Agricultural Process Planning Interface for Autonomous Machine Setup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for planning the deployment of autonomous agricultural machinery lack operator involvement and flexibility, limiting the ability to influence the configuration and planning process.
Innovation Solution
A planning system that includes a user interface, communication unit, and storage unit, allowing operators to generate and optimize plans for agricultural processes using strategy specifications, machine and implement parameters, and environmental data, with simulation and visualization capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a manually created customer-specific deployment plan is transferred to the assistance system, then the service deployment can be planned, but the client's ability to influence the configuration process is significantly limited and the planning process is opaque to the client
Solution Approach 1:
The planning system is segmented into distinct functional modules: a user interface module for operator interaction and plan creation, a communication unit for data exchange with the autonomous machine, and a computing unit for processing and optimization. This segmentation allows operators to interact with specific planning aspects without being overwhelmed by the entire system's complexity, while maintaining comprehensive control over the configuration process.
Solution Approach 2:
The planning system acts as an intermediary between the operator's planning intentions and the autonomous machine's execution. The user interface serves as a mediator that translates operator requirements into detailed configuration parameters, making the planning process transparent and influenceable while the system handles the complex configuration generation and optimization in the background.
2Productivity
If the assistance system generates configuration and deployment planning automatically, then the planning process is efficient, but the resulting configuration is opaque to the client and operator influence is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The user interface provides continuous feedback to operators about the planning process, displaying generated configuration parameters, deployment schedules, and optimization results. This feedback mechanism maintains planning efficiency through automated processing while simultaneously providing transparency, allowing operators to review and understand the configuration decisions made by the system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary configuration generation and optimization automatically, but presents the results to operators for review and adjustment before final execution. This preliminary action approach maintains efficiency through automated processing while preventing information loss by allowing operators to verify and influence the configuration before it becomes final.
3Manufacturing precision
If strategy specifications are used to generate setting and efficiency parameters, then the planning can be optimized, but the system requires access to specific process knowledge stored in databases
Solution Approach 1:
The planning system is designed with universal database structures and knowledge representation formats that can handle multiple agricultural processes and machine types. The database stores process knowledge in a standardized manner, allowing the same system architecture to optimize parameters for different crops, terrains, and autonomous machines without requiring fundamentally different knowledge systems, thus reducing overall complexity while maintaining optimization precision.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a planning system (1) comprising a user interface (2), a communication unit (3), a computing unit (4) and a storage unit (5), wherein the planning system (1) is configured to generate a plan (6) for carrying out an overall agricultural process (19) or at least a sub-process (20) comprised of the overall process (19) and to transfer it to an autonomous agricultural work machine (7) configured for carrying out the process for controlling, regulating and/or parameterizing the autonomous work machine (7) and at least one implement (8) adapted to the work machine (7), wherein the user interface (2) is configured toto display to an operator (16) and make available for individual selection an overview of overall agricultural processes (19) and sub-processes (20) of at least one harvest campaign (18) stored and/or storeable in the storage unit (5), wherein the planning system (1) is configured, after selection of an overall process (19) or a sub-process (20) and selection of one of several strategy specifications (22) stored and/or storeable in the storage unit (5), to generate setting and/or efficiency parameters for controlling, regulating and/or parameterizing the at least one autonomous working machine (7) and the at least one implement (8), depending on the selected strategy specification (22).