Automatic travel control system

Abstract

To accurately perform work traveling even in a field where ridges are provided or crops are planted in rows.SOLUTION: An automatic travel control system controlling automatic travel of a following work vehicle PO different from a preceding work vehicle PR work-traveling in a field where the preceding work vehicle PR has work-traveled automatically, includes: an acquisition part for acquiring a travel reference RE generated when the preceding work vehicle PR has travelled automatically; a storage part for storing the travel reference RE acquired by the acquiring part; and a route generating part for generating a first route LI1, the automatic travel route LI when the following work vehicle PO travels automatically in the field, based on the travel reference RE stored in the storage part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic driving control system for a work vehicle that travels for work in a field along an automatic driving route. [Background technology]

[0002] As shown in Patent Document 1, a harvester (work vehicle) travels for work along a travel route (automatic travel route). The travel route is generated based on a work target area (inner perimeter area) acquired by traveling around a farm field. For example, the travel route is generated parallel to one outer perimeter of the work target area. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Application No. 2018-38291 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, even if ridges are provided in a field or crops are planted in rows, the automatic driving path may not be formed along the ridges or rows. If the automatic driving path is not generated along the ridges or rows, the work vehicle will cross the ridges or rows to perform work, and work travel may not be performed appropriately.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to perform work traveling with high accuracy even in farm fields where ridges are provided or crops are planted in rows. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, an automatic driving control system according to one embodiment of the present invention is an automatic driving control system that controls the automatic driving of a following work vehicle, which is different from a leading work vehicle, that works and drives in a field where a leading work vehicle has worked and driven automatically, and is equipped with an acquisition unit that acquires a driving standard generated when the leading work vehicle works automatically, a memory unit that stores the driving standard acquired by the acquisition unit, and a route generation unit that generates a first route, which is an automatic driving route for the following work vehicle when it automatically drives in the field, based on the driving standard stored in the memory unit.

[0007] When growing crops in a farm field, various operations are performed by a plurality of work vehicles. For example, ridges are made, seeds are sown, and the grown crops are then harvested. Also, crops are planted in rows, and the grown crops are then harvested.

[0008] The leading vehicle makes ridges, sows seeds along the ridges, and plants crops in rows, while the trailing vehicle sows seeds along the ridges, harvests crops on the ridges, and harvests crops in rows.

[0009] According to the above configuration, the automatic travel route of the trailing work vehicle is formed based on the travel standard when the leading work vehicle was traveling automatically, so the trailing work vehicle can travel along the ridges or rows. As a result, the trailing work vehicle is prevented from traveling across the ridges or rows, and can travel with high accuracy.

[0010] The driving reference may be a reference heading when the preceding work vehicle was automatically driving.

[0011] The reference orientation is a reference for determining the direction of the automatic driving route. Therefore, by generating an automatic driving route for the trailing work vehicle based on the reference orientation when the leading work vehicle was automatically driving, the trailing work vehicle can travel along the furrows or rows with greater accuracy.

[0012] The first path may be parallel to the reference orientation.

[0013] With this configuration, the automatic travel path of the trailing work vehicle is formed precisely along the ridges or rows formed by the leading work vehicle, allowing the trailing work vehicle to travel along the ridges or rows with greater precision.

[0014] In addition, the system may further include a standard storage unit that acquires and holds at least some of the driving standards generated for each of the multiple automatic driving operations when one or more of the preceding work vehicles are automatically driven, and the acquisition unit may acquire the latest driving standards from the standard storage unit.

[0015] The trailing work vehicle performs its work run after the leading work vehicle has performed its work run. Also, it is often the case that multiple work runs have been performed in the same field before the trailing work vehicle's work run. In such cases, it can be expected that the work runs performed close to the time of the trailing work vehicle's work run will be formed in a shape (direction) similar to the ridges or rows that the trailing work vehicle will perform its work run.

[0016] Therefore, with the above configuration, an automatic driving route for the trailing work vehicle can be generated based on the driving standard in the most recent work drive among the work drives for which the driving standard is maintained, allowing the trailing work vehicle to travel along the ridges or rows with greater accuracy.

[0017] The system may further include a standard storage unit that acquires and holds at least some of the driving standards generated for each of a plurality of automatic driving operations when one or more of the preceding work vehicles are automatically driven, and a standard selection unit that accepts human operation to select the driving standard, and the acquisition unit may acquire the driving standard selected via the standard selection unit from the standard storage unit.

[0018] There may be cases where the work run performed immediately before the work run of the trailing work vehicle is a run that does not need to follow the furrows or rows. The worker is expected to understand the content of each work run, and can identify which of the past work runs is most suitable for the work run to be performed by the trailing work vehicle. According to the above configuration, it is possible to select a driving standard for work driving that is deemed to be the most suitable driving standard for the trailing work vehicle, thereby enabling the trailing work vehicle to drive along the ridges or rows with greater accuracy.

[0019] The route generating section may generate the first route after the preceding work vehicle has finished working.

[0020] With this configuration, the automatic driving route of the following work vehicle is generated after the preceding work vehicle has finished its work driving, so even if the work driving of the preceding work vehicle is changed midway, the route can be generated with high accuracy accordingly.

[0021] In addition, the route generation unit may store the first route in the memory unit, and the route generation unit may generate a second route, which is the automatic driving route, based on the work target area of ​​the trailing work vehicle and store it in the memory unit, and the trailing work vehicle may automatically drive along the first route or the second route.

[0022] Depending on the contents of the work travel of the trailing work vehicle, it may be appropriate to perform the work travel along an automatic travel route generated based on the work target area (inner peripheral area) of the field. With the above configuration, the work travel of the trailing work vehicle can be performed along the automatic travel route generated based on the work target area.

[0023] The vehicle may further include a route selection unit that accepts a selection operation to select the automatic driving route along which the trailing work vehicle travels automatically from the first route or the second route, and the trailing work vehicle may travel automatically along the automatic driving route selected by the route selection unit.

[0024] With this configuration, when it is appropriate to perform work driving along an automatic driving route generated based on the work area of ​​the field, the work driving of the trailing work vehicle can be performed by selecting the automatic driving route generated based on the work area.

[0025] In addition, the preceding work vehicle may perform sowing or planting, and the following work vehicle may perform harvesting.

[0026] This configuration allows crops sown in ridges or planted in rows to be harvested with precision. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0027] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration for generating an automatic driving route based on a preceding work drive. [Diagram 2] FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an automatic driving control system. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flow for generating an automatic driving route for a trailing work vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] As described above, when growing crops in a farm field, various tasks are performed by a plurality of work vehicles. For example, the farm field is plowed, ridges are made, seeds are sown, and the grown crops are then harvested. Also, the farm field is plowed, crops are planted in rows, and the grown crops are then harvested. Furthermore, tasks such as spraying chemicals and fertilizers are also performed during this process.

[0029] As shown in Fig. 1, the work vehicle may automatically travel along an automatic travel route LI, which is generated based on a predetermined travel criterion RE. When ridges are made or crops are grown in rows, if the direction of the automatic travel route LI does not match the direction of the ridges M or the direction of the rows during the subsequent work travel, the work vehicle may cross the ridges M, climb onto the ridges M, or cross the rows, preventing proper work travel.

[0030] Therefore, the automatic driving control system of this embodiment generates an automatic driving route LI (first route LI1) for the trailing work vehicle PO based on the driving standard RE used to generate the automatic driving route LI (leading route LIR) of the leading work vehicle PR when a different work vehicle (trailing work vehicle PO) performs work driving (trailing work) after a work vehicle (leading work vehicle PR) performing work driving (leading work).

[0031] The preceding work vehicle PR can be expected to be working along the ridges M or rows, and the preceding route LIR follows the ridges M or rows. At the very least, the worker (operator) can easily know whether the preceding work vehicle PR is working along the ridges M or rows.

[0032] When the preceding work is performed along the ridges M or rows, the automatic travel route LI (first route LI1) for the following work vehicle PO is generated based on the travel reference RE used to generate the preceding route LIR, so that the first route LI1 is formed along the ridges M or rows. As a result, the following work vehicle PO is prevented from traveling across the ridges M or rows, and can travel with high accuracy.

[0033] Next, the configuration in which the automatic driving control system generates the first route LI1 will be described with reference to the drawings, taking as an example a case in which a tractor TR as the leading work vehicle PR sows soybeans and a combine 1 as the following work vehicle PO harvests the soybeans.

[0034] In the following description, unless otherwise specified, the direction of the arrow F in the figure is the "front", the direction of the arrow B is the "back", the direction of the arrow L is the "left", the direction of the arrow R is the "right", the direction of the arrow U in the figure is the "up" and the direction of the arrow D is the "down".

[0035] [Preceding work] As shown in Figure 1, the tractor TR, which is the preceding work vehicle PR, generates an automatic driving route LI (preceding route LIR) along the already formed furrows M, and performs sowing work (automatic work driving) by automatically driving along the preceding route LIR.

[0036] The tractor TR performs sowing work while traveling back and forth in the inner periphery area CA of the field and traveling around the outer periphery of the field in the outer periphery area SA of the field. The preceding route LIR is a collection of linear route elements that traverse the inner periphery area CA for traveling back and forth in the inner periphery area CA. The round trip travel is a travel that repeats travel along the route elements and turning travel that connects the route elements. The outer periphery travel in the outer periphery area SA is performed manually or automatically. The turning travel in the inner periphery area CA is performed manually, and the travel along each route element of the preceding route LIR is mainly performed automatically.

[0037] The preceding route LIR is generated based on the driving reference RE. The driving reference RE is information that determines the direction in which the preceding route LIR extends. Work driving in the inner circumferential area CA is first performed by manual driving in a direction that transverses the inner circumferential area CA from one end of the inner circumferential area CA to the opposite end. This driving is performed visually along the ridges M. During this manual driving, position information of two points is obtained. The position information of the two points is referred to as the start point and the end point, respectively.

[0038] The driving reference RE is acquired as a reference direction RD parallel to the line segment connecting the starting point and the end point. Then, the preceding route LIR is generated as a route parallel to the reference direction RD, which is the driving reference RE. Each route element of the preceding route LIR is generated parallel to the reference direction RD, so that it is parallel to the ridge M. Note that the driving reference RE is not limited to the reference direction RD, and may be the starting point and the end point themselves (reference point RP, see FIG. 3), may be other information generated from the starting point and the end point, or may be the preceding route LIR itself.

[0039] After manually traveling through the inner area CA, the vehicle turns around and then automatically travels along the preceding route LIR. Since the preceding route LIR is generated parallel to the ridges M, automatic travel in the inner area CA is performed parallel to the ridges M.

[0040] In addition, when forming ridges, automatic work travel is performed along the automatic travel route LI generated by the travel reference RE based on the start point and end point, so the ridges M in the field are formed parallel to each other. Therefore, by generating the preceding route LIR based on the travel reference RE generated along one ridge M, the preceding route LIR (all route elements) is generated parallel to the ridge M.

[0041] [Back-up work] As shown in Fig. 1, a combine harvester 1, which is a trailing work vehicle PO, harvests crops that have been sown and then grown by a tractor TR. The combine harvester 1 and the work travel performed by the combine harvester 1 will be described below.

[0042] 〔combine〕 As shown in Fig. 2, the normal type combine harvester 1, which is the trailing work vehicle PO, is equipped with a harvesting section H, a crawler type traveling device 11, a driving section 12, a threshing device 13, a grain tank 14, a conveying section 16, a grain discharge device 18, and a satellite positioning module 80. Based on the positioning data output by the satellite positioning module 80, the position coordinates of the combine harvester 1 are calculated over time.

[0043] The traveling device 11 is provided at the bottom of the combine harvester 1. The traveling device 11 is driven by power from an engine (not shown) mounted on the combine harvester 1. The combine harvester 1 travels by the traveling device 11.

[0044] The driving section 12, the threshing device 13, and the grain tank 14 are provided above the traveling device 11. An operator (worker) who monitors the operation of the combine harvester 1 can ride in the driving section 12. The operator may monitor the operation of the combine harvester 1 from outside the combine harvester 1.

[0045] The driver's section 12 has a driver's seat 12a and a cabin 12b. The driver's seat 12a is provided inside the cabin 12b. An operator can sit in the driver's seat 12a.

[0046] The grain discharge device 18 is provided on the upper side of the grain tank 14. In addition, a satellite positioning module 80 is attached to the upper surface of the driving unit 12.

[0047] The harvesting section H is provided at the front of the combine harvester 1. The transport section 16 is provided at the rear of the harvesting section H. The harvesting section H also includes a reaping device 15 and a reel 17.

[0048] The reaping device 15 reaps soybeans, which are crops in the field. The crop is not limited to soybeans, but may be any crop. The reel 17 rakes in the soybeans to be harvested while rotating around a reel axis 17b that runs along the left-right direction of the machine body. The soybeans harvested by the reaping device 15 are sent to the conveying section 16.

[0049] With this configuration, the harvesting section H harvests soybeans in the field. The combine 1 is capable of reaping travel, traveling with the traveling device 11 while reaping soybeans in the field with the reaping device 15.

[0050] The soybeans harvested by the harvesting section H are transported to the rear of the machine body by the transport section 16. As a result, the soybeans are transported to the threshing device 13.

[0051] The soybeans are threshed in the threshing device 13. The harvested product obtained by the threshing process is stored in a grain tank 14. The harvested product stored in the grain tank 14 is discharged outside the machine by a grain discharge device 18 as necessary.

[0052] [Combine harvester operation] The combine harvester 1 harvests soybeans grown on ridges M in a farm field. The crop harvested by the combine harvester 1 is not limited to soybeans, but may be any crop such as rice. Furthermore, the crop is not limited to being grown on ridges M, but may be grown in rows.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 1, a combine harvester 1 harvests crops in a field by first traveling in a circular motion while harvesting crops in an outer peripheral area SA of the field, and then traveling back and forth while harvesting crops in an inner peripheral area CA of the field.

[0054] In this embodiment, the circumnavigation is performed by manual driving. However, the circumnavigation is not limited to this, and a part or all of the circumnavigation may be performed by automatic driving. The round trip driving in the inner circumnavigation area CA is performed by automatic driving, but a part of it may be performed by manual driving.

[0055] The outer periphery travel is performed along the outer periphery of the field, and the travel path of the combine harvester 1 during the outer periphery travel is acquired. The inner periphery area CA is calculated based on this travel path.

[0056] Specifically, first, the area of ​​the field where no work (harvesting) has been performed by traveling around the perimeter is calculated from the travel trajectory as an unworked area.

[0057] Next, since multiple turns are made in the corner areas of the field during the perimeter travel, the main travel direction is calculated from the travel path excluding the travel path at the turn. The main travel direction is calculated for the number of main perimeters of the field.

[0058] Next, a line segment that is parallel to the main driving direction and touches the unworked area is calculated for each main driving direction. Then, the area surrounded by the calculated line segments is determined as the inner perimeter area CA. Note that the inner perimeter area CA may be calculated by any method other than the above. For example, the main driving direction may not be calculated, and the unworked area formed by the outer perimeter driving may be calculated as the inner perimeter area CA (area to be worked on).

[0059] In the inner peripheral area CA, the tractor travels back and forth along the first route LI1, which is an automatic travel route LI, for work travel. Turning during the round trip travel is performed in the outer peripheral area SA. The first route LI1 is generated based on the reference orientation RD (traveling reference RE) used when generating the preceding route LIR of the tractor TR.

[0060] Since the reference direction RD used when generating the preceding route LIR is a direction parallel to the ridges M of the field, the first route LI1 (all route elements) extends in a direction parallel to the ridges M. Therefore, the combine 1 is prevented from traveling across the ridges M, and can travel with high accuracy.

[0061] [Automatic Driving Control System] Next, the configuration and operation procedure of the automatic driving control system that generates the automatic driving route LI (first route LI1) for the following work vehicle PO will be described using Figs. 3 and 4 while also referring to Figs. 1 and 2.

[0062] The automatic driving control system includes an acquisition unit 21, a route generation unit 23, a work driving control unit 25, and a storage unit 27. The automatic driving control system includes a processor (computer) such as a CPU, and each function of the automatic driving control system operates under the control of the processor.

[0063] Prior to the harvesting work (following work) by the combine 1, which is the following work vehicle PO, a sowing work (leading work) is performed by the tractor TR, which is the leading work vehicle PR.

[0064] First, a preceding route LIR, which is an automatic travel route LI of the tractor TR, is generated based on a travel reference RE (reference direction RD) (step #1 in Fig. 4). The tractor TR performs a sowing operation (work travel preceding operation) while traveling in the field along the preceding route LIR (step #2 in Fig. 4).

[0065] The acquisition unit 21 is capable of transmitting and receiving information to and from the outside, and acquires various information such as the driving reference RE (step #3 in FIG. 4). The acquisition unit 21 stores the acquired driving reference RE in the storage unit 27. The driving reference RE is a reference orientation RD, etc., used when generating the automatic driving route LI (preceding route LIR) of the tractor TR.

[0066] The route generating unit 23 generates an automatic travel route LI (first route LI1) for the combine 1 based on the reference orientation RD (travel reference RE) stored in the memory unit 27 (step #4 in FIG. 4). Specifically, the route generating unit 23 generates the first route LI1 so as to be parallel to the reference orientation RD. As a result, each route element of the first route LI1 is parallel to the reference orientation RD. The route generating unit 23 stores the generated first route LI1 in the memory unit 27.

[0067] The work travel control unit 25 controls the work travel (trailing work) of the combine harvester 1. The work travel of the combine harvester 1 is a travel to perform harvesting work (work travel trailing work) while traveling in a farm field (inner peripheral area CA) along a first route LI1 stored in the memory unit 27 (step #5 in FIG. 4).

[0068] The preceding route LIR is generated based on the driving reference RE so as to run along the ridges M. The first route LI1 is generated based on the driving reference RE, and is therefore generated so as to run along the ridges M. In particular, when the first route LI1 is generated based on the reference orientation RD, it is generated parallel to the ridges M. As a result, the preceding route LIR is generated in a direction that runs along the ridges M, and the combine 1 is prevented from running across the ridges M for work, and can perform work running with high accuracy.

[0069] [Another embodiment] (1) There may be multiple preceding operations performed prior to the following operation. These multiple preceding operations may be performed by different work vehicles. For example, before the following operation, harvesting, sowing is performed as a preceding operation by a tractor TR, and before the sowing, ridge making is performed by the tractor TR.

[0070] In the above embodiment, the automatic driving control system may generate the first route LI1 for the following work based on any one of the driving standards RE used for the preceding route LIR generated during the multiple preceding works. In this case, at least a part of the preceding work may be performed by a different preceding work vehicle PR.

[0071] The automatic driving control system may further include a reference storage unit 32 and a reference selection unit 34. The acquisition unit 21 acquires the driving reference RE when the preceding work vehicle PR automatically drives. The reference storage unit 32 acquires and holds at least a part of the driving reference RE generated for each of the multiple automatic drives when one or multiple preceding work vehicles PR automatically drive. In other words, the reference storage unit 32 acquires and holds at least a part of the driving reference RE related to the automatic driving route LI (preceding route LIR) of the preceding work vehicle PR that is automatically driving.

[0072] For example, the acquisition unit 21 acquires the driving reference RE of the preceding route LIR every time the preceding work vehicle PR automatically travels, and stores it in the reference storage unit 32. Then, the reference selection unit 34 selects one driving reference RE from the multiple driving references RE stored in the reference storage unit 32, and the route generation unit 23 generates the first route LI1 based on the selected driving reference RE.

[0073] It is preferable for harvesting work to travel along the direction in which the crops are lined up. Furthermore, crops are not necessarily lined up parallel to the ridges M. It is also possible that crop sowing and planting are not performed by automatic driving. The details of each work drive are understood by the worker. In such cases, the worker can determine which driving reference RE from which work drive should be used as the driving reference RE to be used to generate the automatic driving route LI (first route LI1) during harvesting work.

[0074] Therefore, by the worker selecting the driving reference RE to be used during the following work from among the driving references RE in the multiple work travels, the first route LI1 can be generated using the driving reference RE to be used for performing the following work with higher accuracy. As a result, the work travel can be performed with higher accuracy.

[0075] The reference storage unit 32 may store the travel reference RE every time the preceding work vehicle PR automatically travels, or may store only the travel reference RE selected by the reference selection unit 34. Specifically, the reference selection unit 34 accepts a manual operation to select the travel reference RE to be stored in the reference storage unit 32 from among the travel references RE generated for each of the multiple automatic travels. That is, the worker (operator) can select the travel reference RE to be stored in the reference storage unit 32 as the travel reference RE suitable for the following work by operating the reference selection unit 34. Then, the reference storage unit 32 acquires and stores the selected travel reference RE via the acquisition unit 21. The route generation unit 23 generates the first route LI1 based on the travel reference RE stored in the reference storage unit 32. The reference storage unit 32 may acquire and store the travel reference RE without going through the acquisition unit 21.

