System for recording soil conditions
First Claim
1. A system for recording soil conditions of an agricultural field while work is being performed on the field, the system comprising:
- a vehicle moveable over the field;
an agricultural tool moveable by the vehicle, with a force, and configured to perform work on the field as the vehicle moves over the field;
an input device supported by the vehicle and configured to generate force signals representative of the force applied by the soil to the tool during the work operations;
a location signal generation circuit supported by the vehicle and configured to receive first location signals and to generate second location signals therefrom;
a control element, coupled to the input device and the location signal generation circuit, the control element configured to generate condition data representative of the soil conditions based upon the force signals, and to process the second location signals to generate location data representative of the corresponding location of the vehicle in the field; and
a digital memory coupled to the control element, the control element further configured to correlate the condition data with the respective location data, and to store the condition data with the correlated location data in the digital memory.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A site-specific farming system for performing work on an agricultural field while soil compaction conditions of the field are being recorded includes a vehicle such as a tractor equipped with an element carrying farming tools for working the field, such as a plow. Sensors, including hitch load pins and/or strain gauge type sensors, detect the load on the tools due to the soil compaction. A location signal generation circuit generates signals relating to the location at which the force signal is sampled. The force data is correlated with the locations at which the force was sampled. The correlated data is stored in a memory. The user interface may include re-definable switches. A display may show a field map including the soil condition values, including soil compaction, and other sensed data.
195 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system for recording soil conditions of an agricultural field while work is being performed on the field, the system comprising:
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a vehicle moveable over the field; an agricultural tool moveable by the vehicle, with a force, and configured to perform work on the field as the vehicle moves over the field; an input device supported by the vehicle and configured to generate force signals representative of the force applied by the soil to the tool during the work operations; a location signal generation circuit supported by the vehicle and configured to receive first location signals and to generate second location signals therefrom; a control element, coupled to the input device and the location signal generation circuit, the control element configured to generate condition data representative of the soil conditions based upon the force signals, and to process the second location signals to generate location data representative of the corresponding location of the vehicle in the field; and a digital memory coupled to the control element, the control element further configured to correlate the condition data with the respective location data, and to store the condition data with the correlated location data in the digital memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus for recording soil conditions of an agricultural field while work is being performed on the field, the apparatus comprising:
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a vehicle moveable over the field; a hitch, for attachment of a ground-engaging implement, the hitch including at least one link arm, having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is attachable to the rear of the vehicle, and wherein the second end is attachable to the ground-engaging implement, and at least one load pin configured to generate force signals representative of the force applied thereto; a location signal generation circuit supported by the vehicle and configured to receive first location signals and to generate second location signals therefrom; a control element coupled to the at least one load pin, and the location signal generation circuit, the control element configured to generate condition data representative of the soil conditions based upon the force signals, and to process the second location signals to generate location data representative of the corresponding location of the vehicle in the field; and a digital memory coupled to the control element, the control element further configured to correlate the condition data with the respective location data, and to store the condition data with the correlated location data in the digital memory. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of recording soil conditions in an agricultural field while work is being performed on the field by a tool supported by a vehicle moving over the field, comprising the steps of:
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generating force data representative of soil conditions at a plurality of locations within the field; receiving location signals; processing the location signals to generate location data representative of the plurality of locations; correlating the respective location data with the respective condition data; and storing the location data with the correlated condition data. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A system for recording soil conditions of an agricultural field while work is being performed on the field, the system comprising:
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a vehicle moveable over the agricultural field; an implement towing assembly mounted on the vehicle; an agricultural implement coupled to the implement towing assembly for movement by the vehicle, the agricultural implement including a plurality of soil engaging tools configured to engage the soil of the field as the vehicle moves over the field; a force sensor assembly coupled to the implement towing assembly, the force sensor assembly configured to generate force signals representative of the forces applied by the agricultural implement on the vehicle, the force signals representing the composite forces being applied by the plurality of soil engaging tools on the implement; a location signal generation circuit supported by the vehicle and configured to receive first location signals and to generate second location signals therefrom; a control element, coupled to the force sensor assembly and the location signal generation circuit, the control element configured to generate condition data representative of the soil conditions based upon the force signals, and to process the second location signals to generate location data representative of the corresponding location of the vehicle in the field; and a digital memory coupled to the control element, the control element further configured to correlate the condition data with the respective location data, and to store the condition data with the correlated location data in the digital memory. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification