Field Machinery

Abstract

To provide a farm field work machine capable of suppressing damage to a work device in a lifting and lowering operation of the work device in an area near a levee and in an operation for approaching a levee.SOLUTION: A farm field work machine includes: a machine body position calculation unit 52 for calculating the machine body position; a travelling control unit 6A and 6B for causing the machine body to travel automatically or travel manually; a levee shape data storage unit 55 for storing levee shape data indicating a levee shape; and a lifting and lowering control unit 51a for controlling a lifting and lowering operation of a lifting and lowering mechanism for changing ground height of a work device. In an area near the levee where the levee and the machine body or the work device are close to each other, the lifting and lowering control unit 51a controls the lifting and lowering operation of the lifting and lowering mechanism on the basis of the levee shape data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an autonomously traveling farm work machine that uses a liftable work implement to perform work on a field bordered by ridges. [Background technology]

[0002] In order to generate a travel path to be used for automatic travel, the external dimensions of the field are required. As shown in Patent Document 1, in order to obtain the external dimensions of the field, the field work machine travels around the periphery of the field along the ridges that define the boundaries of the field. In this travel, when traveling straight, the field work machine lowers the working implement to stabilize the machine body and to grasp the distance between the machine body and the ridge. When turning, the working implement is raised to avoid interference with the ridge. Furthermore, in order to accurately measure the external dimensions of the corner areas of the field, the field work vehicle often repeats reverse and forward movement to approach the ridge, and raising and lowering the working implement at that time. Furthermore, a field work machine such as a rice transplanter approaches the ridge with the working implement raised in the middle of seedling planting work, for seedling supply, etc., lowers the working implement, and leaves the ridge with the working implement raised again. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2021-108609 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When raising the working implement in the edge area of ​​the ridge to avoid interference with the ridge, or when lowering the working implement onto the ridge, it is necessary to correctly determine the positional relationship between the working implement and the height of the ridge. In particular, if the working implement hits a hard ridge made of concrete or metal, the working implement will be severely damaged.

[0005] In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a field work machine that can reduce damage to a work implement when the work implement is raised and lowered in a ridge-edge area or when the work implement approaches a ridge. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] Field working machine according to the present invention One of is a working machine capable of automatically traveling in a field bordered by ridges, and includes a machine position calculation unit that calculates the position of the machine, a traveling control unit that causes the machine to travel automatically or manually, a ridge shape data storage unit that stores ridge shape data that indicates the shape of the ridge, a working device that performs work on the field, a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers the working device to change its height above the ground, and a lifting control unit that controls the lifting operation of the lifting mechanism, The ridge shape data includes ridge hardness, In a ridge edge area where the ridge and the working device approach each other, the lift control unit: Ridge hardness The lifting and lowering operation of the lifting mechanism is controlled based on the above. Field working machine according to the present invention Another one of teeth, The field work machine is capable of automatically traveling in a field bordered by ridges, and comprises a machine position calculation unit that calculates the machine position, a traveling control unit that drives the machine automatically or manually, a ridge shape data storage unit that stores ridge shape data indicating the shape of the ridge, a work device that performs work on the field, a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers the work device to change the height of the work device above the ground, and a lifting control unit that controls the lifting operation of the lifting mechanism, wherein the ridge shape data includes ridge hardness, and in the ridge edge area where the ridge and the work device approach each other, the lifting control unit changes the lifting speed of the lifting mechanism in accordance with the ridge hardness. Field working machine according to the present invention Yet another one of teeth, The present invention relates to a field working machine capable of automatically traveling in a field bordered by ridges, and is equipped with a machine position calculation unit that calculates the machine position, a traveling control unit that drives the machine automatically or manually, a ridge shape data storage unit that stores ridge shape data indicating the shape of the ridge, a working device that performs work on the field, a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers the working device to change the height of the working device above the ground, and a lifting control unit that controls the lifting operation of the lifting mechanism, wherein the ridge shape data includes ridge hardness, and in the ridge edge region where the ridge and the working device approach each other, if the ridge hardness is harder than a predetermined level, the lifting operation of the lifting mechanism is performed manually, and if the ridge hardness is softer than the predetermined level, the lifting operation of the lifting mechanism is performed automatically.

[0007] According to this configuration, when the working implement is raised and lowered in a ridge area, the lifting control section can control the lifting operation of the lifting mechanism based on ridge shape data that indicates the shape of the ridge in the ridge area. As a result, the working implement is controlled to be raised and lowered according to the shape of the ridge, so that the movement of the working implement relative to the ridge is accurate and safe. Note that the term "ridge" here can be interpreted in a broad sense and includes not only structural materials such as concrete, wood, plastic, and earth, but also walls rising from the field, artificial slopes, and naturally occurring slopes.

[0008] In operations such as approaching a lifting working device to a ridge from the side, approaching the working device to the ridge from above, and placing the working device on the ridge, damage to the working device when the ridge comes into contact with the working device is affected by the hardness of the ridge. When the ridge is hard, such as concrete, the working device is operated at a slower speed than when the ridge is soft, thereby reducing damage when the ridge comes into contact with the working device. For this reason, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the ridge shape data includes ridge hardness, and the lifting control unit changes the lifting speed of the lifting mechanism in accordance with the ridge hardness. Similarly, when the machine body or working device travels close to a ridge, slow travel is preferable if the ridge is hard.

[0009] Also, when the ridge is hard, manual lift control may be limited, and automatic lift control may be permitted when the ridge is hard, thereby suppressing damage to the working device. For this reason, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the ridge shape data includes ridge hardness, and when the ridge hardness is harder than a predetermined level, the lifting and lowering operation of the lifting mechanism is performed manually, and when the ridge hardness is softer than the predetermined level, the lifting and lowering operation of the lifting mechanism is performed automatically. Similarly, when traveling close to a ridge, low-speed traveling is preferable when the ridge is hard.

[0010] In field working machines such as rice transplanters and combine harvesters, when approaching a ridge or turning around the edge of the ridge, if the working implement (the seedling planting implement in the case of a rice transplanter, and the harvesting part in the case of a combine harvester) can be raised higher than the ridge, the working implement can be positioned above the ridge and the machine body can be brought as close as possible to the ridge. In this case, if the control system detects the ridge height, the safety of this ridge-crossing traveling is improved. For this reason, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the traveling control unit has a ridge-crossing permitted traveling mode in which the working implement is permitted to travel over the ridge and reaches the top of the ridge, and a ridge-crossing prohibited traveling mode in which this traveling is prohibited, and selects either the ridge-crossing permitted traveling mode or the ridge-crossing prohibited traveling mode based on the ridge height included in the ridge shape data.

[0011] Most autonomous field working machines are equipped with an object detection device using a laser measurement method such as Lidar or millimeter wave radar, or an object detection device using a camera image processing method, for the purpose of obstacle detection, etc. These object detection devices can output measurement data from which two-dimensional and three-dimensional dimensions of a detected object can be calculated. The measurement data obtained when traveling along the edge of a ridge can be used to calculate the ridge height. For this reason, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the ridge height included in the ridge shape data is detected by a ridge height detection unit using a laser measurement method or a camera image processing method. If a field working machine is equipped with an object detection device using a laser measurement method or an object detection device using a camera image processing method, the ridge height detection unit can be constructed at low cost by using both of these.

[0012] Even if a field work machine does not have a function for generating ridge shape data, if another field work machine has a function for generating ridge shape data, the field work machine can use ridge shape data transferred directly or indirectly from the other field work machine. The transfer method may use wireless or wired data communication, or may use a removable memory such as a USB memory. The shape of the ridge is not necessarily the same even in the same field. In this case, it is necessary to indicate the shape of the ridge according to the position of the specified ridge. For this reason, when acquiring ridge shape data from another field work machine, it is convenient to use ridge shape data in which the shape of the ridge in the target field is linked to a specific position or specific section of the ridge defined by map coordinates or the like. For this reason, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the ridge configuration data is data generated by another field work machine and stored in the ridge configuration data storage unit, and the ridge configuration data is data that links the ridge configurations with the corresponding ridge positions for each ridge configuration. With this configuration, even a field work machine that does not have a function for generating ridge configuration data can control the lifting and traveling of a work implement based on the ridge configuration data. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a side view of a rice transplanter equipped with an automatic steering system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating power transmission from the engine to the planting mechanism. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the raising and lowering of the seedling planting device and the ground leveling float. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a ridge hardness detection unit provided in the seedling planting device. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a driving route for automatic driving of the rice transplanter. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a control system of the rice transplanter. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a data structure diagram of ridge shape data. [Figure 8] 11 is a data flow diagram showing the flow of data between control function units during running along the edge of a field. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, a rice transplanter will be described as an example of one embodiment of the automatically traveling field work machine 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. In addition, the left-right direction 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.

[0015] [Overall structure] As shown in FIG. 1, the rice transplanter is equipped with a riding type four-wheel drive machine body 1. The machine body 1 is equipped with a parallel four-link type link mechanism 13 connected to the rear of the machine body 1 so as to be able to rise and fall and swing, a hydraulic lifting cylinder 13a that drives the link mechanism 13 to swing, a seedling planting device 3A that is connected to the rear end region of the link mechanism 13 so as to be able to roll, and a fertilizer applicator 3B that is installed from the rear end region of the machine body 1 to the seedling planting device 3A. In this embodiment, the seedling planting device 3A and the fertilizer applicator 3B are the work devices 3 that can be raised and lowered and are provided in the field work machine of the present invention, and perform seedling planting work along a predetermined row direction. The link mechanism 13 and the lifting cylinder 13a constitute a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers the seedling planting device 3A and the fertilizer applicator 3B.

[0016] The machine body 1 includes a wheeled traveling device 12, an engine 2A, and a hydraulic continuously variable transmission 2B that serves as a main transmission. The continuously variable transmission 2B is, for example, an HST (Hydro-Static Transmission), and changes the speed of 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 direction, and left and right rear wheels 12B that cannot be steered.

[0017] As shown in Fig. 1, 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 2B, an auxiliary speed change lever 7B for enabling the auxiliary speed change operation, an operation operation lever 11 for operating the seedling planting device 3A to raise and lower it, a driver's seat 16 for a passenger (driver, worker, manager), etc. Furthermore, in front of the driving section 14, a spare seedling storage device 17A for storing spare seedlings is supported on a spare seedling support frame 17.

[0018] 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. A steering motor M1 is connected to the steering mechanism, and during automatic steering, the steering motor M1 operates based on a steering signal to adjust the steering angle (steering degree) of the front wheels 12A. In addition, a gear shift motor M2 for automatically operating the main gear shift lever 7A is also provided, and during automatic driving, the gear shift position of the continuously variable transmission 2B is adjusted by the gear shift motor M2 operating based on a gear shift signal.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 2, the seedling planting device 3A is illustrated as an 8-row planting type as an example, but may be of other types such as 6-row planting type or 10-row planting type. Power from the engine 2A is distributed to each planting mechanism 22 via the planting clutch C0 and each row clutch EC. The planting clutch C0 switches the drive state of the seedling planting device 3A by turning on and off the power transmission from the engine 2A. The each row clutch EC is configured to be able to select the start and stop of work by the seedling planting device 3A for every two rows. By controlling the each row clutch, the planting type can be changed to 2-row, 4-row, 6-row, or 8-row planting.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 1, the seedling planting device 3A includes a seedling platform 21, a planting mechanism 22, and the like. The seedling platform 21 is a platform on which eight rows of mat-shaped seedlings are placed. The seedling platform 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 each time the seedling platform 21 reaches the left-right stroke end, each mat-shaped seedling on the seedling platform 21 is vertically fed at a predetermined pitch toward the lower end of the seedling platform 21. 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. Power is transmitted from the engine 2A to each planting mechanism 22, which cuts one seedling (seedling to be planted) from the lower end of each mat-shaped seedling placed on the seedling platform 21 and plants it in the muddy soil (field surface) after the land has been leveled. As a result, when the seedling planting device 3A is in an operating state, the seedlings can be taken out of the mat-shaped seedlings placed on the seedling platform 21 and planted in the muddy soil of the paddy field.

[0021] The fertilizer application device 3B has a hopper 25 that stores granular or powdered fertilizer (chemicals or other agricultural materials), a delivery mechanism 26 that delivers the fertilizer from the hopper 25, and a fertilizer application hose 28 that transports the fertilizer delivered by the delivery mechanism 26 and discharges the fertilizer into the field. The fertilizer stored in the hopper 25 is delivered in predetermined amounts by the delivery mechanism 26 and sent to the fertilizer application hose 28, transported inside the fertilizer application hose 28 by the delivery wind of the blower 27, and discharged into the field from a furrow former 29. In this way, the fertilizer application device 3B supplies fertilizer to the field.

[0022] The furrow formers 29 are mounted on the ground leveling floats 15. Each furrow former 29 rises and falls together with each ground leveling float 15, and forms fertilizer furrows in the muddy soil of the paddy field and guides fertilizer into the furrows during work travel in which each ground leveling float 15 touches the ground.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 3, the seedling planting device 3A is raised and lowered by the link mechanism 13 that is displaced by the extension and contraction of the lifting cylinder 13a. The lifting cylinder 13a is extended and contracted by the hydraulic valve 13b controlled by the control command from the control unit 100. The raised and lowered position of the seedling planting device 3A can be detected, for example, by the lifting position sensor 332. The ground leveling float 15 is attached to the frame of the seedling planting device 3A by the swing link 15A so that it can swing up and down, and the swing angle of the ground leveling float 15 is detected by the float swing detection sensor that also functions as the ground sensor 331 and sent to the control unit 100. When the height of the seedling planting device 3A relative to the field surface (the surface of the ground of the paddy field, which is the muddy soil surface located below the paddy field surface) changes, the ground reaction force acting on the ground leveling float 15 causes the front end side of the ground leveling float 15 to swing up and down relative to the frame of the seedling planting device 3A. Therefore, the height of the seedling planting device 3A relative to the field surface can be detected from the swing angle of the soil leveling float 15 relative to the frame of the seedling planting device 3A. In other words, the soil leveling float 15 also functions as a displacement target for detection by the ground contact sensor 331. The seedling planting device 3A rises and falls between an upper position (raised position: see Figure 5) where the soil leveling float 15 is higher than the ridges, and a lower position (lowered position: see Figure 1) where the soil leveling float 15 touches the field surface.

[0024] As shown in Fig. 1, the communication terminal 9 removably attached to the driving unit 14 is composed of, for example, a tablet computer, and can output various information to the operator as visual information and audio information, and can also accept input of various information. The communication terminal 9 is connected wirelessly or by wire to the control system of the rice transplanter so as to be able to exchange data. Various functions for automatic driving are installed in the communication terminal 9, and it is possible to remotely control the rice transplanter from a position away from the rice transplanter, for example.

[0025] The aircraft 1 is equipped with a positioning unit 8 that outputs positioning data for calculating the position (aircraft position: expressed, for example, in map coordinates) and orientation (aircraft orientation) of the aircraft 1. 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 three-axial tilt and acceleration of the aircraft 1 (see FIG. 6). The positioning unit 8 is supported on the top of the spare seedling support frame 17.

[0026] Furthermore, the rice transplanter is provided with an obstacle detection unit 70 for obstacle detection. In this embodiment, the obstacle detection unit 70 is provided with a camera unit 71 and a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) 72 (see FIG. 6). The obstacle detection unit 70 detects an object by combining an image captured by the camera unit 71 with a point cloud image captured by the LiDAR unit 72, calculates the position and shape of the object, and sends this as detected object information to the control system of the rice transplanter. Object detection and object recognition are also possible from the image captured by the camera unit 71, and object detection and object recognition are also possible from the point cloud data captured by the LiDAR unit 72. Therefore, the obstacle detection unit 70 may be composed of either the camera unit 71 or the LiDAR unit 72. Furthermore, this obstacle detection unit 70 has a function of recognizing a ridge from a detected object, and calculates the shape of the recognized ridge, particularly the ridge height. The calculated ridge height is sent to the control system of the rice transplanter as one of the ridge shape data. In other words, in this embodiment, the obstacle detection unit 70 also functions as a ridge height detection unit 74, in which case the camera unit 71 becomes a ridge height detection unit 74 using a camera capture image processing method, and the LiDAR unit 72 becomes a ridge height detection unit 74 using a laser measurement method.

[0027] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, a ridge hardness detection unit 73 is provided at the bottom of the seedling planting device 3A. The ridge hardness detection unit 73 is composed of a vertical swing arm 73b supported on the lower frame of the seedling planting device 3A and a ridge hardness detector 73a provided at the tip of the vertical swing arm 73b. The ridge hardness detector 73a can be moved between an upper retracted position and a lower operating position by the swing of the vertical swing arm 73b. A pressure-sensitive probe is attached to the tip of the ridge hardness detector 73a. When the seedling planting device 3A descends to the top surface of the ridge in the operating position of the ridge hardness detector 73a, the pressure-sensitive probe comes into contact with the top surface of the ridge and detects the ridge hardness. The detected ridge hardness is sent to the control system of the rice transplanter as one of the ridge shape data.

[0028] Instead of the above-mentioned ridge hardness detector 73a, a fluid-type ridge hardness detector that has no mechanical connection to the ridge may be used. The fluid-type ridge hardness detector detects the ridge hardness by spraying a fluid such as air onto the ridge and detecting the reflected pressure.

[0029] [Route] The autonomous driving of the rice transplanter to plant seedlings in a field is described below with reference to Figure 5.

[0030] The rice transplanter in this embodiment can selectively be driven manually or automatically. In the manual driving mode, the driver manually (including remote control) operates the steering wheel 10, the main shift lever 7A, the sub-shift lever 7B, the work operation lever 11, etc. to drive the rice transplanter for work. In the automatic driving mode, the rice transplanter drives and works under automatic control along a preset target driving route.

[0031] When the rice transplanter is planting seedlings, the operator first manually drives the rice transplanter along the perimeter (edge) of the field without performing any work. When the perimeter shape of the field is calculated by this mapping circular drive, a field map is generated that divides the field into an outer perimeter area OA and an inner area IA, as shown in Figure 5.

[0032] When the field map is generated, a driving route that the rice transplanter uses for automatic driving is also generated. In the inner area IA, a plurality of straight-line driving routes (hereinafter, these are referred to as straight-line driving routes, but are not necessarily limited to straight lines) that extend substantially parallel to one side of the field are generated. The extension direction of these driving routes is also called the row direction. These straight-line driving routes are driving routes for the rice transplanter to travel and work throughout the entire inner area IA, and automatic steering during automatic driving is performed with these straight-line driving routes as the target driving route. The straight-line driving routes are connected by a U-shaped turning driving route (effectively a 180-degree turning route). Driving along the straight-line driving routes and driving along the turning driving routes are performed by automatic driving control consisting of automatic steering and automatic gear shifting.

[0033] In the outer peripheral area OA, one or more circular travel routes are generated that travel around the outer peripheral area OA along the outer periphery (edge) of the field. For example, in the example of Fig. 5, the circular travel routes consist of two circular travel routes, an inner one and an outer one. The inner and outer circular travel routes can also be automatically traveled, but either one or both of them may be manually traveled.