[0076] Also, the automatic driving control system may not include the reference selection unit 34, and the route generation unit 23 may generate the first route LI1 based on the driving reference RE in the preceding work performed immediately before the following work. In other words, the acquisition unit 21 may acquire the driving reference RE of the preceding route LIR every time the preceding work vehicle PR automatically travels and store it in the reference storage unit 32, and the route generation unit 23 may acquire the latest driving reference RE stored in the reference storage unit 32 from the reference storage unit 32 to generate the first route LI1. In this case, the reference storage unit 32 may leave the previously acquired driving reference RE and add the newly acquired driving reference RE, or may delete the stored driving reference RE and update it to the latest driving reference RE every time the driving reference RE is acquired.

[0077] Further, the traveling reference RE may be stored in the reference storage unit 32, but may also be stored in the memory unit 27. In this case, the reference storage unit 32 becomes unnecessary.

[0078] (2) In each of the above embodiments, the route generating unit 23 may generate the first route LI1 after the work driving (preceding work) of the preceding work vehicle PR has ended, but it may also generate the first route LI1 in advance if the driving reference RE is acquired during the preceding work.

[0079] (3) In each of the above embodiments, the route generation unit 23 may generate, together with the first route LI1, or separately from the first route LI1, a second route LI2, which is an automatic driving route LI, based on an inner circumferential area CA (work target area) generated by the trailing work vehicle PO traveling on the outer periphery.

[0080] Each route element of the second route LI2 is generated in parallel to one outer periphery of the inner circumferential area CA. The route generating unit 23 generates the second route LI2, and stores the generated second route LI2 in the memory unit 27. The work travel control unit 25 automatically travels the following work vehicle PO along the first route LI1 or the second route LI2 stored in the memory unit 27.

[0081] In this case, the automatic driving control system may further include a route selection unit 36. The route selection unit 36 ​​accepts a selection operation to select which of the first route LI1 and the second route LI2 stored in the memory unit 27 is to be used as the automatic driving route LI along which the trailing work vehicle PO automatically travels. That is, by operating the route selection unit 36, the worker can select the automatic driving route LI along which the trailing work vehicle PO automatically travels from the first route LI1 and the second route LI2.

[0082] The trailing work vehicle PO then automatically travels along the automatic travel route LI selected by the route selection unit 36. This allows the trailing work vehicle PO to automatically travel along the automatic travel route LI that is more suitable for automatic travel, and allows for accurate work travel.

[0083] The route generating unit 23 may generate the second route LI2 based on one outer perimeter of the inner circumferential area CA, or, as described above, may obtain the start point and end point by manual driving and generate the second route LI2 based on the obtained start point and end point (reference point RP, reference direction RD).

[0084] (4) In each of the above embodiments, the leading work vehicle PR is not limited to the tractor TR, and may be any work vehicle that performs work travel by automatic travel, such as a tractor TR or a rice transplanter. Similarly, the trailing work vehicle PO is not limited to the combine harvester 1, and may be any work vehicle that performs work travel after the leading work vehicle PR that performs automatic travel has performed work travel.

[0085] Also, the leading work vehicle PR may be a harvester such as a combine harvester 1, and the trailing work vehicle PO may be a tractor TR or a rice transplanter. In this case, the trailing work performed by the trailing work vehicle PO is seeding or planting crops that have started to be grown in the same field after the leading work, the harvesting work, has ended and the growing of the crops has finished, or plowing or making ridges in the same field.

[0086] In other words, the trailing work vehicle PO that performs the trailing work may be a work vehicle that performs work in growing a new crop after the growing and harvesting of the crop performed by the leading work vehicle PR is completed. Note that the leading work vehicle PR and the trailing work vehicle PO may be the same work vehicle that spans the production of the crop. For example, the leading work vehicle PR may be a combine harvester 1, and the trailing work vehicle PO may be a combine harvester 1 that is used to grow (harvest) the next year's (next) crop.

[0087] (5) In each of the above embodiments, the work performed by the leading work vehicle PR is not limited to sowing seeds, and may be any work such as planting seedlings, etc. Similarly, the work performed by the trailing work vehicle PO (trailing work) is not limited to harvesting, and may be any work performed after the work performed by the leading work vehicle PR (leading work).

[0088] (6) In each of the above embodiments, the automatic driving control system may be mounted on the machine body of the combine harvester 1 (trailing work vehicle PO), but may also be mounted on the communications terminal 4, or may be provided in a management computer or the like provided outside the machine. The management computer is capable of communicating with the machine body (leading work vehicle PR / trailing work vehicle PO) and performs various controls and management of work driving. Furthermore, the functions of the automatic driving control system may be distributed and arranged on the machine body, the communications terminal 4, the management computer, etc. For example, the work driving control unit 25 of the automatic driving control system may be provided on the machine body, and other functional blocks may be provided in the communications terminal 4 or the management computer.

[0089] (7) In each of the above embodiments, the self-driving control system is not limited to being composed of the above-mentioned functional blocks, and may be composed of any functional blocks. For example, each functional block of the self-driving control system may be further subdivided, or conversely, some or all of the functional blocks may be combined. In addition, the functions of the self-driving control system are not limited to the above-mentioned functional blocks, and may be realized by a method executed by any functional block. In addition, some or all of the functions of the self-driving control system may be composed of software. A program related to the software is stored in any storage device such as the storage unit 27, and is executed by a processor (computer) such as a CPU provided in the self-driving control system, or a processor (computer) provided separately. [Industrial Applicability]

[0090] The present invention can be applied to a work vehicle that makes multiple work trips in a farm field to cultivate crops. [Explanation of symbols]

[0091] 21 Acquisition Department 23 Route Generation Unit 25 Work travel control unit 27 Memory section 32 Reference Storage Unit 34 Criterion Selection Section 36 Route Selection Section CA Inner area (area to be worked on) LI Automatic driving route LI1 Pathway 1 LI2 2nd pathway LIR Precedent Path PO Trailing Work Vehicle PR Advance Work Vehicle RD reference direction RE Driving Standards

Claims

1. An automatic driving control system for controlling automatic driving of a trailing work vehicle that is different from a preceding work vehicle and that travels through a field in which a preceding work vehicle has traveled automatically, comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires a driving reference generated when the preceding work vehicle automatically travels; A storage unit that stores the traveling standard acquired by the acquisition unit; and a route generating unit that generates a first route, which is an automatic driving route when the trailing work vehicle automatically drives through the field, based on the driving standard stored in the memory unit.

2. 2. The automatic driving control system according to claim 1, wherein the driving reference is a reference heading when the preceding work vehicle was automatically driving.

3. The automatic cruise control system according to claim 2 , wherein the first route is parallel to the reference direction.

4. Further comprising a standard storage unit that, when one or more of the preceding work vehicles are traveling automatically, acquires and stores at least a part of the traveling standards generated for each of the plurality of automatic traveling, The automatic driving control system according to claim 1 , wherein the acquisition unit acquires the latest driving standard from the standard storage unit.

5. a standard storage unit that acquires and stores at least a part of the driving standards generated for each of a plurality of automatic driving operations when one or a plurality of the preceding work vehicles are automatically driven; A criterion selection unit that accepts a manual operation to select the driving criterion, The automatic driving control system according to claim 1 , wherein the acquisition unit acquires the driving standard selected via the standard selection unit from the standard storage unit.

6. The automatic driving control system according to claim 1 , wherein the route generation unit generates the first route after the preceding work vehicle has completed its work travel.

7. The route generation unit stores the first route in the storage unit, the route generation unit generates a second route, which is the automated travel route, based on a work target area of ​​the following work vehicle and stores the second route in the storage unit; The automatic driving control system according to claim 1 , wherein the trailing work vehicle automatically drives along the first route or the second route.

8. a route selection unit that accepts a selection operation to select the automatic travel route along which the trailing work vehicle automatically travels from the first route or the second route, The automatic driving control system according to claim 7 , wherein the trailing work vehicle automatically drives along the automatic driving route selected by the route selection unit.

9. The automatic driving control system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the preceding work vehicle performs sowing or planting, and the following work vehicle performs harvesting.

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