Agricultural Vehicle Route Planning for Windrow-Adaptive Field Paths
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing route planning techniques for agricultural vehicles are inefficient in minimizing fuel consumption, soil compression, and maximizing crop cultivation area, particularly in harvesting windrows.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method generates a recommended route for agricultural vehicles using boundary and windrow information, incorporating waylines and connecting segments, with adaptive updates based on vehicle position, and includes features like smooth curved segments and machine-learning algorithms for optimal path generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If traditional route planning techniques are used, then the vehicle can complete agricultural processes, but fuel consumption is not minimized and soil compression increases
Solution Approach 1:
The route is segmented into multiple waylines, each corresponding to a specific windrow. The system divides the agricultural field into discrete segments (windrows) and creates optimized paths for each segment, allowing the vehicle to efficiently traverse only necessary areas while minimizing fuel consumption and soil compression.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by obtaining windrow information in advance, generating waylines and connecting segments before the agricultural vehicle begins operation. This pre-planning allows optimization of the route to minimize fuel consumption and soil compression before the vehicle enters the field.
2Area of stationary object
If traditional route planning techniques are used, then the vehicle can operate in the field, but the area available for crop cultivation is reduced due to excessive vehicle tracks
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by creating specific waylines tailored to each windrow's location and characteristics. Instead of using uniform grid patterns, the route planning adapts to local conditions (individual windrow positions), minimizing vehicle tracks in non-essential areas and reducing soil compression while maximizing crop cultivation area.
Solution Approach 2:
The route planning system is dynamic and adaptive, adjusting the vehicle path based on actual windrow locations and field boundaries. The connecting segments dynamically link waylines based on real-time spatial relationships, allowing the route to optimize crop cultivation area and minimize soil compression rather than following fixed predetermined patterns.
3Productivity
If waylines are generated based on windrow information, then route efficiency improves, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces complex mechanical route planning with computational algorithms. Instead of relying on mechanical guidance systems or manual planning, the invention uses computer-implemented methods to generate waylines and connecting segments based on windrow information, simplifying the physical system while improving route efficiency through intelligent software processing.
Data Source
AI summary
A mechanism for generating a recommended route for an agricultural vehicle in advance of performing an agricultural process. The mechanism further includes tracking adherence of the agricultural vehicle to the recommended route and/or controlling the vehicle to follow the recommended route. The recommended route is generated responsive to at least boundary information, a plurality of waylines generated based on windrow information, and a plurality of generated connecting segments.