Harvesting machine

Abstract

The present application relates to a harvesting machine (1) comprising a drive mechanism (2) for moving the harvesting machine (1) at a driving speed across a field (3), a cutting unit (4) for cutting crops located in the field (5), a sensor device (6) for recording information concerning the current crop throughput processed by the harvesting machine (1), and a control system (7) which is designed and configured to control the drive mechanism (2) of the harvesting machine (1) based on the recorded information to adjust the driving speed to a desired setpoint.In order to provide a harvesting machine which has a higher operational reliability compared to the prior art, it is proposed according to the invention that the control (7) is provided and set up to additionally obtain information on an expected cutting unit occupancy in advance (8) of the harvesting machine (1) and to control the drive (2) depending on the expected cutting unit occupancy in order to adjust the driving speed.

Description

The present application relates to a harvester according to the preamble of claim 1.The harvesting machine, which can be formed in particular by a combine harvester or a field chopper, comprises a travel drive for moving the harvesting machine at a travel speed over a field. The traction drive can comprise, for example, an internal combustion engine and a traction drive. The traction drive is generally used to drive round tires and / or track drives, by means of which the harvesting machine is moved on a ground.The harvester further comprises a cutter for cutting crop located in the field. The cutting unit can in particular comprise a cutter bar which, during the intended operation of the harvesting machine, is guided at a short distance above the ground and cuts off the plants forming the crop material just above the ground. The cut crop is then typically moved in the direction of a central transfer opening of the cutter and transferred there to a downstream feed channel. By means of the intake duct, the crop material is transferred to downstream working elements of the harvesting machine. In the case of a combine harvester, this can be in particular a threshing device, in the case of a forage harvester, in particular a chopper device.The harvesting machine further comprises a sensor device which is provided and configured for capturing information relating to a crop throughput currently being processed by the harvesting machine. In particular, the sensor device can act in or on an intake duct of the harvesting machine in order to detect a total crop stream conveyed from the cutting unit to downstream working elements by measurement technology. The sensor device can be formed, for example, by a layer height sensor, by means of which a layer height of a crop layer of a crop stream conveyed through the intake channel can be detected.Finally, the harvesting machine further comprises a controller which is provided and configured to actuate the travel drive of the harvesting machine on the basis of the information detected by the sensor device. This control is carried out as intended in such a way that the speed of travel of the harvesting machine is set to a desired setpoint value by means of the controller. This is followed by the consideration that the current crop throughput, which is detected by means of the sensor device, correlates with the load on the following working members of the harvesting machine. In order to avoid overloading of the working members, the control system selects a low travel speed of the harvesting machine at a high crop throughput in order to reduce the crop throughput. Conversely, at a low current crop throughput, the controller can increase the travel speed in order to operate the working elements of the harvesting machine close to their optimum operating point and in this way to increase the efficiency of the harvesting process.Harvesting machines of the above-described type are already known in the prior art. Reference is made to German laid-open specification DE 10 2013 209 197 A1 by way of example. There, an automatic control of the travel speed of a combine harvester is disclosed, for which a current crop throughput in the combine harvester and an expected crop throughput are taken into account, wherein the latter is determined by means of a contactless detection in the front of the combine harvester. Contactless detection takes place by means of a camera, a radar sensor or a laser sensor. By means of the predictive determination of the expected crop throughput, the travel speed can be changed predictively, and indeed even if a change in the travel speed had not (yet) been indicated solely on the basis of the crop throughput currently detected in the combine harvester.The concept, thus known, of adapting the travel speed of the harvesting machine to a crop throughput expected immediately next to it offers the advantage that a time offset between a change in the travel speed and the crop throughput currently to be processed by the harvesting machine is avoided. In the case of a pure measurement of the current crop throughput, on the other hand, the travel speed can only be changed when a change in the crop throughput has been measured and is thus already reality.The known method nevertheless has the disadvantage that irregular geometries of the crop material present on the respective field cannot be taken into account sufficiently. Thus, in practice, overloading of the working members of the respective harvesting machine occurs repeatedly if the crop material picked up by the field changes so rapidly in quantity that the change in the travel speed of the harvesting machine carried out by the known means is not sufficient to prevent overloading of the working members.The present application is therefore based on the object of providing a harvesting machine which has a higher operational reliability compared to the prior art.The underlying object is achieved according to the invention by means of a harvesting machine having the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are evident from the dependent claims.The harvesting machine according to the invention is characterized in that the controller is provided and configured to receive, in addition to the information detected by the sensor device relating to the crop throughput currently being processed by the harvesting machine, further information relating to an expected crop frame occupancy in the front of the harvesting machine. The controller is further provided and configured to actuate the travel drive depending on the expected cutter bar occupancy and thereby adjust the travel speed of the harvesting machine. The controller thus processes information of at least two different types, namely, on the one hand, information relating to the current crop throughput of the harvesting machine and, on the other hand, information relating to an expected cutting mechanism occupancy, which will occur in the near future when the harvesting machine continues to travel on as scheduled.The invention is therefore based on the idea that the crop throughput can change very briefly with a changing header occupancy, for example in the form of an abrupt change in the case of a transition of the header from a partial occupancy to a full occupancy. Such changes occur independently of a density of the crop located on the respective field, as a matter of principle, and thus represent special effects that are not sufficiently taken into account in the prior art. If, for example, it is detected in front of the harvesting machine that the crop occupancy increases abruptly, for example starting from half a crop occupancy, in which the crop material inventory, viewed in the width direction of the harvesting machine, extends only over half a width of the crop element of the harvesting machine, to a full crop occupancy, in which the crop material inventory extends over the entire width of the crop element, the travel speed can be reduced in good time in order that, when the abrupt increase in the crop occupancy becomes effective, the crop material throughput in the harvesting machine does not lead to an overload.If the crop frame occupancy were not monitored and the controller was not supplied with corresponding information, the travel speed of the harvesting machine could only be carried out on the basis of the information of the sensor device relating to the current crop throughput. However, in the event of an abrupt increase in the crop throughput, it is typically already too late for a reduction in the travel speed if this increase is detected within the harvesting machine by means of the sensor device, for example in or on an intake duct. At this time, it is hardly possible to prevent a suddenly increasing mass flow of the crop material to be processed from being passed on to the downstream working elements of the harvesting machine and resulting in an overload there. The consequence is downtime, possibly associated with repair work, which significantly reduces productivity of the harvesting process.A scenario is also important in which the harvesting machine moves out of a crop material and the crop edge runs obliquely. The crop throughput decreases successively as it exits, whereupon the controller increases the travel speed to increase the crop throughput. According to the invention, however, the controller recognizes that the header occupancy decreases to zero, i.e. the harvester moves out of the crop. Then, it influences the control that the running speed is not raised beyond a preset value. In other words, the speed of travel of the harvesting machine is limited by means of the controller when it exits from a crop material inventory. This facilitates a turning maneuver in the front end of the respective field and thereby leads to a gain in comfort for the operator.In an advantageous embodiment, the harvesting machine comprises at least one detection device which is provided and configured to detect information relating to a crop material present on the field in front of the harvesting machine. The information which, according to the above description, is made available to the controller can be detected indirectly or directly by means of the detection device in order to actuate the travel drive in dependence on the expected cutting mechanism occupancy in order to adapt the travel speed.In a particularly preferred embodiment, the detection device can comprise a receiving device which is configured to detect signals for satellite-assisted location determination. For example, the receiving device can be configured to receive location signals of the GPS system, the Galileo system and / or other satellite systems for location determination. For processing this information, the controller can furthermore access inventory maps which map the field to be processed in each case, that is to say in particular provide information about the geometry of an inventory edge of the crop inventory. In combination with the information provided by the receiving device, which information is formed by location information, the controller can evaluate where the harvesting machine is located relative to the crop material stock and in what form the crop material stock behaves, in particular changes, in the front of the harvesting machine when the harvesting machine continues to travel as intended. Any sudden change in the cutter loading of the cutter of the harvesting machine can be detected early in this way, so that the controller can actuate the traction drive to adapt the travel speed. For this purpose, it is absolutely essential for the controller to have data relating to a width of the cutter.Alternatively or additionally to the receiving device, the detection device can comprise, in an advantageous embodiment of the harvesting machine, a sensor unit which is provided and configured to detect information about the expected cutting-unit occupancy of the cutting unit, which is to be expected when the harvesting machine continues to travel on as scheduled. Such a sensor unit can comprise, for example, at least one LIDAR system, which is configured to detect the front of the harvesting machine. This system can in particular comprise at least one laser, at least one scanner and at least one detector, wherein laser beams are generated by the laser in a manner known per se, which laser beams are distributed within an observation area by the scanner, wherein the laser beams are reflected by objects within the observation area and these reflections are registered by the detector. In this way, a three-dimensional image of the observation area, which comprises the front of the harvesting machine, can be created via a time-of-flight measurement. In this way, information is available, on the basis of which the header occupancy can be evaluated in the front of the harvesting machine. On the basis of this information, the controller can determine an expected header occupancy which will be immediately adjacent to the header when the harvester continues to travel as scheduled. Accordingly, it is possible for the controller to actuate the travel drive of the harvesting machine in order to adapt the travel speed to the expected cutting-unit occupancy.Alternatively or additionally to a described LIDAR system, the sensor unit can comprise at least one camera, which is configured to optically capture the front of the harvesting machine. By means of such a camera, information in the form of image information can be continuously detected, which information can be evaluated, for example, on the basis of image analysis. For example, it is conceivable that the information of the camera is conducted to the controller and processed there for further evaluation. An image analysis carried out can provide information about the fact that the header occupancy will change immediately when the harvester continues to travel on as scheduled, so that the controller can react to this in the described manner and actuate the travel drive for adapting the travel speed.In principle, it can be advantageous if the information recorded by means of the recording device can be directed to the controller and / or a separate processing unit, so that the information can be processed by means of the controller or the processing unit. In this way, the acquired information can be converted or processed into other information if necessary, on the basis of which the controller can assess the expected header occupancy. The transfer of information from the detection device to the controller can consequently take place indirectly or directly, wherein a bypass via a processing unit is optionally provided in order to first bring the information detected by the detection device into a form which can be processed by the controller. Such a processing unit can be arranged, for example, externally, i.e., away from the harvesting machine itself, wherein information can be transmitted from the detection device to the processing unit, for example, wirelessly via the mobile radio network or the Internet.As already explained at the beginning, it can be particularly advantageous if the sensor device interacts with an intake duct of the harvesting machine for the detection of information relating to the crop throughput currently being processed by the harvesting machine. In this way, the crop throughput in the intake duct can be detected by means of the sensor device. In a particularly preferred manner, the sensor device can comprise at least one layer height sensor, by means of which a layer height of a crop layer of the crop material which is conveyed through the intake duct can be detected. From the layer height of the crop material layer and knowing a width of the intake duct, it is possible to determine the crop material throughput in the form of a mass flow (kg / s) or a volume flow (m 3 / s) as a result of continuous observation. This information of the sensor device is then used in the manner described by the controller for setting the travel speed of the harvesting machine.The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to an exemplary embodiment which is illustrated in the figures. It shows: FIG. 1 : a vertical longitudinal section through a harvesting machine according to the invention, FIG. 2 : shows a schematic illustration of the harvesting machine according to FIG. 1 in use on a field, FIG. 3 : a side view of the harvesting machine according to FIG. 2, FIG. 4 : An illustration of a crop throughput and a travel speed in each case over time with a changing header loading of a header of the harvesting machine 1, FIG. 5 : A further illustration of a crop throughput and a travel speed in each case over time with a changing header loading of a header of the harvesting machine 1.An exemplary embodiment which is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5 comprises a harvesting machine 1 according to the invention which, in the example shown, is formed by a self-propelled combine harvester. This comprises a traction drive 2 which, in the example shown, comprises an internal combustion engine and a transmission device operatively connected thereto. At an end of the harvesting machine 1 that is at the front in the direction of travel, the harvesting machine comprises a header 4, which is configured to cut off crop material 5 that stands on a field 3. Starting from the cutting unit 4, cut-off crop material 5 is guided into an intake channel 12, which is sometimes also referred to as an inclined conveyor. By means of the intake duct 12, the crop 5 or the crop stream formed therefrom is fed to downstream working elements.In the example shown, the crop stream first reaches a threshing device 21, by means of which the fruits of the crop 5 are separated from plant residues. A large part of the separated fruits is separated by a threshing concave of the threshing device 21 onto a preparation floor 20, from which the fruits are fed to a screening device 18. This comprises two sieves 19, namely an upper sieve and a lower sieve. A remaining part of the fruits separated in the threshing device 21 is transferred together with the plant residues to a separating device which in the example shown is formed by a separating rotor 14. By means of the separating rotor 14, the remaining fruits are separated from the plant residues. The plant residues are finally fed to a rear chopper 16 of the harvesting machine 1, by means of which they are chopped and finally ejected on the rear via a radial blower 17. The fruits separated by means of the separating rotor 14 are guided downward onto a return floor 15, from where they are fed onto the preparation floor 20 and finally also to the screening device 18. The sieved off fruits are finally conveyed into a grain tank 13 and stored there.The combine harvester 1 further comprises a controller 7 which is provided and configured to actuate the travel drive 2. This is done in such a way that the travel speed of the harvesting machine 1 is automatically set and is intended to assume a determined setpoint value. This setpoint value is initially determined on the basis of the crop throughput which is currently being processed in the harvesting machine 1. In order to acquire information relating to this current crop throughput, the harvesting machine 1 has a sensor device 6, which is arranged in the intake duct 12 in the example shown and comprises a layer height sensor. This is suitable for detecting a layer height of a crop layer conveyed in the intake duct 12, wherein the crop stream can be determined by a temporal detection of this value.For the control of the traction drive 2 by means of the controller 7, the relationship applies in principle that the crop stream should be as far as possible within a predefined range at which-possibly as a function of further crop parameters and / or environmental parameters-the harvesting machine 1 is located at an optimum operating point. If the current crop throughput is below the predefined range, the controller 7 controls the traction drive 2 in such a way that the travel speed of the harvesting machine 1 is increased. This is associated with the intention of picking up a larger quantity of crop material 5 within a respective time period, so that the crop material flow increases and is finally within the predefined range. Conversely, at a current crop throughput above the predefined range, the travel speed can be automatically reduced.This type of operation of the combine harvester 1 is expedient for the normal case of full cutting mechanism loading of the cutting mechanism 4. However, in the case that the harvesting unit 4 is only partially occupied, i.e. crop material 5 is present in the front 8 of the harvesting machine 1 only on a part of a width of the harvesting unit 4 on the field 3, an overload of the working elements of the harvesting machine 1 can occur in certain situations. The risk of such an overload is, in particular, that, starting from a partial occupancy of the header 4, the same increases significantly on a particularly short travel path of the harvesting machine 1. This can be the case, for example, with an oblique crop edge 23 of the respective crop crop crop plant at an edge of the respective field 3. It is also conceivable for the stock edge 23 to have a "stepped" shape, as a result of which the loading of the cutter 4 at a specific point can increase abruptly. Corresponding examples are evident with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, which are explained separately below.In order to avoid overloading of the working members of the harvesting machine 1, the harvesting machine 1 comprises a detection device 9, by means of which information relating to a crop material stock located in front of the harvesting machine 1 in the field 3 can be detected. The information detected by the detection device 9 is passed to the controller 7 and obtained from it, so that the controller 7 can use this additional information. In particular, information is available about which cutting-unit occupancy of the cutting unit 4 is to be expected the next time when the harvesting machine 1 continues to travel as scheduled. The information relates accordingly to the expected crop frame occupancy in the front 8 of the harvesting machine 1. this enables the controller 7, depending on this expected crop frame occupancy, to actuate the traction drive to the effect that the travel speed of the harvesting machine is adapted.To avoid overloading of the working members, this adaptation generally consists in a reduction in the speed of travel. Consequently, the travel speed can already be reduced at a point in time at which the (possibly suddenly) changing cutting unit occupancy has not yet manifested itself in the form of a current crop material throughput in the intake duct 12. If this had to be allowed to do and the controller 7 could only react when the current crop throughput in the intake duct 12 increases abruptly, it would hardly be possible, or not at all, to avoid overloading the downstream working elements of the harvesting machine 1.In the example shown, the detection device comprises both a receiving device 10 and a sensor unit 11. The receiving device 10 is provided and configured to receive signals for satellite-assisted location determination, so that a global position of the harvesting machine 1 can be determined by means of the receiving device 10. The location of the harvesting machine 1 at a respective point in time can then be matched by available inventory maps, so that it is possible, for example, to ascertain whether the harvesting machine 1 is moving along an oblique or stepped inventory edge 23. By means of a comparison of these data, it is possible to predict which harvesting-unit occupancy of the harvesting machine 1 is to be expected during scheduled further travel.In the example shown, the sensor unit 11 additionally present comprises a LIDAR system, by means of which an observation area 24 in the front 8 of the harvesting machine 1 can be observed. This is illustrated with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, wherein the observation area 24 can extend, for example, linearly over a width of the header 4 at a certain distance in front of the harvesting machine 1 in front of the field 8. By means of the sensor unit 11 it is possible in this way to identify how the crop material stock develops or changes on the field 3 in the front 8 of the harvesting machine 1, so that the expected crop unit occupancy of the crop unit 4 can be determined.The examples according to FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate the manner in which the described procedure can affect the travel speed of the harvesting machine 1 on the one hand and the crop throughput of the harvesting machine 1 on the other hand.FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a field 3 with a crop material located thereon in a plan view. The harvesting machine 1 enters the crop at a left end of the field 3 at a time t 0. The travel speed of the harvesting machine 1, which is illustrated in a lower diagram in FIG. 4 plotted on the basis of a speed axis 26 over a time axis 27, is initially at a low first level when entering the crop material inventory. At the time t 1, the first cut-off crop 5 reaches the intake duct 12, so that an increase in the layer height of the crop layer conveyed in the intake duct 12 is determined by means of the sensor device 6. This is obtained on the basis of the upper diagram in FIG. 4, which plots the measured layer height on a layer height axis 25 with respect to the time axis 27. The layer height initially rises further as the harvester 1 continues to travel as scheduled.Since the cutting unit 4 is currently only partially occupied (here approximately half way), the layer height as such and its increase over time must be evaluated as small overall, so that the controller automatically controls the travel drive to increase the travel speed in order to increase productivity. Accordingly, the travel speed is increased from the first level to a second higher level between the times t 1 and t 2. In this way, the measured layer height in the intake duct 12 is developed rapidly in the direction of a predetermined maximum value 28, with which safe operation of the working elements of the harvesting machine 1 is still possible. An approximation to this maximum value 28 is advantageous for a depletion of productivity.At time t 2, it can be seen that the travel speed has reached a value by means of which the layer height will increase to a desired value in a predictable manner. This travel speed thus represents, apart from that, the setpoint value for the travel speed. The desired value of the layer height is reached approximately at the time t 3. The harvesting machine 1 is consequently continued at the travel speed at the second level until further. At the time t4, a change in crop stock is finally registered by means of the detection device 9 in the front 8 of the harvesting machine 1. This suggests that the header loading of the header 4 will increase immediately upon scheduled further travel of the harvesting machine 1. In the example shown, the crop edge 23 of the crop crop crop is stepped, so that a suddenly increasing cutting-unit occupancy is expected. In the example shown, the header occupancy will develop from approximately half an occupancy to full occupancy. The detection device 9 also makes it possible to see how far in front of the harvesting machine 1 the change in the header occupancy is to be expected. Knowing the travel speed of the harvesting machine 1, the time at which the cutter structure occupancy will change can thus be determined. This time is denoted by t5in the diagrams in FIG. 4 on the time axis 27.Knowing the expected crop occupancy at time t5, the controller 7 controls the traction drive 2 of the harvesting machine to the effect that the travel speed of the harvesting machine 1 is adjusted, namely reduced. This reduction in the travel speed takes place before the sudden increase in the cutter loading occurs. Accordingly, the running speed is reduced in a period between the times t 4 and t 5. This has no effect at first for the slice height measured in the intake channel 12, since there a change in the travel speed has only a delayed effect. In order that the crop unit occupancy can have an effect, the crop material 5 cut off in each case must first be brought together centrally at the height of the intake channel 12 in the crop unit 4 and transferred to the intake channel 12.The reduction in the travel speed at the time t4 is then noticeable in a decrease in the layer height in the intake duct 12 from the time t5. However, since the cutter loading is approximately doubled from the time t5, the layer height in the feed channel 12 rises again despite the constant speed from the time t6. In this case, the travel speed is predefined by the controller 7 from the time t 5 such that, taking into account the increase in the cutter bar occupancy, the layer height in the infeed channel 12 is again close to the maximum value 28. In this way, it was possible by means of the controller 7 in cooperation with the sensor device 6 and the detection device 9 to avoid overloading of the working members of the harvesting machine 1, while the load on the harvesting machine 1 was kept at the highest possible level.In a further example, which is illustrated in FIG. 5, the crop edge 23 is oriented obliquely with respect to a direction of travel of the harvesting machine 1. This means that when the harvesting machine 1 enters the crop plant on the field 3, the crop occupancy changes successively starting from zero to a full crop occupancy. If the travel speed of the harvesting machine 1 is controlled solely on the basis of a detection of the layer height of the crop material layer conveyed in the intake duct 12, the travel speed would be constantly increased on account of the initially low crop unit occupancy (and the resulting low layer height in the intake duct 12). Due to the simultaneously and increasingly rapidly increasing crop frame occupancy and the above-described delay between the picking up of the crop material 5 and the registration of an increase in the crop throughput in the intake channel 12, a signal for maintaining or reducing the travel speed could only be emitted by the controller 7 to the travel drive 2 so late that the crop throughput would already have exceeded a maximum value that can be maintained by the downstream working elements.However, the cutter assembly occupancy in the front area 8 of the harvesting machine 1 can be detected in the described manner by means of the detection device 9, so that the controller 7 can control the traction drive 2 to adjust the travel speed accordingly. As a result, the travel speed, which is plotted in FIG. 5 in the lower diagram there on a speed axis 26 with respect to a time axis 27, is initially increased starting from a first low level at a time t 1 to a time t 2, as a result of which the measured layer height in the intake duct 12 increases increasingly rapidly in the interest of high productivity of the harvesting machine 1. This is illustrated in the upper diagram in FIG. 5 that the slice height is plotted on a slice height axis 25 with respect to the time axis 27. In expectation of the successively increasing cutter structure occupancy in the front 8 of the harvesting machine 1, the travel speed is adapted from the time t2to the effect that it is not increased further. Instead, it is kept at least substantially constant until the time t 3, while the layer height continues to increase significantly in the same time period due to the described delay. The effect of the missing further acceleration of the harvesting machine 1 on the layer height is evident from the time t3from which the layer height indeed rises further, but this is no longer due to an acceleration of the harvesting machine 1, but only due to the increasing header occupancy of the header 4.Since it is known as a result of the detection of the expected crop unit occupancy by means of the detection device 9 that this will eventually reach the maximum value (full occupancy of the crop unit 4), the travel speed is successively reduced by means of the controller 7 from the time t 3 in order to counteract the increasing crop unit occupancy and thereby not to let the crop throughput rise to an excessively high value. From the time t4 at which the cutter occupancy has reached its maximum, the travel speed is kept constant. The layer height in the feed channel 12 rises slightly after the time t4, which is caused with a time delay by the past remaining rise in the cutter loading. Finally, the layer height in the intake duct 12 reaches its highest value close to the maximum value 28. Overloading of the working members could be avoided by means of the predictive reduction of the travel speed with knowledge of the cutter loading to be expected.List of reference characters1 Harvesting machine 2 Travel drive 3 Field 4 Cutting unit 5 Crop 6 Sensor device 7 Controller 8 Front field 9 Detection device 10 Receiving device 11 Sensor unit 12 Intake duct 13 Grain tank 14 Separating rotor 15 Return floor 16 Shredder 17 Radial blower 18 Screening device 19 Screen 20 Preparation floor 21 Threshing device 22 Cutter bar 23 Crop edge 24 Observation region 25 Throughput axis 26 Speed axis 27 Time axisReferences included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedDE 10 2013 209 197 A1

[0006]

Claims

Harvesting machine (1) comprising - a travel drive (2) for moving the harvesting machine (1) at a travel speed over a field (3), - a harvesting unit (4) for cutting crop material (5) located on the field, - a sensor device (6) for detecting information relating to a crop throughput currently being processed by the harvesting machine (1), - a controller (7) which is provided and configured to actuate the travel drive (2) of the harvesting machine (1) to a desired setpoint value on the basis of the detected information for setting the travel speed, characterized in that the controller (7) is provided and configured to additionally obtain information relating to an expected crop material occupancy in the front field (8) of the harvesting machine (1) and to actuate the travel drive (2) to adapt the travel speed on the basis of the expected crop material occupancy.Harvesting machine (1) according to claim 1, characterised bya detection device (9) for detecting information relating to a crop material stock located in the front area (8) in front of the harvesting machine (1) on the field (3).Harvesting machine (1) according to claim 2, characterised in that the detection device (9) comprises a receiving device (10) for detecting signals for satellite-assisted location determination.Harvesting machine (1) according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the detection device (9) comprises a sensor unit (11) which is provided and configured to detect information about the expected cutting-unit occupancy of the cutting unit (4) which is to be expected when the harvesting machine (1) continues to travel as scheduled.Harvesting machine (1) according to claim 4, characterised in that the sensor unit (11) comprises at least one LIDAR system which is configured to detect the front area (8) in front of the harvesting machine (1).Harvesting machine (1) according to claim 4 or 5, characterised in that the sensor unit (11) comprises at least one camera which is configured to record the front area (8) in front of the harvesting machine (1).Harvesting machine (1) according to one of claims 2 to 6, characterised in that information detected by means of the detection device (9) can be directed to the controller (7) or an external processing unit and processed by means of the latter in order to generate the information about the expected header occupancy.Harvesting machine (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sensor device (6) interacts with an intake duct (12) of the harvesting machine (1) in such a way that the crop throughput in the intake duct (12) can be detected by means of the sensor device (6).Harvesting machine (1) according to claim 8, characterised in that the sensor device (6) comprises a layer height sensor, by means of which a layer height of a crop layer of the crop (5) conveyed through the intake duct (12) can be detected.

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