Grain Camera Feedback for Harvesting Machine Separation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current mobile agricultural harvesting machines face challenges in effectively separating grain from material other than grain (MOG), leading to poorer grain quality due to incomplete separation and broken grain issues, which affects the selling price.

Innovation Solution

A system that includes a grain camera, display screen, processors, and computer executable instructions to generate an interface displaying grain characteristics and allowing operators to adjust limit values for grain cleanliness and brokenness, enabling real-time control of harvesting machine parameters.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Manufacturing precision

If traditional separation methods are used to separate grain from MOG, then the harvesting process can proceed, but grain quality deteriorates due to incomplete separation and broken grain

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvegrain qualityVSAvoidseparation efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses a grain camera to capture real-time images of grain quality, processes these images to determine cleanliness and brokenness values, and feeds this information back to automatically adjust separator settings. This closed-loop feedback mechanism continuously optimizes separation precision without requiring manual intervention, resolving the contradiction between maintaining high grain quality and achieving efficient separation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces manual mechanical adjustment of separator settings with an automated optical detection and control system. The grain camera captures images, image processing algorithms analyze grain characteristics, and the system automatically adjusts separator parameters, substituting human-operated mechanical systems with an automated vision-based control system to improve both precision and efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Manufacturing precision

If manual adjustment of separator settings is used, then the system is simple to operate, but grain quality control precision is poor

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvegrain cleanliness controlVSAvoidoperator complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs self-adjustment of separator settings based on automatic image analysis and quality assessment. The grain camera continuously monitors grain quality, the processing system determines cleanliness and brokenness values, and the controller automatically modifies separator parameters without operator intervention, enabling the system to self-optimize grain quality control precision.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

Manual mechanical adjustment of separator settings is replaced with an automated vision-based control system. The grain camera captures images, algorithms process these images to assess grain quality, and the system automatically adjusts separator settings, substituting manual operation with automated optical detection and control to improve precision while reducing operator complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Manufacturing precision

If automated grain quality monitoring is implemented, then grain quality improves, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvegrain qualityVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The grain camera system serves multiple functions: capturing grain images, determining cleanliness values, assessing brokenness, and providing feedback for separator adjustment. This multi-functional universal system consolidates what would otherwise require separate devices into a single integrated unit, improving grain quality while limiting the increase in overall system complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements a feedback loop where the grain camera monitors quality, processes images to determine cleanliness and brokenness values, and automatically adjusts separator settings based on this feedback. This self-regulating feedback mechanism improves grain quality control while using the existing separator infrastructure, thereby improving precision without proportionally increasing system complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS20250089612A1Systems and methods to set gain characteristic limit with grain quality camera feed

Publication Date: 2025.03.20 DEERE & CO

AI summary

A mobile agricultural harvester comprises a grain camera configured to detect grain and generate a camera output indicative of the detected grain, a display screen, one or more processors, memory, and computer executable instructions, stored in the memory, and executable by the one or more processors. The computer executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the one or more processors to generate and display on the display screen an interface comprising a grain camera display portion comprising a grain camera display element, a grain characteristic value display portion comprising a grain characteristic value display element indicative of a value of a grain characteristic, and a limit value adjuster display portion comprising an interactable limit value adjuster display element configured to receive operator or user interaction to adjust a limit value of the grain characteristic.