Market Context — Why This Technology, Why Now

The global push for sustainable agriculture and food security is intensifying, requiring innovative solutions to optimize resource use and reduce environmental impact. This technology aligns perfectly with the trend towards precision agriculture, enabling more efficient land utilization and potentially reducing input costs by optimizing routes for tasks like soil analysis or pest monitoring. Regulatory pressures for reduced chemical use and consumer demand for traceable, sustainably produced food further accelerate the need for such data-driven, efficient farming practices.

Key Competitive Advantages
01

Transform Unused Areas into Revenue Streams: Repurpose non-working areas generated during teaching runs for alternative uses. This maximizes resource utilization and could create new revenue opportunities.

02

Maximize Operational Efficiency: Set travel routes within non-working areas without compromising primary task efficiency. This minimizes the risk of on-site productivity reduction.

03

Flexible Route Configuration: Automatically generate optimal travel routes, including non-working areas, based on field shape recognition. This enhances adaptability to diverse field conditions.

Market Opportunity
Smart Agriculture Solutions
~$1.5B in Japan (AI est.)
Increasing labor shortages and demand for efficiency are accelerating investment in precision agriculture, utilizing autonomous tractors and drones. This technology directly optimizes autonomous vehicle operations.
Autonomous farming software developers Precision agriculture service providers Agricultural data analytics firms
Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers
~$33.5B globally (AI est.)
Integrating this technology into existing agricultural machinery could enable product differentiation and higher value. This could accelerate the transition to next-generation smart agricultural equipment.
Major agricultural equipment OEMs Robotics manufacturers for farming Specialized implement developers
IP Defensibility — Why Competitors Can't Replicate This
What This Patent Covers

This patent protects a system and method for setting travel routes for field work vehicles, specifically by recognizing and utilizing non-working areas generated during teaching runs. Its scope is considered broad and robust, having successfully overcome examiner objections and demonstrating clear novelty and inventiveness against six prior art documents.

Competitive White Space

This patent focuses on software-based path optimization for existing vehicles. Licensees could develop new sensor technologies for enhanced field mapping or integrate AI-driven decision-making for dynamic task allocation beyond simple pathing.

Economic Impact
~$150K/year estimated cost savings and revenue generation per facility (est.)
estimated ROI · USD · AI analysis
ROI Calculation Logic

Assuming 10% operational efficiency improvement from utilizing non-working areas for an autonomous field vehicle operating 2,000 hours annually. Labor cost reduction (based on an operator annual salary of ~$50K (AI est.)): 1 operator × $50K/operator (AI est.) × 10% = ~$5K/year (AI est.). Additional revenue from non-working area utilization is estimated at ~$150K/year (AI est.). This projects a total annual economic impact of approximately ~$155K (AI est.).

Speed to Market
4× faster than in-house development
This technology is patent-granted, with established core algorithms and concepts. Licensees could significantly reduce the 3+ years typically required for in-house R&D, potentially achieving market entry in approximately 10 months. It is designed for integration into existing field vehicle control systems, minimizing the need for new hardware development, thereby reducing development risk and accelerating competitive advantage.
Competitive Positioning

X: Field Utilization Efficiency
Y: Operational Optimization Level

Business Models & Applications
🤝 Licensing Model
License this path-setting algorithm to agricultural machinery manufacturers and smart agriculture solution providers. Licensees can integrate it into their products for high-value market differentiation.
☁️ SaaS Service Model
Offer this technology as a cloud-based path optimization service. Farmers could pay a monthly fee to receive real-time optimal travel routes based on field data, enabling efficient task planning.
💡 Consulting & Integration Model
Provide bespoke field management systems leveraging this technology for large-scale farms and agricultural corporations. Integrate with existing equipment and data to deliver comprehensive smart agriculture solutions.
Adjacent Application Opportunities
🚚 Logistics & Warehouse Management
Automated Guided Vehicle Path Optimization
Optimize routes for automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in warehouses. This technology could efficiently utilize non-working areas (e.g., temporary storage or charging zones) generated during AGV teaching runs, maximizing overall transport efficiency beyond fixed-path operations.
🏗️ Construction & Civil Engineering Sites
Automated Construction Equipment Routing
Apply to automated construction equipment systems. In large construction sites for grading or material transport, this technology could repurpose non-working areas from vehicle teaching runs as material staging zones or temporary access roads, while maintaining overall operational efficiency.
🧹 Cleaning & Security Robots
Advanced Patrol Route Optimization
Optimize patrol routes for cleaning and security robots in commercial facilities or office buildings. By recognizing areas during teaching runs when human traffic is low, non-working zones (not requiring cleaning/security) could be used for charging or standby, enabling highly efficient patrols.
Integration Roadmap — Estimated 18-Month Deployment
Technology Validation & Design
Duration: 3 months
Validate API integration and data format compatibility with the licensee's existing field vehicle systems. Develop the foundational design to optimize this technology's algorithms for the existing system.
Prototype Development & Demonstration
Duration: 6 months
Develop a prototype system based on the design. Conduct small-scale field demonstrations to evaluate and adjust path setting accuracy, the effectiveness of non-working area utilization, and the degree of operational efficiency improvement.
Production Deployment & Optimization
Duration: 9 months
Deploy the final system, incorporating demonstration results, into the production environment. Continuously collect and analyze data to optimize the path setting algorithm and improve functionality based on operational conditions.
Technical Feasibility
This technology operates based on data from field vehicle position and orientation detection systems, making it highly compatible with existing smart agricultural machinery equipped with GPS and IMU. The patent claims describe the software configuration of the field shape recognition and travel path setting units, suggesting easy integration through software updates or module additions to existing control systems. No extensive hardware modifications are required, indicating relatively low technical barriers to adoption.
Success Scenario
Upon adopting this technology, licensees could efficiently repurpose non-working areas generated during teaching runs for alternative objectives. For instance, these areas could be reused as sampling routes for soil analysis or drone flight paths for pest monitoring, thereby increasing overall field data collection density and enhancing precision agriculture accuracy. This could optimize fertilizer and pesticide usage, potentially reducing annual operating costs by 15%.
Patent Record
APPLICATION NO.
特願2021-025588
REGISTRATION NO.
7466201
FILING DATE
2021/02/19
GRANT DATE
2024/04/04
EXPIRATION DATE
2041/02/19
PATENT HOLDER
国立研究開発法人農業・食品産業技術総合研究機構
Examination History
2023年05月31日
出願審査請求書
2023年11月21日
拒絶理由通知書
2023年12月22日
手続補正書（自発・内容）
2023年12月22日
意見書
2024年03月12日
特許査定