Harvester Camera Steering Control for Escort Vehicle Clearance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing agricultural harvesting machines face inefficiencies and potential collisions with accompanying vehicles due to manual steering inaccuracies and limited sensor-based collision avoidance systems, leading to reduced performance, dynamics, and increased repair costs.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing cameras and image processing, preferably with artificial intelligence, to delineate crop stands and accompanying vehicles, dynamically adjusting steering to prevent collisions by determining and maintaining safe distances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual steering is used to guide the harvester into the crop stand, then the operator can adjust the steering angle freely, but steering inaccuracies occur and individual rows may be left unharvested
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical steering control with an automated image processing system that uses cameras and AI algorithms to detect crop stand edges and calculate optimal steering angles, eliminating human error while maintaining operational flexibility
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables the harvester to autonomously navigate into and along the crop stand by automatically processing images to determine its own position relative to the crop edge and adjusting steering accordingly without continuous operator intervention
2Reliability
If sensors are used to detect the accompanying vehicle, then collision risk is reduced, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the existing camera system multi-functional by using it both for crop stand edge detection and accompanying vehicle detection, eliminating the need for separate sensor systems and reducing overall complexity while maintaining collision avoidance capability
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges the detection functions for crop boundaries and accompanying vehicles into a single image processing pipeline, where one camera system performs multiple detection tasks through unified AI algorithms
3Reliability
If the maximum steering angle is limited to prevent collisions, then safety is improved, but the performance and dynamics of the harvester are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic steering angle control where the system continuously monitors the distance to the accompanying vehicle and adjusts the steering angle in real-time, allowing large steering angles when safe and limiting them only when collision risk is detected, thus maintaining both safety and performance
4Device complexity
If the field of view of sensors is manually defined, then the sensor coverage is controlled, but the performance and flexibility of the system are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the effective field of view based on the detected positions of the crop stand and accompanying vehicle, automatically expanding or contracting the monitoring area to maintain optimal coverage without manual intervention, thus enhancing flexibility while controlling complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system ensures reliable collision avoidance with minimal impact on harvest performance, allowing for flexible and dynamic steering adjustments.
Implementation Method 1
the processing unit is designed and configured to process at least one of the images in an image processing routine such that a crop and an accompanying vehicle in a field are delineated and identified from the remaining area of the field
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a system (12) for preventing collisions between an agricultural harvester (1) and an escort vehicle (11). The system (12) comprises a processing unit (13) and at least one camera (14) for image acquisition (16) of the front environment (15) of the harvester (1). Based on the determination of a crop stand (5) and an escort vehicle (11) in an image processing routine, both a crop edge (10) and its position, as well as an outermost edge (17) of the escort vehicle (11) and its position, are determined. If a defined distance between the position of the crop edge (10) and the position of the outermost edge (17) of the escort vehicle (11) falls below a certain threshold, an event is triggered to prevent an impending collision between the agricultural harvester (1) and the escort vehicle (11). For this purpose, a captured image (16) is segmented and the segments (18) are classified.Subsequently, polygons (19, 20) are formed to determine the segment boundaries (21) in order to determine the distance.