Fields are one of the most important concepts on Bonsai Pilot. A Field is an area where you operate a crop. There are three main type of Fields on Bonsai Pilot:
Permanent Crops: Fields where the plants are in rows and our machines drive the space between them (swaths). Examples are Orchards, Vineyards, Cane Berries, Trelliss Crops, etc.
Bedded Crops: Fields where the plants are on lower-clearance beds and our fleet drive over the bed. Examples are Leafy Green Crops, Strawberries, Broccoli, etc.
Open Fields: areas where no distinguishable rows or swaths are present, therefore the machine can drive anywhere safe. Examples are pastures, fields that we not planted yet, etc.
While our Bonsai Intelligence embedded on your machines use primarily computer vision to drive the robots, knowing the type of field and where the plants are help up plan the jobs in advance to gain efficiency. Additionally, the boundaries of the fields work as failsafe when the machines are performing jobs.
1. To start mapping, make sure you have an Amiga or other Bonsai vehicle ON and properly connected to the internet. Drive it to where you want to place the Boundary of the field.
INFO
Bonsai Pilot considers the center of the vehicle when collecting GPS data. When creating boundaries, place the center of the robot where you want your points/paths to be.
2. To create a new field, start navigating to the Fields page on the left sidebar menu (
) and click "+ Add Field" -> "Record Field"
3. At the bottom, enter a name for this Field, the Farm, and pick the vehicle from the list. If you can't find the vehicle, you need to go back to the Fleet page and change farms. The map will fly to where the selected vehicle is. Click Continue.
4. You have two options now:
If you "Record Path", all the points driven by the center of the machine will form a boundary. This mode is useful for complicated boundaries.
If you "Record Point", place the machines on the corner of the Field's boundary and click "+ Record Point". You will notice we will try to close the area within the points collected
IMPORTANT
You can do small adjustments on each point by selecting, dragging, and saving them. We DO NOT recommend such edits based on the satellite images from the map.
The image tiles are not precise and often do not reflect the current conditions of the field.
On both cases, you can discard segments/points clicking on the related trash can icon.
Once satisfied with your boundaries, click "Finish Boundary Recording" and the data collection window on the upper left will change to "Line points".
INFO
If needed, you can go back to collecting/editing Boundary points clicking on the "Boundary" tab at the bottom bar.
5. We will now map where the plant rows are. Here, again, you have two options: mapping the plants rows (e.g. Almond Tree line, vineyard trellis pole, etc. or the swaths (e.g. center of the driving area on a vineyard or over one strawberry bed). Pick the most convenient option at the upper window.
6. Place the center of the machine on the desired point and click "+ Add Point". Make sure you are clearing possible canopy. The rule of thumb here is: the points are placed at where the robot can drive.
You do not need to map every row/swath. The required points are:
First and second row/swath start
Last row/swath start
First and second row/swath end
Last row/swath end
Field Vertex - every time there a row/swath that breaks a pattern, like a shorter row, a direction change, etc.
Once all points have been collected, use the dropdown menus on each point to label which ones are they. You will notice that every label you mark, the app will try to rebuild the pattern.
Sometimes, the pattern won't properly match reality, you can collect extra points to improve it. In this example, the vertices are missing:
Adding a few extra points where the patterns are broken made it better:
Once you are satisfied with the rows, you can click "Review Collection", and "Generate Map". You will be prompted to enter a few parameters. Most are straight forward, but the following are noteworthy:
Planner Version: when in doubt, use Default
Tree spacing refers to the space between plants on the same row.
Row spacing refers to the space between adjacent rows.
Inflation distance is added to your boundary to account for the differences between where the robot was and true boundary.
Edge swath inflation is an extra space added to the first and last swaths, where the crop is only on one side of the robot/tractor.
Max turning radius will be used to smooth boundaries corners, avoiding the robot to get stuck in places it cannot maneuver.
Generate tree rows is usually needed.
After the map is generated, you will be able to review and edit the lines. Once again, be careful about changing field annotations using satellite imagery.
IMPORTANT
If the rows are not parallel or evenly spaced, the mapping algorithm will not be able to build the field. In that case, contact our Support Team for alternatives.
Field Editing
You can now add a user to be the Field supervisor and input Latitude and Longitude as a reference point to this Field (optional).
Navigate to the "Boundaries" and "Rows & Swaths" tab to edit these feature. You can select specific ones on the map and drag/drop points.
When editing Rows or Swaths, you can click the gear icon next to each of them to input features like crops. Note when they are "locked" you won't be able to change it. Unmark the checkbox to update.
When ready, click "Save Field" and you will be ready to Create a Job.