Grass trimmer

Abstract

To provide a mower that can be prevented from being immersed into water stored in a water culture field.SOLUTION: A mower 10 includes: a mower body 12 with a mower part 26 for mowing grasses; and a control unit 22. The control unit 22 sets a travel route of the mower body 12 on the basis of image data around the mower body 12 and data specifying an area where water exists around the mower body 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a grass cutter. [Background technology]

[0002] The following Patent Document 1 discloses a travel control device for a slope work vehicle that enables a grass cutter to travel on a slope. The travel control device for a slope work vehicle described in this document includes a pulley unit that moves laterally along a first wire, and a grass cutter connected to the pulley unit via a second wire. By controlling the winding or unwinding of the second wire, it is possible to run the grass cutter along a slope. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-174707 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When mowing grass in an area adjacent to hydroponic land, it is desirable to prevent the grass cutter from becoming submerged in the water stored in the hydroponic land, but the driving control device for a slope work vehicle described in Patent Document 1 above leaves room for improvement in this regard.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVETION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a grass cutter that can prevent the grass cutter from becoming immersed in water stored in a hydroponic field. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The first embodiment of the grass cutter comprises a grass cutter main body having a cutting unit that cuts grass, and a travel path setting unit that sets a travel path for the grass cutter main body based on image data around the grass cutter main body and data identifying areas around the grass cutter main body that contain water.

[0007] According to the first aspect of the mower, the travel path setting unit sets the travel path of the mower body based on image data of the area around the mower body and data identifying areas where water exists. This makes it possible to set the travel path of the mower body so as to avoid areas where water exists, thereby preventing the mower body from becoming submerged in water around the area where the grass is cut.

[0008] The second aspect of the grass mower is the grass mower of the first aspect, wherein the data for identifying areas where water is present around the grass mower main body is data indicating the ground surface temperature and water surface temperature around the grass mower main body, and the travel path setting unit determines areas where water is present as areas where the temperature of specific areas around the grass mower main body is below a set temperature.

[0009] According to the second aspect of the grass cutter, as an example, areas where water is present can be easily identified by measuring the ground surface temperature and water surface temperature using a drone equipped with an infrared camera.

[0010] A third aspect of the grass mower is a grass mower of the first or second aspect, in which the travel path setting unit sets the travel path of the grass mower main body so that the grass mower travels at least a specified distance away from areas where water is present.

[0011] According to the third aspect of the mower, the travel path setting unit sets the travel path of the mower main body at a distance greater than a predetermined distance from areas where water exists. This makes it possible to set the travel path of the mower main body, for example, by anticipating the collapse of ridges. Effect of the Invention

[0012] The grass cutter according to the present invention has an excellent effect of preventing the grass cutter from being immersed in water stored in hydroponic land. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the grass cutter of the present embodiment, seen obliquely from above. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the grass cutter of the present embodiment, as viewed obliquely from below. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control unit. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the hydroponic land and its surroundings. [Diagram 5] 1 is a graph showing water surface temperature and land surface temperature. [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart showing control by a control unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] A grass mower 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3. In the following description, when front, rear, left, right, top and bottom directions are indicated, they refer to the front, rear, left, right, top and bottom directions of the vehicle. Also, the arrow FR shown in each figure indicates the forward direction, the arrow UP indicates the upward direction, the arrow RH indicates the rightward direction, and the arrow LH indicates the leftward direction, respectively.

[0015] 1, the grass cutter 10 of this embodiment is a grass cutter that can automatically travel and automatically cut grass under the control of a control unit 22 described below. The grass cutter 10 includes a grass cutter main body 12, and a battery 14, a camera 16, a GPS 18, a motor controller 20, and a control unit 22 mounted on the grass cutter main body 12.

[0016] 1, 2 and 3, the mower body 12 includes a base 24, a cutting unit 26 supported by the base 24, and four travel motors 28 fixed to the base 24. The mower body 12 also includes four crawlers 30 that are respectively operated by the four travel motors 28.

[0017] As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the cutting unit 26 includes two cutting motors 32 supported by the base unit 24, and two cutting blades 34 that are rotated by the two cutting motors 32. The two cutting blades 34 are provided in the center in the front-rear direction on the lower side of the base unit 24. The two cutting blades 34 include a disk-shaped disk unit 36 ​​and a plurality of tips 38 attached to the outer periphery of the disk unit 36. In this embodiment, the two cutting blades 34 are arranged so as to be stacked in the vertical direction. When the two cutting blades 34 rotate, grass existing on the travel path of the grass cutter body 12 (grass cutter 10) is cut by the plurality of tips 38.

[0018] As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the four travel motors 28 are fixed to the front left, front right, rear left and rear right of the base part 24, respectively. Also, four crawlers 30 are supported on the front left, front right, rear left and rear right of the base part 24, respectively, to correspond to the four travel motors 28. The four crawlers 30 are respectively connected to the rotating shafts of these four travel motors 28. The four crawlers 30 are respectively operated by the four travel motors 28, causing the grass mower main body 12 (grass mower 10) to travel.

