Automatic travel control system and work vehicle

Abstract

To provide an automatic travel control technology for realizing prompt material resupply for an automatically traveling work vehicle with timing determined by a manager.SOLUTION: The present invention provides an automatic travel control system for a work vehicle that travels along a circulating travel route set in an outer peripheral region along the outer periphery of farmland, and along a reciprocating travel route comprising a turning route and an internal route set in an internal region inside the outer peripheral region. The system comprises: a resupply-side setting unit 61 that sets a resupply side for resupplying required materials in work travel; a material resupply reservation unit 66 that reserves material resupply on the resupply side based on a manual operation performed during travel on the internal route; and a material resupply travel control unit 50D that brings the vehicle body closer to the resupply side in a material resupply posture, based on reservation information from the material resupply reservation unit 66.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic driving control system for a work vehicle that travels through a farm field while being replenished with materials. [Background technology]

[0002] A field work vehicle such as a rice transplanter travels to supply materials such as seedlings to a field along a circular route set in an outer peripheral area along the periphery of the field and an internal round trip travel route set in an internal area inside the outer peripheral area, the internal round trip travel route being made up of a straight route and a turning route.Since the amount of materials that can be loaded onto the field work vehicle is limited, it becomes necessary to replenish materials during the work travel.

[0003] The rice transplanter according to Patent Document 1 sets a specific side of the farm's outline, for example a side bordering a farm road, as a material supply side, and always stops temporarily to select whether or not to supply seedlings at the end point facing the seedling supply side of the straight path that constitutes the internal round-trip travel path together with the turning path. When seedling supply is required, a supply instruction is given manually, and the rice transplanter manually travels toward the seedling supply side and stops at a position appropriate for seedling supply.

[0004] The rice transplanter according to Patent Document 2, instead of temporarily stopping at each end point of the straight route facing the seedling supply side, estimates the remaining amount of materials loaded in the rice transplanter based on the number of round trips made on the straight route or the distance traveled, and when a predetermined number of round trips or distance traveled is reached, temporarily stops at the end point facing the seedling supply side of the straight route to select whether or not to supply seedlings. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2022-085684 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2023-039843 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The rice transplanter according to Patent Document 2 has the advantage of suppressing unnecessary stops of work travel and operations to resume work travel, compared to the rice transplanter according to Patent Document 1. However, it is relatively difficult to estimate the remaining amount of materials from the number of round trips of straight route travel or the travel distance, and this method of determining the timing of material replenishment is not necessarily efficient. In addition, some managers (including drivers and supervisors) wish to decide the timing of material replenishment by their own will.

[0007] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic driving control technology that enables an automatically driving work vehicle to quickly replenish materials at a timing determined by a manager. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The automatic driving control system of the present invention for a work vehicle that travels along a circular driving path set in an outer peripheral area along the periphery of a field and a round trip driving path consisting of an internal path and a turning path set in an internal area inside the outer peripheral area comprises a supply edge setting unit that sets a supply edge along which materials required for work driving are supplied, a material supply reservation unit that reserves material supply at the supply edge based on manual operations performed while traveling along the internal path, and a material supply driving control unit that brings the vehicle body close to the supply edge in a material supply posture based on reservation information from the material supply reservation unit.

[0009] According to this configuration, when the work vehicle is traveling on the internal route that is connected by the turning route to form the round trip travel route, if a reservation is made for material supply at the supply side, the rice transplanter approaches the supply side in the material supply posture. This allows the manager to approach the rice transplanter to the supply side at the desired timing and supply materials.

[0010] In round-trip travel using a round-trip travel path, the control burden of travel control on a turning path, which is a substantial 180° vehicle body direction change, is lower than the control burden of travel control on an internal path that is substantially straight or substantially arc-shaped. In addition, travel on a turning path is travel close to the boundary line of a field, and steering errors must be avoided. For this reason, in the present invention, in order to avoid placing a burden on the control system, reservations for material supply are prohibited when traveling on the turning path.

[0011] A turning path connects the end point of travel on the internal path and the start point of travel on the next internal path, and this turning path is set in an outer peripheral area between the field edge and the internal area, and material supply is performed by stopping the rice transplanter in this outer peripheral area. Furthermore, the easiest path for leaving the round-trip travel path and approaching the supply edge is a path extended from the internal path toward the supply edge. Taking these things into consideration, in the present invention, when the material supply is reserved during travel on the internal path, the material supply is performed between the end point of travel on the internal path currently being traveled and the start point of travel on the next internal path to be traveled, and the material supply travel control unit brings the vehicle body close to the supply edge using an extended path extended from the internal path toward the supply edge as a target travel path. This allows the vehicle body to efficiently travel for material supply, approaching the supply edge in a material supply posture.

