Unveiled at CES 2018 - The Arable MARK sensor

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Welcome smart agriculture! 

The Arable MARK sensor combines 40 data streams to give farmers the vital information they need to make informed decisions in the management of their crops, and the mitigation of calamities such as frost, infestations or crop disease.

The sensors measure precipitations, temperature, crop health, precise conditions of the soil, topographies, microclimates, plus more. With patented disdrometer functions, the sensors can even provide information on raindrop size, the sort of rain falling (hail or drizzle), and its impact on crops.

The Arable MARK sensors also use Artificial Intelligence prediction algorithms based on data incoming from the fields, in combination with publically available forecasting information, to give advice on crop management, using a congenial platform.

The data collected by the sensors is sent to the cloud via 4G cellular network and the sensors are solar battery operated.

The Arable MARK sensor with its multiple data streams, wireless connectivity, solar power and multifunctional data collection, falls within the explicitly stated scope of two recent patents, on file for Arable Labs Inc., the US design patent USD799998, titled Disdrometer, and the PCT WIPO patent application WO2017156187,, titled Disdrometer having acoustic transducer and methods thereof. 

The Arable Labs Inc., disdrometer invention is acoustic, in contrast to accumulation methods of measuring rainfall, and raindrop counting. The Arable labs Inc., disdrometer invention uses an acoustic transducer to convert the sounds of the rain (i.e.; the frequency and power of the acoustic signal generated by the drops within a time interval) into actionable information. 

 The abstract of this invention is included below together with one of the patent drawings showing an exploded view of a non-limiting embodiment of the disdrometer invention. An image of the unveiled Arable Labs Inc., MARK sensor is also included above. The MARK sensor with its additional functionalities thus embodies the disdrometer disclosed in  WO2017156187, including the ornamental aspects of the device, disclosed in the US design patent USD799998.

An acoustic disdrometer is provided for measuring precipitation. The acoustic disdrometer has an acoustic transducer positioned within an acoustic chamber defined by an acoustic shell. Precipitation impacting the acoustic shell generates sound waves that are collected by the acoustic transducer for processing.                      [Abstract WO2017156187]   

Note: Remember to annotate your term bases with the term disdrometer. 

References

Arable Labs Inc. 

https://www.arable.com/ ARM (Atmospheric Radiation Measurement) – US Dept of Energy - Disdrometers

https://www.arm.gov/capabilities/instruments/disdrometer
M. Fernandez-Raga , C. Palencia , C. Tomas , A. I. Calvo , A. Castro , and R. Fraile (2011) Rain reaserch with disdrometers;l A bilbiometric review, in Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., 4, 6041–6068, 2011
https://www.atmos-meas-tech-discuss.net/amt-2011-132/amtd-4-6041-2011.pdf