Travelling control system, work vehicle, and travelling control method

Abstract

To provide a technology by which an accurate farm field shape is calculated while suppressing inefficiency of performing duplicated travelling by non-work travelling and work travelling in the same travelling route.SOLUTION: A travelling control system of a work vehicle travelling on a farm field with a basic side and remaining sides other than the basic side as a border line includes: a farm field shape calculation unit 62 for calculating a farm field shape on the basis of a basic side travelling track acquired by basic side travelling, which is non-work travelling along the basic side, and a remaining side travelling track acquired by remaining side travelling, which is work travelling along the remaining sides; a region setting unit 64 for setting an outer periphery region including the basic side travelling track and the remaining side travelling track, and an internal region inside the outer periphery region on the basis of the farm field shape; and a reciprocation travelling route generation unit 65b for generating a reciprocation travelling route for performing reciprocation work travelling in the internal region automatically.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a driving control system and a driving control method for a work vehicle that travels in a field whose boundary is a ridge. [Background technology]

[0002] In order to automatically travel in a field, it is necessary to set a travel route in the field as a travel target. In order to obtain the field shape required to generate this travel route, for example, in Patent Document 1, prior to work, a map creation teaching travel is performed in which the rice transplanter travels along the outermost periphery of the field. A travel trajectory (teaching travel trajectory) is calculated based on a position signal from a positioning unit obtained in this teaching travel, and a field contour line, which is a field boundary line, that is, a field map is generated from this travel trajectory. Furthermore, a travel route that is a target of automatic travel is created using a predetermined algorithm within the field defined by the field map. In one example of travel route generation, the field is divided into an outer peripheral area and an inner area, and a circular travel route set in the outer peripheral area and a round trip travel route set in the inner area are generated as travel routes.

[0003] In Patent Document 2, first, an operator manually drives a field work vehicle, and performs a circular work drive (teaching drive) around the periphery of the field from the starting position of manual driving (the work start position where the work drive starts) along three sides, and the shape of the field is calculated from the vehicle's position information acquired by the position and direction detection device during the drive. Next, a drive route setting device sets a drive route that will be the target route for the field work vehicle to drive automatically, based on the calculated shape of the field. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-108600 [Patent Document 2] JP 2019-154393 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In Patent Document 1, in teaching travel, the work vehicle travels around the entire outermost periphery of the field, so that an accurate field shape can be calculated. However, since the teaching travel is performed without working, the vehicle must ultimately travel again and work in the area where teaching travel was performed, which is inefficient. In Patent Document 2, work travel is performed around three sides of the field, and the field shape is calculated based on the vehicle's position information obtained by traveling around the three sides, so that the decrease in efficiency seen in Patent Document 1 can be avoided. However, since the position and orientation of the remaining side (assuming the field is rectangular) are not measured, if the remaining side is non-straight, the calculated field shape will be inaccurate.

[0006] In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a technology for calculating an accurate field shape while suppressing the inefficiency of overlapping non-work travel and work travel on the same travel route. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The driving control system of the present invention for a work vehicle traveling in a field having a boundary line between a basic edge and a remaining edge other than the basic edge comprises a field shape calculation unit that calculates the field shape based on a basic edge driving trajectory obtained by basic edge driving, which is non-work driving along the basic edge, and a remaining edge driving trajectory obtained by remaining edge driving, which is work driving along the remaining edge, an area setting unit that sets an outer peripheral area including the basic edge driving trajectory and the remaining edge driving trajectory and an internal area inside the outer peripheral area based on the field shape, a round-trip driving path generation unit that generates a round-trip driving path for automatic round-trip work driving in the internal area, and an automatic driving control unit that controls automatic driving with the round-trip driving path as a target driving path.

[0008] According to this configuration, the boundary lines (boundary lines) of the field are divided into basic lines and the remaining lines other than the basic lines as residual lines, and in the travel (teaching travel) for calculating the field shape, only the basic lines are traveled as non-working lines, and the remaining lines are traveled as working lines. This teaching travel allows the shape of the boundary lines (field shape) around the entire periphery of the field to be accurately calculated. Also, only the travel routes along the basic lines are traveled as non-working lines at first, and then traveled while working, but such overlapping travel routes are only the outermost travel routes along the basic lines, and the inefficiency caused by overlapping non-working travel and working travel is minimal compared to the conventional method.

[0009] In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the work run along the basic edge travel trajectory is the final work run in the field. In this configuration, the outer peripheral area along the basic edge is left unworked until the end, so it can be used as an area for turning runs, etc. In addition, if the end of the basic edge is near the exit, the field can be left immediately after the final work run.

[0010] In one embodiment of the present invention, a circular travel path generating unit is provided that generates a circular travel path for automatically traveling around the outer periphery area for work, thereby enabling automatic traveling around at least a part of the outer periphery area.

[0011] Considering the cost and accuracy, it is preferable that the travel trajectory of the work vehicle is calculated based on the positioning data from a satellite positioning unit. However, positioning by the satellite positioning unit may sometimes be impossible depending on weather conditions and environmental conditions. When a positioning failure occurs, the travel trajectory cannot be calculated during that time, so the work vehicle stops. At that time, the manager must make a decision to wait until the positioning failure is resolved, to give up calculating the travel trajectory for a certain section, or to give up generating the travel route. Such a decision depends on weather conditions, environmental conditions, the type of field work, and the like. For this reason, a configuration that allows a countermeasure for the positioning failure to be selected is preferable. In the present invention, the basic edge travel trajectory and the remaining edge travel trajectory are calculated based on the positioning data from a satellite positioning unit mounted on the work vehicle, and when a positioning failure occurs in the satellite positioning unit, the basic edge travel or the remaining edge travel is temporarily stopped and the positioning failure is notified, making it possible to select a countermeasure for the positioning failure.

[0012] In a field work vehicle that works in a field divided into an outer periphery and an inner region, the straight forward path of the reciprocating path set in the inner region is connected in sequence by a turning path set in the outer periphery. This turning path is generally a 180° turn, and the space required for turning varies depending on the turning mode of the work vehicle. In addition, when a turning mode that causes as little damage to the field as possible is adopted, the turning space becomes large. Considering that the turning space varies depending on the width of the outer periphery, that is, the number of turns of the turning path, in the present invention, the number of turns required for traveling in the outer periphery is determined depending on the turning mode that connects the two straight forward runs in the reciprocating work run.

[0013] In a field work vehicle performing field work such as seedling planting, in order to replenish seedlings, pesticides, and even fuel during work, the vehicle body must be pulled up to a bank (supply edge) adjacent to a farm road where the replenishment materials are prepared. In doing so, the vehicle crosses the outer perimeter area, and if that area has already been worked on (seedlings have been planted or pesticides have been sprayed), the traces of the work will be disturbed. To avoid this, it is preferable that the work run in that area be the final work run in the field. For this reason, in the present invention, the basic edge is used as a supply edge for giving the replenishment materials to the work vehicle.

[0014] For the same reason, it is preferable for the work vehicle that has completed the final work run to leave the field as quickly as possible (by running a short distance). For this reason, in the present invention, the basic side is set so that the end of the work run of the basic side is located at the exit point of the field.

[0015] The above-mentioned driving control system is substantially constructed by a positioning system and a computer system. A simply constructed driving control system can be mounted entirely on a work vehicle, but when working on a vast work site or when multiple work vehicles work together, the system configuration becomes large and it becomes difficult to mount the system on a work vehicle. For this reason, it is also preferable to construct some of the functional parts of the driving control system in a service computer system at a remote location, and to configure the driving control system by using wireless data communication between the service computer system and the work vehicle. For this reason, in a work vehicle employing the driving control system of the present invention, the driving control system is distributed between the remote computer and the work vehicle, or the driving control system is mounted on the vehicle itself.

[0016] The subject of the present application is not only the travel control system and the work vehicle, but also a travel control method for a work vehicle that travels in a field bounded by a basic side and remaining sides other than the basic side. Such a travel control method is a travel control method for a work vehicle traveling in a field bounded by a basic edge and remaining edges other than the basic edge, and includes a field shape calculation step of calculating the field shape based on a basic edge travel trajectory obtained by basic edge travel, which is non-work travel along the basic edge, and a remaining edge travel trajectory obtained by remaining edge travel, which is work travel along the remaining edge; an area setting step of setting an outer peripheral area in the internal area of ​​the basic edge travel trajectory and the remaining edge travel trajectory and an internal area inside the outer peripheral area based on the field shape; a circular travel path generation step of generating a circular travel path for automatically performing circular work travel around the outer peripheral area; a round-trip travel path generation step of generating a round-trip travel path for automatically performing round-trip work travel around the internal area; an automatic travel control step of controlling automatic travel with the circular travel path and the round-trip travel path as target travel paths; and a final work travel step of performing work travel along the basic edge travel trajectory as a final work travel in the field. This cruise control method also has the same functions and effects as the various embodiments of the cruise control system described above. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [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. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating another travel path of the rice transplanter in a farm field. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a control system of the rice transplanter. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a process route diagram showing an example of a travel process of a rice transplanter. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a route diagram showing another example of the travel process of the rice transplanter. [Figure 7] This is a route diagram showing yet another example of the travel process of the rice transplanter. [Figure 8]This is a route diagram showing yet another example of the travel process of the rice transplanter. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] 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.

[0019] 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.

[0020] [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.

[0021] 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.

[0022] 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.

[0023] 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.

[0024] 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.

[0025] 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.

[0026] 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.

[0027] 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.

[0028] 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.

[0029] 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 that a virtual reference point data receiving unit used in the VRS method is stored in the storage container 18. A stacked light 19 is attached to the top of the base frame 17a in the lower area of ​​the storage container 18.

[0030] 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.

[0031] [Route] 2 and 3 show a travel path when the rice transplanter travels in a field while performing seedling planting work. 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 and FIG. 3, the sides of the field, which is a rectangle constituting the boundary line SH, consist of a basic side SH0 (lower side) and the other three remaining sides. In this example, 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 its end area. In addition, the basic side SH0 becomes a supply side for supplying supplementary materials such as seedlings and fertilizer. The rice transplanter travels substantially along this travel path with a predetermined work width, thereby completing work in the entire field (seedling planting work, fertilizing work, chemical spraying work, etc.).

[0032] 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 for circular work, and in the example of FIG. 3, three circular travel routes CR (three times the number of revolutions) are set. Work in the inner area IA is performed by a round-trip travel route IR consisting of multiple straight routes IRS parallel to the left side SH1, which is one of the remaining sides, and a turning route IRT connecting the two straight routes IRS. Travel on the round-trip travel route IR starts at a start point S and ends at an end point G. The straight route IRS does not necessarily have to be a straight line, that is, the straight travel does not have to be a straight line, and may be, for example, a large arc-shaped line or may have a bend on the way. The turning route IRT is essentially a 180° direction change route and is set in the outer peripheral area OA.

[0033] In order to generate the circular travel path CR and the round trip travel path IR, it is necessary to calculate the accurate field shape and the map coordinates of the boundary line SH. In this invention, 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 circular travel path OC consisting of the basic side travel and the remaining side travel, and the first circular travel path C1 inside the outermost circular travel path OC are set, which is the outer periphery area OA. In the example of FIG. 3, the outermost circular travel path OC, the first circular travel path C1 inside the outermost circular travel path OC, and the second circular travel path C2 inside the first circular travel path C1 are set, which is the outer periphery area OA. The number of circular travel paths CR is determined by the required space for the turning path IRT of the round trip travel path IR, that is, the space required for the turning travel of the rice transplanter.

[0034] On the travel route shown in FIG. 2, work is performed in the following process. First, the driver manually steers the rice transplanter along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular travel route OC without working, to obtain 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 route OC while working, to obtain 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.

[0035] 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, and in the example of FIG. 3, it is two. Therefore, in FIG. 2, the outer peripheral area OA is an area where two circular travel routes CR are set, and in FIG. 3, the outer peripheral area OA is an area where three circular travel routes CR are set. In either case, the inner area IA is set inside the outer peripheral area OA. When the inner area IA is set, a round trip travel route IR is generated for automatically traveling round trip work in this inner area IA from the start point S to the end point G.

[0036] [Control system] Next, the control system of the rice transplanter will be explained using Figure 4.

[0037] 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.

[0038] 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.

[0039] 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.

[0040] 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.

[0041] 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.

[0042] The control unit 5 includes a driving control unit 50, an operation control unit 51, a vehicle body position calculation unit 52, and a driving route setting unit 53.

[0043] 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.

[0044] 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.

[0045] 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.

[0046] The travel control unit 50 includes an automatic travel control unit 50A, a manual travel control unit 50B, and a control management unit 50C. 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.

[0047] 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.

[0048] 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.

[0049] 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 graphic 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.

[0050] In this embodiment, the vehicle-mounted terminal 6 is equipped with a field information storage unit 60, a basic side setting unit 61, a field shape calculation unit 62, a driving trajectory management unit 63, an area setting unit 64, and a driving route creation unit 65, which are essentially applications installed on the vehicle-mounted terminal 6.

[0051] The field information storage unit 60 stores information about the field. 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.

[0052] The basic edge setting unit 61 sets the basic edge SH0 automatically or manually. The basic edge SH0 is an edge that can be used for supply and has entrances and exits for agricultural vehicles at both ends. Here, edges other than the basic edge are called remaining edges.

[0053] The travel trajectory management unit 63 operates in cooperation with the vehicle body position calculation unit 52. The travel trajectory management unit 63 generates and stores a travel 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 travel trajectory management unit 63. The field shape calculation unit 62 calculates the field shape based on a basic side travel trajectory acquired in basic side travel, which is non-work travel along the basic side SH0, and a remaining side travel trajectory acquired in remaining side travel, which is work travel along the remaining side. The area setting unit 64 sets an outer periphery area OA including the basic side travel trajectory and the remaining side travel trajectory, and an inner area IA inside the outer periphery area OA, based on the field shape.

[0054] The driving path creation unit 65 includes a circular driving path generation unit 65a that generates a circular driving path CR for automatically performing circular work driving within the outer peripheral area OA, and a round-trip driving path generation unit 65b that generates a round-trip driving path IR for automatically performing round-trip work driving within the inner area IA.

[0055] [Travel itinerary] The feature of the travel process of the present invention is that, among the outermost circumferential travel route OC that is manually traveled (manually steered), the route for the basic side travel is traveled without working at first, and in the final stage of the work travel, it is traveled while working. Furthermore, among the outermost circumferential travel route OC, the route for the remaining side travel other than the basic side travel is traveled while working. When such travel on the outermost circumferential travel route OC is completed, the rice transplanter practically works with automatic travel (automatic steering). Since the basic side travel is basically performed without working, if the basic side travel is mistakenly performed while working (if the rice transplanter tries to travel with the seedling planting device 3 in the lowered position), a warning is issued that such travel is not permitted. Also, if the remaining side travel is attempted without working (if the rice transplanter tries to travel with the seedling planting device 3 in the raised position), a warning is issued that such travel is not permitted. In either case, the vehicle body 1 stops once until the appropriate operation is performed.

[0056] 5 shows a travel route example 1. In this travel route example 1, the circular travel route CR is composed of the outermost circular travel route OC, which is closest to the boundary line SH of the outer peripheral area OA, and the first circular travel route C1, which is closest to the inner area IA. As will be described below, the route of travel along the basic side SH0 performed after the first circular travel route C1 performed after the outermost circular travel route OC is substantially the same as the route along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular travel route OC, and the former is a non-work travel route and the latter is a work travel route.

[0057] First, the route along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular travel route OC is manually traveled without work (#01). Next, the routes along the left side SH1, the upper side SH2, and the right side SH3 of the outermost circular travel route OC are manually traveled in sequence while work (planting seedlings and fertilizing) is performed (#02, #03, #04).

[0058] The field shape is calculated based on the travel trajectory obtained by the outermost circumferential travel, an outer peripheral area OA and an inner area IA are set, and a circular travel route CR and a round trip travel route IR are generated. If a positioning failure occurs in the positioning unit 8 during this outermost circumferential travel, the basic edge travel trajectory or the remaining edge travel trajectory cannot be calculated, so the basic edge travel or the remaining edge travel is temporarily halted and a positioning failure is notified. As a countermeasure for this positioning failure, the work manager may take the following measures, for example: (1) Abandoning the calculation of the field shape and performing manual work driving instead of automatic work driving, (2) Calculating the field shape based on the acquired driving trajectory and performing at least partially automatic work driving; (3) Wait until the positioning problem of the positioning unit 8 is resolved. You can choose from:

[0059] Next, in the inner area IA, the rice transplanter automatically travels to the start point S set at the end of the straight path IRS at the right end of the round-trip travel path IR in order to perform round-trip work travel by automatic travel (#10). This automatic travel path is called the start point guided path SG and can be automatically generated. When the automatic start point guided travel along the start point guided path SG ends, the round-trip work travel starts. The round-trip work travel is performed up to the end point G by repeating the work travel along the straight path IRS and the non-work travel along the turning path IRT (repetition of #11, #12). Next, the rice transplanter moves to the first circular travel path C1 set adjacent to the outer periphery of the inner area IA, and performs circular work travel along the first circular travel path C1, that is, along the basic side SH0, the right side SH3, the upper side SH2, and the left side SH1 (#20, #21, #22, #23). The last run is a work run that follows the path of the first non-work run along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular run route OC (#24). This completes work in the entire field. Since the effective end of the path of the final work run along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular run route OC (the end of the work run on the basic side SH0) is essentially located at the entrance / exit of the field, the rice transplanter that has finished work can immediately leave the field (#30).

[0060] FIG. 6 shows a travel route example 2. In this travel route example 2, the circular travel route CR is composed of the outermost circular travel route OC that is closest to the boundary line SH of the outer peripheral area OA, the first circular travel route C1 that is closest to the inner area IA, and the second circular travel route C2 that is located between the outermost circular travel route OC and the first circular travel route C1. However, the route along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular travel route OC and the route along the basic side SH0 of the second circular travel route C2 are substantially the same, and the former is a non-work travel route and the latter is a work travel route. Here, too, the outermost circular travel route OC is manually traveled, but the other circular travel routes CR, the first circular travel route C1 and the second circular travel route C2, are automatically traveled.

[0061] First, as in Travel Schedule Example 1, the route along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular travel route OC is manually traveled without working (#101). Next, the routes along the remaining sides are manually traveled sequentially while working (#102, #103, #104). The field shape is calculated based on the travel trajectory obtained by this outermost circular travel, the outer periphery area OA and the inner area IA are set, and the circular travel route CR and the round trip travel route IR are generated.

[0062] Next, the rice transplanter automatically travels to the start point S set at the end of the straight path IRS at the left end of the round-trip travel path IR in order to perform round-trip work travel in the inner area IA (#110). When the start point guided travel along this start point guided travel path SG ends, the round-trip work travel begins. Here too, the round-trip work travel is performed up to the end point G by repeating work travel along the straight path IRS and non-work travel along the turning path IRT (repetition of #111, #112). Next, the rice transplanter moves to the first circular travel path C1 set adjacent to the outer periphery of the inner area IA, and performs circular work travel along the first circular travel path C1, that is, along the basic side SH0, right side SH3, upper side SH2, and left side SH1 (#120, #121, #122, #123). Furthermore, the rice transplanter advances from the first circular travel path C1 to the second circular travel path C2, and the second circular work travel is performed along the second circular travel path C2 (#124, #125, #126, #127). The work travel along the basic side SH0, which is performed at the beginning of the second circular work travel, turns the unworked area in the first outermost circular travel into a worked area, and by the end of the remaining second circular travel, the work in the entire field is completed. In this travel process example 2, the final travel path of the second circular work travel (travel path along the right side SH3) is toward the exit of the field, so the rice transplanter leaves the field upon completion of the work (#130).

[0063] FIG. 7 shows a travel course example 3. In this travel course example 3, the travel direction is different from that of travel course example 1, but the circular travel route CR is made up of the outermost circular travel route OC and the first circular travel route C1. The route along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular travel route OC and the route along the basic side SH0 of the first circular travel route C1 are substantially the same, with the former being a non-work travel route and the latter being a work travel route. The direction of travel of the circular travel route CR is clockwise in travel course example 1, whereas it is counterclockwise in travel course example 3.

[0064] First, immediately after entering the field, manual outermost circular travel is started from the bottom end of the circular travel route CR along the right side SH3 of the outermost circular travel route OC (#201), followed by circular work travel along the top side SH2 and left side SH1 (#202, #203). The circular work travel along the right side SH3, top side SH2, and left side SH1 is travel while working. The final outermost circular travel along the basic side SH0 is performed without working (#204). The field shape is calculated based on the travel trajectory obtained by this outermost circular travel, the outer periphery area OA and inner area IA are set, and the circular travel route CR and round trip travel route IR are generated.

