Tractor Guidance Waypoint Queuing for Non-Real-Time Smart Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high cost of precision agriculture technologies limits their application to large farms due to the non-determinism of smart devices, which causes disruptions in wireless communications, processor time allocation, and multitasking, complicating their integration into larger systems.
Innovation Solution
A precision steering computer system that uses batched, time-ordered waypoints generated by a handheld smart-device to navigate a tractor, allowing for a division between real-time and non-real-time computing domains, enabling continued operation even with service interruptions or communication failures, and allowing for remote or autonomous control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If smart devices are used for precision agriculture guidance, then cost is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to non-determinism in wireless communications and processor allocation
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides computing tasks into two segments: non-real-time waypoint generation on the smart device, and real-time steering control on the vehicle computer. This segmentation allows the smart device to handle path planning without real-time constraints while the vehicle computer ensures deterministic steering control, thus reducing cost while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The smart device generates waypoints in advance before the vehicle reaches those locations. By performing path planning ahead of time and queuing waypoints for later execution, the system allows the non-deterministic smart device to complete computationally intensive tasks without time pressure, while the real-time vehicle computer simply executes pre-computed steering commands.
2Ease of operation
If batched waypoints are used from smart device, then ease of operation is improved, but loss of time occurs during communication and data transfer
Solution Approach 1:
The smart device generates and queues multiple waypoints in advance before the vehicle reaches those locations. By pre-computing the entire path or large batches of waypoints ahead of time, the system minimizes the frequency of communication events and ensures that waypoint data is ready before the vehicle needs it, eliminating time delays during critical steering moments.
Solution Approach 2:
The waypoint queue acts as an intermediary buffer between the smart device and the vehicle computer. This buffer decouples the timing between waypoint generation and execution, allowing the smart device to send waypoints at its own pace while the vehicle computer retrieves them when needed, thus eliminating direct real-time communication requirements.
3Device complexity
If smart device is used as primary interface, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability worsens due to service interruptions and communication failures
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the critical steering control function from the non-critical interface functions. The vehicle computer handles time-sensitive steering control independently, while the smart device handles only waypoint generation and display. This segmentation ensures that communication failures or smart device interruptions do not directly impact steering reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a queued buffer of pre-generated waypoints that serves as a cushion against communication failures. If the smart device experiences service interruptions or the wireless connection fails, the vehicle computer can continue operating by retrieving waypoints from the existing queue, maintaining system reliability during communication outages.
Data Source
AI summary
A precision steering computer installed on a tractor uses waypoints generated by a hand-held smart-device to steer a tractor. The smart-device is the operators primary interface and is a component of the entire precision agriculture guidance system. The batched, time ordered waypoints represent a list of coordinates for steering the tractor. As the tractor is automatically steered in the field, the waypoints are consumed and discarded by the real-time steering computer in the order they are received from the non-real-time smart device. A planned path is generated by the tractor operator on the smart device and the tractors progress and status are displayed on the same smart-device.