[0012] The stopping position and stopping posture of the work vehicle when replenishing materials differ depending on the type of replenishing material, etc. For this reason, when reserving material replenishing, it is convenient if the stopping position and stopping posture of the work vehicle when replenishing materials is included in the reservation information. For this reason, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the material replenishing travel control unit is configured to stop the vehicle body for replenishing at a replenishing point on the replenishing side based on the reservation information. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the material replenishing travel control unit stops the vehicle body for replenishing in the material replenishing posture that matches the type of material included in the reservation information.

[0013] In order to efficiently supply materials, the present invention proposes the following vehicle body postures during material supply: When the type of material is seedlings or seeds for planting, the material supply posture is a front-butting posture in which the front end of the vehicle body is butted against the supply edge, and when the type of material is fertilizer or chemicals, the material supply posture is a rear-butting posture in which the rear end of the vehicle body is butted against the supply edge.

[0014] A reservation for material replenishment can be made anywhere and at any time while traveling along the internal route, but when the vehicle body is approaching the end point of its travel on the internal route, there is little time to reserve material replenishment, so it is preferable to stop the vehicle body once and make the reservation. Also, the vehicle may stop while traveling along the internal route for some reason. This stop is a good opportunity to reserve material replenishment. For this reason, in the present invention, the material replenishment reservation unit is configured to be able to reserve the material replenishment whether the vehicle body is stopped or traveling.

[0015] When a reservation for material supply is made, when travel along the internal route is completed, the material supply travel will be performed and the supply edge will be approached, so it is convenient to notify the surroundings of the field. For this reason, the present invention is provided with a notification control unit that notifies the material supply reservation through the notification device based on the reservation information.

[0016] It is important that the notification of the material replenishment reservation through the notification device is given to the periphery of the field, i.e., the periphery of the work vehicle. For this reason, the present invention proposes that the notification device emits a notification sound or light having a directivity in a direction away from the occupant of the work vehicle. As a specific example of such a notification device, it is proposed that the notification device be a headlight or a turn signal, or both. In this case, since the headlight or the turn signal is originally provided on the work vehicle, there is no need to provide a new dedicated notification device, which is advantageous.

[0017] In one embodiment of the present invention, the material supply reservation unit is provided in an on-board terminal connected to the control system of the work vehicle. Many of such on-board terminals can add functions by installing various applications, so the material supply reservation unit can be generated as an application and installed in the on-board terminal, allowing the on-board terminal to be used as the material supply reservation unit. In addition, since the on-board terminal is essentially equipped with a touch panel, material supply reservations can be made with simple and easy-to-understand operations via a graphic interface using the touch panel.

[0018] In another embodiment of the present invention, the material supply reservation unit is provided in a remote control that can communicate with a control system of the work vehicle and is operated from outside the vehicle body. This configuration is advantageous because the manager can simply and easily make a material supply reservation using the remote control from the vicinity of the field.

[0019] The present application is directed not only to the driving control system, but also to the invention in which this driving control system is mounted. This work vehicle can also have the various embodiments of the driving control system described above and their respective functions and effects. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a side view of an automatically-traveling rice transplanter. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the travel path of a rice transplanter in a farm field. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between material supply reservations and aircraft stopping positions. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a control system of the rice transplanter. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a screen diagram showing a route setting screen. [Figure 6] 13A to 13C are screen diagrams showing screen transitions during material supply reservation. [Figure 7] FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] In this specification, unless otherwise specified, "front" means forward in the fore-aft direction of the vehicle body, and "rear" means rearward in the fore-aft direction of the vehicle body. In other words, the fore-aft direction of the vehicle body is the traveling direction, with the forward direction indicated by arrow F in FIG. 1 and the reverse direction indicated by arrow B in FIG. 1. In addition, the left-right direction or lateral direction means the transverse direction of the vehicle body (vehicle body width direction) perpendicular to the fore-aft direction of the vehicle body. "Up" and "down" refer to the positional relationship in the vertical direction (perpendicular direction) of the vehicle body, and indicate the relationship regarding the height above the ground.

[0022] Next, one specific embodiment of the work vehicle according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a side view of a transplanter (hereinafter simply referred to as a rice transplanter) that automatically travels in a field, which is an example of the work vehicle.

[0023] [Overall structure] As shown in Fig. 1, the rice transplanter is a riding type four-wheel drive vehicle. A link mechanism 13 of a parallel four-link type connected so as to be able to rise and fall and swing is provided at the rear of the vehicle body 1, and a seedling planting device 3 is attached to the rear end region of the link mechanism 13 so as to be able to roll. In addition, a fertilizer applicator 4 is installed from the rear end region of the vehicle body 1 to the seedling planting device 3, and a chemical sprayer 30 is installed at the rear end region of the seedling planting device 3. The seedling planting device 3, the fertilizer applicator 4, and the chemical sprayer 30 are examples of working devices.

[0024] The vehicle body 1 includes wheels 12 as a mechanism for traveling, an engine 2, and a hydraulic continuously variable transmission 9 as a main transmission. The continuously variable transmission 9 is, for example, an HST (Hydro-Static Transmission), and changes the driving force (rotation speed) output from the engine 2 by adjusting the angles of a motor swash plate and a pump swash plate. The wheels 12 include left and right front wheels 12A that can be steered, and left and right rear wheels 12B that cannot be steered. The engine 2 and the continuously variable transmission 9 are mounted on the front of the vehicle body 1. Power from the engine 2 is supplied to the front wheels 12A, rear wheels 12B, working equipment, etc. via the continuously variable transmission 9 and the like.

[0025] As an example, the seedling planting device 3 is configured for 8-row planting. The seedling planting device 3 includes a seedling placement table 21, a planting mechanism 22 for 8 rows, etc. This seedling planting device 3 can be changed to a 2-row, 4-row, 6-row, etc. planting format by clutch control.

[0026] The seedling placement table 21 is a base on which eight rows of mat-shaped seedlings are placed. The seedling placement table 21 moves back and forth in the left-right direction with a constant stroke corresponding to the left-right width of the mat-shaped seedlings, and the vertical feed mechanism 23 vertically feeds each mat-shaped seedling on the seedling placement table 21 toward the lower end of the seedling placement table 21 at a predetermined pitch each time the seedling placement table 21 reaches the left-right stroke end. The eight planting mechanisms 22 are rotary type and are arranged in the left-right direction at a constant interval corresponding to the spacing between the planting rows. Each planting mechanism 22 receives driving force from the engine 2 when the seedling planting clutch is in a transmission state, and cuts one seedling (also called a planted seedling) from the lower end of each mat-shaped seedling placed on the seedling placement table 21 and plants it in the muddy soil after leveling.

[0027] The fertilizer application device 4 includes a horizontally long hopper 25, a delivery mechanism 26, an electric blower 27, multiple fertilizer application hoses 28, and a furrow former 29 for each row. The hopper 25 stores granular or powdered fertilizer. The delivery mechanism 26 delivers a predetermined amount of fertilizer from the hopper 25 for two rows at a time.

[0028] The blower 27 generates a conveying wind that conveys the fertilizer delivered by each delivery mechanism 26 toward the muddy surface of the field. The fertilizer applicator 4 also includes a clutch mechanism that switches between an operating state in which a predetermined amount of fertilizer stored in the hopper 25 is delivered to the field and a non-operating state in which the delivery is stopped.

[0029] The vehicle body 1 is provided with a driving section 14 in its rear side area. The driving section 14 is provided with a steering wheel 10 for steering the front wheels, a main speed change lever 7A for adjusting the vehicle speed by changing the speed of the continuously variable transmission 9, an auxiliary speed change lever 7B for enabling the auxiliary speed change operation, an operation operation lever 11 for enabling the raising and lowering operation of the seedling planting device 3 and switching of the operating state, an on-board terminal 6 for displaying (notifying) various information and notifying (outputting) the operator and for receiving input of various information, and a driver's seat 16 for the operator (driver / worker). Furthermore, in front of the driving section 14, a spare seedling storage device 15 for storing spare seedlings is supported on a spare seedling support frame 17.

[0030] The steering wheel 10 is connected to the front wheels 12A via a steering mechanism (not shown), and the steering angle of the front wheels 12A is adjusted by rotating the steering wheel 10.

[0031] The spare seedling support frame 17 has a two-tiered structure consisting of a base frame 17a and an arch-shaped upper frame 17b attached to the upper end of the base frame 17a. The upper frame 17b is made up of a pair of left and right legs and a cross beam connecting the legs. It is located at a height diagonally above and in front of the driving unit 14.

[0032] The positioning unit 8 is attached to the cross beam of the upper frame 17b. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a remote control receiver 9A (see FIG. 4) is attached to the cross beam of the upper frame 17b side by side with the positioning unit 8. A storage container 18 is attached below the positioning unit 8. In order to use the positioning unit 8 as a satellite positioning unit, a satellite positioning module 8A (see FIG. 4) provided in the positioning unit 8 adopts a network type RTK-GNSS positioning method (VRS method), so a virtual reference point data receiving unit used in the VRS method is stored in the storage container 18. As one of the notification device group 1C, a stacked light 19 that notifies the driving state such as automatic driving or manual driving is attached to the upper part of the base frame 17a in the lower area of ​​the storage container 18. Furthermore, when a material supply reservation is made by a method described later, the notification device group 1C that notifies this material supply reservation can also include headlights, direction indicators, and speakers. The headlights and turn signals can emit a warning light that is directional away from the rice transplanter's occupant, and the speaker can emit a warning sound that is directional away from the occupant, which is convenient for notifying managers around the rice transplanter or the field that material replenishment has been scheduled.

