Yield estimation

• US 10,295,703 B2
• Filed: 02/10/2018
• Issued: 05/21/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Deere & Company
• Original Assignee: Deere & Company
• Inventors: Dybro, Niels, Anderson, Noel W., Bruns, Aaron J., Phelan, James J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lebentritt, Michael
• Application Number:
  US15/893,631
• Publication Number:
  US 20180164471A1
• Time in Patent Office: 465 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A01B 79/005 Precision agriculture
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 41/1271 for measuring crop flow
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 45/021 Cornheaders
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 21/22 for measuring angles or tapers; for testing the alignment of axes
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/00 Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow measuring a proportion of the volume flow G01F5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/00 Measuring force or stress, in general measuring force due to impact G01L5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 3/00 Measuring linear or angular speed; Measuring differences of linear or angular speeds G01P5/00 - G01P11/00 take precedence; direction and speed indication G01P13/045; counting mechanisms G06M
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/00 Arrangements for measuring currents or voltages or for indicating presence or sign thereof G01R5/00 takes precedence; for measuring bioelectric currents or voltages A61B5/24
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

Abstract

An apparatus may include a harvester head having a crop harvesting width, different components across the harvesting width to interact with plants being harvested, at least one sensor to sense a power characteristic associated with each of the different components and a processing unit to output a crop quantity distribution signal based upon differences in the power characteristic associated with the different components across the harvesting width.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a harvester head having a crop harvesting width;

different components across the harvesting width to interact with plants being harvested;

at least one sensor to sense a power characteristic associated with each of the different components; and

a processing unit to output a crop quantity distribution signal based upon differences in the power characteristic associated with the different components across the harvesting width.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the harvester head comprises a row crop head having row units and wherein each of the row units comprises one of the different components.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the different components comprise different members that sever the different plants across the harvesting width, the different components selected from a group of components consisting of:

a snap roller, a stalk chopper, a sickle bar and a cutter bar.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the different components comprise different members that convey harvested portions of the different plants from different portions of the harvester head across the harvesting width.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a sensor selected from a group of sensors consisting of:

the voltage sensor, a current sensor, torque sensor, a hydraulic pressure sensor, a hydraulic flow sensor, force sensor, a bearing load sensor and a rotational sensor.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the crop quantity distribution signal comprises a signal indicating different distributions with respect to a parameter selected from a group of parameters consisting of:

grain yield, non-grain yield and biomass yield.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the crop quantity distribution signal is geo-referenced or time stamped.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing unit correlates the sensed power characteristic associated with each of the different components to crop yield to output the crop quantity distribution signal that indicates an estimated yield for different plants being harvested from different portions of the harvesting width across the harvesting width.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an aggregate yield sensor to measure an aggregate yield by the harvester head during a measurement interval, wherein the processor allocates the aggregate yield amongst different portions of the harvester head across the harvesting width based upon the crop quantity distribution signal.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an aggregate yield sensor to measure an aggregate yield by the harvester head during a measurement interval, wherein the processor allocates the aggregate yield to a plurality of geo-referenced or time stamped regions from which plants were harvested by different portions of the harvester head across the harvesting width based upon different travel times for crops sensed by the aggregate sensor during the measurement interval to travel to the aggregate sensor in combination with the crop quantity distribution signal.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the geo-referenced regions to which portions of the aggregate yield from the measured interval are allocated are part of a chevron shape.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein allocation of the portions of the aggregate yield from the measured interval to the plurality of geo-referenced regions is based upon a distance traveled by a harvested crop until being sensed by the aggregate yield sensor, conveyance speed applied by each conveyance subsystem and forward speed of the harvester head.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising:

at least one sensor to sense a pitch of the harvester head, wherein a portion of the aggregate yield is allocated to the plurality of geo-referenced regions based upon the pitch.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising:

at least one sensor to sense a roll of the harvester head, wherein a portion of the aggregate yield is allocated to the plurality of geo-referenced regions based upon the roll.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the harvester head comprises a row crop head having row units and wherein each of the row units comprises one of the different components, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a sensor selected from a group of sensors consisting of:

the voltage sensor, a current sensor, torque sensor, a hydraulic pressure sensor, a hydraulic flow sensor, force sensor, a bearing load sensor and a rotational sensor.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the different components comprise different members that sever the different plants across the harvesting width, the different components selected from a group of components consisting of:

a snap roller, a stalk chopper, a sickle bar and a cutter bar.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the different components comprise different members that convey harvested portions of the different plants from different portions of the harvester head across the harvesting width, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a sensor selected from a group of sensors consisting of:

the voltage sensor, a current sensor, torque sensor, a hydraulic pressure sensor, a hydraulic flow sensor, force sensor, a bearing load sensor and a rotational sensor.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the crop quantity distribution signal is geo-referenced or time stamped.