Automatic scaling of GPS field maps

• US 5,902,343 A
• Filed: 11/22/1996
• Issued: 05/11/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Blue Leaf IP Incorporated (CNH Industrial N.V.), CNH America Llc (CNH Industrial N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Case Corporation (CNH Industrial N.V.)
• Inventors: Wendte, Keith W., Hale, George H., Haack, Paul W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Gary
• Application Number:
  US08/754,905
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• Field of Search: 701/50, 701/207, 701/212, 701/213, 701/215, 342/357, 342/457, 56/10.2, 239/1, 239/61, 239/62, 239/63
• US Class Current: 701/50
• CPC Class Codes: A01B 79/005 Precision agriculture

Abstract

A field mapping system for an agricultural vehicle such as a combine, planter or cultivator is disclosed herein. The system includes a circuit for determining the position of the vehicle relative to a field, and a sensor for sensing a characteristic (e.g., grain moisture content, grain harvest yield, soil compaction, altitude, etc.) at locations of the vehicle within the field. The system also includes an electronic display controlled by a control circuit coupled to the position determining circuit and the sensor. The control circuit applies signals to the electronic display which produces a map of the field including indicia of the characteristic at respective locations within the field. (For example, if the characteristic is grain moisture content, different colors can be used on the display to represent different moisture levels.) The signals are generated by the control circuit so that the portion of the field over which the characteristic is sampled is scaled to be displayed over substantially all of a portion of the display. Thus, as the area of the field which has been sampled increases, the scale of the displayed map is automatically rescaled to show all of the data.

Claims

1. A system configured to sample at least one characteristic relating to a geographic area at a plurality of locations within the geographic area, the system comprising:

a vehicle moveable over the geographic area;

a location signal generation circuit supported by the vehicle to generate location signals representative of the plurality of locations within the geographic area;

a sensing circuit supported by the vehicle to generate characteristic signals representative of a characteristic sampled at the plurality of locations within the geographic area;

a control circuit coupled to the generation circuit and the sensing circuit, the control circuit configured to correlate location data representative of the location signals generated at the plurality of locations with characteristic data representative of the characteristic signals generated at the respective plurality of locations, wherein the geographic area is defined by and changes with the location data; and

an electronic display supported by the vehicle and coupled to the control circuit, the electronic display including a map display area, the control circuit further configured to scale the defined geographic area to substantially correspond to a portion of the map display area, and to produce a display signal which, when applied to the electronic display, generates visible indicia of the characteristic data at corresponding locations of the portion of the map display area;

wherein the map display area includes a border, and the control circuit rescales the defined geographic area when the visible indicia of the characteristic data substantially reach the border of the map display area.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is a combine including a grain conveyor which generates a flow of grain.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the sensing circuit includes a grain flow sensor supported by the combine to sense grain flow, and the characteristic is grain flow rate.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the indicia include a plurality of colors with different colors representing different grain flow rates.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the indicia include a plurality of alpha-numeric characters with different characters representing different grain flow rates.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the indicia include a plurality of light intensity levels with different levels representing different grain flow rates.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the sensing circuit includes a moisture sensor supported by the combine to sense grain moisture, and the characteristic is grain moisture content.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the indicia include a plurality of colors with different colors representing different grain moisture contents.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the indicia include a plurality of alpha-numeric characters with different characters representing different grain moisture contents.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the indicia include a plurality of light intensity levels with different levels representing different grain moisture contents.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensing circuit includes a ground compaction sensor to sense the hardness of the ground and the characteristic is ground compaction.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the indicia include a plurality of colors with different colors representing different magnitudes of compaction.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the indicia include a plurality of colors with different colors representing different magnitudes of the characteristic.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the indicia include a plurality of alpha-numeric characters with different characters representing different magnitudes of the characteristic.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the indicia include a plurality of light intensity levels with different levels representing different magnitudes of the characteristics.

16. The system of claim 3, wherein the location signal generation circuit includes a GPS transducer configured to generate global position signals, and the circuit generates the location signals based upon the position signals.

17. The system of claim 7, wherein the location signal generation circuit includes a GPS transducer configured to generate global position signals, and the circuit generates the location signals based upon the position signals.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the location signal generation circuit includes a GPS transducer configured to generate global position signals, and the circuit generates the location signals based upon the position signals.

19. The system of claim 1 wherein the map display area is only a portion of the total display area of the electronic display.

