Predictive Harvest Logistics for Synchronized Material Transfer

Solution Overview

Problem

Agricultural harvesting operations face inefficiencies due to misalignment between harvester and receiving machines, leading to increased fuel consumption, machine wear, and poor operational synchronization, as receiving machines often arrive too early or late, causing the harvester to wait or operate at higher speeds.

Innovation Solution

A system that predicts material transfer locations and arrival times using in-situ data and predictive maps, such as vegetative, topographic, soil property, crop state, biomass, and yield maps, to control the logistics of harvesting operations, including speed and path planning for harvesters and receiving vehicles.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If receiving machines arrive early or late at material transfer locations, then the harvester must wait or operate at higher speeds, but this causes increased fuel consumption and machine wear

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveharvesting operation continuityVSAvoidfuel consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by predicting material transfer locations and arrival times before the actual transfer occurs. Predictive maps of vegetative, topographic, soil property, crop state, biomass, and yield characteristics are generated in advance to optimize routing and timing, ensuring receiving machines arrive at the optimal moment to minimize harvester waiting time and maintain continuous operation without excessive speed increases

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback mechanisms by continuously monitoring actual arrival times versus predicted times and adjusting future material transfer operations accordingly. This feedback loop enables progressive optimization of synchronization between harvesters and receiving machines, reducing fuel consumption and machine wear over multiple operations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Productivity

If receiving machines arrive early or late at material transfer locations, then the harvester must wait or operate at higher speeds, but this causes increased machine wear

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveharvesting operation continuityVSAvoidmachine operational life

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDuration of action of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by predicting material transfer locations and arrival times before the actual transfer occurs. Predictive maps of vegetative, topographic, soil property, crop state, biomass, and yield characteristics are generated in advance to optimize routing and timing, ensuring receiving machines arrive at the optimal moment to minimize harvester waiting time and maintain continuous operation without excessive speed increases

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback mechanisms by continuously monitoring actual arrival times versus predicted times and adjusting future material transfer operations accordingly. This feedback loop enables progressive optimization of synchronization between harvesters and receiving machines, reducing fuel consumption and machine wear over multiple operations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Productivity

If the harvester operates at higher speeds to compensate for receiving machine delays, then productivity increases temporarily, but fuel consumption and machine wear increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveharvesting speedVSAvoidfuel consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by predicting material transfer locations and arrival times before the actual transfer occurs. Predictive maps of vegetative, topographic, soil property, crop state, biomass, and yield characteristics are generated in advance to optimize routing and timing, ensuring receiving machines arrive at the optimal moment to minimize harvester waiting time and maintain continuous operation without excessive speed increases

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback mechanisms by continuously monitoring actual arrival times versus predicted times and adjusting future material transfer operations accordingly. This feedback loop enables progressive optimization of synchronization between harvesters and receiving machines, reducing fuel consumption and machine wear over multiple operations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS20260020522A1Systems and methods for predictive harvesting logistics

Publication Date: 2026.01.22 DEERE & CO

AI summary

An agricultural harvesting system includes one or more processors and memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors. The instructions, when executed, configure the one or more processors to: determine a material transfer end location indicative of a geographic location at the worksite at which a material transfer operation between a harvester and material receiving machine is to end based, at least, on the data; determine a material transfer start location indicative of a geographic location at the worksite at which the material transfer operation between the harvester and the material receiving machine is to start based, at least, on the material transfer end location; and control at least one of the of the harvester and the material receiving machine based on at least one of the material transfer end location and the material transfer start location.