Height control of an agricultural tool in a site-specific farming system
First Claim
1. A system for controlling the height of an agricultural tool coupled to an agricultural vehicle, the tool being moveable by a positioning assembly configured to raise and lower the tool in response to height control signals, the system comprising:
- a location signal generation circuit supported by the vehicle and configured to receive positioning signals and to generate location signals therefrom which are representative of the geographic location of the tool;
a memory circuit including geo-referenced attribute data representative of at least one attribute located in association with at least one agricultural field; and
a control circuit coupled to the location signal generation circuit, the memory circuit and the positioning assembly, the control circuit configured to compare the location signals to the geo-referenced attribute data and to generate the height control signals to change the height of the tool based upon the relationship between the location of the tool and the location of the at least one attribute.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A farming system which identifies the boundaries of agricultural fields and performs functions based upon whether a vehicle is located within a particular field is disclosed. The system includes a location signal generation circuit which receives positioning signals and generates location signals representative of the location of the vehicle. The system further includes a memory circuit which stores geo-referenced digital maps of the fields and may include boundary data or application maps for each field. The system further includes a control circuit which compares the location signals to the data stored in the memory circuit to determine when the vehicle is located in a particular field. In one embodiment, the control circuit selects a variable-rate application map for the particular field and generates variable-rate control signals from the map data which are applied to a variable-rate applicator. In another embodiment, the control circuit stores characteristic data sensed by a sensing circuit with correlated location signals in a geo-referenced digital map for the particular field. In another embodiment, the control circuit generates height control signals to raise and lower an agricultural tool such as a tractor plow or a combine header based upon relationships between the location of the tool in a field and the location of attributes in the field such as field boundaries or obstructions.
110 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A system for controlling the height of an agricultural tool coupled to an agricultural vehicle, the tool being moveable by a positioning assembly configured to raise and lower the tool in response to height control signals, the system comprising:
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a location signal generation circuit supported by the vehicle and configured to receive positioning signals and to generate location signals therefrom which are representative of the geographic location of the tool; a memory circuit including geo-referenced attribute data representative of at least one attribute located in association with at least one agricultural field; and a control circuit coupled to the location signal generation circuit, the memory circuit and the positioning assembly, the control circuit configured to compare the location signals to the geo-referenced attribute data and to generate the height control signals to change the height of the tool based upon the relationship between the location of the tool and the location of the at least one attribute. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for controlling the height of an agricultural tool coupled to an agricultural vehicle, the tool being moveable by a positioning assembly configured to raise and lower the tool in response to height control signals, the system comprising:
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a location signal generation circuit supported by the vehicle and configured to receive positioning signals and to generate location signals therefrom which are representative of the geographic location of the tool; a memory circuit including geo-referenced boundary data representative of the boundaries of at least one agricultural field; and a control circuit coupled to the location signal generation circuit, the memory circuit and the positioning assembly, the control circuit configured to compare the location signals to the geo-referenced boundary data and to generate the height control signals to change the height of the tool based upon the relationship between the location of the tool and the boundaries of the at least one field. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for controlling the height of an agricultural tool, the system comprising:
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an agricultural vehicle; a positioning assembly supported by the vehicle and configured to raise and lower the tool in response to height control signals; a location signal generation circuit supported by the vehicle and configured to receive positioning signals and to generate location signals therefrom which are representative of the geographic location of the tool; a memory circuit including geo-referenced attribute data representative of at least one attribute located in association with at least one agricultural field; and a control circuit coupled to the location signal generation circuit, the memory circuit and the positioning assembly, the control circuit configured to compare the location signals to the geo-referenced attribute data and to generate the height control signals to change the height of the tool based upon the relationship between the location of the tool and the location of the at least one attribute. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification