Leveling control device, leveling control method, and program

Abstract

To provide a technology for efficiently performing inclination leveling work of a field surface.SOLUTION: Provided is a leveling control device including: a first reception part that receives setting of a work inclination rate for performing inclination leveling work on a field surface from an operator; a second reception part that receives setting of a first point from the operator; a third reception part that receives setting of a second point from the operator; a derivation part that derives a distance between the first point and the second point and an inclination rate on the basis of GPS positioning data acquired by a GPS receiver and derives an intermediate point of the first point and the second point; a first notification part that notifies the derived distance between the first point and the second point and an inclination rate degree; and a second notification part that notifies guide information for guiding movement from the second point to the derived intermediate point.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a leveling control device, a leveling control method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a known technology for leveling uneven farm fields using a leveling implement (so-called leveler) attached to a tractor. In recent years, a GPS leveler has also been proposed that uses GPS positioning data acquired and generated by a GPS receiver to more efficiently level the entire farm field (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-262773 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, sloping fields, which have a gently sloping surface, have the advantage of allowing for quick and effective surface drainage and irrigation, but since slope leveling requires complicated measuring and soil transport work, there is an urgent need to carry out the work efficiently.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for efficiently carrying out tilt leveling work on farmland. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A leveling control device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a leveling control device that is attached to a tractor and controls leveling work using a GPS leveler based on GPS positioning data acquired by a GPS receiver, and is characterized by comprising: a first reception unit that receives from an operator the setting of a work slope rate for performing slope leveling work on a field scene; a second reception unit that receives the setting of a first point from an operator who has moved the tractor to a first point within the field; a third reception unit that receives the setting of a second point from an operator who has moved the tractor to a second point within the field; a derivation unit that derives the distance and slope rate between the first point and the second point based on the GPS positioning data acquired by the GPS receiver, and derives an intermediate point between the first point and the second point; a first notification unit that notifies the derived distance and slope rate between the first point and the second point; and a second notification unit that notifies guide information to guide movement from the second point to the derived intermediate point. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently carry out slope leveling work on a field. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the system configuration of a field work system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of a leveling control device. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the external appearance of a main part of a leveling control device. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional block configuration of a leveling control device. [Figure 5A] FIG. [Figure 5B] FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the field shown in FIG. 5A taken along line AA'. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the leveling control device during tilt leveling work. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each drawing, the same reference numerals denote the same or similar configurations. In the embodiment described below, the present invention will be described by taking as an example a case where the present invention is applied to the work of leveling the slope of a farm field, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0010] <System configuration> 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of a field work system 1 according to this embodiment. The field work system 1 includes a tractor 100, a GPS leveler 200, a GPS receiver 300, a leveling control device 400, and a controller 500.

[0011] The GPS leveler 200 is connected to the rear of the tractor 100, for example, via a three-point link mechanism (not shown) so that it can be raised and lowered (moved up and down). The GPS leveler 200 performs tilt leveling work under the control of the leveling control device 400 and the controller 500.

[0012] The GPS receiver 300 is equipped with a GPS antenna 310 and the like, and receives signals from multiple (e.g., five or more) GPS satellites via a fixed base station (not shown) or the like at the GPS antenna 310, analyzes the received signals, etc., to generate (acquire) GPS positioning data, and transmits it to the leveling control device 400.

[0013] The GPS positioning data includes position data (e.g., latitude and longitude) and height data (e.g., data related to the height of the receiving position of the GPS antenna 310) for each point in the field. Note that although the height data obtained varies depending on the GPS positioning method (e.g., the commonly known RTK-GPS method, VRS method, etc.), in this embodiment, the data does not indicate altitude (i.e., altitude from the mean water level, etc.), but is assumed to indicate the relative height of each point.

[0014] The leveling control device 400 is detachably attached to the tractor 100 and controls the tilt leveling operation by the GPS leveler 200 in cooperation with the controller 500 based on the GPS positioning data generated by the GPS receiver 300.

[0015] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the leveling control device 400, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the exterior of the main parts of the leveling control device 400. The leveling control device 400 has a processor 410 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or GPU (Graphical Processing Unit), a storage device 420 such as memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and / or an SSD (Solid State Drive), a communication IF (Interface) 430 for wired or wireless communication, an input device 440 for input operations, and an output device 450 for outputting information. The input device 440 includes an enter button SW1, a setting / selection switch SW2, a finish height setting button SW3, etc., and the output device 450 includes a display DL, etc.

[0016] 4 is a diagram showing an example of the functional block configuration of the leveling control device 400. The leveling control device 400 includes a storage unit 41, a reception unit 42, a derivation unit 43, a display control unit 44, and an instruction unit 45. The storage unit 41 can be realized using a storage device 420 provided in the leveling control device 400.

[0017] The reception unit 42, derivation unit 43, display control unit 44, and instruction unit 45 can be realized by the processor 410 of the leveling control device 400 executing a tilt leveling operation program stored in the storage device 420. The program can be stored in a storage medium. The storage medium storing the program may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitory storage medium is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a storage medium such as a USB memory or a CD-ROM.

[0018] The storage unit 41 stores various software and data, etc. The software includes the above-mentioned tilt leveling work program, etc.

[0019] The reception unit (first to fourth reception units) 42 receives various settings in accordance with the operation of the input device 440 by the operator (details will be described later).

[0020] The derivation unit (derivation unit) 43 derives the distance, tilt azimuth, and tilt rate between each point set by the user based on the GPS positioning data generated by the GPS receiver 300, and also derives the midpoint between each point (details will be described later). Each piece of information derived by the derivation unit 43 is stored in the storage unit 41 in sequence.

[0021] The display control unit (first to second notification units) 44 displays the distance and slope rate between each point derived by the derivation unit 43 on the display DL, while also displaying guide information for guiding the tractor 100 to the intermediate point derived by the derivation unit 43 on the display DL (details will be described later).

[0022] The instruction unit 45, in accordance with the operator's operation of the input device, instructs the start of tilt leveling work by the GPS leveler 200. As will be described in detail later, once the operator sets the finish height for the tilt leveling work, the instruction unit 45 sends a command to the controller 500 to start tilt leveling work by the GPS leveler 200.

[0023] Returning to FIG. 1, the controller 500 is configured to include an ECU (Electronic Control Unit), ROM, RAM, etc., and cooperates with the leveling control device 400 to control the tilting and leveling work performed by the GPS leveler 200.

[0024] <Example of processing procedure> The tilt leveling operation will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of a farm field, Fig. 5A is a top view of the farm field, and Fig. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the farm field shown in Fig. 5A taken along line A-A'. Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the leveling control device 400 during tilt leveling work.

[0025] The operator operates the leveling control device 400 to set the working slope rate for inclining and leveling the field. As an example, the operator sets the desired working slope rate (e.g., +0.1%) by operating the setting / selection switch SW2 on the leveling control device 400. When the leveling control device (first reception unit) 400 receives the setting for the working slope rate (step S1), it displays the set slope rate on the display DL. Note that the setting of the working slope rate as a positive or negative value is arbitrary. For example, the initial setting may be negative if the height of the first point set initially is used as the reference and positive if the height of the second point is low, and positive if the height is high. In FIG. 5B, if the first point is higher, the first point is set to +0.1%. Conversely, if the second point is higher, the second point may be set to 0.1%.

[0026] The operator drives the tractor 100 equipped with the GPS leveler 200, moves to the starting point (first point in FIG. 5) in the direction in which the slope (gradient) is desired, and then presses the enter button SW1 to set the first point. When the leveling control device (second reception unit) 400 receives the setting of the first point (step S2), it acquires GPS positioning data for the first point from the GPS receiver 300 and stores it in a memory or the like.

