3D Vehicle Imaging for Row-End Detection in GPS-Degraded Fields
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle control systems face challenges in maintaining precise navigation, especially in areas with degraded GPS signals due to obstructions like trees and buildings, and struggle with accuracy in identifying row boundaries and vehicle position using imaging systems, which can drift and be affected by varying objects in the field.
Innovation Solution
A control system that combines 3-D image data, visual odometry (VO) data, and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) data to accurately steer a vehicle, using 3-D sensors like stereo cameras or LIDAR, and inertial navigation systems to determine vehicle position and orientation, even in areas with limited GPS availability, by generating electronic maps and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) to correct for drift and identify row boundaries and obstacles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If wheel odometry and inertial navigation systems are used to maintain GPS position, then vehicle positioning can be maintained in degraded GPS areas, but the system complexity increases and positioning accuracy deteriorates over time due to drift
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple navigation systems (GNSS, visual odometry, inertial navigation) into a unified navigation system that integrates their respective strengths. The system merges GPS data with image-based visual odometry and inertial sensor data to maintain reliable positioning in degraded GPS areas without relying solely on one system, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary integration module that processes and reconciles data from multiple navigation sources. This mediator component combines GNSS positions with visual odometry estimates and inertial navigation data, allowing the system to maintain accurate positioning in degraded GPS areas without directly coupling the complexity of all subsystems, thus managing system complexity while improving reliability.
2Reliability
If imaging systems are used to identify row boundaries and vehicle position, then navigation can be maintained without GPS, but accuracy deteriorates due to drift and varying objects in the field
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the system continuously monitors positioning accuracy from multiple sources and adjusts its reliance on each system accordingly. When visual odometry shows signs of drift or when GPS becomes available, the system provides feedback to correct position estimates, thereby maintaining measurement precision while ensuring navigation availability in GPS-denied environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges imaging-based visual odometry with GNSS and inertial navigation systems to create a composite positioning solution. By combining these systems, the patent maintains navigation availability when GPS is degraded while correcting the measurement precision issues of visual odometry through integration with more accurate reference systems when available.
3Reliability
If 3-D image data is used to identify rows and obstacles, then navigation can proceed in degraded GPS areas, but the system requires additional sensors increasing complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the 3-D imaging system multi-functional by using it for multiple purposes: identifying row boundaries for navigation, detecting obstacles for avoidance, and providing visual odometry data for positioning. This universal use of the imaging system justifies the added complexity by eliminating the need for separate specialized sensors for each function, thereby maintaining navigation continuity without proportionally increasing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the functions of row identification, obstacle detection, and position estimation into a single integrated imaging system. By merging these functions into one multi-purpose sensor system rather than using separate specialized sensors, the patent maintains navigation continuity in degraded GPS areas while managing the overall sensor system complexity through functional integration.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A control system uses visual odometry (VO) data to identify a position of the vehicle while moving along a path next to the row and to detect the vehicle reaching an end of the row. The control system can also use the VO image to turn the vehicle around from a first position at the end of the row to a second position at a start of another row. The control system may detect an end of row based on 3-D image data, VO data, and GNSS data. The control system also may adjust the VO data so the end of row detected from the VO data corresponds with the end of row location identified with the GNSS data.