Agricultural Steering Calibration Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automatic steering systems in agricultural vehicles face performance degradation due to shifts in the correlation between calibrated and true vehicle curvature, caused by factors like leaky hydraulics and adverse conditions, leading to inaccurate steering.
Innovation Solution
An automatic steering system with an assisted steering device and controller that adjusts the calibration range by generating an estimated curvature based on vehicle pose and sensor data, comparing estimated and current encoder positions, and filtering values to shift the calibration range incrementally towards the estimated range, reducing the difference between calibrated and true curvature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the calibration range is adjusted frequently to maintain accuracy, then steering precision is improved, but system stability deteriorates due to continuous calibration shifts
Solution Approach 1:
The calibration range is made dynamically adjustable rather than fixed. The controller continuously monitors the difference between estimated and actual curvature measurements, and automatically adjusts the calibration range when degradation is detected, allowing the system to adapt to changing conditions while maintaining stability through controlled adjustment criteria
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the controller compares estimated curvature (from encoder position) with actual curvature (from vehicle pose calculation) and uses this feedback to determine when calibration adjustment is needed. This feedback loop enables precision maintenance without continuous adjustment, improving both accuracy and stability
2Measurement precision
If external sensors are added to improve curvature measurement accuracy, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses its existing encoder and vehicle pose calculation capabilities to self-validate and self-correct calibration accuracy. The controller generates an estimated curvature from the encoder position and compares it with the actual curvature derived from vehicle pose, enabling the system to detect and correct calibration errors without external sensors
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a virtual model of the expected encoder behavior by calculating the relationship between vehicle pose and encoder position. This virtual encoder model serves as a reference to compare against the actual encoder readings, allowing accuracy verification without physical external sensors
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic steering system for an agricultural vehicle includes an assisted steering device and a controller or estimator operatively coupled to the assisted steering device and configured to adjust a calibration range. Adjusting the calibration range includes generating an estimated curvature for the vehicle based on a pose of the agricultural vehicle; generating an estimated encoder position of the encoder based on the estimated curvature; determining a current encoder position of the encoder; and adjusting the calibrated encoder range based on the estimated encoder position and the current encoder position.