Vehicle guidance system

• US 9,826,674 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2015
• Issued: 11/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AGCO Corporation
• Original Assignee: AGCO Corporation
• Inventors: Matthews, Paul Ross
• Primary Examiner(s): Figueroa, Jaime
• Application Number:
  US14/798,098
• Publication Number:
  US 20160021813A1
• Time in Patent Office: 869 Days
• Field of Search: 701 1, 701 26
• CPC Class Codes: A01B 69/00 Steering of agricultural machines or implements; Guiding agricultural machines or implements on a desired track
• CPC Class Codes: A01B 69/004 automatic
• CPC Class Codes: A01B 69/007 Steering or guiding of agricultural vehicles, e.g. steering of the tractor to keep the plough in the furrow
• CPC Class Codes: A01B 79/005 Precision agriculture
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/005 with correlation of navigation data from several sources, e.g. map or contour matching G01C21/30 takes precedence

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method comprising receiving input corresponding to a first contour wayline to enable auto-steer traversal by a vehicle over a field; generating a plurality of contour waylines based on the first contour wayline; identifying a non-drivable section among the plurality of contour waylines, the identifying based on information corresponding to a time for the vehicle to reach a minimum turning radius and the minimum turning radius; and generating an alternative contour wayline section for the identified non-drivable section.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a vehicle guidance system, input corresponding to a first contour wayline to enable auto-steer traversal by the vehicle over a field;

generating, by the vehicle guidance system, a plurality of contour waylines based on the first contour wayline;

identifying, by the vehicle guidance system, a non-drivable section among the plurality of contour waylines, the identifying based on information corresponding to a time for the vehicle to reach a minimum turning radius;

generating, by the vehicle guidance system, an alternative contour wayline section for the identified non-drivable section; and

causing, by the vehicle guidance system, the auto-steer traversal by the vehicle of the field according to the plurality of contour waylines and according to the alternative contour wayline section for the non-drivable section,

wherein identifying the non-drivable section comprises logically scanning the plurality of contour waylines with a defined geometrical area and detecting when the defined geometrical area intersects two contiguous sections of one of the plurality of contour waylines.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the non-drivable section is further based on information corresponding to speed of the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining a speed for which the vehicle is to traverse the alternative contour wayline section.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising causing the auto-steer traversal by the vehicle of the field according to the alternative contour wayline section in place of the non-drivable section based on the determined speed.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the non-drivable section is without operator intervention.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the defined geometrical area is based on one or more curved sections.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the alternative contour wayline section for the identified non-drivable section occurs before the vehicle reaches the non-drivable section.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-drivable section comprises a section that the vehicle physically cannot turn on when navigating according to the associated contour line.

9. A system, comprising:

a vehicle comprising a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver and a controller coupled to the GNSS receiver and a vehicle drive system, the controller configured to;

receive input corresponding to a first contour wayline to enable auto-steer traversal by the vehicle over a field;

generate a plurality of contour waylines based on the first contour wayline;

identify a non-drivable section among the plurality of contour waylines by logically scanning the plurality of contour waylines with a defined geometrical area and determining when the defined geometrical area intersects two contiguous sections of one of the plurality of contour waylines, the identifying based on information corresponding to a time for the vehicle to reach a minimum turning radius;

generate an alternative contour wayline section for the identified non-drivable section; and

cause the vehicle drive system to auto-steer across the field according to the plurality of contour waylines and according to the alternative contour wayline section for the non-drivable section.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to identify the non-drivable section based on information corresponding to speed of the vehicle.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to determine a speed for which the vehicle is to traverse the alternative contour wayline section.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to cause the vehicle drive system to auto-steer across the field according to the alternative contour wayline section in place of the non-drivable section based on the determined speed.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to identify the non-drivable section without operator intervention.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the defined geometrical area is based on one or more curved sections.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to generate the alternative contour wayline section for the identified non-drivable section before the vehicle reaches the non-drivable section.