Agricultural Vehicle Row Guidance Nudge Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current row guidance systems for agricultural vehicles face challenges in maintaining accurate alignment with crop rows, particularly on curves, turns, and hillsides, where steady state errors can lead to deviation from the desired path.
Innovation Solution
A sensing arrangement that senses alignment with two reference crop rows and processes a reference alignment signal to regulate steering, implementing 'nudges' by altering the signal to correct alignment, utilizing past sensor data and sensor characterization to apply offsets, which can be used in conjunction with existing technologies like AFS from Case IH, allowing for real-time corrections in open or closed loop control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a row guidance system guides to a calibrated row sensor voltage based on a center resting position, then the system provides a simple and reliable guidance mechanism, but the system cannot accurately track rows on curves and hillsides due to mounting location limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates the ideal sensor voltage for each specific row location based on GPS coordinates and field map data, rather than relying on a fixed center resting position. This preliminary determination of target voltage allows the sensor to be accurately positioned for row tracking even when the vehicle is on curves or hillsides, resolving the contradiction between simple guidance mechanism and accurate row tracking.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical center-resting-position-based guidance system with an electronic/GPS-based system that uses satellite positioning and digital field maps to determine the correct sensor voltage. This substitution eliminates the limitations of physical sensor mounting locations while maintaining system reliability, as the target voltage is dynamically calculated based on actual vehicle position and row geometry.
2Measurement precision
If GPS location and field maps are used to identify locations for guiding steering, then row tracking accuracy on curves and hillsides is improved, but the system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system integrates multiple functions into a unified guidance platform: GPS positioning, digital field map storage, real-time vehicle location tracking, and dynamic sensor voltage calculation all work together through a single control system. This multi-functionality approach achieves high row tracking accuracy on curves and hillsides without requiring separate complex subsystems, as the same hardware platform performs navigation, mapping, and control functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a digital copy of the field (electronic field map) to represent the physical field geometry, row locations, and curvature characteristics. This digital replica allows the system to pre-calculate ideal sensor voltages for any location in the field without requiring physical measurement or complex real-time calculations, reducing system complexity while maintaining high tracking accuracy.
3Reliability
If the sensor is mounted at a fixed location on the vehicle, then the mounting is simple and reliable, but the sensor cannot accurately detect row alignment when the vehicle operates on curves and hillsides
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes the target sensor voltage parameter based on vehicle location, row geometry, and operating conditions (curves, hillsides). Instead of relying on a fixed physical sensor position, the system adjusts the electrical parameter (target voltage) to compensate for the fixed mounting location, allowing accurate row alignment detection while maintaining simple and reliable sensor mounting.
Data Source
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Figure 3A~3C
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AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed for aligning an agricultural vehicle, such as a harvester, with reference crop rows by implementing a nudge in the form of a change in a feedback signal from a sensing arrangement that detects relative distances from the reference crop rows. The nudge may be implemented as a voltage change in a variable voltage feedback signal from the sensing arrangement. The amount of nudge may be determined from an algorithm, a lookup table, or may be made in predetermined steps. The system may implement open loop (manual) or closed loop control of the nudges.