Work Vehicle Auto Steering at Key-On Using Saved Orientation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing work vehicles cannot accurately estimate orientation immediately after the key-on operation at extremely low speeds, preventing automatic steering activation until the vehicle reaches a certain speed, such as 0.45 km/h, which is inconvenient for tasks requiring low-speed operation.

Innovation Solution

A work vehicle equipped with a positioning system and a controller that estimates orientation based on position changes, stores it in a non-volatile memory during a key-off operation, and initiates automatic steering control using this orientation upon key-on, allowing steering activation even at extremely low speeds without increasing speed to the reference speed.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If automatic steering control is activated immediately after key-on operation at extremely low speeds, then the ease of operation is improved, but the measurement precision of orientation deteriorates because time series position data is insufficient

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of automatic steering activationVSAvoidprecision of orientation estimation
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary action by storing the orientation value in non-volatile memory immediately before key-off operation. This pre-stored orientation data is then retrieved and used as the initial orientation after key-on operation, eliminating the need to wait for sufficient time series position data to accumulate at extremely low speeds, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and measurement precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Measurement precision

If the vehicle speed is increased to reach a certain speed (e.g., 0.45 km/h) before activating automatic steering, then the measurement precision of orientation is improved, but the productivity is reduced due to unnecessary speed increase and time loss

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprecision of orientation estimationVSAvoidproductivity of work vehicle operation
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The orientation data is captured and stored in non-volatile memory at the moment before key-off operation. This preliminary capture of orientation information allows the system to bypass the requirement of increasing vehicle speed to a certain threshold for orientation estimation, thereby maintaining measurement precision while avoiding productivity loss from unnecessary speed changes and time delays.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If automatic steering is disabled until the vehicle reaches a certain speed, then the reliability of automatic steering control is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to restricted activation conditions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvereliability of automatic steering controlVSAvoidease of automatic steering activation
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system ensures reliability by capturing and storing the orientation value in non-volatile memory immediately before key-off operation. This pre-stored reliable orientation data enables automatic steering control to be activated reliably after key-on operation even at extremely low speeds, without requiring the vehicle to reach a certain speed threshold, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4579369A1Work vehicle and method for controlling work vehicle
Publication Date: 2025.07.02 KUBOTA CORP
  • EP4579369A1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4579369A1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP4579369A1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

A work vehicle (100) capable of automatic steering driving includes a positioning system (120) to perform positioning of the work vehicle, and a controller (180) including a non-volatile memory. The controller is configured or programmed to estimate an orientation of the work vehicle based on a change over time of a position of the work vehicle measured by the positioning system, perform automatic steering control of the work vehicle based on the position and the orientation of the work vehicle and a set target route, store the orientation of the work vehicle in the non-volatile memory in response to a key-off operation of the work vehicle, and after a key-on operation of the work vehicle is performed, initiate the automatic steering control using the orientation stored in the non-volatile memory as an initial orientation of the work vehicle.