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GNSS navigation for a mechanized irrigation corner system

  • US 9,069,071 B1
  • Filed: 05/16/2013
  • Issued: 06/30/2015
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2013
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. The method of irrigating a field, comprising the steps of:

  • providing a mechanized center pivot irrigation system including a center pivot structure having a main arm, with inner and outer ends, extending outwardly from said center pivot structure which is supported upon and driven in either a forwardly or rearwardly direction around the center pivot structure by a plurality of non-steerable drive units;

    providing a corner irrigation system including an elongated corner arm pivotally secured to said outer end of the main arm which is supported upon a steerable drive unit having first and second drive wheels;

    creating latitude and longitudinal path navigation waypoints which correspond to the correct latitude and longitudinal position of the steerable drive unit as the main arm and the corner arm move over the field;

    mounting a rover GNSS antenna on the steerable drive unit;

    mounting a rover navigation box on the steerable drive unit with the rover navigation box having a GNSS receiver, which is in communication with the rover GNSS antenna, and a printed circuit board;

    loading and storing the navigation latitude and longitudinal path waypoints in the printed circuit board of the rover navigation box;

    operatively coupling the rover navigation box to first and second drive wheels of the steerable drive units for steering the first and second drive wheels of the steerable drive unit;

    mounting a base GNSS antenna on the center pivot irrigation system at the center pivot structure;

    mounting a base navigation box on the center pivot irrigation system at the center pivot structure with the base navigation box having a GNSS receiver, which is in communication with the base GNSS antenna, and a printed circuit board;

    computing the latitude and longitudinal position of the base navigation box utilizing RTK and sending latitude and longitudinal position corrections to the rover navigation box so that the rover navigation box is able to compute its corrected latitude and longitudinal position as the steerable drive unit moves around the field whereby the corrected latitude and longitudinal position of the steerable drive unit is compared to the two closest navigation latitude and longitudinal path waypoints to determine the steering direction of the first and second drive wheels and the amount of steering time to ensure that the steerable drive unit stays on its intended path.

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