[0027] Furthermore, the operator drives the tractor 100 to, for example, the final point in the direction in which the slope (gradient) is desired (the second point in FIG. 5), and then presses the enter button SW1 to set the second point. When the leveling control device (third reception unit) 400 receives the setting of the second point (step S3), it acquires GPS positioning data for the second point from the GPS receiver 300 and stores it in memory or the like. The minimum value that can be set as the second point (for example, 5 (m)) may be displayed on the display DL.

[0028] Furthermore, the leveling control device (derivation unit) 400 derives the distance between the first and second points, the tilt azimuth angle, and the tilt rate based on the GPS positioning data of the first and second points stored in a memory or the like (step S4). As already explained, the GPS positioning data includes the position data (latitude, longitude, etc.) and elevation data of the point. Therefore, by using the GPS positioning data of each point, the leveling control device 400 can derive the distance between the first and second points (e.g., 100 m), the tilt azimuth angle, and the tilt rate (e.g., -0.02%).

[0029] The leveling control device (first notification unit) 400 displays (notifies) the distance between the first and second points, the slope rate, and other information derived in this manner on the display DL. The slope azimuth angle may also be displayed on the display DL. By checking the contents of the display DL, the operator can quickly grasp the state of the field scene (especially the slope rate, etc.) before the slope leveling operation.

[0030] Furthermore, the leveling control device (derivation unit) 400 derives the midpoint between the first and second points (the third point in FIG. 5) by using the GPS positioning data of each point (step S5). After deriving the third point, the leveling control device (second notification unit) 400 generates guide information to guide the operator to the derived third point (i.e., the midpoint), and displays (notifies) it on the display DL (step S6).

[0031] The guide information can be displayed in various ways, but as an example, the distance from the second point to the third point may be displayed in a countdown format, with the third point being set to zero (for example, "-50, -49, -48, 0 (m) to third point"). By driving the tractor 100 while referring to the guide information displayed on the display DL, the operator can move to the third point, which is an intermediate point, or to the vicinity of the third point, without getting off the tractor 100 (i.e., remaining aboard the tractor 100).

[0032] When the operator moves to the third point or near the third point, he or she presses the finish height setting button SW3 to set the finish height for the slope leveling work. Setting the finish height means forming a set work slope rate (e.g., "+0.1%) on the field scene, with the point in question (here, the third point or near the third point) as the fulcrum (support axis), as shown by the dashed line in Figure 5B. In this way, by performing slope leveling work so as to form the set work slope rate with the midpoint between the first and second points (or near the midpoint) as the fulcrum, it becomes possible to efficiently carry out work such as cutting and filling that occurs during the development process.

[0033] When the leveling control device (fourth reception unit) 400 receives the finishing height setting (step S7), it stores the finishing height setting information indicating the set finishing height of the field (e.g., "+0.1%) in memory, etc. In this case, the leveling control device 400 displays the slope azimuth angle (e.g., "221°"), the working slope rate (e.g., "+0.1%), etc. on the display DL.

[0034] Thereafter, the leveling control device (instruction unit) 400 sends an instruction (start command) to the controller 500 to start tilt leveling work using the GPS leveler 200 (step S7). The start command also includes various information necessary for tilt leveling work (for example, finishing height setting information, etc.).

[0035] When the controller 500 receives a start command from the leveling control device 400, it automatically starts the slope leveling operation by driving the GPS leveler 200 and other devices in accordance with the start command. This ultimately enables the efficient creation of a sloped field with a defined slope ratio, with the midpoint between the first and second points or a point close to the midpoint as the fulcrum. During the slope leveling operation, the operator can manually adjust the amount of soil to be removed or piled up temporarily by operating the setting / selection switch SW2. The adjustment amount may be adjustable in steps of ±2.5 (or 10 mm), for example, and the adjustment amount may be displayed on the display DL.

[0036] The above-described embodiments are intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. The flowcharts, sequences, elements included in the embodiments, and their arrangements, materials, conditions, shapes, sizes, etc., described in the embodiments are not limited to those illustrated and can be modified as appropriate. Furthermore, configurations shown in different embodiments can be partially substituted or combined with each other.

[0037] In the above embodiment, a toggle-type setting / selection switch SW2 is used as an example of an operator for setting the working inclination rate, but a dial-type setting / selection switch may also be used, and the setting can be changed as desired according to customer requests, etc.

[0038] In this embodiment, the distance between the first and second points, the gradient, guide information, etc. are displayed on the display DL, but in addition to (or instead of) this, these may be output from a speaker (not shown), etc. Also, instead of the gradient, the gradient angle may be derived, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] 1...field work system, 100...tractor, 200...GPS leveler, 300...GPS receiver, 400...leveling control device, 500...controller, 410...processor, 420...storage device, 430...communication IF, 440...input device, 450...output device, SW1...enter button, SW2...setting / selection switch, SW3...finishing height setting button, DP...display, 41...storage unit, 42...reception unit, 43...derivation unit, 44...display control unit, 45...instruction unit

Claims

1. A leveling control device that is attached to a tractor and controls leveling work by a GPS leveler based on GPS positioning data acquired by a GPS receiver, a first reception unit that receives from an operator a setting of a work slope rate for performing a slope leveling work on a field; a second reception unit that receives setting of the first point from an operator who has moved the tractor to the first point within the field; a third reception unit that receives setting of the second point from an operator who has moved the tractor to the second point within the field; a derivation unit that derives a distance and a slope rate between the first point and the second point based on the GPS positioning data acquired by the GPS receiver, and derives an intermediate point between the first point and the second point; a first notification unit that notifies the derived distance and gradient between the first point and the second point; a second notification unit that notifies guide information for guiding movement from the second point to the derived intermediate point; A leveling control device comprising:

2. 2. The leveling control device according to claim 1, wherein the guide information is information representing a distance from the second point to the intermediate point when the intermediate point is set to zero.

3. 3. The leveling control device according to claim 2, further comprising a fourth reception unit that receives a finish height setting for the inclined leveling operation from an operator who has moved the tractor to the midpoint or near the midpoint.

4. 4. The leveling control device according to claim 3, further comprising an instruction unit that instructs the GPS leveler to start tilt leveling work in accordance with the setting of the finishing height.

5. 5. The leveling control device according to claim 3, wherein the finishing height setting is a setting for forming the work slope rate in the field scene with the midpoint or a vicinity of the midpoint as a fulcrum.

6. A computer is attached to the tractor and controls the leveling work by the GPS leveler based on the GPS positioning data acquired by the GPS receiver. a first reception unit that receives from an operator a setting of a work slope rate for performing a slope leveling work on a field; a second reception unit that receives setting of the first point from an operator who has moved the tractor to the first point within the field; a third reception unit that receives setting of the second point from an operator who has moved the tractor to the second point within the field; a derivation unit that derives a distance and a slope rate between the first point and the second point based on the GPS positioning data acquired by the GPS receiver, and derives an intermediate point between the first point and the second point; a first notification unit that notifies the derived distance and gradient between the first point and the second point; a second notification unit that notifies guide information for guiding movement from the second point to the derived intermediate point; A program to make it function as such.

7. A leveling control method for controlling leveling work by a GPS leveler based on GPS positioning data acquired by a GPS receiver, comprising: The leveling control device attached to the tractor a first receiving step of receiving, from an operator, a setting of a work slope rate for performing a slope leveling work on a field; a second receiving step of receiving setting of the first point from an operator who has moved the tractor to the first point within the field; a third receiving step of receiving setting of the second point from an operator who has moved the tractor to the second point within the field; a derivation step of deriving a distance and a slope rate between the first point and the second point based on the GPS positioning data acquired by the GPS receiver, and deriving an intermediate point between the first point and the second point; a first notification step of notifying the derived distance and gradient between the first point and the second point; a second notification step of notifying guide information for guiding movement from the second point to the derived intermediate point; A leveling control method including:

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