Systems and methods for dispensing an insecticide via unmanned vehicles to defend a crop-containing area against pests

This patent covers a closed-loop system in which unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) detect, identify, and chemically treat crop-damaging pests. Per claim 1, the system requires at least one UAV carrying (a) a sensor that detects a pest in a crop-containing area and captures "pest detection data," and (b) an insecticide output device holding at least one insecticide directed at the pest. The UAV transmits the captured detection data over a network to a computing device with a processor-based control circuit, which queries an electronic database of "pest identity data" to determine the identity of the detected pest, then issues a control signal back to the UAV based on that identity. The distinguishing feature is not the spraying itself but the sensing-to-identification-to-targeted-dispensing feedback loop: the chemical response is gated by a database lookup of the specific pest, rather than blanket application.

The assignee is Walmart Apollo LLC (Walmart's patent-holding entity), with a notably large inventor team of nine, including Robert Cantrell, Donald High, and John O'Brien — a group recurrent across Walmart's UAV and logistics filings. The patent was granted in 2020. It belongs to a focused family of 7 members across 6 countries, indicating deliberate but contained international prosecution rather than a sprawling global campaign. Forward citations stand at 7, which is modest; for a 2020 grant in a tightly clustered area this is consistent with strategic IP that citation-weighted ranking under-rewards rather than evidence of low relevance — the related earlier Walmart applications in this family ([2]–[4]) each carry 13–15 citations, suggesting the lineage as a whole drew more attention than this individual grant.

Where this patent stands: This is best read as the granted capstone of a small Walmart agricultural-UAV cluster filed around 2016–2018 (US-2018064094-A1, US-2018068165-A1, US-2018068164-A1 are sibling/related filings on defending crops, identifying pests, and damage detection). Walmart is not an agritech equipment maker, so this reads as exploratory/defensive portfolio-building around drone-enabled supply and farm operations rather than a filing underpinning a shipping product. It is a refinement within an established field — pest detection plus targeted dispensing existed in prior art — and its specific contribution is the database-driven pest-identification gate on the dispensing action. It sits at the periphery of the field's dedicated agricultural-drone players (DJI, Deere, The Climate Corporation, AeroVironment) rather than at its technical core.

The surrounding space is densely clustered around agricultural and dispensing UAVs and, unsurprisingly given the subject, is dominated by Walmart's own related filings — the three nearest neighbors ([2]–[4]) are all Wal-Mart Stores Inc applications in the same lineage. By citation impact, the broader result set is led by Allstate Insurance Company (2 patents, 563 citations), Lockheed Martin (1 patent, 366 citations), Amazon Technologies (3 patents, 295 citations), and SZ DJI Technology (2 patents, 213 citations) — but these reflect general-purpose UAV citation weight, not pest-control relevance. The on-point agricultural and pest players (Bee Robotics, Hana Resources, Greensight, Deere) cluster lower on the citation chart despite being technically closer.

Closest related patents:

• US-2018064094-A1 — Systems and methods for defending crops from crop-damaging pests via unmanned vehicles (Wal-Mart Stores Inc · 14 citations · 6-member family). A sibling filing in the same Walmart program covering the broader crop-defense concept; the subject patent narrows this to insecticide dispensing gated by database pest identification.
• US-2018068165-A1 — Systems and methods for identifying pests in crop-containing areas via unmanned vehicles based on crop damage detection (Wal-Mart Stores Inc · 15 citations · 6-member family). Focuses on the identification half of the loop, inferring pests from crop-damage signatures — the upstream complement to the subject's dispensing response.
• US-9382003-B2 — Aerial farm robot system for crop dusting, planting, fertilizing and other field jobs (Bee Robotics Corporation · 109 citations · 5-member family). The most heavily cited on-point prior art, establishing aerial-robot agricultural application/dispensing; the subject differs by adding sensor-driven pest identification before dispensing.
• US-11235874-B2 — Automated drone-based spraying system (Greensight Agronomics Inc · 7 citations · 2-member family). A 2022 grant directly on drone spraying; recent and lightly cited, this is strategic IP the citation-weighted score under-rewards, and it overlaps the subject's dispensing-actuation core.
• US-11014668-B2 — Agricultural unmanned aerial vehicle (SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd · 2 citations · 9-member family). A 2021 DJI grant from a dominant UAV manufacturer; lightly cited but commercially significant given DJI's agricultural-drone product line.

Technology concentration confirms a tightly clustered field: Drones & UAVs (B64U) runs at 371.6× the corpus baseline, Aircraft (B64C) at 121.1×, Pest Control (A01M) at 112.1×, Soil Tillage (A01B) at 102×, and Autonomous Control (G05D) at 82.