Automated Reverse Implement Parking Guidance System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Agricultural vehicles with attached implements face instability and unpredictability when reversing, leading to potential collisions and jackknifing, especially for inexperienced drivers, due to the counter-intuitive steering requirements and inherent instability of vehicle/trailer systems in reverse motion.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle guidance system employing a passive, closed-loop single-mode implement steering scheme that aligns the implement over the desired path by minimizing positional errors using both vehicle and implement sensors, and predictive methods, rather than dual-mode steering which waits for the vehicle to converge with the path before aligning the implement, allowing for more precise and efficient positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual reverse steering is used, then the vehicle can be positioned in reverse, but the system becomes unstable and unpredictable leading to collisions and jackknifing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a closed-loop feedback control system that continuously monitors the implement's position and orientation relative to the desired path, and automatically adjusts the vehicle's steering to minimize positional errors. This feedback mechanism eliminates the instability and unpredictability of manual reverse steering by providing real-time corrections based on actual system state.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated guidance system enables the vehicle-implement combination to steer itself during reverse parking operations. The system calculates the required steering commands and executes them automatically without human intervention, allowing the system to correct its own positioning errors and maintain stability throughout the maneuver.
2Manufacturing precision
If dual-mode steering is used, then the vehicle converges with the path first, but the implement alignment is delayed and less precise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent calculates and applies steering commands that account for both the vehicle's and implement's positions simultaneously from the beginning of the reverse maneuver. Rather than waiting for the vehicle to converge first, the system proactively plans the entire trajectory and executes coordinated steering actions that achieve both vehicle-path and implement-path alignment concurrently, reducing total positioning time while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The closed-loop control system continuously monitors both vehicle and implement positions relative to the desired path, and dynamically adjusts steering commands to minimize the combined positional errors of both components. This simultaneous feedback control enables precise implement positioning without the time delay inherent in sequential dual-mode approaches.
3Measurement precision
If automated reverse parking is implemented, then positioning accuracy improves, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a unified steering control algorithm that handles multiple functions simultaneously: it calculates the desired vehicle trajectory, determines the required implement positioning, computes the steering commands needed to achieve both objectives, and executes the commands through a single integrated control system. This multi-functional approach achieves high positioning accuracy without requiring separate complex subsystems for vehicle control and implement control.
Data Source
AI summary
A guidance system identifies a parking path and a target point in a parking area. The guidance system calculates steering commands to steer the vehicle and trailer onto the parking path. The guidance system calculates a distance of the trailer from the target point and calculates speed commands for the vehicle based on the distance of the trailer from the target point. The guidance system sends the steering and speed commands to a steering and speed control system to steer the vehicle and move the trailer along the parking path until the trailer reaches the target point in the parking area.