Method and system for augmenting a guidance system with a path sensor

• US 9,766,083 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2013
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PTx Trimble LLC
• Original Assignee: Trimble Inc.
• Inventors: Peake, John William, Lange, Arthur F.
• Primary Examiner(s): SMITH, JELANI A
• Application Number:
  US13/797,352
• Publication Number:
  US 20130191017A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,652 Days
• Field of Search: 701 25, 701 26, 701 41, 701 28, 701 314, 701 46, 701 45, 701466, 701 50, 701533, 356 401, 700242
• CPC Class Codes: A01B 69/008 automatic
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0227 using mechanical sensing means, e.g. for sensing treated area
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS

Abstract

In an automatic vehicle position control system, such as a satellite-based agricultural implement steering system, the satellite-based steering information is adjusted with information obtained from one or more path sensors to facilitate the automatic nudging of the vehicle to take account of inaccurate tracking of the agricultural implement relative to its tractor, terrain variations, and inaccuracies in the satellite-based steering system.

Claims

1. A system for augmenting guidance information from an automatic guidance system in a mobile agricultural machine, comprising:

a position determination guidance sensor mounted on the mobile agricultural machine and configured to provide guidance information for controlling a steering direction of the mobile agricultural machine along a guidance path;

at least one contact-based path sensor mounted on the mobile agricultural machine for physically sensing a relative position of the mobile agricultural machine to at least one path reference point;

a memory for storing the guidance information from the position determination guidance sensor and the relative position of the mobile agricultural machine from the at least one contact-based path sensor; and

a processor connected to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to determine corrected guidance information based on a difference between the guidance information from the position determination guidance sensor and the relative position of the mobile agricultural machine from the at least one contact-based path sensor stored in the memory.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one contact-based path sensor comprises a swath sensor for measuring a distance to an edge of a swath.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one contact-based path sensor further comprises a row sensor for measuring a distance to a crop row.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one reference point is a ground feature of a row, wherein the at least one contact-based path sensor comprises a row sensor for measuring a distance to the ground feature of the row.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the ground feature of the row comprises a rut between a bed of planted rows.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one reference point is a plant, wherein the at least one contact-based path sensor measures a distance to the plant.

2. A method for augmenting guidance information from an automatic guidance system in a mobile agricultural machine, comprising:

determining the guidance information of the mobile agricultural machine using a position determination guidance sensor and deriving guidance information therefrom;

obtaining secondary positional information from at least one contact-based path sensor configured to physically detect a path reference point; and

adjusting the guidance information from said position determination guidance sensor using the secondary positional information to define augmented guidance information, wherein the mobile agricultural machine is guided along substantially adjacent paths defined in a demarcated field and the secondary positional information includes information gathered along a path that is currently being traveled by the mobile agricultural machine, and wherein the secondary positional information includes information gathered along one or more paths previously traveled by the mobile agricultural machine.

3. A method for augmenting guidance information from an automatic guidance system in a mobile agricultural machine, comprising:

determining the guidance information of the mobile agricultural machine using a position determination guidance sensor and deriving guidance information therefrom;

obtaining secondary positional information from at least one contact-based path sensor configured to physically detect a path reference point;

determining corrected guidance information based on a difference between the guidance information and the secondary position information;

adjusting the guidance information from said position determination guidance sensor using the corrected guidance information; and

gathering manual positional adjustment information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the adjustment of the position determination guidance sensor positional information includes the manual positional adjustment information gathered during one or more paths previously traveled by the mobile agricultural machine.