Autonomous Work Vehicle Route Handover With Stop-and-Announce Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autonomous travel systems for work vehicles face challenges in ensuring safety and efficiency when traversing connecting roads between multiple areas, as they need to avoid collisions with other vehicles and ensure safe navigation on inter-field routes.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous travel method, system, and program that cause a work vehicle to stop at the end point of a preset inter-area route on connecting roads, utilizing a travel processor to manage the vehicle's movement and announce travel information to ensure safety and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the work vehicle travels autonomously on connecting roads between fields, then traveling efficiency is improved, but safety risk increases due to potential collisions with other vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by announcing travel information before the work vehicle actually travels on the connecting road. The announcement is made in advance to inform other vehicles and pedestrians of the autonomous vehicle's intended movement, allowing them to prepare accordingly. This preventive measure addresses safety concerns before the actual travel occurs, enabling efficient autonomous inter-field travel while mitigating collision risks through prior notification.
2Reliability
If the work vehicle stops at the end point of the inter-area route, then safety is improved by allowing operator confirmation, but traveling time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by announcing travel information at the end point and receiving operator confirmation before resuming travel. The announcement serves as feedback to the operator about the vehicle's status and location, enabling informed decision-making. This feedback mechanism ensures safety through operator awareness while minimizing time loss by allowing quick confirmation rather than requiring extended stopping periods.
3Reliability
If the work vehicle announces travel information before and during travel, then safety is improved through awareness, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The work vehicle performs self-service by autonomously generating and announcing its own travel information without requiring external monitoring systems. The vehicle's control unit automatically creates announcements about its travel status, location, and intentions, and manages the stopping/ resuming workflow independently. This self-service approach enhances safety through consistent information dissemination while avoiding the added complexity of external announcement systems or additional monitoring infrastructure.
Data Source
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AI summary
[Problem] To provide an autonomous travel method, an autonomous travel system, and an autonomous travel program capable of improving safety and a traveling efficiency of a work vehicle autonomously traveling between multiple areas. [Solution] An autonomous travel system 1 causes a work vehicle 10 to autonomously travel along an inter-field route R12 preset for a road R0 connecting a field F1 and a field F2. A travel processor 111 causes the work vehicle 10 to be stopped at a route start position Tsl of the inter-field route R12 and to resume autonomous travel when a user is within a predetermined distance from the work vehicle 10 in the field F1 corresponding to the stop position of the work vehicle 10. An announcement process unit 112 causes the work vehicle to announce travel information about travel on the inter-field route R12 in the field F1.