[0033] This rice transplanter can perform manual or automatic driving. In manual driving, the driver manually operates the steering wheel 10, the main shift lever 7A, the sub-shift lever 7B, the work operation lever 11, and other operating tools to drive the rice transplanter for work. In automatic driving, the rice transplanter performs work while driving under automatic control along a preset driving route. In addition, automatic driving can be performed in manned automatic driving (manned automatic driving mode) that requires a driver to be on board, and in unmanned automatic driving (unmanned automatic driving mode) that does not require a driver to be on board. In manned automatic driving, the driver performs some operations according to guidance provided by the rice transplanter, while the rice transplanter automatically controls other operations associated with driving and work. In unmanned automatic driving, a driver does not need to be on board, but a driver may be on board during unmanned automatic driving.

[0034] [Route] FIG. 2 shows a travel path when the rice transplanter travels through a field while performing seedling planting and fertilizing operations. This field is surrounded by a boundary line SH of a boundary object such as a bank, and the boundary line SH is set as the side of the field. In the example of FIG. 2, the field is rectangular, and the sides of the field are a basic side SH0 (lower side) and the other three remaining sides. The remaining sides are a left side SH1, an upper side SH2, and a right side SH3. The basic side SH0 is in contact with a farm road, and an entrance and exit for the field work machine is formed in the end area. The basic side SH0 also serves as a supply side for supplying seedlings and fertilizer. The rice transplanter travels substantially along this travel path with a predetermined work width, thereby completing the work of the entire field (seedling planting, fertilizing, spraying chemicals, etc.).

[0035] The field is divided into an outer peripheral area OA and an inner area IA located inside the outer peripheral area OA. In the example of FIG. 2, two circular travel routes CR are set for the rice transplanter to travel around the outer peripheral area OA. Work in the inner area IA is performed by a round-trip travel route IR consisting of multiple inner routes IRS parallel to the left side SH1, which is one of the remaining sides, and a turning route IRT connecting the two inner routes IRS. The round-trip travel route IR starts at a starting point S and ends at an end point G. The inner route IRS is also called a straight route, but it does not necessarily have to be a straight line, and may be, for example, a large arc-shaped line or may have a bend along the way. The turning route IRT is essentially a 180° direction change route and is located in the outer peripheral area OA.

[0036] In order to actually generate the travel routes shown in FIG. 2, that is, the circular travel route CR and the round trip travel route IR, it is necessary to calculate accurate field shape and map coordinates of the boundary line SH. For example, the field shape is calculated based on the basic side travel trajectory acquired by the basic side travel, which is a non-work travel along the basic side SH0, and the remaining side travel trajectory acquired by the remaining side travel, which is a work travel along the remaining side. In the example of FIG. 2, the outermost circumferential travel route OC consisting of the basic side travel and the remaining side travel, and the first circular travel route C1 inside the outermost circumferential travel route OC are set in the outer periphery area OA. The number of circular travel routes CR is determined by the required space for the turning route IRT of the round trip travel route IR, that is, the space required for the turning travel of the rice transplanter. In Figure 2, the number of circular driving routes CR is two, but if the number of circular driving routes CR is set to three, in the outer circumferential area OA, in addition to the outermost circular driving route OC and a first circular driving route C1 inside the outermost circular driving route OC, a second circular driving route is set inside the first circular driving route C1.

[0037] In actual field work, when the rice transplanter enters the field, the driver first manually steers the rice transplanter along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular travel path OC without working, thereby obtaining a basic side travel trajectory. Next, the driver manually steers the rice transplanter along the remaining sides SH1, SH2, and SH3 of the outermost circular travel path OC while working, thereby obtaining a remaining side travel trajectory. The field shape is calculated based on the basic side travel trajectory and the remaining side travel trajectory, which are the travel trajectories during the outermost circular travel.

[0038] When the field shape is calculated, the number of circular travel routes CR is determined based on the space required for turning travel on the round trip travel route IR or based on the intention of the work manager. In the example of FIG. 2, the number of circular travel routes CR excluding the outermost circular travel route OC is one. Therefore, in FIG. 2, the outer periphery area OA is an area in which two circular travel routes CR are set. The inner area IA is set inside the outer periphery area OA. When the inner area IA is set, a round trip travel route IR is generated for automatically traveling round trip through this inner area IA from the start point S to the end point G.

[0039] In actual work, during round-trip work travel using the round-trip travel route IR, the machine advances to a machine stop position, which is a supply point for supply, by material supply travel, and supplies materials at the supply side. In the above example, the basic side SH0 used as the supply side is determined in advance before the travel route is generated, but there are also cases where the supply side is set after the travel route is generated. In either case, the supply side, which is the location for supplying materials, and the supply timing are set before the actual work travel. As will be described later, in the present invention, material supply at the supply side can be reserved when traveling along the internal route IRS, regardless of the previously set supply timing.

[0040] Next, the material supply travel and the machine stop position for supplying materials at the supply side when traveling on the internal route IRS will be explained using Figure 3. Figure 3 shows the round trip travel route IR. In the figure, the black circle is the automatic machine stop position for material supply (seedling supply in this example) that is set before the work travel, the diagonal line circle is the reserved machine stop position when seedling supply is reserved when traveling on the internal route IRS, and the cross diagonal line circle is the reserved machine stop position when chemical (fertilizer) supply is reserved when traveling on the internal route IRS. When seedling supply is reserved when traveling on the internal route IRS, the machine continues straight from the end of the internal route IRS, which is the travel section (shown by the dotted line) during travel, and stops at the reserved machine stop position in a front-butting posture. If a chemical (fertilizer) supply is reserved while traveling on the internal route IRS, the vehicle will turn along the turning route IRT from the end of the internal route IRS, which is the travel section currently being traveled (shown by a dashed line), to the start of the internal route IRS that is scheduled to be traveled next, and then proceed straight toward the supply edge in reverse and stop at the reserved vehicle stopping position in a rear-butting attitude. As is clear from the dotted and dashed lines in the figure, if the destination of the internal route IRS for which materials have been reserved is not the supply edge, the vehicle will travel along the turning route IRT, travel along the next internal route IRS, and then stop at the reserved vehicle stopping position.

[0041] [Control system] Next, the control system of the rice transplanter will be explained using Figure 4.

[0042] The control system of the rice transplanter includes a control unit 5 that controls various operations of the rice transplanter, and an on-board terminal 6 that can exchange data with the control unit 5. A driving control system is constructed by the control unit 5 and the on-board terminal 6. Signals from a positioning unit 8, a manual operation tool sensor group 31, a driving sensor group 32, a work sensor group 33, etc. are input to the control unit 5. Control signals are output from the control unit 5 to the driving equipment group 1A and the work equipment group 1B.

[0043] The positioning unit 8 includes a satellite positioning module 8A that receives radio waves from satellites of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and an inertial measurement module 8B that detects the inclination and acceleration of the three axes of the vehicle body 1. The control unit 5 obtains positioning data for calculating the position and orientation (forward / rearward orientation of the vehicle body) of the vehicle body 1 from the satellite positioning module 8A of the positioning unit 8, and obtains inertial measurement data relating to the inclination and acceleration of the three axes of the vehicle body 1 from the inertial measurement module 8B. Here, it is assumed that the positioning data received by the positioning unit 8 also includes the inertial measurement data.

[0044] The group of traveling devices 1A includes a steering device and a transmission device. Based on control signals from the control unit 5, various devices are controlled, and the traveling of the vehicle body 1 is controlled.

[0045] The work equipment group 1B includes equipment for adjusting the lifting and lowering of the seedling planting device 3, adjusting the amount of seedlings picked by the planting mechanism 22, adjusting the amount of fertilizer dispensed, and clutch control for the planting clutch C0 and the material supply row number adjustment clutch EC.

[0046] The group of notification devices 1C includes the above-mentioned stacked lights 19, headlights for notifying material supply reservations, direction indicators, speakers, as well as notification lamps and notification buzzers. The vehicle-mounted terminal 6 also functions as a notification device.

[0047] The manual operation tool sensor group 31 includes sensors and switches that detect the operation state of various manual operation tools. The travel sensor group 32 includes various sensors that detect the state of the steering angle, vehicle speed, engine RPM, etc. The work sensor group 33 includes various sensors that detect the state of the link mechanism 13, the seedling planting device 3, the fertilizer applicator 4, etc.

[0048] The control unit 5 includes a driving control unit 50, an operation control unit 51, a vehicle body position calculation unit 52, a driving route setting unit 53, and a notification control unit .

[0049] In automatic driving, the work control unit 51 automatically controls the work equipment group 1B based on a program provided in advance, and in manual driving, it controls the work equipment group 1B based on the operation of the driver.

[0050] The vehicle body position calculation unit 52 calculates the map coordinates (vehicle body position) of the vehicle body 1 based on the satellite positioning data and inertial navigation data successively sent from the positioning unit 8. The map coordinates may be not only latitude and longitude but also coordinates in a field coordinate system or a specific coordinate system.

[0051] The driving route setting unit 53 receives and manages the driving routes generated by the in-vehicle terminal 6, and sequentially sets the driving routes that are targets for automatic driving control as target driving routes.

[0052] Upon receiving a notification request from the control system, the notification control unit 54 generates a control signal to be output to the notification device group 1C, and performs necessary notifications through each notification device.

[0053] The travel control unit 50 includes an automatic travel control unit 50A, a manual travel control unit 50B, a control management unit 50C, and a material supply travel control unit 50D. The travel of this rice transplanter can be switched between an automatic travel mode for automatic travel and a manual travel mode for manual travel. The control management unit 50C selects either the automatic travel mode or the manual travel mode based on the state of a travel mode switching operation tool (not shown) or commands from other functional units of the control unit 5.

[0054] The manual driving control unit 50B used in the manual driving mode controls the steering equipment based on the amount of operation of the steering wheel 10, and also controls the transmission equipment based on the operation of manual operating tools such as the main shift lever 7A and the sub shift lever 7B.

[0055] The automatic driving control unit 50A used in the automatic driving mode has a route tracking steering function and a turning automatic steering function. The automatic driving control unit 50A performs route tracking control so that the vehicle body 1 travels along the target driving route set in the driving route setting unit 53. In this route tracking control, the vehicle body position calculated by the vehicle body position calculation unit 52 is used to calculate the position deviation (lateral deviation from the target driving route) and the orientation deviation (deviation angle of the vehicle body orientation from the orientation of the target driving route) of the vehicle body 1 with respect to the target driving route, and steering control is performed so that the position deviation and orientation deviation are reduced.

[0056] The material supply travel control unit 50D has a function of bringing the vehicle body 1 close to the supply side in a material supply posture based on reservation information sent from the vehicle-mounted terminal 6. When material supply is reserved during travel on the internal route IRS, material supply is performed between the end point of travel on the internal route IRS currently travelling and the start point of travel on the next internal route IRS to be travelled. The material supply travel control unit 50D brings the vehicle body 1 close to the supply side, using an extension path extended from the internal route IRS currently travelling towards the supply side as a target travel path. Depending on the situation, material supply travel can also be performed by at least manual steering. The material supply travel control unit 50D stops the vehicle body 1 for supply in a material supply posture that matches the type of material included in the reservation information. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, when the type of supply material is planting seedlings or planting seeds, the material receiving location is the front side of the vehicle body, so that the material supply posture is selected as the front butting posture in which the front end of the vehicle body 1 is butted against the supply side. Furthermore, when the type of material to be supplied is fertilizer or chemicals, the location where the material is received is at the rear of the vehicle body, so the rear-butting position is selected as the material supply position, in which the rear end of the vehicle body 1 is butted against the supply edge. When the vehicle stops in the front-butting position, it continues straight from the end of the internal route IRS it is currently traveling on and stops at the specified machine stopping position. When the vehicle stops in the rear-butting position, it turns along the turning route IRT from the end of the internal route IRS it is currently traveling on to the start of the next internal route IRS it is scheduled to travel on, and then reverses and continues straight toward the supply edge, stopping at the specified machine stopping position.

[0057] The in-vehicle terminal 6 is a communication terminal equipped with a touch panel 6A, and can be removed from the vehicle body 1 and used as a remote control device for operating the vehicle body 1. The in-vehicle terminal 6 has a graphical interface, and has a function of displaying and inputting information through the touch panel 6A, and a function as an input / output interface for data to the control unit 5.

[0058] In this embodiment, the vehicle-mounted terminal 6 is equipped with a supply edge setting unit 61, a field shape calculation unit 62, a driving trajectory management unit 63, an area setting unit 64, a driving route generation unit 65, and a material supply reservation unit 66, which are essentially applications installed on the vehicle-mounted terminal 6.

[0059] The vehicle-mounted terminal 6 has a data communication function, and acquires and stores information about the field through data communication. The information about the field includes the location of the field, the name of the field, the location of the entrance (exit) of the field, and places that can be used to supply seedlings and fertilizer.

[0060] The supply edge setting unit 61 functions as a basic edge setting unit and sets the basic edge SH0 automatically or manually. The basic edge SH0 is an edge used for supply, and usually has an entrance / exit for agricultural vehicles formed at both ends or at either one of the ends of the edge.

[0061] In this embodiment, the supply side setting unit 61 can set in advance that the rice transplanter is to be stopped at a predetermined timing and at a predetermined supply side in order to supply materials. This setting process will be explained below using the operation screen shown in Figure 5. This operation screen is displayed on the touch panel 6A.

[0062] The right half 601 of the operation screen displays the travel route. The upper half 602 on the right side of the operation screen displays a supply edge setting button for setting the supply edge where material supply will stop automatically. In the examples of Figs. 2 and 3, edge "B" is selected as the supply edge. It is also possible to select a mode in which material supply is not performed automatically.

[0063] When a mode that does not automatically replenish materials is selected, a timing setting button for setting the timing for automatic material replenishment is displayed in the lower half 603 of the right side of the operation screen. Here, the automatic material replenishment timing is the number of round trips of the round trip travel route IR, which is called the automatic stop interval, and this number is set on this screen.

[0064] The traveling trajectory management unit 63 operates in cooperation with the vehicle body position calculation unit 52. The traveling trajectory management unit 63 generates and stores a traveling trajectory of the vehicle body 1 based on the vehicle body position calculated by the vehicle body position calculation unit 52. The field shape calculation unit 62 operates in cooperation with the traveling trajectory management unit 63. When the field shape is unknown, the field shape calculation unit 62 calculates the field shape by the method described using Fig. 2. The area setting unit 64 sets an outer periphery area OA including the basic side traveling trajectory and the remaining side traveling trajectory, and an inner area IA inside the outer periphery area OA, based on the field shape.

[0065] The driving path generation unit 65 has a circular driving path generation function that generates a circular driving path CR for automatically performing circular work driving in the outer peripheral area OA, and a round-trip driving path generation function that generates a round-trip driving path IR for automatically performing round-trip work driving in the inner area IA.

[0066] The material supply reservation unit 66 reserves material supply at the supply side based on a manual operation on the touch panel 6A performed while traveling along the internal route IRS. Specifically, when the manager clicks on a software button to which material supply reservation is assigned on the screen of the touch panel 6A of the in-vehicle terminal 6, the material supply reservation unit 66 generates reservation information and provides it to the material supply travel control unit 50D of the travel control unit 50. The reservation information includes a time stamp at the time of reservation, an ID of the reserved travel route, a type of material supply, etc.

[0067] FIG. 6 shows a screen transition diagram of the touch panel 6A during material supply reservation. (#10: Before booking) The operation screen of the touch panel 6A displays an animation screen 610 showing an animation of the rice transplanter traveling along the internal route IRS. The buttons for "seedlings" and "chemicals" are located at the top of the operation screen. (#20: Reservation operations) By clicking either the "Seedling" or "Chemical" button, the reservation operation begins, and a reservation confirmation screen 611 pops up to confirm the reservation for the desired material supply. By clicking the "Yes" button on this reservation confirmation screen 611, the material supply reservation is completed. When the material supply reservation is completed, as described above, an alarm light with a lighting pattern (alarm pattern) indicating that a material supply reservation has been made is output through an alarm device such as a headlight or turn signal. It is also possible to change the alarm pattern (lighting pattern in the case of an alarm light, sound pattern in the case of an alarm sound) depending on the type of material reserved for supply. (#30: Reservation completed) When the material supply reservation is completed, the point at which the material supply run on the internal route IRS will begin is displayed on the animation screen 610, and the material supply run is carried out according to the type of material reserved, and the rice transplanter stops at the machine stopping position according to the material to be supplied.

[0068] [Remote control] The rice transplanter is provided with a remote control 90 shown in FIG. 7, and the rice transplanter can be remotely controlled using the remote control 90. Furthermore, the material supply reservation can be made using the remote control 90. The remote control 90 has seven buttons and two indicators. The first button 90a is a power ON / OFF button. The second button 90b is a single-press operation to temporarily stop the vehicle body 1 while maintaining the automatic driving mode. Furthermore, the second button 90b is a simultaneous press operation with the function button 90g to stop the vehicle body 1 and end the automatic driving mode. At that time, the engine 2 is not stopped. The third button 90c is a single-press operation to accelerate the vehicle body 1, and a simultaneous press operation with the function button 90g to move the vehicle body 1 forward at a slow speed. The fourth button 90d is a single-press operation to decelerate the vehicle body 1, and a simultaneous press operation with the function button 90g to move the vehicle body 1 backward at a slow speed. The fifth button 90e starts automatic travel when pressed simultaneously with the function button 90g. The sixth button 90f starts planting work when pressed simultaneously with the function button 90g when planting work is not being performed, and reserves material supply when pressed simultaneously with the function button 90g when planting work is being performed. The first indicator 90x indicates the remaining battery level, and when the remaining battery level becomes low, the display color changes from green to red. The second indicator 90y indicates communication ON / OFF. In other words, the second indicator 90y indicates that the remote control 90 has been operated. The second indicator 90y can also display that an operation by the remote control 90 has been accepted by the control system of the rice transplanter.

[0069] The functions of the buttons realized by pressing the function button 90g simultaneously may be realized by pressing each button long or twice. The vehicle body 1 may be stopped by the first button 90a, which is a power button. When the vehicle body 1 is temporarily stopped while remaining in the automatic driving mode, the second button 90b is pressed once. The vehicle body 1 may be stopped and the automatic driving mode may be ended by pressing the second button 90b long or twice. When the engine is stopped for idling stop, the engine 2 may be restarted by operating the buttons on the remote control 90. The functions realized by pressing the function button 90g and each button simultaneously, the functions of each button, and the functions of each button realized by pressing each button once may be interchanged. In this embodiment, the remote control 90 has seven buttons and two indicators, but the number of each may be changed arbitrarily.

[0070] The remote control 90 can be configured in various forms. For example, a mobile phone or a tablet computer can be used as the remote control 90 by installing a suitable program on the mobile phone or tablet computer.

[0071] The material supply travel control unit 50D has a function of approaching the rice transplanter in a material supply posture to the supply side based on reservation information from the material supply reservation unit 66, but it is possible to approach the rice transplanter in either automatic travel mode or manual travel mode. In the automatic travel mode, the material supply travel control unit 50D requests the travel path setting unit 53 to set a material supply path (see FIG. 3) suitable for the type of material to be supplied, and the automatic travel control unit 50A automatically travels the rice transplanter to the machine stop position along the material supply path set. In the manual travel mode, in manual travel using the steering wheel 10 or the remote control 90 and the manual travel control unit 50B, the material supply travel control unit 50D can also provide travel guidance based on the positional deviation or posture deviation between the target material supply path and the actual vehicle body 1. In addition, the material supply travel control unit 50D can also perform material supply travel by combining automatic travel and manual travel.

[0072] [Another embodiment] (1) In the above embodiment, the field shape is a rectangle, but similar travel routes can be generated for parallelograms and trapezoids. Furthermore, even if the field shape is a polygon other than a rectangle, a substantially similar travel route can be generated.

[0073] (2) In the above-described embodiment, a reservation for the supply of seedlings and fertilizer (chemical) can be made. However, a reservation for the supply of only either seedlings or fertilizer (chemical) may be made.

[0074] (3) The functional blocks constructed in the control unit 5 shown in Fig. 4 can be divided into any functional blocks, or conversely, can be integrated into one control block. In addition, any control block can be made into an ECU, and they can be interconnected via an in-vehicle LAN.

[0075] (4) In the above embodiment, a rice transplanter has been described as an example, but the present invention can be applied to direct seeding machines, fertilizer applicators, chemical sprayers, and the like.

[0076] In addition, the configurations disclosed in the above embodiments (including other embodiments, the same applies below) can be applied in combination with configurations disclosed in other embodiments, provided no contradiction arises. Furthermore, the embodiments disclosed in this specification are illustrative, and the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto, and can be appropriately modified within the scope that does not deviate from the purpose of the present invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0077] The present invention is applicable to an automatic driving control system for replenishing materials while driving automatically, and to a work vehicle that requires replenishing materials while driving for work. [Explanation of symbols]

[0078] 1: Body 3: Seedling planting device 4: Fertilizer application device 5: Control unit 6: Vehicle-mounted terminal 6A: Touch panel 8: Positioning unit 30: Chemical spraying device 50: Driving control unit 50A: Automatic driving control unit 50B: Manual driving control unit 50C: Control Management Department 50D: Material supply travel control unit 53: Travel route setting unit 54: Notification control unit 61: Supply edge setting section 62: Field shape calculation unit 63: Driving trajectory management unit 64: Area setting section 65: Route generation unit 66: Material Supply Reservation Department CR:Circulation route IA: Internal area IR: Round trip route IRS: Internal Route IRT: Turning Path OA: outer area SH0: Base edge (supply edge)

Claims

1. An automatic driving control system for a work vehicle that travels along a round-trip travel route that is set in an outer periphery area along the periphery of a farm field, and an inner route and a turning route that are set in an inner area inside the outer periphery area, a supply edge setting unit that sets a supply edge along which materials required for work travel are supplied; a material supply reservation unit that reserves material supply at the supply side based on a manual operation performed during travel along the internal route; a material supply travel control unit that causes a vehicle body to approach the supply side in a material supply attitude based on reservation information from the material supply reservation unit; An automatic driving control system equipped with

2. The automatic driving control system according to claim 1 , wherein the reservation for supplying materials is prohibited during traveling along the turning route.

3. The automatic driving control system of claim 1, wherein when the material supply is scheduled while traveling along the internal route, the material supply is performed between the end point of the internal route currently being traveled and the start point of the internal route to be traveled next, and the material supply travel control unit brings the vehicle body closer to the supply edge using an extension route extended from the internal route toward the supply edge as a target travel route.

4. The automatic driving control system according to claim 1 , wherein the material supply travel control unit stops the vehicle body for supply at a supply point on the supply side based on the reservation information.

5. The automatic driving control system according to claim 4 , wherein the material replenishment travel control unit stops the vehicle for replenishment in the material replenishment attitude that matches the type of the material included in the reservation information.

6. When the type of the material is a seedling or a seed, the material supplying posture is a front abutting posture in which a front end of the vehicle body is abutted against the supply edge, 6. The automatic driving control system according to claim 5, wherein when the type of the material is a fertilizer or a chemical, the material supplying posture is a rear-butting posture in which a rear end of the vehicle body is butted against the supply edge.

7. The automatic driving control system according to claim 1 , wherein the material supply reservation unit reserves the material supply whether the vehicle is stopped or traveling.

8. 2. The automatic driving control system according to claim 1, further comprising a notification control unit that notifies a material supply reservation through a notification device based on the reservation information.

9. The automatic driving control system according to claim 8 , wherein the notification device emits a notification sound or light having a directivity in a direction away from a driver of the work vehicle.

10. The automatic driving control system according to claim 8 , wherein the notification device is a headlight or a turn signal, or both.

11. 2. The automatic driving control system according to claim 1, wherein the material supply reservation unit is provided in an in-vehicle terminal capable of communicating with a control system of the work vehicle.

12. 2. The automatic driving control system according to claim 1, wherein the material supply reservation unit is provided in a remote control that is operable from outside the vehicle body and capable of communicating with a control system of the work vehicle.

13. A work vehicle equipped with the automatic driving control system according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

Images