Work vehicles

Abstract

To provide a work vehicle capable of improving straight movement accuracy after finish of turning.SOLUTION: A work vehicle A autonomously travels a farm field along a target travel path L, and comprises: a storage vessel WM for storing lawn grass reaped by a mower device W; reaped grass amount calculation means for calculating a reaped grass amount corresponding to a work region area. The work vehicle A calculates the discharge number of the lawn grass stored, on the basis of the reaped grass amount and information of a storage amount of the storage vessel, then divides the work region of the farm field into a plurality of regions by the calculated discharge number, and every time work in the divided work region is finished, the work vehicle A autonomously travels to the discharge point.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a work vehicle that travels autonomously in a field. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, for example, work vehicles are known that use position information obtained from a satellite positioning system to autonomously navigate a field while performing agricultural work (hereinafter simply referred to as work). For example, Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a work vehicle that autonomously navigates to a predetermined discharge point and discharges the harvest when a tank that stores the harvest is full. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-69341 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, with a method such as the work vehicle described in Patent Document 1, which starts autonomous driving to the discharge point when the tank containing the harvest becomes full, depending on where the tank is full, the travel distance to the discharge point may be long, which could be inefficient.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a work vehicle that can solve such problems and efficiently move to a discharge point. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the first invention provides: A work vehicle that autonomously travels in a field along a target travel route, A container for storing grass cut by the mower device; A grass cutting amount calculation means is provided for calculating a grass cutting amount corresponding to a working area, Calculating the number of times the stored grass is discharged from information on the amount of grass cut and the capacity of the storage container; The present invention provides a work vehicle that is configured to divide the work area of ​​the field into multiple areas based on the calculated number of discharges, and to autonomously travel to the discharge point each time work in a divided work area is completed.

[0007] According to the first invention described above, the working area of ​​the field is divided into multiple areas, and each time work in a divided working area is completed, the vehicle is configured to autonomously travel to the discharge point, thereby enabling movement to the discharge point to be carried out efficiently.

[0008] The second invention is the first invention, The range of the divided work areas is increased or decreased so that the end of the discharge process of each of the divided work areas approaches the discharge point.

[0009] According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, the range of the divided working areas can be increased or decreased, so that the movement to the discharge point can be made smooth.

[0010] The third invention relates to the second invention, When the number of straight-line travel routes belonging to the divided work area is odd and the work starting point is on the same side of the work area, the number of straight-line travel routes is increased or decreased to make it an even number.

[0011] According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the second aspect of the present invention, When the work starting points are on the same side of the work area, the discharge path can be shortened and made more efficient by increasing or decreasing the number of straight travel paths to make an even number.

[0012] The fourth invention is the second or third invention, When the number of straight-line travel routes belonging to the divided work area is even and the work starting point is on the same side of the work area, the number of straight-line travel routes is increased or decreased to make it an odd number.

[0013] According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the second or third aspect of the present invention, When the work starting points are on the same side of the work area, the discharge path can be shortened and made more efficient by increasing or decreasing the number of straight travel paths to make an odd number.

[0014] The fifth invention is the second or fourth invention, A work vehicle as described in claim 3 or claim 4, characterized in that when the range of the divided working areas is increased and the amount of cut grass in the increased working area exceeds the capacity of the storage container, the number of straight driving paths in the divided working areas is reduced.

[0015] According to the fifth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the third or fourth aspect of the invention, movement to the discharge point can be made smooth.

[0016] The sixth invention relates to the fifth invention, This is characterized by the fact that when the range of the divided work areas is increased and the amount of cut grass in the increased work area exceeds the capacity of the storage container, the number of divided work areas is increased.

[0017] According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the fifth aspect of the present invention, movement to the discharge point can be made smoother. Effect of the Invention

[0018] According to the present invention, a work vehicle capable of efficiently moving to a discharge point can be provided. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a left side view of a work vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control device of the work vehicle of FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the process of determining the discharge route by the discharge route planning unit c105. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a target travel route of a work vehicle. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the calculation of the reaping amount. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining division of the working area. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the correction of the divided work area. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an increase in the number of divided work areas. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, the forward direction of the work vehicle is referred to as the front, the opposite direction is referred to as the rear, and the right side when facing forward is referred to as the right, and the left side is referred to as the left.

[0021] <1. Work vehicle configuration> FIG. 1 is a left side view of a work vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. The work vehicle A has a working machine W, which is a working means, attached to the front of a traveling body a1 equipped with an autonomous traveling means, and has the configuration of a riding lawnmower, where the working machine W is a mower device. However, the traveling body a1 and the working machine W are not necessarily limited to the configuration of a riding lawnmower.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 1, a work vehicle A according to an embodiment of the present invention has a pair of left and right front wheels a2 at the front of a running body a1, and a pair of left and right rear wheels a3 at the rear of the running body a1.

[0023] In addition, behind the driver's seat a4 on the traveling vehicle body a1, above the bonnet a8 covering the engine compartment, a collector WM, which is a container for storing grass cut by the mower device W (hereinafter referred to as grass), is mounted so as to be able to be raised and lowered via a lifting arm a9.

[0024] <2. Work vehicle control device> Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control device C of the work vehicle A in Fig. 1. The work vehicle A is configured so that the operation related to work is controlled by the control device C.

[0025] As shown in Figure 2, the control device C of the work vehicle A is configured with multiple ECUs (Electronic Control Units) and is capable of sending and receiving information between them via a communication bus BA.The control device C is equipped with an autonomous driving ECU (C1) that controls the driving of the harvesting vehicle A, a position information processing ECU (C2) that processes position information, etc., an engine ECU (C3) that controls the engine EN, a transmission ECU (C4) that controls the gearbox TR, a brake ECU (C5) that controls the brake BR, a work equipment ECU (C6) that controls operations such as driving and stopping the work equipment WM, and a communication unit CD that is connected to the network NW and can send and receive information to and from external devices.

[0026] Each ECU is configured with a CPU that performs calculation processing and a memory that can read and write information necessary for the calculation processing, and the various functions shown in the blocks of each ECU are realized by the CPU operating in accordance with the various control programs stored in the memory.

[0027] The network NW is constructed, for example, by a WAN (Wide Area Network) such as the Internet, a dedicated communication network, a VPN (Virtual Private Network), or the like.

[0028] The position information processing ECU (C2) includes a current position processing unit c201 and a position information storage unit c202, and is connected to a positioning antenna AN.

[0029] The current position processing unit c201 acquires the reception information of the positioning antenna AN at a predetermined time interval (for example, every second), calculates the current position of the harvesting vehicle A, and creates current position information indicating the current position of the harvesting vehicle A. The current position information includes position information such as latitude and longitude, and time information measured by the positioning antenna AN. The created current position information is then stored as chronological data in the position information storage unit c202.

[0030] The position information storage unit c202 includes a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a flash memory so that various types of information can be stored.

[0031] The communication unit CD is a communication unit capable of transmitting and receiving various information via wireless communication with external devices of the work vehicle A, and is configured to be equipped with a communication function using a wireless LAN, for example, and to be connectable to a network NW.

[0032] The autonomous driving ECU (C1) is connected to a capacity detection sensor YS that detects the capacity of the collector WM, a gyro sensor JI, and a direction sensor HI so as to be able to acquire various information, and is also configured so as to be able to transmit control commands to a control object S which is composed of an engine ECU (C3), a transmission ECU (C4), a brake ECU (C5), and a work machine ECU (C6).

[0033] Furthermore, the autonomous driving ECU includes a field data creation unit c101 that generates field data, a field data memory unit c102 that stores the field data, a planned driving route creation unit c103 that creates planned driving route data, a planned driving route data memory unit c104 that stores the planned driving route data, and a discharge route planning unit c105 that plans and determines a route (hereinafter referred to as the discharge route) for discharging the turf grass in the collector to a predetermined discharge point, and further includes an autonomous driving control unit c110 that controls each mechanism related to autonomous driving and agricultural work.

[0034] The capacity detection sensor YS is provided at an appropriate location within the mower device WM and is capable of detecting the ratio (%) of the current capacity to the capacity of the mower device WM.

[0035] The gyro sensor JI detects the angular velocity of the longitudinal inclination (pitch), lateral inclination (roll) and rotation (yaw) of the work vehicle A, and the orientation sensor HI detects the traveling direction of the harvesting vehicle A. These are provided at appropriate locations on the harvesting vehicle A.

[0036] The field data creation unit c101 has a function of creating field data indicating the shape of the field, and is configured to include a predetermined program for creating the field data. The field data creation unit c101 is capable of grasping the position information of the inner periphery of the field from the current position information by the harvesting vehicle A going around the inner periphery of the field under the operation of the operator, and creating field data indicating the shape of the field. The field data includes the shape information of the field and position information such as latitude and longitude. The created field data is stored in the field data storage unit c102.

[0037] The planned travel route creation unit c103 calculates a planned travel route L of the harvesting vehicle from the field data DH stored in the field data storage unit c102, and creates planned travel route data that indicates this planned travel route L. The created planned travel route data is stored in the planned travel route data storage unit c104. The autonomous travel ECU (C1) of the work vehicle A is configured to refer to the planned travel route data stored in the planned travel route data storage unit c104 during work, and autonomously travel the work vehicle A along the planned travel route L during work, with the exception of travel on the discharge route.

[0038] <3. Configuration of the Emission Route Planning Unit> The discharge path planning unit c105 includes a grass cutting volume calculation unit c106 that calculates the grass cutting volume, which is the expected amount of grass to be cut depending on the area of ​​the work area, a work area division unit c107 that divides the work area, a discharge process determination unit c108 that determines the discharge process from the end of the process to the discharge point, and a discharge path calculation unit c109 that calculates the discharge path.

[0039] Here, the target travel path L will be described with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the target travel path L of the work vehicle A. The planned travel path creation unit c103 acquires information on the work area R, the field information, and information on the work width W, and calculates the target travel path L within the defined work area R. Here, the calculation of the target travel path L is performed by dividing the field into a turning travel area R1 that travels in a circular manner and a straight travel area R2 that travels in a straight line to perform work, and a plurality of straight line travel paths l1 that travel in a straight line within the straight line travel area R2 are designed based on the preset work width, and the target travel path L from the work start point Ps to the work end point Pe is created. The field data includes position information of the discharge point Pk. The number and positions of the discharge points Pk are preset within the work area R.

[0040] Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the process of determining the discharge route by the discharge route planning unit c105. As shown in Fig. 3, before the start of work, the discharge route planning unit c105 calculates the amount of cut grass in the entire work area R of the field from the field data by the grass cut amount calculation unit c106 (#1).

[0041] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the calculation of the amount of cut grass. The amount of grass cut is calculated using the following formula 1. Grass cutting volume = Working area D × (grass height h1 - cutting height h2) (Formula 1) Here, grass height h1 is a numerical value indicating the approximate grass height before mowing, and mowing height h2 is a numerical value indicating the approximate grass height after mowing, and these are set in advance by input, etc.

[0042] Returning to Fig. 3, when the amount of grass cut is calculated, the number of discharges is calculated by dividing the calculated amount of grass cut by the collector capacity. This calculates the number of discharges (the number of times the grass cutter deviates from the planned travel route L during work and heads toward the discharge point Pk).

[0043] Next, the work area dividing unit c107 divides the work area R. In the example of Fig. 6, the number of discharges 2 is calculated, and the work area R2 is divided into three equal parts, that is, a first divided work area D1, a second divided work area, and a third divided work area (#2).

[0044] Next, the discharge process determination unit c108 calculates a discharge path Lk from the end of the final process (discharge process Le) of each work area D1 to D3 to the discharge point Pk, and then to the start point of the next work area, as shown in Fig. 6. It is checked whether there is a discharge point on the end side of the discharge process Le (#4). If there is, there is no particular problem, so the discharge path calculation unit c109 calculates and determines the discharge path (#8).

[0045] If the discharge point Pk is not on the terminal side of the discharge process Le, the travel distance will be large, and therefore the divided work regions D1 to D3 are modified by the work area dividing section c107.

[0046] Specifically, as shown in Figure 7, the number of straight-line travel paths l1 in the second divided working area D2 is increased by one from the state in Figure 6, so that the end of the final process (discharge process Le) of each working area D2 is close to the discharge point Pk, and efficiency can be improved by efficiently executing movement to the discharge point Pk.

[0047] At this time, the discharge process calculation unit c109 calculates the amount of cut grass in the second divided working area D2 in which the number of straight travel paths l1 has been increased by one, and determines whether this amount exceeds the collector capacity (#6).

[0048] If it does, it is expected that the amount of cut grass will exceed the collector capacity during work in the second divided work area D2, so as shown in Fig. 8, one divided work area is added, a fourth divided work area D4 is created, and the discharge path is calculated by the discharge path calculation unit c109 (#7, #8). This makes it possible to prevent the amount of cut grass from exceeding the collector capacity, while efficiently moving to the discharge point Pk with the end of the final process (discharge process Le) being close to the discharge point Pk.

[0049] When the straight-line travel path l1 belonging to the divided working area D is an odd number and the work starting point is on the same side of the working area, the discharge process can be simplified by increasing or decreasing the straight-line travel path l1 to make it an even number.

[0050] Similarly, when the straight-line travel path l1 belonging to the divided working area D is an even number and the work starting point is on the opposite side of the working area, the discharge process can be simplified by increasing or decreasing the straight-line travel path l1 to make it an odd number. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] A Work vehicle a1 Running vehicle a2 front wheel a3 rear wheel a4 driver's seat a8 bonnet W Mower Device WM Collector BA Communication Bus C Control device L Target driving route R work area

Claims

[Claim 1] A work vehicle that autonomously travels in a field along a target travel route, A container for storing grass cut by the mower device; A grass cutting amount calculation means is provided for calculating a grass cutting amount corresponding to a working area, Calculating the number of times the stored grass is discharged from information on the amount of grass cut and the capacity of the storage container; The farm field work area including a plurality of pre-designed straight-line travel paths is divided into a plurality of areas by the calculated number of discharges, and each time a work in a divided work area is completed, the farm field work area is autonomously traveled from the end of a discharge process traveling along the straight-line travel path of the final process in the work area to a predetermined discharge point, and further When the discharge process of the divided working area to be targeted is to move the work vehicle in a direction away from a discharge point that is closest to an end of the target discharge process, The range of the divided working areas to be targeted is increased, and the number of straight-line travel paths belonging to the divided working areas to be targeted is increased, thereby changing the travel direction of the work vehicle in the unloading process to the opposite direction, and further A work vehicle characterized by: calculating an expected amount of grass cut in the target divided work area when the range of the target divided work area is increased; determining whether the calculated expected amount of grass cut exceeds the capacity of a predetermined storage container; and, if it is determined that it does exceed the capacity, increasing the number of divided work areas and reducing the number of straight-line driving paths belonging to the target divided work area.

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