[0034] Most of the travel along the straight travel path is work travel. In work travel, the machine body 1 travels while operating the seedling planting device 3A, which is the work device 3, with the seedling planting device 3A lowered to the lower position. This allows linear seedling planting work to be performed in units of several rows.

[0035] The 180-degree turn in which the machine body 1 changes direction from the straight-line travel path where a work run has been completed to the next straight-line travel path where a work run is to be performed is a non-work run, and the machine body 1 runs with the seedling planting device 3A, which is the work device 3, raised to the upper position, the ground leveling float 15 positioned above the paddy field surface, and the seedling planting device 3A stopped.

[0036] In seedling planting work in a rectangular field such as that shown in Figure 5, seedling planting work is first carried out in the inner area IA by combining straight-line travel, which is work travel, and 180-degree turning travel, which is non-work travel. Next, seedling planting work is carried out in the outer peripheral area OA by combining straight-line travel, which is work travel, and 90-degree turning travel, which is non-work travel on the outer peripheral route. The 180-degree turning travel used in seedling planting work in the inner area IA is carried out in the outer peripheral area OA, which is in an unworked state (where no seedlings have been planted), so it is possible to ensure sufficient turning space.

[0037] [Special driving along the edge of fields] In addition to the above-mentioned straight running and 180-degree turning running, the rice transplanter performs special running on a complicated route on the edge of the ridge. One of such special running on the edge of the ridge is turning running around a corner during mapping circumnavigation, which is shown by the symbol SR1 in FIG. 5. This 90-degree turn is performed at a corner bordered by the ridge. Although a simple route is shown in FIG. 5, in reality, forward and backward movements are often repeated several times. The reference position for field mapping is calculated at the timing when the seedling planting device 3A is lowered from the raised position to the lowered position. For this reason, in order to obtain an accurate reference position, it is necessary to bring the seedling planting device 3A as close to the ridge as possible and lower the seedling planting device 3A. In addition, it is also necessary to travel over the ridge, in which the machine body 1 approaches the ridge with the seedling planting device 3A raised above the ridge.

[0038] The other special ridge-edge travel is forward supply travel, in which the machine approaches the ridge by moving forward from straight-line travel in the inner area IA to replenish materials, and is shown by the symbol SR2 in FIG. 5. Still another is reverse supply travel, in which the machine approaches the ridge by moving backward to replenish materials after turning 180 degrees from straight-line travel in the inner area IA, and is shown by the symbol SR3 in FIG. 5. In either type of supply travel, it is important that the machine 1 approaches the ridge to smoothly replenish materials. In particular, in reverse supply travel, the machine also travels over the ridge. Furthermore, in some cases, an operation to place the seedling planting device 3A on the top surface of the ridge is also performed.

[0039] During the special ridge-edge travel described above, the machine body 1 and the seedling planting device 3A approach the ridge, and this opportunity is used to detect the ridge height and ridge hardness. The detection results are linked to field position data that identifies the ridge position in the field, and are recorded as ridge shape data.

[0040] [Control system] Next, the control system of this rice transplanter will be explained using Figures 6, 7, and 8. Figure 6 is a control block diagram of the control system, Figure 7 is a data structure diagram of the ridge shape data, and Figure 8 is a data flow diagram showing the data flow in the control system.

[0041] The control system of the rice transplanter includes a control unit 100 that controls various operations of the rice transplanter, and a communication terminal 9 that can exchange data with the control unit 100. Signals are input to the control unit 100 from the positioning unit 8, the manual operation tool sensor group 31, the travel sensor group 32, and the work sensor group 33. Control signals from the control unit 100 are output to the travel equipment group 1A and the work equipment group 1B.

[0042] The control unit 100 acquires positioning data for calculating the position and orientation (forward / rearward orientation of the vehicle body) of the aircraft 1 from the satellite positioning module 8A of the positioning unit 8, and acquires inertial measurement data relating to the three-axial tilt and acceleration of the aircraft 1 from the inertial measurement module 8B.

[0043] The control unit 100 acquires detected object information from an obstacle detection unit 70 that detects objects (obstacles) present around the machine body 1. Since the obstacle detection unit 70 also functions as a ridge height detection unit 74, the control unit 100 also acquires the ridge height. Furthermore, the control unit 100 acquires the ridge hardness from a ridge hardness detection unit 73.

[0044] The traveling equipment group 1A includes, for example, a steering motor M1 and a gear shift motor M2, and based on a control signal from the control unit 100, the steering motor M1 is controlled to adjust the steering angle, and the gear shift motor M2 is controlled to adjust the vehicle speed.

[0045] The work equipment group 1B includes, for example, a lifting cylinder 13a that raises and lowers the seedling planting device 3A, a seedling harvesting amount adjustment device that adjusts the amount of seedlings harvested by the planting mechanism 22, a feed amount adjustment device that changes the amount of fertilizer fed by the feed mechanism 26, and on / off control devices for the planting clutch C0 and the individual row clutch EC.

[0046] 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. and the corresponding set values. The work sensor group 33 includes a ground sensor 331 that detects the ground contact of the ground leveling float 15, a lifting position sensor 332 that detects the lifting position by the link mechanism 13, and various sensors that detect the driving state of the seedling planting device 3A and the fertilizer application device 3B.

[0047] The control unit 100 is equipped with a driving control unit 6, a work control unit 51, a machine position calculation unit 52, a driving route setting unit 53, a ridge shape data management unit 54, and a ridge shape data storage unit 55.

[0048] The vehicle position calculation unit 52 calculates the vehicle position, which is the map coordinates of the vehicle 1, based on the satellite positioning data and inertial navigation data successively sent from the positioning unit 8. The map coordinates may be coordinates in not only latitude and longitude but also in a field coordinate system or a specific coordinate system.

[0049] In this embodiment, the communication terminal 9 is equipped with a touch panel IF90, a field information storage unit 91, a travel route map generation unit 92, a travel route generation unit 93, a remote control unit 94, etc. The touch panel IF90 is a graphic interface, and has a function of displaying and inputting information through a touch panel equipped in the communication terminal 9. Therefore, this communication terminal 9 can function as an input / output interface for information and data of the control unit 100.

[0050] The field information storage unit 91 stores information about the field, such as the entrance (exit) position of the field and the positions where seedlings and fertilizer can be replenished. The travel route map generation unit 92 calculates the external dimensions of the field based on the travel trajectory obtained by making the machine body 1 travel in a circle along the outermost periphery of the outer peripheral area OA (see FIG. 5) of the field, that is, along the boundary line with the ridge. The travel route generation unit 93 divides the field into an outer peripheral area OA and an inner area IA based on the external dimensions of the field, and generates a travel route for automatic travel. As shown in FIG. 3, the travel route consists of a circular travel route for traveling in the outer peripheral area OA and a straight line travel route for traveling in the inner area IA. The generated travel route is sent to the control unit 100.

[0051] The remote control unit 94 has a program that causes the communication terminal 9 to function as a remote control for operating the rice transplanter. When the remote control unit 94 operates, the manager can remotely operate the rice transplanter using hardware switches attached to the communication terminal 9 or software switches displayed on the touch panel of the communication terminal 9.

[0052] The driving route setting unit 53 built in the control unit 100 receives and manages the driving route generated by the driving route generation unit 93 from the communication terminal 9, and sequentially sets the driving route that is to be the target for path following steering control as the target driving route.

[0053] In automatic travel, the work control unit 51 automatically controls the work equipment group 1B based on a program given in advance, and in manual travel, it controls the work equipment group 1B based on the driver's operation. The lifting and lowering control unit 51a included in the work control unit 51 lifts and lowers the seedling planting device 3A by extending and retracting the lifting and lowering cylinder 13a as a lifting mechanism belonging to the work equipment group 1B. The lifting and lowering control unit 51a has an automatic mode and a manual mode, and in the automatic mode, in cooperation with the travel control unit 6, lifts and lowers the seedling planting device 3A by operating the lifting and lowering cylinder 13a belonging to the work equipment group 1B based on a program. It is also possible to variably control the lifting and lowering speed of the seedling planting device 3A between low speed and high speed. In the manual mode, the lifting and lowering control unit 51a lifts and lowers the seedling planting device 3A by operating the lifting and lowering cylinder 13a based on the driver's operation.

[0054] The ridge shape data management unit 54 generates ridge shape data by linking the ridge hardness sent from the ridge hardness detection unit 73 and the ridge height sent from the ridge height detection unit 74 to the ridge position (map coordinate position) determined from the aircraft position (see Figure 8). Furthermore, the ridge shape data management unit 54 can also determine the ridge type and include it in the ridge shape data as an attribute value of the ridge. This ridge type may be determined manually, or may be determined from the ridge hardness. The generated ridge shape data is stored in the ridge shape data storage unit 55.

[0055] The data structure of the ridge shape data stored in the ridge shape data storage unit 55 is shown in Fig. 7. This data structure has the following data items: field ID, ridge ID, ridge type, ridge position, ridge height, and ridge hardness. The ridge position is shown as a specified section represented by start and end coordinates.

[0056] The travel control unit 6 includes an automatic travel control unit 6A, a manual travel control unit 6B, a control management unit 6C, and a furrow travel mode management unit 6D. 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 6C selects either the automatic travel mode or the manual travel mode based on a signal from a manual operation tool sensor (one of the manual operation tool sensors 31) that detects the state of a travel mode switching tool (not shown) or a switching signal generated by the control unit 100.

[0057] The manual driving control unit 6B operating in the manual driving mode controls the steering motor M1 based on the amount of operation of the steering wheel 10, and also controls the gear shift operation motor M2 based on the operation of manual operating tools such as the main gear shift lever 7A and the sub gear shift lever 7B.

[0058] The automatic driving control unit 6A, which operates in the automatic driving mode, includes a path following steering unit 61, an automatic turning steering unit 62, a work driving control unit 63, and a non-work driving control unit 64. The path following steering unit 61 performs path following control so that the vehicle 1 travels along the target driving route set in the driving route setting unit 53. In the path following control, the vehicle position calculated by the vehicle position calculation unit 52 is used to calculate the position deviation (lateral deviation from the target driving route) and azimuth deviation (deviation angle of the vehicle orientation from the orientation of the target driving route) of the vehicle 1 relative to the target driving route, and steering control is performed so that the position deviation and azimuth deviation are reduced.

[0059] The automatic turning steering unit 62 performs steering control for normal turning travel, such as 90-degree turning travel or 180-degree turning travel, in which a sufficient turning area is secured for changing the direction of the vehicle 1. Each turning travel control is performed based on a pre-registered program.

[0060] The work travel control unit 63 causes the machine body 1 to travel for work with the seedling planting device 3A lowered to the lower position, and at the same time drives the planting mechanism 22 to plant the seedlings in the field.

[0061] The non-work travel control unit 64 controls the travel of the machine body 1 while the operation of the seedling planting device 3A is stopped (non-work state). The non-work travel is used when the machine body 1 changes direction, such as when turning 90 degrees or 180 degrees, or when moving backward.

[0062] Furthermore, the travel control unit 6 has, as travel modes for ridge travel, a ridge-crossing permitted travel mode in which the seedling planting device 3A, which is the working device 3, is permitted to travel over the ridge to reach the top of the ridge, and a ridge-crossing prohibited travel mode in which ridge-crossing is prohibited. The selection of this ridge-crossing travel mode is performed by the ridge-crossing travel mode management unit 6D. When the ridge-crossing travel mode management unit 6D determines that ridge-crossing travel in a specific area specified by the machine position is to be performed, it reads out the ridge height of the approaching ridge from the ridge shape data storage unit 55 via the ridge shape data management unit 54. If ridge-crossing travel is possible based on the elevation height of the seedling planting device 3A and the ridge height, the ridge-crossing permitted travel mode is selected, and if ridge-crossing travel is impossible, the ridge-crossing prohibited travel mode is selected. The selected travel mode is sent to the automatic travel control unit 6A (see FIG. 8).

[0063] When the ridge-edge driving mode management unit 6D determines that the vehicle is driving along the ridge in a specific area, it notifies the lift control unit 51a that the vehicle is driving along the ridge in the specific area. In response to this, the lift control unit 51a reads out ridge shape data of the ridge in the specific ridge area, and controls the lifting and lowering operation of the lift cylinder 13a as a lifting mechanism based on the ridge shape data.

[0064] For example, the lift control unit 51a changes the lift speed of the lift cylinder 13a constituting the lift mechanism, i.e., the lift speed of the seedling planting device 3A, particularly the descent speed, according to the ridge hardness included in the ridge shape data. When the ridge hardness is harder than a predetermined level, at least the descent speed is slower than when the ridge hardness is below the predetermined level. Furthermore, when the ridge hardness is harder than a predetermined level, the travel control unit 6 slows the vehicle speed at which the vehicle approaches the ridge, compared to when the ridge hardness is below the predetermined level.

[0065] Also, when the ridge hardness is harder than a predetermined level, the lifting and lowering operation of the lifting cylinder 13a may be performed manually, and when the ridge hardness is softer than the predetermined level, the lifting and lowering operation of the lifting and lowering cylinder 13a may be performed automatically. Furthermore, the travel control unit 6 may be configured to manually approach and travel to the ridge when the ridge hardness is harder than a predetermined level, and to automatically approach and travel to the ridge when the ridge hardness is softer than the predetermined level. The ridge-edge travel mode management unit 6D has a function of switching the lifting and travel control of the seedling planting device 3A between automatic mode and manual mode using an automatic / manual change command according to the ridge hardness or ridge height of the ridge near the machine body 1 (see FIG. 8).

[0066] The rice transplanter as a field work machine in this embodiment is equipped with a ridge height detection unit 74 that detects the ridge height and a ridge hardness detection unit 73 that detects the ridge hardness, and the ridge shape data management unit 54 stores the ridge height and ridge hardness obtained from the ridge height detection unit 74 and the ridge hardness detection unit 73 in the ridge shape data storage unit 55 and manages the data so that it can be used when driving along the ridge edges. Alternatively, in a field work machine that does not have a ridge height detection unit 74 for detecting ridge height and a ridge hardness detection unit 73 for detecting ridge hardness, a field map including ridge height and ridge hardness acquired by another field work machine, or ridge shape data generated from a field map including ridge height and ridge hardness measured manually, can be stored in advance in the ridge shape data storage unit 55 under the management of the ridge shape data management unit 54 and used when traveling along the edge of a field. For example, the three-dimensional position (map position of the ridge and the height of the ridge) of a ridge coating machine installed on a tractor can be calculated by a machine position calculation function using satellite positioning installed on the tractor. The ridge height and ridge hardness acquired in a field can be uploaded to a cloud service computer or the like for at least a predetermined period of time, and then the data can be used by various field work machines that work in the field.

[0067] [Another embodiment] (1) In the above-described embodiment, a rice transplanter is taken as the field work machine of the present invention, and the field work performed by the rice transplanter is seedling planting work by the seedling planting device 3A. If the field work machine is a seed sower, the field work is seed sowing work. (2) The control parameters in the edge-of-rough-road driving mode and each edge-of-rough-road driving mode selected as described above can be registered in advance in the driving route set by the driving route setting unit 53. (3) In the above-described embodiment, the locations where supplies of materials such as seedlings and fertilizer can be made available are stored in the farm field information storage unit 91, but it is also possible to refer to the ridge heights managed by the ridge shape data management unit 54 and set locations where the ridge heights are high as supply locations. It is convenient to prepare appropriate amounts of materials at the scattered supply locations determined in this way. (4) In the above embodiment, the traveling device 12 is a steering wheel type. However, it may be a crawler type. (5) The division of functional units shown in Figures 6 and 8 is one example, and various modifications are possible, such as each functional unit being integrated with other functional units, each functional unit being divided into multiple functional units, or the control unit 100 being distributed into multiple control sub-units.

[0068] 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]

[0069] The present invention is applicable to a field working machine capable of automatically traveling in a field that is bordered by ridges. [Explanation of symbols]

[0070] 1: Aircraft 3A: Seedling planting device 3B: Fertilizer application equipment 6: Driving control unit 6A: Automatic driving control unit 6B: Manual driving control unit 6C: Control Management Department 6D: Edge driving mode control unit 8: Positioning unit 13: Link mechanism 13a: Lifting cylinder 32: Driving sensors 33: Working sensors 51: Work control section 51a: Lift control section 52: Aircraft position calculation unit 53: Travel route setting unit 54: Ridge shape data management section 55: Ridge shape data storage section 71: Camera unit 72: LiDAR unit 73: Ridge hardness detection unit 74: Ridge height detection unit 100: Control unit

Claims

1. A field working machine capable of automatically traveling in a field bordered by ridges, An aircraft position calculation unit that calculates an aircraft position; A driving control unit that drives the vehicle automatically or manually; a ridge shape data storage unit for storing ridge shape data indicating the shape of the ridge; A work device that performs work on the farm field; a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers the working device in order to change the height of the working device above the ground; A lift control unit that controls the lifting operation of the lift mechanism, The ridge shape data includes ridge hardness, and in the ridge edge area where the ridge and the work device approach each other, the lifting control unit controls the lifting operation of the lifting mechanism based on the ridge hardness.

2. A field working machine capable of automatically traveling in a field bordered by ridges, An aircraft position calculation unit that calculates an aircraft position; A driving control unit that drives the vehicle automatically or manually; a ridge shape data storage unit for storing ridge shape data indicating the shape of the ridge; A work device that performs work on the farm field; a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers the working device in order to change the height of the working device above the ground; A lift control unit that controls the lifting operation of the lift mechanism, The ridge shape data includes ridge hardness, and in the ridge edge area where the ridge and the work device approach each other, the lifting control unit changes the lifting speed of the lifting mechanism in accordance with the ridge hardness.

3. A field working machine capable of automatically traveling in a field bordered by ridges, An aircraft position calculation unit that calculates an aircraft position; A driving control unit that drives the vehicle automatically or manually; a ridge shape data storage unit for storing ridge shape data indicating the shape of the ridge; A work device that performs work on the farm field; a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers the working device in order to change the height of the working device above the ground; A lift control unit that controls the lifting operation of the lift mechanism, The ridge shape data includes ridge hardness, and in the ridge edge area where the ridge and the work device approach each other, if the ridge hardness is harder than a predetermined level, the lifting and lowering operation of the lifting mechanism is performed manually, and if the ridge hardness is softer than the predetermined level, the lifting and lowering operation of the lifting mechanism is performed automatically.

4. The field work machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the travel control unit has a ridge-crossing permitted travel mode that permits the working implement to travel over the ridge to reach the top of the ridge, and a ridge-crossing prohibited travel mode that prohibits the working implement from traveling over the ridge, and selects either the ridge-crossing permitted travel mode or the ridge-crossing prohibited travel mode based on the ridge height included in the ridge shape data.

5. 5. The field work machine according to claim 1, wherein the ridge height included in the ridge shape data is detected by a ridge height detection unit using a laser measurement method or a camera image processing method.

6. A field work machine according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the ridge shape data is data generated by another field work machine and stored in the ridge shape data storage unit, and the ridge shape data is data that links the ridge shapes with corresponding ridge positions for each of the ridge shapes.

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