Agricultural Row Unit Failure Detection and Adaptive Field Replanning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing agricultural implements face issues with non-uniform application of fertilizer or seed due to faulty, damaged, or blocked components, leading to gaps in product coverage, which affects crop yield.
Innovation Solution
An agricultural work system with sensors and a controller that identify non-functioning row units, generate a modified field plan to address gaps, and adjust the implement's path to ensure uniform product distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the agricultural implement uses multiple row units to cover the field in parallel, then the productivity increases, but the reliability of uniform product application deteriorates when some row units fail
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors product delivery from each row unit using sensors and feeds this information back to the controller. When a row unit is detected as non-functional, the controller receives feedback signals and automatically adjusts the field plan to compensate, maintaining uniform product application across the field despite the failure of individual row units.
Solution Approach 2:
The field plan is made dynamic and adaptable rather than fixed. The controller continuously adjusts the implement's path and coverage plan in real-time based on the operational status of row units. When row units fail, the system dynamically modifies the field plan to redistribute coverage, ensuring that the remaining functional row units can still achieve uniform product application.
2Measurement precision
If the system continuously monitors all row units for product delivery, then the measurement precision of product application improves, but the device complexity increases due to additional sensors and control systems
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system is segmented into individual row unit sensors rather than using a single comprehensive monitoring system. Each row unit has its own sensor that independently monitors product delivery, allowing the system to achieve high measurement precision for each row unit while keeping individual sensor complexity low. The controller processes these segmented signals to detect non-functional row units.
3Ease of operation
If the implement maintains a fixed field plan, then the ease of operation is improved, but the adaptability to equipment failures deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system prepares multiple alternative field plans in advance and pre-identifies potential coverage gaps that may result from row unit failures. When a row unit is detected as non-functional, the controller can immediately switch to a pre-prepared alternative field plan without requiring complex real-time calculations, maintaining ease of operation while achieving rapid adaptability to the failure condition.
Data Source
AI summary
An agricultural work system for dispensing agricultural product to a field in a plurality of passes based on a field plan. The agricultural work system includes an implement including a plurality of row units, wherein each of the plurality of row units is configured to dispense the agricultural product to the field in rows across a width of the one of the plurality of passes. A product delivery system is configured to deliver the agricultural product to the plurality of row units. A sensor system directed to the plurality of row units to identify a lack of the agricultural product being dispensed from one or more of the plurality of row units and a controller is operatively connected to the sensor system. The controller is configured to facilitate providing a modified field plan for dispensing the product to the field, wherein the modified field plan identifies a coverage gap.