Agricultural Seeding Tool Yaw Prediction for Uniform Curve Application
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing agricultural seeding tools face challenges in maintaining uniform seed distribution when navigating curves due to the delay between sensing yaw rate on the seeding tool and applying seed to the ground, leading to over-seeding on the inside and under-seeding on the outside of the curve.
Innovation Solution
A system that senses the instantaneous yaw rate on the towing vehicle and predicts the yaw rate across the seeding tool at a future time, using aggregated yaw rate values to control the seed application rate accordingly, ensuring uniform distribution even during turns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If yaw rate sensing is performed on the seeding tool itself, then the seeding tool can detect its own turning motion, but the delay between sensing and seed placement causes over-seeding on the inside and under-seeding on the outside of the curve
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by sensing the yaw rate on the towing vehicle in advance and using this information to predict the future yaw rate of the seeding tool. This allows the control system to adjust seed placement rates before the seeding tool actually enters the curve, compensating for the time delay between sensing and seed placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The towing vehicle serves as an intermediary for yaw rate sensing. Instead of sensing directly on the seeding tool, the system uses the towing vehicle's yaw rate as a proxy and applies a time delay correction to predict the seeding tool's yaw rate, thereby eliminating the harmful time delay effect.
2Ease of operation
If the seeding tool navigates around a curve, then the outer end moves over the field more quickly than the inner end, but maintaining a static seeding rate results in under-seeding on the outside and over-seeding on the inside
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic seed rate adjustment based on the predicted yaw rate and position of each work point. Instead of using a static seeding rate, the control system continuously varies the seeding rate across different work points to compensate for the differential ground speed caused by curve navigation, maintaining uniform seed distribution despite the tool's maneuverability requirements.
3Manufacturing precision
If curve compensation functionality varies the seeding rate across the seeding tool, then uniform seeding can be achieved, but the system complexity increases due to multiple sensors and control mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a simplified approach by copying the towing vehicle's yaw rate data and applying a time delay correction to predict the seeding tool's yaw rate. This avoids the need for complex multi-sensor arrangements on the seeding tool itself, reducing device complexity while still achieving the required seed distribution uniformity through software-based compensation.
Data Source
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AI summary
An agricultural system (100) is disclosed. The agricultural system comprises: a towing vehicle (106); an agricultural machine (104, 108), coupled to the towing vehicle (106), including an application tool (104) that applies material to a field at work points (104-1 to 104-18) distributed along a transverse axis of the application tool (104); an instantaneous yaw rate detector (168) detecting an instantaneous yaw rate of the towing vehicle (106); a tool yaw rate prediction system (172) predicting, based on the instantaneous yaw rate detected on the towing vehicle (106), a plurality of different yaw rate values, each predicted yaw rate value of the plurality of different predicted yaw rate values corresponding to each work point (104-1 to 104-18) of a set of the work points (104-1 to 104-18) distributed along the transverse axis of the application tool (104); and a meter controller (174) generating a control signal to control a meter (124) that controls a rate at which the material is provided to the work points (104-1 to 104-18) based on the plurality of different predicted yaw rate values. Furthermore, a computer-implemented method of controlling such agricultural system (100) is disclosed.