this management zone may now be
included within the new management zone represented by NEW_MZ. In
one embodiment of this step, a determination is first made as to
whether the new management zone is wholly contained within a
current management zone. If this is true, then only the management
zone wholly containing the new management zone must be updated.
Alternatively, since each management zone is presumed to have a set
of one or more simple closed curves as its boundary, if the new
management zone is not wholly contained within an existing
management zone, then the boundary of the new management zone must
intersect the boundary of one of the existing management zones, and
each such management zone must be updated to reflect the removal of
a portion of its area that has become part of the new management
zone. Thus, by iteratively intersecting the boundary of the new
management zone with the boundary of each of the management zones
in the collection represented by MZ_SET, a determination can be
made as to which of the management zones require their areas to be
updated. Subsequently, for the one or more intersection points
between the new management zone NEW MZ and a management zone of
MZ_SET, the boundary portion therebetween for the new management
zone may be substituted for the previous boundary of the management
zone in MZ_SET.
[0069] After all such management zones have had their boundaries
appropriately updated, in step 672, the new management zone
configurations are displayed to the user. Note, however, that
although not illustrated in the accompanying figures, it is also an
aspect of the present invention that the user may activate an undo
operation which can delete the new management zone(s) and return
the management zones represented by MZ_SET to their configuration
prior to step 668.
[0070] Subsequently, in step 676 if desired, the user may determine
and input any formulations to be applied to the new management
zone, the application rates of these formulations and/or the amount
of each formulation to apply to the new management zone.
Additionally, the amount of each formulation applied to each
previously existing but modified management zone may be recomputed.
Following this step 676, the flow of control for the present
flowchart returns to step 612 to await another input event for
processing.
[0071] Returning now to step 656, if it is determined in this step
that the user does not wish to create a new management zone, then
decision step 680 is encountered wherein a determination is made as
to whether the user wishes to modify or delete a currently existing
management zone. Accordingly, steps 684 through 712 are performed
when the user indicates that a management zone is to be modified.
In step 684, the present invention waits for the user to select the
management zone to be modified and a portion of the boundary of
this management zone which is to be changed to reflect the desired
modifications. Subsequently, in steps 688 and 692, the variables
MOD_MZ and BNDRY are assigned values indicative of the management
zone selected by the user for modification, and the portion of the
boundary of this management zone that is selected for modification,
respectively. As an aside, note that there are various user
interaction techniques for selecting both the management zone to be
modified and the portion of the boundary of this management zone.
In one embodiment, the management zone can be selected by merely
identifying a graphical location within the management zone.
Additionally, regarding the selection of the boundary portion of
the management zone for modification, two pixels may be identified
by the user on the boundary and the boundary therebetween can be
highlighted to indicate to the user the portion of the boundary
that has been selected to be changed. Note that in this latter
technique, the sequence within which the two points on the boundary
are selected by the user may determine which of the two portions of
a simple closed boundary curve is to be selected for modification
(i.e., considered "between" the two user identified boundary
points).
[0072] In step 696, new boundary data is obtained from the user for
generating the portion of the boundary identified by the variable,
BNDRY. Note that the user interaction techniques for obtaining the
new boundary data may be substantially identical to the user
interaction techniques for creating a new management zone as
described hereinabove. In step 698, the (any) subarea of the
management zone being modified that is to be removed from this
management zone has its data representation assigned to (or
referenced via) the variable, REMOVE_AREA. Note that REMOVE_AREA
may represent a plurality of subareas disconnected from one
another, wherein each subarea is bounded by one of more closed
curves.
[0073] FIG. 12 shows an example of a newly created management zone
150e and modified management zone 150b of FIG. 7, wherein the
management zone 150b now includes part of the default management
zone 150a, and the management zone 150c. Additionally, a portion of
management zone 150b has been relinquished to the default
management zone and the new management zone 150e. Note that that
boundary for the management zone 150b now includes two distinct
closed curves.
[0074] Subsequently, in step 700, the management zone identified by
the variable, MOD_MZ, is regenerated with the new boundary portion.
In step 704, any updates to other management zones to account for
any increase in area size of the modified management zone that may
now overlap with these other management zones is performed. That
is, any such overlap must be removed from the other management
zones. Subsequently, in step 708, the (any) area represented by the
variable, REMOVE_AREA, that was removed from the modified
management zone is now added to the default management zone. In
step 712, the formulation amount supplied to each of the management
zones is updated to account for the changes in area sizes of the
management zones. In step 716, the management zones are graphically
redisplayed to the user to reflect all management zone changes
performed during the management zone modification process.
[0075] Returning now to step 680 again, if the user has indicated
that a management zone should be deleted, then the steps 720
through 732, and steps 712 and 716 are performed. Accordingly, in
step 720, the present invention waits for the user to select-the
management zone to be deleted. Following this, steps 724 and 728,
the management zone selected is assigned to (or referenced by) the
variable, DEL_MZ, and subsequently the area for this management
zone is added to the default management zone. Consequently, in step
732, the management zone to be deleted is removed from the set of
management zones, MZ_SET. Finally, steps 712 and 716 are performed
wherein, as before, the amount of each formulation to be applied to
the area 100 is updated according to the size of the management
zones, and the newly configured management zones with the deleted
management zone removed are displayed. Note that once step 716
graphically displays the new set of management zones, the flow of
control for the present program once again loops back to step 612
and waits for the next input event.
[0076] FIG. 12 shows an example of a modified management zone 150b
from that of FIG. 7 wherein the management zone 150b now includes
part of the default management zone 150a, and the management zone
150c. Additionally, a portion of management zone 150b has been
relinquished to the default management zone, and to the new
management zone 150e. Note the boundary for the management zone
150b now includes two distinct closed curves.
[0077] The foregoing description of the present invention has been
presented for purposes of illustration and description.
Furthermore, the description is not intended to limit the invention
to the form disclosed herein. Consequently, variations and
modifications commensurate with the above teachings, and the skill
or knowledge of the relevant art, are within the scope of the
present invention. The embodiments described hereinabove are
further intended to explain best modes known for practicing the
invention and to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the
invention in such, or other, embodiments and with various
modifications required by the particular applications or uses of
the present invention. It is intended that the appended claims be
construed to include alternative embodiments to the extent
permitted by the prior art.
* * * * *