Work vehicle

Abstract

To provide a working vehicle capable of transmitting notification information by voice at a volume that can be appropriately heard by an occupant.SOLUTION: A work vehicle includes a vehicle state generation unit 54 that generates vehicle state data indicating a vehicle state based on a detected vehicle state, a voice information generation unit 551 that generates voice data of notification information to be notified to an occupant through a voice device 73 based on the vehicle state data, a noise level estimation unit 552 that estimates a noise level around the occupant, and a volume value setting unit 553 that sets a volume value determined based on the noise level to the voice data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a work vehicle that performs work while working. [Background technology]

[0002] It has been well known for a long time that warnings that occur during driving a work vehicle are issued by voice. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a warning device for a work vehicle that is configured to issue warning information by voice at different volume levels depending on the type and timing of the warning information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-104249 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Driving in the latest work vehicles has become increasingly simplified and automated, eliminating the need to constantly monitor the forward visibility or meter panel while driving. For this reason, it is more appropriate for information to be communicated to the occupant (driver) from the control system of the travel gear or work equipment of the work vehicle to be communicated audibly rather than visually via the meter panel. The work vehicle notification device described in Patent Document 1 adjusts the volume of notifications according to the type and timing of notification information, allowing important notifications such as warnings to be communicated at a high volume and less important notifications to be communicated at a low volume. Patent Document 1 also discloses reducing the volume of notifications when the engine is not running and increasing the volume when the engine is running. However, the noise level may be low even when the engine is running, or high even when the engine is not running. The noise level around the occupant varies greatly depending on the driving and work conditions. In high-noise conditions, low-volume notifications are inaudible to the occupant, while in low-noise conditions, high-volume notifications are annoying to the occupant.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a work vehicle that can transmit notification information by voice at a volume that can be adequately heard by the occupants. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A work vehicle according to the present invention that performs work while working includes a vehicle state generation unit that generates vehicle state data indicating the vehicle state based on a detected vehicle state, an audio information generation unit that generates audio data for notification information to be notified to an occupant via an audio device based on the vehicle state data, a noise level estimation unit that estimates the noise level around the occupant, and a volume value setting unit that sets a volume value determined based on the noise level to the audio data.

[0007] According to this configuration, when notification information to be notified to a passenger (driver) is generated, the notification information is audibly notified at a volume value determined based on the noise level around the passenger estimated (calculated, derived) by the noise level estimating unit, thereby allowing the passenger to properly hear the notification information regardless of the noise level.

[0008] The driving state, which is one of the vehicle states of a work vehicle, depends on the operating state of the driving operation equipment, and the working state, which is another of the vehicle states of a work vehicle, depends on the operating state of the work operation equipment. Therefore, noise based on the driving state can be estimated from the operating state of the driving operation equipment, and noise based on the working state can be estimated from the operating state of the work operation equipment. Therefore, the present invention proposes that the noise level estimating unit estimates the noise level from the operating states of the driving operation equipment and the work operation equipment.

[0009] In cases where noise from surrounding work vehicles or factories, in addition to the noise emitted by the work vehicle itself, cannot be ignored, the work vehicle or the occupant can be equipped with a sound level meter, and data communication between this sound level meter and the noise level estimator allows the noise level estimator to accurately estimate the noise around the occupant. For this reason, the present invention also proposes that the noise level estimator estimate the noise level from the noise detection value detected by the sound level meter.

[0010] The ability to hear an alarm sound in a noisy environment varies from person to person. Sensitivity to volume also varies from person to person. To solve the problem of such individual differences, a configuration in which the volume value is manually corrected is preferable. Therefore, the present invention proposes that the volume value setting unit has an external correction unit that manually corrects the volume value.

[0011] When listening to an announcement voice, if the volume of the announcement voice fluctuates, regardless of the loudness or quietness of the noise, it may be difficult to hear or may cause a sense of discomfort. To avoid this problem, when one piece of announcement information is announced by voice, the announcement information may be announced at substantially the same volume. For this reason, the present invention proposes that the volume value setting unit maintains the volume value at the start of announcement of the announcement information until the end of announcement of the announcement information. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating the traveling of a rice transplanter using automatic steering control. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a control system. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of notification information. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a noise level estimation unit configured as a lookup table. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The following describes an example of a rice transplanter capable of automatic steering travel as one embodiment of a work vehicle of the present invention. In this embodiment, unless otherwise specified, "front" (the direction of arrow F shown in FIG. 1) means the front in the fore-and-aft direction (traveling direction) of the machine body, and "rear" (the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 1) means the rear in the fore-and-aft direction (traveling direction) of the machine body. Furthermore, left-right or lateral direction means the left-right direction of the machine body (machine body width direction) perpendicular to the fore-and-aft direction of the machine body, "left" means the direction toward the front of the paper in FIG. 1, and "right" means the direction toward the back of the paper in FIG. 1.

