Agricultural Vehicle Control Unit Joystick Gear Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Agricultural or work vehicles face inefficiencies in completing missions due to the need for manual adjustment of controls during repetitive tasks, leading to reduced productivity and increased time requirements for adapting to varying movement speeds and tool positions.
Innovation Solution
A control unit monitors vehicle operations to recognize a 'loading onto a truck' mission, enabling automatic return functions and transferring gear selection controls to the joystick, allowing the operator to control the vehicle and arm with one hand, enhancing productivity by reducing the need for manual intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the vehicle kinematic chain adapts to working conditions by adjusting hydraulic motor displacement based on detected resistance torque, then the vehicle can optimize its performance for different tasks, but this adaptation requires time that is lost in mission execution and reduces vehicle productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit pre-identifies the current mission type (e.g., loading, hauling, pick & place) by monitoring vehicle operations and parameters before actual work execution. This preliminary identification allows the system to pre-configure optimal control parameters for the identified mission, eliminating the need for real-time adaptation during task execution and thus preventing productivity loss.
2Ease of operation
If manual controls for gear selection are located on the dashboard, then the vehicle maintains standard control layout, but the operator must reach out for controls during repetitive loading missions, reducing convenience and productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically transfers gear selection control to the joystick based on identified mission type, eliminating the need for the operator to manually reach for dashboard controls during repetitive loading missions. The control system serves itself by autonomously reconfiguring the control layout to match the operational context, thereby improving ease of operation without requiring additional manual intervention.
3Device complexity
If the same control layout is used for all mission types, then the vehicle maintains simple control architecture, but the operator cannot optimize control accessibility for specific repetitive tasks like loading onto trucks
Solution Approach 1:
The control architecture dynamically reconfigures itself by transferring gear selection control between the dashboard and joystick based on the identified mission type. For loading missions, control is automatically transferred to the joystick; for other missions, it reverts to the dashboard. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain simple architecture while optimizing control accessibility for specific operational contexts.
Data Source
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AI summary
Method of supporting the completion of a mission of an agricultural or work vehicle operated by computer, in which the vehicle is equipped with an articulated arm (A) connected to a chassis (F) of the vehicle such as to assume a plurality of operational configurations, a joystick (JK) to control the articulated arm, in which the joystick is equipped with a lever or a wheel (26), a propulsion system such as to allow movement of the vehicle with respect to a support surface, an interface device man/machine, different from said joystick, associated with a vehicle dashboard to select forward, neutral or reverse gear. The method includes observing, for a predetermined time interval, a frequency and time duration of each operational and activation configuration of the propulsion system, determining a current vehicle mission, verifying whether said vehicle mission coincides with a loading mission of a truck, and if so then suggestion or enabling of the association of the gear selection functionality with said lever or wheel (26) of the joystick.