Patents
US 12617561 B2: Robotic multicopter sampler for infield crop and soil health sensing and tissue sample collection
- Granted
- 2026-05-05
- Filed
- 2025-04-30 application 19194863
- Type
- Utility · 20 claims
- Elsewhere
- Google Patents ↗ · USPTO patent document ↗ · USPTO Patent Center record ↗
Abstract
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), such as a multicopter, can be equipped with unique tools for use in agricultural operations. For example, the tools can be acquisition tools that can acquire a physical sample from a growing plant, such as a crop. The tools could also acquire physical specimens from areas around the plants. In addition, the UAV could be equipped with sensors, such as imagery acquiring devices (e.g., cameras, LIDAR, time of flight sensors, etc.) to acquire even additional information. The tools can be equipped via movable arms and/or end effectors to be able to directly contact the plants and/or soil. The longevity of the flight time of the UAV can be improved by tethering, improved batteries, or other add-ons to be able to acquire more information.
Source: PTBLXML, file of 2026-05-05 (ipgb20260505.xml).
Assignees
| Assignee | Type | Place | Also on furp.org | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc. 581 patents | US company or organization | Ames, IA | PTBLXML, file of 2026-05-05 |
Inventors
| Inventor | Place | Patents | Person page | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lie Tang | Ames, IA | 4 | PTBLXML, file of 2026-05-05 | |
| Liang Dong | Ames, IA | 93 | PTBLXML, file of 2026-05-05 |
CPC categories
| Subclass | Category | First group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| B64U | Unmanned aerial vehicles [uav]; equipment therefor | B64U20/87 | PTBLXML, file of 2026-05-05 |
| G01N | Investigating or analysing materials by determining their chemical or physical properties | G01N1/08 | PTBLXML, file of 2026-05-05 |
Cooperative Patent Classification, as currently assigned (one row per subclass).
Assignments and security interests
| Recorded | What | From | To | Reel/frame | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-04-30 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | TANG, LIE signed 2024-07-09 DONG, LIANG signed 2024-06-26 | IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC. AMES, IA | 71143/553 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
Documents recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch that list this patent. A security interest is a lender’s claim on the patent as collateral; a release ends it.
USPTO bulk data: PatentsView granted patents, disambiguated (PVGPATDIS) for patents, assignees, inventors, places and CPC categories; the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset (ECORSEXC) for assignments and security interests. Patents filed in the last 20 years. No claims or full text. Links to other records are by name (and state): EXACT means the identical full name and state; FUZZY means a looser name match, with the confidence shown.