System for conducting an agricultural operation using an autonomous vehicle
First Claim
1. A method for conducting agricultural operations in an area having a boundary using first and second autonomous vehicles, comprising:
- (a) providing a mission plans for the first and second autonomous vehicles, the mission plans including paths for the first and second autonomous vehicles to travel within the area to perform agricultural operations by the first and second autonomous vehicles within the boundary;
(b) receiving with a base station, via wireless transmission, progress information from the first and second autonomous vehicles indicating progress with respect to the agricultural operations;
(c) monitoring for an event condition with the base station;
(d) upon receiving an event condition, revising at least one of the mission plans for the first and second autonomous vehicles with the base station without real time user input to optimize performance of the agricultural operation within the area based on current agricultural conditions;
(e) transmitting the at least one revised mission plan without user approval of the revised mission plan from the base station to the first and second autonomous vehicles; and
(f) adjusting the path of at least one of the first and second autonomous vehicles in accordance with the at least one revised mission plan so as to resolve the event condition.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a system for conducting agricultural operations in a field using one or more autonomous vehicles in which the agricultural operations may be optimized during run time. The system includes providing a mission plan for an autonomous vehicle, receiving progress updates from the vehicle as it conducts an agricultural operation according to the mission plan, and monitoring for event conditions which may be reported by the vehicle. Event conditions may include, for example, detection of an obstacle, or an oncoming vehicle, or a disablement of the vehicle. Upon receiving an event condition, the system may revise the mission plan to resolve the event condition while providing an optimization based on current agricultural conditions.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for conducting agricultural operations in an area having a boundary using first and second autonomous vehicles, comprising:
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(a) providing a mission plans for the first and second autonomous vehicles, the mission plans including paths for the first and second autonomous vehicles to travel within the area to perform agricultural operations by the first and second autonomous vehicles within the boundary; (b) receiving with a base station, via wireless transmission, progress information from the first and second autonomous vehicles indicating progress with respect to the agricultural operations; (c) monitoring for an event condition with the base station; (d) upon receiving an event condition, revising at least one of the mission plans for the first and second autonomous vehicles with the base station without real time user input to optimize performance of the agricultural operation within the area based on current agricultural conditions; (e) transmitting the at least one revised mission plan without user approval of the revised mission plan from the base station to the first and second autonomous vehicles; and (f) adjusting the path of at least one of the first and second autonomous vehicles in accordance with the at least one revised mission plan so as to resolve the event condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for managing agricultural operations in an area having a boundary using first and second autonomous vehicles, the system comprising:
a processor executing a program stored in a non-transient medium operable to; (a) provide mission plans for the first and second autonomous vehicles, the mission plans including path for the first and second autonomous vehicles to travel within the area to perform agricultural operations by the first and second autonomous vehicles within the boundary; (b) receive via wireless transmission progress information from the first and second autonomous vehicles indicating progress with respect to the agricultural operations; (c) monitor for an event condition; (d) upon receiving an event condition, revise at least one of the mission plans for the first and second autonomous vehicles without real time user input to optimize performance of the agricultural operation of a corresponding one of the first and second autonomous vehicles within the area based on current agricultural conditions; (e) transmit the at least one revised mission plan without user approval of the revised mission plan to the first and second autonomous vehicles; and (f) cause the path of a corresponding autonomous vehicle to adjust in accordance with the at least one revised mission plan so as to resolve the event condition. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A method for conducting agricultural operations in a field having a boundary using first and second autonomous vehicles comprising:
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(a) providing a mission plan for the first and second autonomous vehicles, the mission plan including first and second paths for the first and second autonomous vehicles to travel within the boundary of the field to perform first and second agricultural operations, respectively, within the boundary of the field; (b) receiving progress information with a base station, via wireless transmission, from the first and second autonomous vehicles indicating progress with respect to the first and second agricultural operations, respectively; (c) monitoring for an event condition with the base station; (d) upon receiving an event condition, revising with the base station the mission plan without real time user input to optimize performance of the first and second agricultural operations within the boundary of the field based on current agricultural conditions for at least one of the first and second autonomous vehicles; (e) transmitting the revised mission plan without user approval of the revised mission plan from the base station to the first and second autonomous vehicles; and (f) adjusting at least one of the first and second paths for a corresponding least one of the first and second autonomous vehicles in accordance with the revised mission plan so as to resolve the event condition. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification