Field of the invention

The invention relates to a device and a method for monitoring parasites in crops, in particular for their identification and monitoring over time, in order to ensure the most efficient application of substances for their treatment, characterized by high energy efficiency, modularity in parasite detection, and ease of use.

Description of the prior art

One of the main problems in many crops, especially in organic farming, is the early detection of potentially harmful parasites, in order to intervene precisely and dedicatedly, even in small portions of the crop, for their elimination. To achieve this goal, it is necessary for the diagnostic and measurement systems of various parameters in the crop to be as widespread and pervasive as possible, in order to identify even micro-criticalities within the crop itself.

To provide adequate coverage, it is necessary to use sensors that are relatively inexpensive, allowing for widespread diffusion within the crop, and that are also energyefficient, allowing for unsupervised monitoring for a long period of time. This need is also linked to the type of use of the systems, as the sensors are used in crops, in open fields and under extremely variable and often difficult environmental conditions, as well as to the likely contamination due to various external agents present in the field, whether they are of animal or other nature.

The possibility of frequent maintenance interventions on the sensors by dedicated personnel leads to the compromise of their overall monitoring function."

Furthermore, over the course of the year, the systems are required to read and intercept various types of parameters in general and parasites, in particular. This implies the need for modularity over time without additional management or purchasing costs. The data must then be made available, both in real-time and as a historical record, in the most effective way possible, also from the point of view of subsequent data processing, which requires the ability to interface with analysis systems and decision support systems that may be very diverse from each other.

At the state of the art, inventions for monitoring parasites in crops are known. In JP2001017053, a method is described for counting flying harmful insects attracted by pheromones. The number of harmful insects is counted by a plurality of reflection or transmission type infrared sensors. The insects are attracted to a pheromone trap, where the pheromone is hung from the roof of the trap, surrounded by an electric shock insecticide or a device equipped with an adhesion plate in the lower part of the trap or a water tank always in the lower part to capture and kill the pests. A similar application is described in CN103704187.

The device as described, which is of considerable size and composed of a veritable tentlike structure, provides a passage for insects to descend towards the pheromone placed at the top, without any certainty that they will pass through the sampling area and be detected.

Much attention is given to the insect trapping or killing system, even with the use of electric shocks, a solution that leads to an increase in the energy used in the system.

There is therefore no certainty of detecting the presence of the parasite, which moreover must travel a non-natural and long path to reach the pheromone, and at the same time there is a high energy absorption that makes the system described overall inefficient and ineffective.

In CN2757576, an automatic recording device for insect capture is described, which includes a capture device and a scanning counting device, in which a trap, an upper collection hopper, a lower counting hopper, and an insect collection flask are overlapped from top to bottom to form the capture device.

The scanning counting device includes a scanning grid and a control display, and the scanning system is composed of a grid emitter and a grid receiver disposed respectively on both opposite sides of the rectangular transverse profile of the lower counting hopper, the control display system counts the number of insects.

In the described system, a complicated system of communicating chambers is used, which is implemented in an extremely voluminous and ineffective instrument. The counting system with a projected grid and a reception system, in addition to being complex to implement and define, requires complex image processing and is significantly energy- intensive. Overall, there is still a lack of efficiency due to the energy consumption of the system and the chosen method for counting parasites, as well as the probability of attracting the insects themselves to the device as conceived.

In CN201503600, the utility model describes an automatic capture counting system that includes a trap and an infrared detector. It is characterized by the fact that the infrared detector placed in the trap is connected to an automatic measurement and reporting system, including a wireless transmission device, a wireless reception device, and a network data processing system. The insect attraction system can be made up of sexual pheromones or other baits. However, the described system does not solve, as it does not consider them as part of the solution, the issues of efficiency and effectiveness, both in terms of energy use and attraction, identification, observation, and counting of the insects. In CN102013036, a photosensitive device using IR LEDs for insect counting is described. The photosensitive counting device includes a container and is characterized by the fact that the container is equipped with a channel for pest control. The pests climb up the channel one by one, and a counting sensor, connected to a display screen placed on the container, counts them. Again, an IR LED sensor is used, but the system relies on intercepting the pests during their climb up the tube, significantly limiting the probability of correct detection of the presence of pests, both due to the chosen direct probing system, which is substantially limited in scope, and due to the complicated system for the insects to reach the measurement area.

In CN101938512, an automatic crop disease and pest image monitoring system based on loT is described. It includes a wireless image sensor network, a wireless mobile communication network terminal, and an automatic monitoring center for crop disease and pest images.

In CN202600757, a system for counting captured insects with double U-shaped infrared sensors is described. Through an entrance for harmful insects, opened in the top of a rectangular box of the system and facing an entrance of a trap, a sealing space is formed by installing an entrance deflector. The described solution is certainly more efficient from the perspective of insect attraction, but the identified solution, of a U-shaped sensor, is not clearly attributable to an improved efficiency of the system both in terms of reading and energy.

In CN202680307, a device for counting parasites is described, which includes an electric grid, a trap, a photoelectric sensor unit, and a controller. The electric grid, located at the top of the parasite counting device, is used for the elimination of parasites, while the trap, located beneath the electric grid, is used to attract the parasites and guide their carcasses towards the photoelectric sensor unit, which is situated at the bottom of the trap. The sensor is used to detect the signals of fallen parasite carcasses and send signals to the controller.

In addition to the already mentioned issues related to the energy consumption of a system that uses electricity to kill insects, the reading is entrusted to a photoelectric sensor that could read anything that falls into the trap, not just insects, in addition to presenting excessive energy consumption. In WO2015056035, an optoelectronic sensor capable of identifying insects with sizes ranging from 0.1 to 10 mm is described, comprising an infrared source, an infrared sensor made with an infrared photodiode, a control unit, a communication module containing a radio transmitter, and at least one lens between the source and the sensor at a distance of 0.5-1 times the focal length of the sensor, as well as on the source side, in order to limit the sampling space.

The passage of parasites is expected to occur through a gate equipped with direct reading through an emitter and sensor, optimized for use by the lenses placed to delimit the measurement field. However, the presence of lenses leads to disadvantages of the system, particularly limited by their arrangement and operation.

In agricultural applications, in the field, it is likely, if not certain, that external agents may cause misalignment or displacement of the lenses, resulting in a compromise of the reading system, or contamination of the lenses, resulting in the loss of information or transmission and reading of incorrect information. Furthermore, although the measurement field is optimized by the lenses, there is no certainty about the correct passage and subsequent reading of the pest within the rigidly limited field.

In CN103700237, a low-power consumption monitoring system capable of automatic, wide-range monitoring of harmful insects in agricultural land is described. The monitoring system includes a plurality of terminals for monitoring harmful insects, a cylindrical housing, a funnel structure, a sensor, a control module, a wireless communication module, a battery, and a timer. The inputs for the harmful insects are distributed peripherally and uniformly on the top of the housing. The harmful insect monitoring system envisaged by the invention is based on a traditional trap for sexually attracting pests, with the sending of data to a data processing center.

However, the system described does not solve, as it does not address, the problems of energy efficiency and effectiveness, particularly related to the way the insect is attracted and the system for identifying, observing, and counting the pest. Furthermore, the transmission of data by the sensor to a data processing center does not seem to bring significant increases in the overall efficiency of the system and is in any case a known and evident function.

In CN103299969, a long-distance recognition and monitoring system for pests and a pestcatching device are described. The pest-catching device includes an upper cover, a funnel-shaped duct, a pest collector, and a control unit, wherein a channel that allows only one pest to pass at a time is arranged between the funnel seat and the pest collector. A counting device and miniature cameras with infrared detection are arranged on the side wall of the channel. At least four miniature infrared detection cameras are arranged at the same height of the channel and are uniformly distributed circumferentially along the channel.

In CN103053489, an observation and prediction device for pests is described, which includes a cover and a box provided with at least one through hole. An infrared sensor is mounted in each through hole and is connected to a control panel. A tube is disposed on the cover and penetrates through the cover to extend into the box, the tube containing a bait that attracts pests. The bait can be replaced as needed and also helps classify the pests.

The two described systems present similar solutions. In the first system, IR cameras are used, with the complexity derived from the management of images for the detection and counting of the number of pests, as well as from a typical use in agriculture and energy consumption. In the second system, direct contact readers are used, which, although positioned near the tube, are characterized by an intrinsic measurement uncertainty, both related to the system itself and its disposition, as well as the possibility of contamination of the tube itself, where the pest ends up after being attracted by the bait.

Both systems are also characterized by high construction complexity and dimensions. Furthermore, in CN103053489, a method for signaling the number of pests is only local, which requires periodic control of the number of insects caught or counted by operators, a need that does not lead to an increase in system efficiency and effectiveness.

In CN104133397, a device and a method for accurate counting of pests are described, composed of a control module, a power module, an LCD module, and a wireless data transmission module. The signal acquisition module is installed at the periphery of the trap so that four channels of entry of harmful insects corresponding to four groups of units of the signal acquisition module of harmful insects are formed. A DC motor provides the activation of the partitions that direct the passage of the insect towards the detection chamber, thus avoiding the failure to read insects that stay in the measurement area. The system presents two particular inefficiencies, one related to the motor and the movable partitions, and the other related to the acquisition through the LCD which, as already highlighted, involves significant complications in image management. Overall, the system also requires significant energy commitment for its operation.

In CN104381231 , a field pest monitoring device based on images is described, which includes a trap and a collection volume communicating through a communication tube in which a pulling fan is arranged. A protective cover is placed on the tube above the pulling fan, and a gap is arranged between the protective cover and the inner wall of the communication tube, through which insects can pass. In the collection room, a projector and a camera are arranged, and the projector and the camera are connected to a control unit comprising a wireless transmission module. In addition to insect images, parameters such as humidity and temperature are collected and wirelessly transmitted to a remote host, which is accessed for monitoring and recognition of pests.

In CN105938571 , a system and method for identifying and counting pests is described, which includes a first counting module used to acquire the initial pest count information within a predetermined time interval using an infrared laser, and a second counting module used to acquire a second pest count information within a predetermined time interval using an artificial vision counting device.

In US10417780, a method is described for analyzing images of trapped pests using a mobile application to determine their type and number.

In CN108732175, a pest identification and counting system based on artificial vision is described, in which an image of the captured insect is acquired through a trap to determine its type and number.

In the described systems, the main method used is artificial vision. As previously mentioned, managing artificial vision systems is particularly burdensome and complex, both in terms of processing and energy management. Overall, therefore, especially for the specific application, the systems are not efficient or effective.

The state-of-the-art systems, therefore, present poor efficiency in monitoring the presence of pests on plants, and particularly on vines, in an efficient and effective manner, mainly due to the relatively limited ability to detect pests of different sizes.

An additional unresolved technical problem with known systems is the low energy efficiency, particularly for prolonged use and where easily accessible electric charging is not available.

Object of the invention

Is therefore felt the need for device and method for monitoring pests in crops that solves the above-mentioned problems.

Summary of the invention

These purposes have been achieved with a device and a method and according to one or more of the attached claims. A first advantage consists in the fact that the system guarantees error-free and efficiency reading the passage of parasites in the entire measurement range from 0.5 to 15mm, typically occupied by the parasites of interest in monitoring.

A further advantage consists in the fact that the system ensures increased energy efficiency and reduced production cost while ensuring easy and effective use.

A further advantage consists in the fact that the system ensures data availability in a modular and standardized way.

Brief description of the drawings

These and further advantages will be better understood by those skilled in the art from the following description and the accompanying drawings, given by way of non-limiting example, in which: fig.1 schematically shows the operating principle of the device and method of the invention; fig.2 schematically shows a side sectional view of the device applied to a generic container; fig.3 schematically shows a side sectional view of the device applied to a generic container in an alternative embodiment; fig.4 shows an overall side view of a preferred embodiment of the device; fig.5 shows a side sectional view of the device of fig.4; fig.6 shows an assembly for integrating the device into an environmental parameter measuring station; fig.7 shows an operational diagram of the device in a preferred embodiment.

Detailed description of some exemplary embodiments

With reference to the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of a device and method for monitoring pests in crops, in particular for identifying and monitoring them over time to ensure the most efficient spraying of substances for their treatment, characterized by high energy efficiency, modularity in pest detection, and ease of use, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figures 1 and 2 schematically show a device 12 comprising at least one electronic board 7, preferably a single board, on which a plurality of light emitters 1 , preferably LED operating in the IR and NIR range, are mounted in a preferred embodiment of three. The board 7 includes a pest passage hole 4 located in an intermediate position between the emitters 1 and a light receiving module 3 of the emitted light 6, so as to ensure the passage of pests in a measurement field 30 located between the emitters 1 and the receiving module 3 and accessible from the entrance hole 4.

According to the invention, the device also includes an optical surface 2, preferably a cylindrical collar arranged at the hole 4, which serves to collimate the emitted light 6 and orient it by refraction in order to obtain a "flat field," an oriented and collimated light 5 that ensures complete coverage of the measurement field 30 downstream of the passage 4, so as to ensure the reading of the passage of each individual pest regardless of its size and passage position.

Preferably, the correct passage of the insect in the measuring field is ensured by a suitably shaped wall 8 to create a guide channel for the passage of insects towards the measuring field.

Said wall 8, as well as guiding the parasite towards the measuring field, ensures its shielding from other fields of light, thus avoiding interference and reading errors, as well as the surface 11 placed to close the system.

In the illustrative embodiment, the device further comprises a cylindrical attachment body 10 preferably comprising a thread 13, for example a standardized thread on which common plastic bottles 20 used for containing beverages can be screwed.

Such attachment body 10 comprising a standard thread 13 thus allows the use of common and non-specific bottles 20, increasing modularity and ease of use and reducing cost at the same time.

An attractant 31 for the parasites, typically a pheromone, is inserted into the bottle 20, as already known in the art, preferably in an aqueous solution capable of retaining the parasite inside.

The bait can be changed at will, ensuring different readings over time or based on environmental conditions and monitoring of different types of parasites, without having to change the device.

According to a further advantageous aspect of the invention, it can be provided that the microprocessor 21 of the device 12 keeps the device in reduced operation or "sleep mode", effectively zeroing energy consumption, until a parasite passes through the measuring field attracted by the bait in the bottle 20, an event that triggers a count. At the time of passage of the parasite, the receiving module 3 reads the variation of the collimated light 5 and sends a signal to a microprocessor 21 that records the incremental passage, and then returns to reduced mode or "sleep mode". Fig. 3 shows a variant embodiment of the described system, where, to increase reading efficiency and reduce errors, a capacitive surface 33 is inserted above the board 7, also operatively connected to the microprocessor 21 of the device 12 and including an opening to allow the passage of parasites in the measuring field 30.

According to this implementation variant, in addition to the previously described reading obtained following the variation of the collimated light 5, the count is also integrated by reading the electrical capacitance variation of the capacitive surface 33 upon the passage of one or more parasites, thus constituting a redundant and double-confirmed system that allows for the reduction of errors due to false positive signals.

In Fig. 6, an integrated system is shown comprising a device 12 applied to a bottle 20 and an apparatus 32 associated with the device, comprising a central unit 17 to which other measurement systems can be connected simultaneously, such as an anemometer 15, a rain gauge 16, a leaf wetness sensor 19, or other types of sensors used in crop monitoring.

In the example described, the central unit 17 includes a solar panel 14 and a data transmission antenna 16 and, inside, also includes a battery and a charging unit 25 connected to the solar panel 14.

Preferably, the solar panel 14 charges an internal battery 26 through the charging unit, which powers both said central unit 17 and the connected sensors, particularly the parasite monitoring sensor 12, thus allowing for the free installation of the system without requiring dedicated wiring or installation and power supply systems.

The central unit 17 can advantageously be maintained in a reduced operating mode or "sleep state" in turn and is programmed to query the various sensors, including the parasite monitoring device 12, at predetermined and periodic time intervals.

In this case, at the predetermined and predefined time, the central unit 17 is activated to interrogate the pest counting microprocessor 21 and read the number of passages detected since the last interrogation. The same operation can be performed for other sensors that may be present. Once the number of passages detected since the last interrogation is read, the data can be sent for registration and/or processing, for example in a cloud environment with wireless technology, preferably using radio waves according to standard protocols, through the antenna 16.

The data "i" in the cloud environment is processed to make it available in a standardized format such as, in a non-exclusive example, a csv or txt file, so that it can be used by any type of device such as a computer, smartphone or tablet for consultation or processing without the need for any particular or dedicated device or software.

The device 12 thus produced is characterized by high efficiency, extremely small size, low manufacturing cost, absence of the need for wiring infrastructures, and modularity of use and employment, as well as the ease and usability of the information collected. The present invention has been described according to preferred embodiments, but equivalent variants can be conceived without departing from the scope of protection of the invention.