Autonomous Grain Cart Routing for Continuous Harvest Offloading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Large agricultural vehicles and machines, while increasing productivity, incur higher acquisition and operational costs, are difficult to transport, and cause soil compaction, affecting crop yield and maintenance efficiency.
Innovation Solution
Implementing autonomous grain carts that maintain speed with agricultural vehicles, determine threshold weights or fill depths, and navigate to storage tanks, allowing continuous conveyance of agricultural products, reducing the need for large storage tanks and minimizing soil compaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the size of agricultural vehicles and machines is increased to improve productivity, then productivity is improved, but acquisition and operational costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the grain transport function into multiple autonomous grain carts that operate independently rather than using one large vehicle. Each cart is smaller and more manageable, reducing individual vehicle costs while maintaining overall system productivity through parallel operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The grain carts are equipped with autonomous navigation capabilities using GPS and other sensors to navigate independently to the combine and storage facilities without requiring operators, reducing labor costs and enabling continuous operation.
2Productivity
If the size of agricultural vehicles and machines is increased to improve productivity, then productivity is improved, but transportation difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of transporting one large grain cart, the system uses multiple smaller autonomous carts that are easier to maneuver and transport. Each cart can be independently transported across fields and between locations without the logistical challenges of moving oversized equipment.
3Productivity
If the size of agricultural vehicles and machines is increased to improve productivity, then productivity is improved, but soil compaction increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces one large heavy vehicle with multiple smaller autonomous grain carts. Each cart has reduced weight and smaller footprint, significantly decreasing soil compaction when traveling through fields while collectively maintaining the same grain transport capacity.
4Productivity
If the size of agricultural vehicles and machines is increased to improve productivity, then productivity is improved, but maintenance impact increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of one large vehicle where maintenance downtime affects the entire system, the autonomous grain cart system uses multiple smaller units. If one cart requires maintenance, others continue operating, distributing the maintenance impact and reducing overall system downtime.
Solution Approach 2:
The autonomous carts can be easily replaced or repaired individually without requiring operators or complex coordination, simplifying maintenance operations and reducing the impact on overall productivity when maintenance is needed.
5Object-affected harmful factors
If autonomous grain carts are used to reduce vehicle size and minimize soil compaction, then soil compaction is minimized, but continuous conveyance capability must be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains continuous grain conveyance by having multiple autonomous carts operate in sequence. When one cart is loading at the storage facility, another can be picking up grain from the combine, ensuring uninterrupted flow and eliminating idle time despite using smaller individual vehicles.
Solution Approach 2:
The grain transport function is divided among multiple smaller autonomous carts that can operate simultaneously in different locations, maintaining overall system throughput while each individual cart remains small enough to minimize soil compaction.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for continuously conveying agricultural product from an agricultural vehicle to an agricultural product storage tank includes receiving a signal at an autonomous grain cart indicating that another autonomous grain cart is moving to the agricultural product storage tank from the agricultural vehicle. The method also includes determining an expected location of the agricultural vehicle based on a harvesting map for the agricultural vehicle. The method further includes determining a route to the expected location of the agricultural vehicle based on the expected location of the agricultural vehicle and the location of the autonomous grain cart. The method also includes controlling the autonomous grain cart based on the route to the expected location of the agricultural vehicle after the signal indicating that the other autonomous grain cart is moving to the agricultural product storage tank from the agricultural vehicle is received.