20. A system configured to sample at least one characteristic relating to a geographic area at a plurality of locations within the geographic area, the system comprising:

a vehicle moveable over the geographic area;

location means supported by the vehicle for generating location signals representative of the plurality of locations within the geographic area;

sensing means supported by the vehicle for generating characteristic signals representative of a characteristic sampled at the plurality of locations within the geographic area;

control means coupled to the location means and sensing means for correlating location data representative of the location signals generated at the plurality of locations with characteristic data representative of the characteristic signals generated at the respective plurality of locations, wherein the geographic area is defined by and changes with the location data; and

display means supported by the vehicle and coupled to the control means for generating a visual representation of the characteristic data in a map display area of the display means, the control means scaling the defined geographic area to substantially correspond to a portion of the map display area and producing a display signal which, when applied to the display means, generates visible indicia of the characteristic data at corresponding locations of the portion of the map display area;

wherein the map display area includes a border, the control means rescaling the defined geographic area when the visible indicia of the characteristic data substantially reach the border of the map display area.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the vehicle is a combine including a grain conveyor which generates a flow of grain.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the sensing means includes a grain flow sensor supported by the combine to sense grain flow, and the characteristic is grain flow rate.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the indicia include a plurality of colors with different colors representing different grain flow rates.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the indicia include a plurality of alpha-numeric characters with different characters representing different grain flow rates.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein the indicia include a plurality of light intensity levels with different levels representing different grain flow rates.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein the sensing means includes a moisture sensor supported by the combine to sense grain moisture, and the characteristic is grain moisture content.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the indicia include a plurality of colors with different colors representing different grain moisture contents.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the indicia include a plurality of alpha-numeric characters with different characters representing different grain moisture contents.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the indicia include a plurality of light intensity levels with different levels representing different grain moisture contents.

30. The system of claim 20, wherein the sensing means includes a ground compaction sensor to sense the hardness of the ground and the characteristic is ground compaction.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the indicia include a plurality of colors with different colors representing different magnitudes of ground compaction.

32. The system of claim 20, wherein the indicia include a plurality of colors with different colors representing different magnitudes of the characteristic.

33. The system of claim 20, wherein the indicia include a plurality of alpha-numeric characters with different characters representing different magnitudes of the characteristic.

34. The system of claim 20, wherein the indicia include a plurality of light intensity levels with different levels representing different magnitudes of the characteristic.

35. The system of claim 22, wherein the location means includes a GPS transducer configured to generate global position signals, and the location means generates the location signals based upon the position signals.

36. The system of claim 26, wherein the location means includes a GPS transducer configured to generate global position signals, and the location means generates the location signals based upon the position signals.

37. The system of claim 30, wherein the location means includes a GPS transducer configured to generate global position signals, and the location means generates the location signals based upon the position signals.

38. The system of claim 20, wherein the map display area is only a portion of the total display area of the display means.

39. A method for sampling at least one characteristic relating to a geographic area at a plurality of locations within the geographic area and generating an image in a map display area of an electronic display representative of the characteristic, the method comprising the steps of:

moving a vehicle over the geographic area;

generating location signals representative of the plurality of locations of the vehicle within the geographic area;

generating characteristic signals representative of a characteristic sampled at the plurality of locations of the vehicle within the geographic area;

correlating location data representative of the location signals generated at the plurality of locations within the geographic area with characteristic data representative of the characteristic signals generated at the respective plurality of locations, wherein the geographic area is defined by and changes with the location data;

scaling the defined geographic area to substantially correspond to a portion of the map display area;

generating visible indicia of the characteristic data at corresponding locations of the portion of the map display area; and

rescaling the defined geographic area when the visible indicia of the characteristic data substantially reach a border of the map display area.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the vehicle is a combine including a grain conveyor which generates a flow of grain, and the characteristic being sampled is grain flow rate.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the vehicle is a combine including a grain conveyor which generates a flow of grain, and the characteristic being sampled is grain moisture content.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein the characteristic being sampled is ground compaction.

43. The method of claim 39, wherein the indicia include a plurality of colors with different colors representing different magnitudes of the characteristic.

44. The method of claim 39, wherein the indicia include a plurality of alpha-numeric characters with different characters representing different magnitudes of the characteristic.

45. The method of claim 39, wherein the indicia include a plurality of light intensity levels with different levels representing different magnitudes of the characteristic.

46. The method of claim 39, wherein the step of generating location signals includes the steps of generating global position signals, and generating the location signals based upon the global position signals.

47. The system of claim 39, wherein the map display area is only a portion of the total display area of the electronic display.