[0065] Next, in order to automatically perform reciprocating work travel in the inner area IA, the rice transplanter automatically travels along the start point guided path SG to the start point S set on the straight path IRS of the reciprocating travel path IR adjacent to the end of the outermost circumferential travel path OC along the basic side SH0 (#210). When the start point guided travel ends, the reciprocating work travel starts. Here, too, the reciprocating work travel is performed to the end point G by repeating the work travel along the straight path IRS and the non-work travel along the turning path IRT (repetition of #211, #212). Next, the rice transplanter moves to the first circular travel path C1 set adjacent to the outer periphery of the inner area IA, and performs circular work travel along the first circular travel path C1, that is, along the basic side SH0, the right side SH3, the upper side SH2, and the left side SH1 (#220, #221, #222, #223). When the final circular work run along the left side SH1 is completed, the rice transplanter moves to the outermost circular travel route OC along the basic side SH0, where the non-work run was performed earlier. From here, the rice transplanter travels along the outermost circular travel route OC along the basic side SH0 while working (#224), and thus the work in the entire field is completed. The work end point here is near the entrance to the field, and the rice transplanter leaves the field in a short travel distance (#230).

[0066] 8 shows a travel route example 4. In this travel route example 4, the circular travel route CR is composed of the outermost circular travel route OC that is closest to the boundary line SH of the outer peripheral area OA, the first circular travel route C1 that is closest to the inner area IA, and the second circular travel route C2 that is located between the outermost circular travel route OC and the first circular travel route C1. As shown below, the route along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular travel route OC is traveled three times, the first two times are performed without working, and only the last time is performed while working.

[0067] First, the route along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular travel route OC is manually traveled without working (#301). Next, the routes along the remaining sides are manually traveled sequentially while working (#302, #303, #304). The field shape is calculated based on the travel trajectory obtained by this outermost circular travel, the outer periphery area OA and the inner area IA are set, and the circular travel route CR and the round trip travel route IR are generated.

[0068] Next, the rice transplanter automatically travels to the start point S set at the end of the straight path IRS at the left end of the round-trip travel path IR in order to perform round-trip work travel in the inner area IA (#310). When the start point guided travel along this start point guided travel path SG ends, the round-trip work travel starts. Here too, the round-trip work travel is performed up to the end point G by repeating work travel along the straight path IRS and non-work travel along the turning path IRT (repetition of #311, #312). Next, the rice transplanter moves to the first circular travel path C1 set adjacent to the outer periphery of the inner area IA, and performs circular work travel along the first circular travel path C1, that is, along the basic side SH0, right side SH3, upper side SH2, and left side SH1 (#320, #321, #322, #323). Next, the rice transplanter advances from the first circular travel path C1 to the second circular travel path C2, and the second circular work travel is performed along the second circular travel path C2 (#324, #325, #326, #327). In this travel process example 4, the rice transplanter further advances to the start end (right end) of the path along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular travel path OC, and travels along the path to the end (left end) without working (#328). After that, it turns around and travels along the path while working (#329). This travel eliminates the unworked area in the first outermost circular travel, and the work of the entire field is completed. The work end point here is also near the entrance and exit of the field, and the rice transplanter leaves the field in a short travel distance (#330).

[0069] In the travel itinerary example 4, two non-work runs (#301, #328) and one work run (#329) are assigned to the route along the basic side SH0 of the outermost circular travel route OC, because it is assumed that the entrance / exit to the field is located at a single point at the bottom right edge of the field. However, if the entrance / exit to the field is also located at the bottom left edge of the field, the #328 run can be treated as a work run, and after that, the vehicle can leave the field, and the #329 run can be omitted.

[0070] In the above-mentioned travel process, automatic travel is difficult when changing direction in a narrow area, when traveling at the entrance and exit of a field, when approaching the basic side SH0 for material supply, etc. In such cases, manual travel is performed using the remote control 90, or when a driver is on board the rice transplanter, using the steering wheel 10.

[0071] [Another embodiment] (1) In the above embodiment, the shape of the field is rectangular, but the same travel path can be applied to a parallelogram or a trapezoid. Furthermore, even if the shape of the field is a polygon other than a rectangle, substantially any travel path can be applied.

[0072] (2) In the above-described embodiment, the path generation related functional units for generating a travel path, for example, the field information storage unit 60, the basic side setting unit 61, the field shape calculation unit 62, the travel trajectory management unit 63, the area setting unit 64, and the travel path creation unit 65, are constructed in the vehicle-mounted terminal 6. Alternatively, the path generation related functional units can be constructed in the control unit 5 of the work vehicle. Alternatively, the path generation related functional units can be constructed separately in the vehicle-mounted terminal 6 and the control unit 5. Furthermore, a configuration may be adopted in which a travel path is generated in a server or the like installed in a remote location by transmitting vehicle position data from the work vehicle, and the generated travel path can be received by the vehicle-mounted terminal 6 or the control unit 5. Various data obtained during the work travel of the work machine (travel trajectory of the vehicle body 1, the actually used travel path, obstacle data regarding obstacles detected during travel, travel status data obtained during travel, work status data, field status data, etc.) may be uploaded to a central computer or a cloud service computer installed in a remote location. Furthermore, such registered data may be downloaded to the on-board terminal 6 or control unit 5 of the work vehicle prior to work.

[0073] (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.

[0074] (4) In the above embodiment, a rice transplanter is used as an example, but the present invention can be applied to various autonomous agricultural machines such as rice transplanters, direct seeding machines, cultivators (which spray pesticides, fertilizers, etc.), tractors, harvesters, and other autonomous agricultural machines, as well as various types of work machines that autonomously travel on work land.

[0075] 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]

[0076] The present invention can be widely used in various agricultural vehicles such as transplanters such as rice transplanters, fertilizer applicators, grass cutters, and combine harvesters, as well as work vehicles such as construction machines. [Explanation of symbols]

[0077] 1: Body 5: Control unit 6: Vehicle-mounted terminal 8: Positioning unit 50: Driving control unit 50A: Automatic driving control unit 50B: Manual driving control unit 61: Basic side setting section 62: Field shape calculation unit 63: Driving trajectory management unit 64: Area setting section 65a: Circulation route generation unit 65b: Round-trip route generation unit C1: First circuit route C2: Second circuit route CR:Circulation route IA: Internal area IPT: Turning Path IR: Round trip route IRS: Straight route OA: outer area OC: Outermost circuit route SH : Border SH0: Basic edge SH1: Left side SH2: Top SH3: Right hand side

Claims

1. A travel control system for a work vehicle that travels in a field having a boundary line defined by a basic side and a remaining side other than the basic side, a field shape calculation unit that calculates a field shape based on a basic edge travel trajectory acquired in basic edge travel, which is non-work travel along the basic edge, and a remaining edge travel trajectory acquired in remaining edge travel, which is work travel along the remaining edge; a region setting unit that sets an outer perimeter region including the basic edge travel trajectory and the remaining edge travel trajectory and an internal region inside the outer perimeter region based on the field shape; a round-trip travel path generating unit that generates a round-trip travel path for automatically traveling for work in a round-trip manner in the internal area; an automatic driving control unit that controls automatic driving with the round-trip driving route as a target driving route; A driving control system comprising:

2. The travel control system according to claim 1 , wherein the work travel along the basic edge travel trajectory is a final work travel in the field.

3. The travel control system according to claim 1 , further comprising a circular travel path generating unit that generates a circular travel path for automatically traveling around the outer periphery for work.

4. The driving control system described in claim 1, wherein the basic edge traveling trajectory and the remaining edge traveling trajectory are calculated based on positioning data from a satellite positioning unit mounted on the work vehicle, and when a positioning failure occurs in the satellite positioning unit, the basic edge traveling or the remaining edge traveling is temporarily stopped and the positioning failure is notified, making it possible to select a countermeasure for the positioning failure.

5. The travel control system according to claim 1 , wherein the number of laps of the circular travel path for traveling in the outer circumferential area is determined according to a form of turning travel connecting two straight travels in the reciprocating work travel.

6. 2. A travel control system according to claim 1, wherein the basic side is a supply side for supplying a supply material to the work vehicle.

7. The travel control system according to claim 1 , wherein the basic side is set so that a work travel end point of the basic side is located at an exit point of the field.

8. A work vehicle in which the driving control system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is distributed between a remote computer and the work vehicle, or the driving control system is installed in the work vehicle itself.

9. A travel control method for a work vehicle traveling in a field bounded by a basic side and a remaining side other than the basic side, comprising: a field shape calculation step of calculating a field shape based on a basic edge travel trajectory acquired in a basic edge travel that is a non-work travel along the basic edge and a remaining edge travel trajectory acquired in a remaining edge travel that is a work travel along the remaining edge; a region setting step of setting an outer periphery region including the basic edge travel trajectory and the remaining edge travel trajectory and an internal region inside the outer periphery region based on the field shape; a round-trip travel path generation step of generating a round-trip travel path for automatically traveling for work in a round-trip manner in the internal area; an automatic travel control step of controlling automatic travel with the round-trip travel route as a target travel route; a final work travel step of performing work travel along the basic edge travel trajectory as a final work travel in the field; A driving control method comprising:

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