Pasture management

摘要

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for gathering data are disclosed. For example, a plant matter sensor includes a pair of parallel spaced apart sensor arms and a control console, a first of the arms having a plurality of emitter spaced along its length, each emitter configured to emit a signal substantially perpendicularly to the arm to be received by a corresponding receiver on the second arm. The console contains controller means to control the rate, strength and regularity of the signal emitted by each of the emitters, collectors to collect data from each receiver as to the existence or absence of receipt of a signal, a processor to process data received from the controllers and the collectors and determine the height of any plant matter traversed by the plant matter sensor and predetermined intervals, and storage to store the plant matter height data generated by the processor for subsequent download or analysis.

主权项

1. A sensor assembly comprising:
a) a sensor comprising:
i. a pair of parallel spaced apart substantially vertically disposed sensor arms;ii. a plurality of emitters spaced along the length of a first of said arms, each emitter configured and arranged to, in use, emit a signal towards a second of said arms substantially perpendicularly to the said first of said arms; andiii. a plurality of receivers spaced along the length of the second of said arms, the receivers being configured and arranged to, in use, receive signals emitted by the emitters; b) a controller configured to, in use, control the emission of signals by each of the said emitters; c) a data collector configured to, in use, collect data from each receiver as to the existence or absence of receipt of a signal, d) a processor to process data received from the controller and the data collector and to determine the height of any plant matter traversed by the sensor at predetermined intervals, and e) memory to store the plant matter height data generated by the processor for subsequent download or analysis; f) a support frame configured to support the sensor in a substantially vertical orientation and configured for attachment to a towing vehicle; g) a pair of spaced apart deflector guards configured and arranged to, in use, present a defined bandwidth of pasture passing between the sensor arms, the defined bandwidth of pasture being narrower than the space between the sensor arms; and h) ground engagement means configured to maintain the support frame and the sensor at a predetermined level above the ground during operation.