Operator selectable speed input

• US 9,655,355 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2015
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2015
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Blue Leaf IP Incorporated (CNH Industrial N.V.)
• Original Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC (CNH Industrial N.V.)
• Inventors: Brooks, Nathan Paul, Bittner, Roy A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Butler, Rodney
• Assistant Examiner(s): BRUSHABER, FREDERICK M
• Application Number:
  US14/699,724
• Publication Number:
  US 20160316616A1
• Time in Patent Office: 755 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A01B 79/005 Precision agriculture
• CPC Class Codes: A01C 21/002 Apparatus for sowing fertiliser; Fertiliser drill
• CPC Class Codes: A01C 23/007 Metering or regulating systems
• CPC Class Codes: A01M 7/0089 Regulating or controlling systems the delivery being related to the movement of a vehicle B05B9/06

Abstract

An improved system of determining the speed at which an agricultural vehicle is traveling is disclosed. A control system for the sprayer receives feedback signals from multiple sensors, where each feedback signal may be utilized to determine the speed at which the sprayer is traveling. An operator interface, such as a touch-screen terminal, is provided to receive input from the operator for selecting one of the feedback signals. Each of the feedback signals has certain operating conditions under which they are more or less reliable. The operator may select one of the feedback signals from which the speed of the sprayer is determined according to the present operating conditions. The speed determined from the selected feedback signal is then used by the sprayer to control and record application of product to the field.

Claims

1. A method for controlling operation of an agricultural vehicle as a function of a speed at which the agricultural vehicle is traveling over a surface, the method comprising the steps:

receiving a signal from each of a plurality of sensors at a controller, each sensor operable to generate the signal responsive to motion of the agricultural vehicle;

receiving an input from a user interface at the controller, the input identifying one of the plurality of sensors;

converting the signal received from the identified sensor to a speed feedback signal, wherein the signal from a first of the plurality of sensors is in a first format, the signal from a second of the plurality of sensors is in a second format, and each of the signals is converted to a single format for the speed feedback signal; and

controlling operation of the agricultural vehicle as a function of the speed feedback signal.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the speed feedback signal is a series of pulses varying in frequency as a function of the speed at which the agricultural vehicle is moving and wherein the step of controlling operation of the agricultural vehicle further comprises the steps of:

receiving a clock signal at the controller;

determining a duration between successive pulses from the series of pulses as a function of the clock signal;

reading a conversion factor from a memory with the controller wherein the conversion factor identifies a number of pulses during a predefined duration expected from the signal converted to the speed feedback signal; and

generating a velocity signal as a function of the duration between successive pulses and the conversion factor.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the speed feedback signal is a value stored in a memory of the first controller and wherein the step of controlling operation of the agricultural vehicle further comprises the steps of:

reading a conversion factor from the memory with the controller; and

generating a velocity signal as a function of the value stored in the memory and the conversion factor.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the agricultural equipment is operating and is converting the signal from the identified sensor to a speed feedback signal based on the signal from the first of the plurality of sensors, the method further comprising the steps of:

receiving a new input from the user interface identifying the signal from the second of the plurality of sensors to generate the speed feedback signal during operation of the agricultural equipment; and

switching the signal from the first of the plurality of sensors to the signal from the second of the plurality of sensors for conversion to the speed feedback signal during operation of the agricultural equipment.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

storing at least one performance criterion for each signal from the plurality of sensors in a memory of the controller;

receiving a signal at the controller from a plurality of operational sensors on the agricultural vehicle, and

the controller selecting a desired feedback signal from the signal from each of the plurality of sensors to be converted to the speed feedback signal as a function of the performance criterion and of the signals from the plurality of operational sensors.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of sensors includes at least three sensors selected from the group consisting of a radar system, a wheel speed sensor, an antenna in communication with a navigation system, and a transmission pickup.

7. A method for determining an application rate for a product delivered by an agricultural vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a signal from each of a plurality of sensors at a controller, each sensor operable to generate the signal responsive to motion of the agricultural vehicle;

receiving an input from a user interface at the controller, the input identifying one of the plurality of sensors;

converting the signal received from the identified sensor to a speed feedback signal, wherein the signal from a first of the plurality of sensors is in a first format, the signal from a second of the plurality of sensors is in a second format, and each of the signals is converted to a single format for the speed feedback signal; and

determining the application rate for the product delivered by the agricultural vehicle as a function of the speed feedback signal.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the agricultural equipment is operating and is converting the signal from the identified sensor to a speed feedback signal based on the signal from the first of the plurality of sensors, the method further comprising the steps of:

receiving a new input from the user interface identifying the signal from the second of the plurality of sensors to generate the speed feedback signal during operation of the agricultural equipment; and

switching the signal from the first of the plurality of sensors to the signal from the second of the plurality of sensors for conversion to the speed feedback signal during operation of the agricultural equipment.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprising the steps of:

storing at least one performance criterion for each signal from the first and the second of the plurality of sensors in a memory of the controller;

receiving a signal at the controller from a first operational sensor on the agricultural vehicle corresponding to the performance criterion for the first of the plurality of sensors,

receiving a signal at the controller from a second operational sensor on the agricultural vehicle corresponding to the performance criterion for the second of the plurality of sensors, and

the controller selecting a desired feedback signal from the signal from each of the first and the second of the plurality of sensors to be converted to the speed feedback signal as a function of the signal from each of the first and the second operational sensors and of the performance criterion.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein:

the controller includes a first controller and a second controller,

the signal from each of the plurality of sensors is received at the first controller,

the input from the user interface is received at the first controller,

the signal received from the identified sensor is converted to the speed feedback signal at the first controller, and

the application rate is determined at the second controller, the method further comprising the step of transmitting the speed feedback signal from the first controller to the second controller between the steps of converting the signal and determining the application rate.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein:

the speed feedback signal is a series of pulses varying in frequency as a function of the speed at which the agricultural vehicle is moving,

the first controller includes a dedicated speed output,

the second controller includes a dedicated speed input, and

the step of transmitting the speed feedback signal includes the first controller outputting the series of pulses from the dedicated speed output of the first controller to the dedicated speed input of the second controller.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of determining the application rate for the product delivered by the agricultural vehicle further comprises the steps of:

determining a number of pulses received within a predefined duration at the second controller; and

adjusting the application rate as a function of the number of pulses received within the predefined duration.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the speed feedback signal is a value stored in a memory device of the first controller and the step of transmitting the speed feedback signal includes the steps of:

inserting the value of the speed feedback signal into a data packet formatted according to a protocol of a network connected between the first controller and the second controller; and

transmitting the data packet via the network from the first controller to the second controller.