Patent ID: 7412330

Claim:
A system for measuring physical characteristics of a plant in an agricultural environment, the system comprising: a sensor assembly including a plurality of emitters and a plurality of receivers disposed substantially opposite and parallel to said plurality of emitters for receiving a plurality of signals emitted by said emitters such that said receivers and said emitters may be positioned on opposite sides of the plant; a computer device in communication with said sensor assembly for detecting the reception of signals by said receivers; wherein said emitters emit the plurality of signals such that a portion of the plant obscures at least a portion of the plurality of signals; wherein said computer device receives a plant profile data set generated by said plurality of receivers comprising a plurality of positive data points corresponding to a received signal and a plurality of negative data points corresponding to the portion of the plurality of signals obscured by the plant; and wherein said computer device generates a plant characteristic data set containing plant characteristic data based at least in part on the plant profile data received from said plurality of receivers such that the plant characteristic data set may be used to measure the physical characteristics of the plant.