[0019] The battery 14 is a lithium-ion battery or the like, whose dimensions and weight are set so that it can be easily attached and detached when charging, etc. In this embodiment, four batteries 14 are mounted on the grass cutter body 12. More specifically, two of the four batteries 14 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction at the front end of the base 24. The remaining two of the four batteries 14 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction at the rear end of the base 24. Electric power is supplied from these four batteries 14 to the four travel motors 28, the two mowing motors 32, the control unit 22, etc.

[0020] The motor controllers 20 are for adjusting the rotation speeds of the four traveling motors 28 and the two reaping motors 32, respectively. In this embodiment, six motor controllers 20 are provided for adjusting the rotation speeds of the four traveling motors 28 and the two reaping motors 32, respectively. In more detail, the two motor controllers 20 for adjusting the rotation speeds of the two front traveling motors 28 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction at the front end of the base part 24. The two motor controllers 20 for adjusting the rotation speeds of the two rear traveling motors 28 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction at the rear end of the base part 24. Furthermore, the two motor controllers 20 for adjusting the rotation speeds of the two reaping motors 32 are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction at the center of the base part 24 in the front-rear direction.

[0021] The cameras 16 are for photographing the surroundings of the grass cutter main body 12 (grass cutter 10). In this embodiment, two types of cameras 16 including a 3D camera are provided on the forward side of the control unit 22. The two types of cameras 16 provided on the forward side of the control unit 22 photograph the front side of the grass cutter main body 12 (grass cutter 10). In addition, in this embodiment, two types of cameras 16 including a 3D camera are provided on the rear side of the control unit 22. The two types of cameras 16 provided on the rear side of the control unit 22 photograph the rear side of the grass cutter main body 12 (grass cutter 10). These cameras 16 are fixed to an exterior cover not shown.

[0022] The GPS (Global Positioning System) 18 is for receiving radio waves from artificial satellites and identifying the current location. The GPS 18 is provided above the control unit 22. The GPS 18 is fixed to an exterior cover (not shown).

[0023] As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 22, which serves as a driving route setting unit, has a CPU (Central Processing Unit: processor) 40, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 42, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 44, a storage 46, and an input / output interface (I / F) 48 for communicating with external devices, which are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a bus 50.

[0024] The input / output interface 48 is electrically connected to the motor controllers 20, the cameras 16, the GPS 18, and the like. The input / output interface 48 is also electrically connected to the gyro sensor 52, the acceleration sensor 54, and the like. The CPU 40 is a central processing unit, and executes various programs and controls the running of the mower main body 12 (mower 10) and the mowing by the mower unit 26, and the like. That is, the CPU 40 reads out a control program from the ROM 42 or storage 46 based on signals from the cameras 16, the GPS 18, and the like, executes the control program using the RAM 44 as a working area, and controls the four traveling motors 28 and the two mower motors 32 via the motor controllers 20. This controls the running of the mower main body 12 (mower 10) and the mowing by the mower unit 26, and the like.

[0025] (Setting the travel path of the grass cutter body 12 (grass cutter 10)) Next, setting of the travel route of the grass cutter main body 12 (grass cutter 10) will be described.

[0026] In the present embodiment of the grass cutter 10 described above, the control unit 22 is configured to set a travel path for the grass cutter main body 12 based on image data of the area around the grass cutter main body 12 and data identifying areas around the grass cutter main body 12 where water is present.

[0027] More specifically, image data of the surroundings of the mower main body 12 is stored in the control unit 22. The data may be stored in the control unit 22 by wired communication or wireless communication. Here, the image data of the surroundings of the mower main body 12 may be image data taken by the camera 16 mounted on the mower main body 12. The image data of the surroundings of the mower main body 12 may be image data taken by flying a drone equipped with a camera. Furthermore, the image data of the surroundings of the mower main body 12 may be image data (this data is called orthoimage data) that accurately displays the position and size of the subject by analyzing the image data taken by the camera mounted on the drone. Here, the orthoimage data is used as the image data of the surroundings of the mower main body 12. The control unit 22 can use the orthoimage data to determine grass that has grown to a height to be cut.

[0028] Next, data identifying areas around the mower main body 12 where water exists is stored in the control unit 22. This data may be stored in the control unit 22 by wired communication or wireless communication. Here, as an example, data identifying areas around the mower main body 12 where water exists may be infrared camera image data taken by flying a drone equipped with an infrared camera. Here, the data identifying areas around the mower main body 12 where water exists is as follows: red We decided to use image data from the outside camera.

