Mowing Machine Load Prediction Path Planning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Self-propelled mowing machines often overload the cutting blade motor, leading to reduced efficiency and potential damage due to continuous meandering driving modes that fail to manage load effectively.
Innovation Solution
A mowing machine equipped with a processor that acquires grass growth state information, predicts the load on the cutting blade motor, and sets a travel path to prevent overload by controlling the drive motor, ensuring the accumulated and maximum loads do not exceed predetermined thresholds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the mowing machine switches to meandering mode after the cutting blade motor load increases, then the motor overload is addressed, but the mowing efficiency is reduced and the motor may still be overloaded
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by predicting the cutting blade motor load in advance based on grass growth state information (such as grass height, density, and moisture content) before actual mowing occurs. This allows the travel path to be pre-optimized to prevent motor overload before it happens, rather than reacting after overload occurs. The load prediction unit calculates expected load values and the path setting unit adjusts the travel path accordingly, ensuring the motor operates within safe load limits while maintaining efficient mowing patterns.
2Reliability
If continuous meandering driving is used to reduce motor burden, then motor overload is prevented, but the accumulated load causes fatigue fracture and damage to the cutting blade motor
Solution Approach 1:
The system predicts the accumulated load along potential travel paths before execution and selects paths that prevent the accumulated load from exceeding predetermined thresholds. This preliminary calculation of accumulated load and proactive path optimization prevents fatigue fracture and motor damage by ensuring the motor never operates in a cumulative overload state, thereby protecting motor durability while still allowing efficient mowing patterns.
3Productivity
If the travel path is set without considering predicted load, then the mowing process is simple and fast, but the cutting blade motor experiences overload and potential damage
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary load prediction and path optimization before mowing begins. The information acquisition unit gathers grass growth data, the load prediction unit calculates expected motor loads along different path segments, and the path setting unit determines the optimal travel path that prevents overload while maintaining efficient mowing patterns. This advance planning ensures both high productivity and motor protection without requiring complex real-time adjustments during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback by using actual grass growth state information to inform load predictions and path selections. The information acquisition unit continuously monitors grass conditions (height, density, moisture), and this feedback is used by the load prediction unit to accurately estimate motor loads and by the path setting unit to optimize the travel path accordingly, ensuring reliable overload prevention adapted to actual field conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
A mowing machine, including: a memory; a processor coupled to the memory; and a mowing machine main body including a drive motor configured to drive a movement mechanism and a cutting blade motor configured to drive a cutting blade configured to cut grass, wherein the processor is configured to: acquire information related to a state of grass growth in a mowing target region, predict a load that will be applied to the cutting blade motor at a time of cutting the grass based on the acquired information related to the state of grass growth, set a travel path based on the predicted load, and control driving of the drive motor such that the mowing machine main body travels along the set travel path.