Patents by Inventor Brandon Ace Alexander
Brandon Ace Alexander has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 11707023Abstract: One variation of a method for automating transfer of plants within an agricultural facility includes: dispatching a loader to autonomously deliver a first module—defining a first array of plant slots at a first density and loaded with a first set of plants at a first growth stage—from a first grow location within an agricultural facility to a transfer station within the agricultural facility; dispatching the loader to autonomously deliver a second module—defining a second array of plant slots at a second density less than the first density and empty of plants—to the transfer station; recording a module-level optical scan of the first module; extracting a viability parameter of the first set of plants from features detected in the module-level optical scan; and if the viability parameter falls outside of a target viability range, rejecting transfer of the first set of plants from the first module.Type: GrantFiled: December 21, 2020Date of Patent: July 25, 2023Assignee: IRON OX, INC.Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney
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Patent number: 11647700Abstract: One variation of a method for monitoring growth of plants within a facility includes: aggregating global ambient data recorded by a suite of fixed sensors, arranged proximal a grow area within the facility, at a first frequency during a grow period; extracting interim outcomes of a set of plants, occupying a module in the grow area, from module-level images recorded by a mover at a second frequency less than the first frequency while interfacing with the module during the period of time; dispatching the mover to autonomously deliver the module to a transfer station; extracting interim outcomes of the set of plants from plant-level images recorded by the transfer station while sequentially transferring plants out of the module at the conclusion of the grow period; and deriving relationships between ambient conditions, interim outcomes, and final outcomes from a corpus of plant records associated with plants grown in the facility.Type: GrantFiled: September 22, 2020Date of Patent: May 16, 2023Assignee: IRON OX, INC.Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney, Winnie Ding, Zachary Wielgosz
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Publication number: 20230139358Abstract: One variation of a method for deploying sensors within an agricultural facility includes: accessing scan data of a set of modules deployed within the agricultural facility; extracting characteristics of plants occupying the set of modules from the scan data; selecting a first subset of target modules from the set of modules, each target module in the set of target modules containing a group of plants exhibiting characteristics representative of plants occupying modules neighboring the target module; for each target module, scheduling a robotic manipulator within the agricultural facility to remove a particular plant from a particular plant slot in the target module and load the particular plant slot with a sensor pod from a population of sensor pods deployed in the agricultural facility; and monitoring environmental conditions at target modules in the first subset of target modules based on sensor data recorded by the first population of sensor pods.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 22, 2022Publication date: May 4, 2023Applicant: Iron Ox, Inc.Inventors: Winnie Ding, Jonathan Binney, Brandon Ace Alexander, Nicole Bergelin
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Patent number: 11557118Abstract: One variation of a method for deploying sensors within an agricultural facility includes: accessing scan data of a set of modules deployed within the agricultural facility; extracting characteristics of plants occupying the set of modules from the scan data; selecting a first subset of target modules from the set of modules, each target module in the set of target modules containing a group of plants exhibiting characteristics representative of plants occupying modules neighboring the target module; for each target module, scheduling a robotic manipulator within the agricultural facility to remove a particular plant from a particular plant slot in the target module and load the particular plant slot with a sensor pod from a population of sensor pods deployed in the agricultural facility; and monitoring environmental conditions at target modules in the first subset of target modules based on sensor data recorded by the first population of sensor pods.Type: GrantFiled: January 25, 2021Date of Patent: January 17, 2023Assignee: IRON OX, INC.Inventors: Winnie Ding, Jonathan Binney, Brandon Ace Alexander, Nicole Bergelin
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Patent number: 11516973Abstract: One variation of a method for automatically redistributing plants throughout an agricultural facility includes, at a mobile robotic system: delivering a first module—defining a first array of plant slots at a first density and loaded with a first set of plants in approximately a second growth stage—from a grow area within a facility to a transfer station within the facility; delivering a second module—located within the facility and defining a second array of plant slots at a second density less than the first density—to the transfer station; and following transfer of a first subset of plants from the first array of plant slots in the first module into the second array of plant slots in the second module at the transfer station, delivering the second module to the grow area in the facility.Type: GrantFiled: June 11, 2020Date of Patent: December 6, 2022Assignee: IRON OX, INC.Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney
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Publication number: 20220007590Abstract: One variation of a method for automating transfer of plants within an agricultural facility includes: dispatching a loader to autonomously deliver a first module—defining a first array of plant slots at a first density and loaded with a first set of plants at a first growth stage—from a first grow location within an agricultural facility to a transfer station within the agricultural facility; dispatching the loader to autonomously deliver a second module—defining a second array of plant slots at a second density less than the first density and empty of plants—to the transfer station; recording a module-level optical scan of the first module; extracting a viability parameter of the first set of plants from features detected in the module-level optical scan; and if the viability parameter falls outside of a target viability range, rejecting transfer of the first set of plants from the first module.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 23, 2021Publication date: January 13, 2022Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney, Winnie Ding, Bianca Homberg, Warren Huffman, Tom Kendall, Saqib Naveed, Pete Turner, Adrian Canoso, Ansgar Lorenz
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Publication number: 20210150208Abstract: One variation of a method for deploying sensors within an agricultural facility includes: accessing scan data of a set of modules deployed within the agricultural facility; extracting characteristics of plants occupying the set of modules from the scan data; selecting a first subset of target modules from the set of modules, each target module in the set of target modules containing a group of plants exhibiting characteristics representative of plants occupying modules neighboring the target module; for each target module, scheduling a robotic manipulator within the agricultural facility to remove a particular plant from a particular plant slot in the target module and load the particular plant slot with a sensor pod from a population of sensor pods deployed in the agricultural facility; and monitoring environmental conditions at target modules in the first subset of target modules based on sensor data recorded by the first population of sensor pods.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 25, 2021Publication date: May 20, 2021Inventors: Winnie Ding, Jonathan Binney, Brandon Ace Alexander, Nicole Bergelin
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Publication number: 20210105951Abstract: One variation of a method for automating transfer of plants within an agricultural facility includes: dispatching a loader to autonomously deliver a first module—defining a first array of plant slots at a first density and loaded with a first set of plants at a first growth stage—from a first grow location within an agricultural facility to a transfer station within the agricultural facility; dispatching the loader to autonomously deliver a second module—defining a second array of plant slots at a second density less than the first density and empty of plants—to the transfer station; recording a module-level optical scan of the first module; extracting a viability parameter of the first set of plants from features detected in the module-level optical scan; and if the viability parameter falls outside of a target viability range, rejecting transfer of the first set of plants from the first module.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 21, 2020Publication date: April 15, 2021Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney
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Patent number: 10936870Abstract: One variation of a method for deploying sensors within an agricultural facility includes: accessing scan data of a set of modules deployed within the agricultural facility; extracting characteristics of plants occupying the set of modules from the scan data; selecting a first subset of target modules from the set of modules, each target module in the set of target modules containing a group of plants exhibiting characteristics representative of plants occupying modules neighboring the target module; for each target module, scheduling a robotic manipulator within the agricultural facility to remove a particular plant from a particular plant slot in the target module and load the particular plant slot with a sensor pod from a population of sensor pods deployed in the agricultural facility; and monitoring environmental conditions at target modules in the first subset of target modules based on sensor data recorded by the first population of sensor pods.Type: GrantFiled: July 5, 2019Date of Patent: March 2, 2021Assignee: Iron Ox, Inc.Inventors: Winnie Ding, Jonathan Binney, Brandon Ace Alexander, Nicole Bergelin
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Patent number: 10897850Abstract: One variation of a method for automating transfer of plants within an agricultural facility includes: dispatching a loader to autonomously deliver a first module—defining a first array of plant slots at a first density and loaded with a first set of plants at a first growth stage—from a first grow location within an agricultural facility to a transfer station within the agricultural facility; dispatching the loader to autonomously deliver a second module—defining a second array of plant slots at a second density less than the first density and empty of plants—to the transfer station; recording a module-level optical scan of the first module; extracting a viability parameter of the first set of plants from features detected in the module-level optical scan; and if the viability parameter falls outside of a target viability range, rejecting transfer of the first set of plants from the first module.Type: GrantFiled: December 2, 2019Date of Patent: January 26, 2021Assignee: Iron Ox, Inc.Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney
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Publication number: 20210007287Abstract: One variation of a method for monitoring growth of plants within a facility includes: aggregating global ambient data recorded by a suite of fixed sensors, arranged proximal a grow area within the facility, at a first frequency during a grow period; extracting interim outcomes of a set of plants, occupying a module in the grow area, from module-level images recorded by a mover at a second frequency less than the first frequency while interfacing with the module during the period of time; dispatching the mover to autonomously deliver the module to a transfer station; extracting interim outcomes of the set of plants from plant-level images recorded by the transfer station while sequentially transferring plants out of the module at the conclusion of the grow period; and deriving relationships between ambient conditions, interim outcomes, and final outcomes from a corpus of plant records associated with plants grown in the facility.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 22, 2020Publication date: January 14, 2021Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney, Winnie Ding, Zachary Wielgosz
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Patent number: 10813295Abstract: One variation of method for monitoring growth of plants within a facility includes: aggregating global ambient data recorded by a suite of fixed sensors, arranged proximal a grow area within the facility, at a first frequency during a grow period; extracting interim outcomes of a set of plants, occupying a module in the grow area, from module-level images recorded by a mover at a second frequency less than the first frequency while interfacing with the module during the period of time; dispatching the mover to autonomously deliver the module to a transfer station; extracting interim outcomes of the set of plants from plant-level images recorded by the transfer station while sequentially transferring plants out of the module at the conclusion of the grow period; and deriving relationships between ambient conditions, interim outcomes, and final outcomes from a corpus of plant records associated with plants grown in the facility.Type: GrantFiled: April 17, 2018Date of Patent: October 27, 2020Assignee: Iron Ox, Inc.Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan BInney, Winnie Ding, Zachary Wielgosz
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Publication number: 20200296902Abstract: One variation of a method for automatically redistributing plants throughout an agricultural facility includes, at a mobile robotic system: delivering a first module—defining a first array of plant slots at a first density and loaded with a first set of plants in approximately a second growth stage—from a grow area within a facility to a transfer station within the facility; delivering a second module—located within the facility and defining a second array of plant slots at a second density less than the first density—to the transfer station; and following transfer of a first subset of plants from the first array of plant slots in the first module into the second array of plant slots in the second module at the transfer station, delivering the second module to the grow area in the facility.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 11, 2020Publication date: September 24, 2020Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney
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Patent number: 10716265Abstract: One variation of a method for automatically redistributing plants throughout an agricultural facility includes, at a mobile robotic system: delivering a first module—defining a first array of plant slots at a first density and loaded with a first set of plants in approximately a second growth stage—from a grow area within a facility to a transfer station within the facility; delivering a second module—located within the facility and defining a second array of plant slots at a second density less than the first density—to the transfer station; and following transfer of a first subset of plants from the first array of plant slots in the first module into the second array of plant slots in the second module at the transfer station, delivering the second module to the grow area in the facility.Type: GrantFiled: January 16, 2018Date of Patent: July 21, 2020Assignee: Iron Ox, Inc.Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney
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Publication number: 20200187425Abstract: One variation of a method for automating transfer of plants within an agricultural facility includes: dispatching a loader to autonomously deliver a first module—defining a first array of plant slots at a first density and loaded with a first set of plants at a first growth stage—from a first grow location within an agricultural facility to a transfer station within the agricultural facility; dispatching the loader to autonomously deliver a second module—defining a second array of plant slots at a second density less than the first density and empty of plants—to the transfer station; recording a module-level optical scan of the first module; extracting a viability parameter of the first set of plants from features detected in the module-level optical scan; and if the viability parameter falls outside of a target viability range, rejecting transfer of the first set of plants from the first module.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 2, 2019Publication date: June 18, 2020Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney
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Publication number: 20200012852Abstract: One variation of a method for deploying sensors within an agricultural facility includes: accessing scan data of a set of modules deployed within the agricultural facility; extracting characteristics of plants occupying the set of modules from the scan data; selecting a first subset of target modules from the set of modules, each target module in the set of target modules containing a group of plants exhibiting characteristics representative of plants occupying modules neighboring the target module; for each target module, scheduling a robotic manipulator within the agricultural facility to remove a particular plant from a particular plant slot in the target module and load the particular plant slot with a sensor pod from a population of sensor pods deployed in the agricultural facility; and monitoring environmental conditions at target modules in the first subset of target modules based on sensor data recorded by the first population of sensor pods.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 5, 2019Publication date: January 9, 2020Inventors: Winnie Ding, Jonathan Binney, Brandon Ace Alexander, Nicole Bergelin
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Patent number: 10524425Abstract: One variation of a method for automating transfer of plants within an agricultural facility includes: dispatching a loader to autonomously deliver a first module—defining a first array of plant slots at a first density and loaded with a first set of plants at a first growth stage—from a first grow location within an agricultural facility to a transfer station within the agricultural facility; dispatching the loader to autonomously deliver a second module—defining a second array of plant slots at a second density less than the first density and empty of plants—to the transfer station; recording a module-level optical scan of the first module; extracting a viability parameter of the first set of plants from features detected in the module-level optical scan; and if the viability parameter falls outside of a target viability range, rejecting transfer of the first set of plants from the first module.Type: GrantFiled: June 28, 2019Date of Patent: January 7, 2020Assignee: Iron Ox, Inc.Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney
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Publication number: 20190313583Abstract: One variation of a method for automating transfer of plants within an agricultural facility includes: dispatching a loader to autonomously deliver a first module—defining a first array of plant slots at a first density and loaded with a first set of plants at a first growth stage—from a first grow location within an agricultural facility to a transfer station within the agricultural facility; dispatching the loader to autonomously deliver a second module—defining a second array of plant slots at a second density less than the first density and empty of plants—to the transfer station; recording a module-level optical scan of the first module; extracting a viability parameter of the first set of plants from features detected in the module-level optical scan; and if the viability parameter falls outside of a target viability range, rejecting transfer of the first set of plants from the first module.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 28, 2019Publication date: October 17, 2019Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney
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Patent number: 10375898Abstract: One variation of a method for automating transfer of plants within an agricultural facility includes: dispatching a loader to autonomously deliver a first module—defining a first array of plant slots at a first density and loaded with a first set of plants at a first growth stage—from a first grow location within an agricultural facility to a transfer station within the agricultural facility; dispatching the loader to autonomously deliver a second module—defining a second array of plant slots at a second density less than the first density and empty of plants—to the transfer station; recording a module-level optical scan of the first module; extracting a viability parameter of the first set of plants from features detected in the module-level optical scan; and if the viability parameter falls outside of a target viability range, rejecting transfer of the first set of plants from the first module.Type: GrantFiled: January 28, 2019Date of Patent: August 13, 2019Assignee: Iron Ox, Inc.Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney
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Publication number: 20190150369Abstract: One variation of a method for automating transfer of plants within an agricultural facility includes: dispatching a loader to autonomously deliver a first module—defining a first array of plant slots at a first density and loaded with a first set of plants at a first growth stage—from a first grow location within an agricultural facility to a transfer station within the agricultural facility; dispatching the loader to autonomously deliver a second module—defining a second array of plant slots at a second density less than the first density and empty of plants—to the transfer station; recording a module-level optical scan of the first module; extracting a viability parameter of the first set of plants from features detected in the module-level optical scan; and if the viability parameter falls outside of a target viability range, rejecting transfer of the first set of plants from the first module.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 28, 2019Publication date: May 23, 2019Inventors: Brandon Ace Alexander, Jonathan Binney