[0029] Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the inventor of the present application measured the temperature of the water surface and the ground in and around the hydroponic land 56. The hydroponic land 56 is formed in a rectangular shape when viewed from above, and water is stored in the hydroponic land 56 in advance. The temperature of the water surface was measured near the four corners (P1, P2, P3, P4) and at the central position P5 of the hydroponic land 56. The temperature of the ground was measured at a predetermined position P6 on a road 58 that is provided to surround the hydroponic land 56 and on which vehicles can travel. FIG. 5 shows a graph with time on the horizontal axis and the temperature of the water surface and the ground on the vertical axis. As shown in this figure, the temperature of the water surface near the four corners (P1, P2, P3, P4) and at the central position P5 of the hydroponic land 56 is about 5° C. lower than the temperature of the ground (the temperature at the predetermined position P6). In consideration of the measurement results, in this embodiment, red Based on the image data from the external camera, the control unit 22 sets a threshold value for determining that an area is "where water exists around the grass cutter main body 12." Note that this threshold value is not limited to the above, and may be set appropriately taking into consideration the environment of the land where the grass cutter 10 is used, etc.

[0030] As shown in Fig. 6, in step S101, the control unit 22 uses image data from the infrared camera to identify an area around the grass cutter body unit 12 where water is present. Here, it is determined whether or not there is an area where the temperature is about 5°C lower than the temperature of the surrounding area. If a positive determination is made in step S101, the control unit 22 determines in step S102 that the area where the temperature is about 5°C lower than the temperature of the surrounding area is the "area where water is present around the grass cutter body unit 12."

[0031] Next, in step S103, the control unit 22 sets a travel route for the grass cutter body 12 based on the data on the "area where water exists around the grass cutter body 12" determined in step S102 and the orthoimage data that can distinguish grass that has grown to the height to be cut. In step S103, the control unit 22 sets a travel route for the grass cutter body 12 so as to avoid areas where water exists and to travel at least a specified distance away from areas where water exists. Note that the specified distance here is, for example, 10 cm to 50 cm. This distance is set appropriately taking into consideration the softness of the ridges around the hydroponic land 56, etc.

[0032] Next, in step 104, the control unit 22 starts mowing the grass with the grass cutter 10. In step 104, the control unit 22 controls the rotation speeds of the four travel motors 28 and the two mowing unit motors 32 via the six motor controllers 20 to cause the grass cutter body 12 to travel along the travel route determined in step S103 and to control mowing by the mowing unit 26. When mowing along the travel route determined in step S103 is completed, the control unit 22 ends mowing in step S105 and ends the process. In step S105, the control unit 22 stops the four travel motors 28 and the two mowing unit motors 32 via the six motor controllers 20.

[0033] As described above, in the grass cutter 10 of this embodiment, the travel path of the grass cutter main body 12 can be set to avoid areas where water is present, thereby preventing the grass cutter main body 12 (grass cutter 10) from becoming submerged in water that is present around the area where grass is being cut.

[0034] In addition, with the grass cutter 10 of this embodiment, the ground surface temperature and water surface temperature can be measured using a drone equipped with an infrared camera, making it easy to identify areas where water is present.

[0035] Furthermore, in the grass cutter 10 of this embodiment, the control unit 22 sets the travel route of the grass cutter main body 12 at a distance greater than a specified distance from areas where water exists. This makes it possible to set the travel route of the grass cutter main body 12 taking into account the collapse of ridges.

[0036] If a negative determination is made in step S101, the control unit 22 determines in step S106 that "there is no area where water exists around the mower main body 12." Next, in step S103, the control unit 22 sets a travel path for the mower main body 12 based on orthoimage data that can distinguish grass that has grown to the height to be mowed. Next, in step 104, the control unit 22 starts mowing the grass with the mower 10. When mowing of the travel path determined in step S103 is completed, the control unit 22 ends mowing in step S105 and ends the process.

[0037] In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the control unit 22 determines the "area where water exists around the grass cutter body 12" using image data from an infrared camera, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the control unit 22 may determine the "area where water exists around the grass cutter body 12" by analyzing images taken from multiple angles by a camera mounted on a drone and correcting for refraction of light by water. The control unit 22 may also determine the "area where water exists around the grass cutter body 12" using data from a sensor that uses a near-infrared laser to detect the water surface and a green laser to detect the water bottom.

[0038] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above, and it is of course possible to implement the present invention in various other modified forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] 10. Grass trimmer 12 Grass trimmer body 22 Control unit (driving route setting unit) 26 Cutting section

Claims

1. A grass cutter main body having a cutting unit that cuts grass; a travel path setting unit that sets a travel path for the grass cutter body based on image data of the area around the grass cutter body and data that identifies an area where water is present around the grass cutter body; Equipped with The travel path setting unit determines areas where water exists around the grass cutter body by analyzing images from a plurality of angles and correcting for light refraction caused by water.

2. A grass cutter body having a cutting part for cutting grass; a travel path setting unit that sets a travel path for the grass cutter body based on image data of the area around the grass cutter body and data that identifies an area where water is present around the grass cutter body; Equipped with The travel path setting unit determines the area where water exists around the mower main body using data from sensors including a near-infrared laser that detects the water surface and a green laser that detects the water bottom.

3. The grass cutter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the travel route setting unit sets the travel route of the grass cutter body so that the grass cutter body travels at least a predetermined distance away from an area where water is present.

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