[0014] [Overall structure] As shown in Figure 1, the rice transplanter is equipped with a riding four-wheel drive traveling body 1. The traveling body 1 is equipped with a parallel quadruple linkage mechanism 13 connected to the rear of the traveling body 1 so that it can be raised and lowered and swung, a hydraulic lifting cylinder 13a that drives the linkage mechanism 13 to swing, a seedling planting device 3A connected to the rear end region of the linkage mechanism 13 so that it can roll, and a fertilizer applicator 3B installed from the rear end region of the traveling body 1 to the seedling planting device 3A. In this embodiment, the seedling planting device 3A and the fertilizer applicator 3B are the working devices 3 provided on the work vehicle of the present invention.

[0015] The traveling vehicle body 1 includes a wheeled traveling device 12, an engine 2A, and a hydraulic continuously variable transmission 2B, which serves as the main transmission. The continuously variable transmission 2B is, for example, an HST (Hydro-Static Transmission), and changes the power (rotation speed) output from the engine 2A by adjusting the angles of a motor swash plate and a pump swash plate. The traveling device 12 has left and right front wheels 12A that function as steering wheels for changing the vehicle's orientation, and left and right rear wheels 12B that cannot be steered.

[0016] As shown in Figure 1, the traveling vehicle body 1 has a driver's section 14 in its rear side area. The driver's section 14 is equipped with a steering wheel 10 for steering the front wheels, a main speed change lever 7A that adjusts the vehicle speed by changing the speed of the continuously variable transmission 2B, an auxiliary speed change lever 7B that enables speed change operation of the auxiliary speed change lever, an operation control lever 11 that operates to raise and lower the seedling planting device 3A, and a driver's seat 16 for passengers (driver, worker, manager). Furthermore, in front of the driver's section 14, a spare seedling storage table that stores spare seedlings is supported on a spare seedling support frame 17.

[0017] The rice transplanter is further equipped with a positioning unit 8. The positioning unit 8 outputs positioning data for calculating the position and orientation of the traveling body 1. The positioning unit 8 includes a satellite positioning module 81 that receives radio waves from satellites of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and an inertial measurement module 82 that detects the inclination and acceleration of the three axes of the traveling body 1. The positioning unit 8 is supported on the top of the spare seedling support frame 17.

[0018] The positioning unit 8 used for automatic steering control will now be described. This rice transplanter is equipped with a satellite positioning module 81 and an inertial measurement module 82 as the positioning unit 8. The satellite positioning module 81 has a satellite positioning function that determines the position of the vehicle using a satellite positioning system (GNSS: Global Navigation Satellite System) that receives radio waves from satellites to detect the position of the vehicle. The inertial measurement module 82 includes a triaxial gyro sensor and a triaxial acceleration sensor.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, the satellite positioning module 81 including the satellite positioning antenna is attached to the spare seedling support frame 17 via a support bracket.

[0020] The inertial measurement module 82 has a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor, and can detect the angular velocity of the turning angle of the traveling vehicle body 1, and can obtain the angular displacement of the vehicle body orientation by integrating the angular velocity. In addition to the angular velocity of the turning angle of the traveling vehicle body 1, the inertial measurement module 82 can also measure the angular velocity of the left and right tilt angle of the traveling vehicle body 1 and the front and rear tilt angle of the traveling vehicle body 1. The inertial measurement module 82 is disposed below and behind the driver's seat 16, in a low position in the center of the traveling vehicle body 1 in the width direction. The inertial measurement module 82 may be disposed in the same position as the satellite positioning module 81.

[0021] As shown in Figure 2, this rice transplanter alternates between traveling along a straight path to plant seedlings and turning near the edge of the paddy field to move to a straight path for the next seedling planting work. In this case, the first straight path is a teaching path (described later), and the subsequent straight paths are target traveling paths that are set based on information about the teaching path so as to run parallel to the teaching path, and are indicated by the symbols LM(1) to LM(6) in Figure 2.

[0022] To start planting seedlings, the driver positions the traveling vehicle body 1 at the start position Ts of the ridge in the field and operates the start and end point setting switch 91 (see Figure 3). At this time, the rice transplanter's travel mode is set to manual steering mode. Then, while manually steering, the driver drives the traveling vehicle body 1 from the start position Ts along the straight line of the ridge on the side, moves it to the end position Tf near the ridge on the opposite side, and then operates the start and end point setting switch 91 again. This executes the teaching process. That is, a teaching path connecting the start position Ts and the end position Tf is set from the position coordinates of the start position Ts and the position coordinates of the end position Tf based on the positioning data acquired by the satellite positioning module 81. The direction along this teaching path is set as the reference target orientation. The position coordinates at the end position Tf may be calculated not only based on the positioning data from the satellite positioning module 81, but also based on the distance from the start position Ts based on a vehicle speed sensor (not shown) and the orientation information of the traveling vehicle body 1 based on the inertial measurement module 82. Furthermore, the traveling of the traveling vehicle body 1 between the start position Ts and the end position Tf may be a work traveling involving rice planting work, or may be a non-work traveling.

[0023] After the teaching path has been set, a 180-degree turn is performed to move to the start position Ls adjacent to the teaching path, where the first target driving path: LM(1) is set. The turn is performed by manual steering, in which the driver manually operates the steering wheel 10.

[0024] When this turning travel is completed, the target travel route: LM(1) is set by the route setting unit 532. When the traveling vehicle body 1 approaches the set target travel route: LM(1), the driver operates the automatic steering start switch 92 (see FIG. 3), and automatic steering travel along the target travel route: LM(1) is started.

[0025] When the automatic steering traveling, which is the work traveling on the target traveling route: LM(1), is completed, that is, when the traveling vehicle body 1 reaches the end position Lf(1) of the target traveling route: LM(1), turning traveling is performed. Next, the route setting unit 532 sets the next target traveling route: LM(2) adjacent to the unworked area side of the previous target traveling route: LM(1), and automatic steering traveling is performed along this newly set target traveling route: LM(2).

[0026] After the traveling vehicle body 1 reaches the end position Lf(2) of the target traveling route LM(2), a similar process is repeated in the order of LM(3), LM(4), LM(5), and LM(6), in which turning traveling, setting of the target traveling route, and automatic steering traveling along the target traveling route are performed.

[0027] During automatic steering, information on the vehicle's position is acquired over time by the satellite positioning module 81. Furthermore, the vehicle speed is calculated, and the relative azimuth change angle is measured over time by the inertial measurement module 82. The lateral positional deviation between the vehicle's position and the target driving route is calculated. Furthermore, the vehicle's heading from the point where automatic steering was started is calculated over time, and the azimuth deviation between the vehicle's heading and the target driving route is calculated by integrating the azimuth change angle. Based on the positional deviation and azimuth deviation, the steering amount is calculated so that the traveling vehicle body 1 automatically steers along the target driving route.

[0028] 3 shows the functions related to the present invention in the control system in the form of a functional block diagram. The control unit CU is equipped with an input / output processing unit 50 as an input / output interface. The input / output processing unit 50 is connected to various devices such as the operating device group 70 and the manual operation tool group 90. In this functional block diagram, the positioning unit 8 described above is connected to the control unit CU via an in-vehicle LAN.

[0029] The operating equipment group 70 mounted on the rice transplanter includes multiple traveling operating equipment 74 and multiple work operating equipment 75. Furthermore, a traveling operating equipment status detector 74a is provided to detect the status of each traveling operating equipment 74, and a work operating equipment status detector 75a is provided to detect the status of each work operating equipment 75. The traveling operating equipment status detector 74a and the work operating equipment status detector 75a are vehicle status detectors in the present invention. The traveling operating equipment status detector 74a includes sensors for detecting the traveling state, such as a steering angle sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, an engine RPM sensor, a brake pedal detection sensor, and a parking brake detection sensor, although not shown. The work operating equipment status detector 75a includes sensors for detecting the status of various components constituting the seedling planting device 3A, a sensor for detecting the elevation position of the seedling planting device 3A, a sensor for detecting the number of seedlings on the seedling tray, and a sensor for detecting the attitude of the soil leveling float 15.

[0030] A group of manual operating devices 90, consisting of operating levers, switches, buttons, volumes, etc. (collectively referred to as switches here), is manually operated by the driver to give control commands, and these operation commands are input to the control device CU. The group of manual operating devices 90 includes a start point / end point setting switch 91, an automatic steering start switch 92, an automatic steering stop switch 93, an external volume adjustment switch 94, etc. In Fig. 3, the switches are abbreviated as SW.

[0031] An audio device 73 that outputs audio notification information to be notified to the driver and passengers is also connected to the control device CU via the input / output processing unit 50. An example of the audio device 73 is a speaker, which is placed near the driver's seat 16 or on the dashboard.

[0032] The control device CU includes a vehicle position calculation unit 56, a driving control unit 51, an operation control unit 52, an automatic steering driving management unit 53, a vehicle state generation unit 54, an audio notification unit 55, and the like.

[0033] The vehicle position calculation unit 56 calculates the map coordinates (vehicle position) of the traveling vehicle body 1 and the direction (azimuth) of the traveling vehicle body 1 based on the positioning data successively sent from the positioning unit 8. At this time, the vehicle position can be converted to the position of a specific point of the traveling vehicle body 1 (for example, the center of the vehicle body or the work center of the seedling planting device 3A).

[0034] The travel control unit 51 provides steering signals and vehicle speed signals to the steering mechanism and other travel operating devices 74. Since this rice transplanter can perform rice planting work by either automatic or manual travel, the travel control unit 51 includes an automatic travel control unit 511 and a manual travel control unit 512.

[0035] The work control unit 52 provides a control signal to the work operating equipment 75 in order to control the lifting and lowering of the seedling planting device 3A and the driving of the seedling planting device 3A as the traveling body 1 travels.

[0036] An automatic driving mode is set to perform automatic driving, and a manual driving mode is set to perform manual driving. When the automatic driving mode is set, the automatic driving control unit 511 receives automatic steering data (steering amount) from the automatic steering driving management unit 53.

[0037] The automatic steering running management unit 53 includes a teaching path calculation unit 531, a path setting unit 532, a deviation amount calculation unit 533, and a steering amount calculation unit 534.

[0038] The teaching path calculation unit 531 calculates data of a reference path defined through teaching travel. The path setting unit 532 sets a target travel path (a path that serves as a travel target for straight-ahead automatic steering travel) that is a target for automatic travel based on the data of the reference path. The deviation amount calculation unit 533 calculates the position deviation and azimuth deviation of the traveling vehicle body 1 from the target travel path. The steering amount calculation unit 534 calculates a steering amount that reduces the position deviation and azimuth deviation.

[0039] The vehicle state generation unit 54 generates vehicle state data indicating the state of the rice transplanter based on the vehicle state (vehicle state detection signal) detected by a vehicle state detector consisting of a traveling operation equipment state detector 74a, a work operation equipment state detector 75a, etc.

[0040] The audio notification unit 55 generates notification information to be notified to the driver and passengers, converts the notification information into audio data, converts the audio signal by the input / output processing unit 50, and provides it to the audio device 73. The audio notification unit 55 is equipped with an audio information generation unit 551, a noise level estimation unit 552, a volume value setting unit 553, and an external correction unit 554. In a work vehicle capable of automatic steering, the driver (passenger) does not need to concentrate on driving itself as much as in manual steering, and so may perform tasks other than driving while driving. Therefore, it is important to provide audio notification of the notification information.

[0041] The flow of voice information generation and notification will be explained below with reference to Figs. 4 and 5. The voice information generation unit 551 generates notification information to be notified to the passenger through the voice device 73, for example, a speaker, and converts the notification information into voice data and outputs it. At this time, the notification information is generated based on the vehicle state data generated by the vehicle state generation unit 54. The notification information may be, for example, (1) Starting and stopping automatic steering along the target driving route, (2) The timing for seedling and chemical supply is approaching. (3) Notification of remaining fuel level, (4) The timing to start turning is approaching, (5) The state of the seedling planting device 3A, (6) Contents displayed on the meter panel, (7) Error details when an error occurs Examples include:

[0042] In this embodiment, the noise level estimation unit 552 estimates the noise level around the passenger based on the operating states of the driving operation equipment 74, the work operation equipment 75, etc. To this end, the noise level estimation unit 552 acquires state detection signals from the driving operation equipment state detector 74a and the work operation equipment state detector 75a, which are vehicle state detection units, and estimates (derives) the noise level from the state detection signals. Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the noise level estimation unit 552 is configured as a lookup table that derives the noise level from the state detection signals. Since the state detection signal includes data indicating one or more driving operation equipment states or work operation equipment states, the lookup table is a multidimensional lookup table that corresponds to such input data. In addition to the lookup table method, the noise level estimation unit 552 can also be configured using, for example, a machine learning method or another estimation model format.

[0043] The volume value setting unit 553 determines a volume value based on the noise level estimated by the noise level estimation unit 552, and sets the volume value for the audio data generated by the audio information generation unit 551. Basically, the higher the noise level, the higher the volume value is set, so that the crew can hear the notification information even in a noisy environment.

[0044] However, since hearing ability in a noisy environment differs from person to person and there is also the issue of preference, in this embodiment, volume value setting unit 553 is linked to external correction unit 554, which manually corrects the volume value. When an adjustment signal is given using external volume adjustment switch 94, as shown in Fig. 4, external correction unit 554 generates correction data based on this adjustment signal and gives it to volume value setting unit 553. Volume value setting unit 553 corrects the volume value based on the given correction data.

[0045] When the noise level fluctuates in a short period of time, the volume of the notification audio also fluctuates accordingly. Such short-term volume fluctuations can be uncomfortable. For this reason, in this embodiment, when one piece of notification information is notified by audio, the notification information is broadcast at substantially the same volume. In other words, the volume value setting unit 553 maintains the volume value at the start of notification of the notification information until the end of notification of the notification information. This function may be configured to be selectable.

[0046] The audio information (audio data) generated by the audio information generating unit 551 and having the volume added by the volume value setting unit 553 is sent as an audio signal to the audio device 73, and the audio device 73 outputs notification information.

[0047] [Another embodiment] (1) In the above-described embodiment, the noise level estimation unit 552 was configured to estimate the noise level around the occupant based on the operating states of the driving operation equipment 74, the work operation equipment 75, etc. Alternatively, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4 , a sound level meter 76 may be provided near the driver's seat 16, and the noise level may be estimated based on noise detection values ​​from the sound level meter 76. Alternatively, the sound level meter 76 may be worn by the occupant, and the sound level meter 76 may be connected to the work vehicle control system via wireless communication, transmitting a noise signal to the control system. In this case, it is convenient if the sound level meter 76 is incorporated into a mobile communication terminal.

[0048] (2) The functional units (functional blocks) in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 showing the functions of the control system in the above-described embodiment are for explanatory purposes, and each functional unit may be further divided or combined.

[0049] (3) In the above-described embodiment, a rice transplanter is used as the work vehicle, but the present invention can also be applied to other field work machines, civil engineering work machines, multipurpose vehicles, and the like.

[0050] 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, as long as no contradiction arises. Furthermore, the embodiments disclosed in this specification are examples, and the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to these, and can be modified as appropriate within the scope that does not deviate from the purpose of the present invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0051] The present invention is applied to an audio notification technique in a work vehicle. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 54: Vehicle state generation unit 55: Voice notification unit 73: Audio device 74: Traveling equipment 74a: Traveling operation equipment status detector 75: Work movement equipment 75a: Work operation equipment status detector 76: Sound level meter 531: Teaching path calculation unit 532: Route setting section 533: Deviation amount calculation unit 534: Steering amount calculation unit 551: Audio information generation unit 552: Noise level estimation unit 553: Volume value setting section 554: External correction section CU: Control unit

Claims

1. A work vehicle that performs work while working, a vehicle state generating unit that generates vehicle state data indicating the vehicle state based on the detected vehicle state; a voice information generating unit that generates voice data of notification information to be notified to a passenger through a voice device based on the vehicle state data; a noise level estimation unit that estimates a noise level around the passenger; a volume value setting unit that sets a volume value determined based on the noise level to the audio data.

2. The work vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the noise level estimating unit estimates the noise level from the operating states of a traveling operating device and a work operating device.

3. The work vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the noise level estimating unit estimates the noise level from a noise detection value detected by a sound level meter.

4. The work vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the volume value setting unit has an external correction unit that manually corrects the volume value.

5. The work vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the volume value setting unit maintains the volume value at the start of notification of the notification information until notification of the notification information ends.

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