Autonomous Mower Route Planning for Ground Subsidence Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mowers require significant manual effort to create travel routes that avoid subsidence in vast arable lands, making it difficult to efficiently operate over uneven ground surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A mower equipped with a controller that uses three-dimensional point cloud data to identify subsidence and set travel routes, avoiding areas where the mower cannot travel, by calculating inclination and route length thresholds based on the mower's body size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual surveying is performed for the entire target area to create travel routes, then the travel route can be customized to avoid obstacles, but the work required becomes huge and time-consuming for vast arable lands
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by obtaining three-dimensional point cloud data of the entire target area before route creation. This pre-acquired terrain data enables automatic identification of subsidence areas and automated route planning, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual surveying while ensuring reliable route accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual surveying process with an automated computational system. The controller automatically processes three-dimensional point cloud data to identify subsidence areas and generate optimal travel routes, substituting human labor with computational algorithms that rapidly analyze terrain data and produce accurate routes.
2Reliability
If the mower avoids all subsidence areas in the target area, then the mower can travel safely on stable ground, but it cannot reach areas that are actually traversable with short route passages through subsidence
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by evaluating each subsidence area individually based on its specific characteristics (depth, length, orientation) rather than treating all subsidence uniformly. The controller determines whether to avoid or traverse each subsidence location based on local conditions, allowing the mower to safely navigate traversable areas while avoiding dangerous ones, thus maintaining both travel safety and mowing coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses parameter changes by comparing the route length through subsidence areas against a predetermined threshold. When the route length parameter is below the threshold, the system allows traversal; when above, it mandates avoidance. This parameter-based decision-making enables dynamic adaptation to different subsidence conditions, optimizing both safety and productivity.
3Measurement precision
If three-dimensional point cloud data is obtained through manual surveying methods, then accurate terrain information can be collected, but the process becomes extremely labor-intensive for large areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual surveying mechanics with aerial imaging technology. Aerial images capture three-dimensional point cloud data of the entire target area automatically, providing accurate terrain information without the labor-intensive process of ground-based manual surveying. This substitution maintains measurement precision while dramatically improving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from two-dimensional aerial images to three-dimensional point cloud data through computational processing. This dimensional transformation enables accurate terrain analysis including subsidence detection, while the aerial acquisition method maintains ease of operation by capturing data over large areas simultaneously without manual intervention.
Data Source
AI summary
A mower includes a mower main body and a controller. The mower main body includes a mowing blade for mowing grass. The controller identifies subsidence on a ground surface where the mower main body is not able to travel based on three-dimensional point cloud data composed of three-dimensional data of multiple positioning points in a target area, and sets a travel route of the mower main body by avoiding the identified subsidence.