GNSS-based mobile communication system and method

• US 8,018,376 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2009
• Issued: 09/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Agjunction LLC (Kubota Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hemisphere GPS LLC (Kubota Corporation)
• Inventors: Timm, John T. E., McClure, John A., Collins, Dennis M., Stichter, Aaron C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza; Thomas H
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCGUE, FRANK J
• Application Number:
  US12/419,140
• Publication Number:
  US 20090251366A1
• Time in Patent Office: 890 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.09
• US Class Current: 342/350
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/41 Differential correction, e.g. DGPS [differential GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/53 Determining attitude
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0202 specially adapted to aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/027 comprising intertial navigation means, e.g. azimuth detector inertial navigation G01C21/16; inertial navigation combined with non-inertial navigation instruments G01C21/165
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS

Abstract

A GNSS-based, bidirectional mobile communication system includes a mobile unit, such as a vehicle or a personal mobile system, with GNSS (e.g., GPS) and Internet (worldwide web) access. A base station also has GNSS and Internet access, and provides differential (e.g., DGPS) correctors to the mobile unit via the Internet. The Internet communications link enables audio and/or video (AV) clips to be recorded and played back by the mobile unit based on its GNSS location. The playback function can be triggered by the mobile unit detecting a predetermined GNSS location associated with a particular clip, which can be GNSS position-stamped when recorded. Alternatively, clips can be generated by utilities and loaded by the application either from a personal computer or automatically over the Internet. Moreover, maps, vehicle travel paths and images associated with particular GNSS-defined locations, such as waypoints, can be updated and position-stamped on the data server. A GNSS-based mobile communication method and a storage medium encoded with a machine-readable code for mobile communications are also provided.

Claims

1. A global navigation satellite system (GNSS) based communication system utilizing position-specific information, which communication system includes:

a fixed-position base station including a base GNSS receiver;

a rover vehicle;

a rover GNSS receiver mounted on said vehicle;

multiple GNSS antennas mounted on said vehicle in fixed, spaced relation and connected to said GNSS receiver;

a data server associated with said vehicle and receiving input from said base station and said rover GNSS receiver;

said data server being adapted to associate position-specific information with a GNSS-defined position of said vehicle in real-time;

said position-specific information corresponding to paths traveled by said vehicle and input to a mapping service via the Internet; and

said position-specific information being forward-predicted based on vehicle;

     1) position;

     2) heading determined by the positions of said GNSS antennas relative to each other and said vehicle; and

     3) speed determined from the GNSS positions of said vehicle and periodically updated based on an actual course for aerial or ground-based operations corresponding to a predictive vehicle course.

2. The communication system according to claim 1, which includes:

a radio frequency (RF) communication link between said base and rover GNSS receivers, said link being adapted for transmitting differential GNSS corrections from said base station GNSS receiver to said rover GNSS receiver.

3. The communication system according to claim 1, which includes:

said base station, said vehicle and said data server being interconnected via the Internet.

4. The communication system according to claim 3, which includes:

GNSS-defined position-specific information on said data server and comprising one or more of mapping information, images and audio content.

5. The communication system according to claim 4, which includes:

a personal mobile navigation system including a GNSS receiver connected to the data server and connected to the base station via the Internet; and

said vehicle and said personal mobile navigation system providing GNSS-defined, location-specific information to said data server and to said base station via the Internet.

6. The communication system according to claim 5, which includes:

said location-specific information including a geo-reference comprising location-stamped and time-stamped video images associated with respective GNSS-defined locations.

7. The communication system according to claim 6 wherein said location-specific information comprises specific waypoints in audio and video formats.

8. The communication system according to claim 1 wherein said location-specific information corresponds to paths traveled by said vehicle and input to a mapping service via the Internet.

9. The communication system according to claim 1, which includes:

said location-specific information including an area of agricultural operation divided by a grid into multiple sectors and including reference corners and a scale of XY ranges.

10. The communication system according to claim 9, which includes:

said vehicle comprising a crop duster aircraft;

a flight path for said aircraft calculated by said communication system; and

a distribution pattern for applied materials comprising fertilizer, herbicide or pesticide based on GNSS-defined locations and information received by the aircraft from the base station via the Internet.

11. The communication system according to claim 10, which includes:

means for monitoring actual flight paths of multiple aircraft in real-time;

means for displaying to ground-based controllers and airborne pilots said actual flight paths of multiple aircraft in real-time;

displays in the base station and the aircraft graphically showing treated areas and untreated areas in said agricultural area; and

means for documenting the agricultural area treatment operation.

12. The communication system according to claim 11, which includes:

said communication system being programmed to automatically compute and select a best-fit solution for an agricultural operation on said area using auto-select functions for starting corners, scale, grid location, grid spacing, XY ranges and equipment parameters including speed, turning radius, swath width;

treatment area configurations, materials being applied, ambient conditions and data from previous agricultural operations.

13. A GNSS-based communication system for a vehicle comprising a tractor and an implement connected to the tractor, which communication system includes:

a fixed-position base station including a base GNSS receiver;

a rover GNSS receiver mounted on the tractor;

a data server linked to said base station via a network;

a microprocessor on said tractor connected to said rover GNSS receiver and linked to said data server;

said data server providing geo-reference guidance information to said microprocessor;

a graphical user interface (GUI)/display mounted on said tractor and connected to said microprocessor;

a hydraulic autosteer system mounted on said tractor and connected to said microprocessor, said microprocessor providing steering commands to said autosteer system;

a pair of antennas mounted on said tractor and connected to said rover GNSS receiver whereby said rover GNSS receiver and said microprocessor are adapted for providing a position solution for said vehicle including a geo-reference position and heading;

a direction sensor connected to said vehicle microprocessor and adapted for providing input thereto corresponding to a direction of travel for said vehicle;

inertial sensors mounted on said tractor and connected to said microprocessor, said inertial sensors being adapted for providing input to said microprocessor corresponding to yaw, roll and pitch movements with respect to X, Y and Z axes for said tractor; and

said microprocessor using said inertial sensor input in calculating a position solution for said tractor;

said implement including an implement GNSS receiver, an implement GNSS antenna connected to said implement GNSS receiver;

an implement autosteer subsystem and an implement microprocessor for providing steering commands to said implement autosteer subsystem;

an articulated connection between the tractor and the implement enabling autosteering the implement independently of the tractor;

said implement comprising a sprayer with a boom and multiple nozzles;

means for independently and selectively controlling the operation of said nozzles based on said location-specific information associated with a travel path of said vehicle and said implement;

said microprocessor storing information corresponding to previously-treated portions of said agricultural area and said microprocessor deactivating selective said nozzles over said previously-treated portions;

GNSS-defined position-specific information on said data server and comprising one or more of mapping information, images and video content;

said location-specific information being forward-predicted based on vehicle;

     1) position;

     2) heading determined by the positions of said GNSS antennas relative to each other and said vehicle; and

     3) speed determined from the GNSS positions of said vehicle periodically updated based on actual course corresponding to predictive vehicle tracks; and

said location-specific information including an area of agricultural operation divided by a grid into multiple sectors and including reference corners and a scale of XY ranges.

14. The communication system according to claim 13, which includes:

said implement including an implement GNSS receiver, an implement GNSS antenna connected to said implement GNSS receiver;

an implement autosteer subsystem and an implement microprocessor for providing steering commands to said implement autosteer subsystem; and

an articulated connection between the tractor and the implement enabling autosteering the implement independently of the tractor.

15. The communication system according to claim 14, which includes:

said implement comprising a sprayer with a boom and multiple nozzles; and

means for independently and selectively controlling the operation of said nozzles based on said location-specific information associated with a travel path of said vehicle and said implement; and

said microprocessor storing information corresponding to previously-treated portions of said agricultural area and said microprocessor deactivating selective said nozzles over said previously-treated portions.

16. The communication system according to claim 13, which includes:

GNSS-defined position-specific information on said data server and comprising one or more of mapping information, images and video content;

said location-specific information being forward-predicted based on position, heading and speed of said vehicle periodically updated based on actual course corresponding to predictive vehicle tracks; and

said location-specific information including an area of agricultural operation divided by a grid into multiple sectors and including reference corners and a scale of XY ranges.

17. A method of GNSS-based mobile communication, which comprises the steps of:

providing a fixed-position base station including a base GNSS receiver;

providing a rover vehicle with a microprocessor;

mounting a rover GNSS receiver on said rover vehicle and connecting said rover GNSS receiver to said microprocessor;

providing multiple GNSS antennas;

mounting said antennas in predetermined spaced relation on said vehicle;

connecting said antennas to said GNSS receiver;

providing a data server;

linking said base station with said data server via a network;

linking said data server with said vehicle microprocessor;

generating GNSS-based positioning information with said base station and transmitting same to said data server via said network;

loading clips comprising pre-recorded audio, visual, audiovisual or utility-generated information on said data server;

associating said clips with GNSS-defined positions;

acquiring GNSS ranging signals with said base station GNSS receiver and said rover GNSS receiver;

computing GNSS-defined position solutions for said vehicle with said microprocessor using said GNSS ranging signals acquired by said base station and rover receivers;

determining with said microprocessor if said vehicle is in proximity to a respective GNSS-defined position associated with a respective clip;

if said vehicle is in proximity to a respective GNSS-defined position associated with a respective clip, transmitting said clip to said vehicle;

playing a respective clip in response to said proximity determination; and

annotating a waypoint along a travel path of said vehicle with said clip;

an operator of said vehicle generating said clips at GNSS-defined locations of said vehicle; and

loading said operator-generated clips on said data server; and

said position-specific information being forward-predicted based on vehicle;

     1) position;

     2) heading determined by the positions of said GNSS antennas relative to each other and said vehicle; and

     3) speed determined from the GNSS positions of said vehicle and periodically updated based on an actual course for aerial or ground-based operations corresponding to a predictive vehicle course.

18. A storage medium encoded with a machine-readable computer program code, the code including instructions for causing a computer to implement a method of GNSS-based mobile communication, which method comprises the steps of:

providing a fixed-position base station including a base GNSS receiver;

providing a rover vehicle with a microprocessor;

mounting a rover GNSS receiver on said rover vehicle and connecting said rover GNSS receiver to said microprocessor;

providing multiple GNSS antennas;

mounting said antennas in predetermined spaced relation on said vehicle;

connecting said antennas to said GNSS receiver;

providing a data server;

providing a data server;

linking said base station with said data server via a network;

linking said data server with said vehicle microprocessor;

generating GNSS-based positioning information with said base station and transmitting same to said data server via said network;

loading clips comprising pre-recorded audio, visual, audiovisual or utility-generated information on said data server;

associating said clips with GNSS-defined positions;

acquiring GNSS ranging signals with said base station GNSS receiver and said rover GNSS receiver;

computing GNSS-defined position solutions for said vehicle with said microprocessor using said GNSS ranging signals acquired by said base station and rover receivers;

determining with said microprocessor if said vehicle is in proximity to a respective GNSS-defined position associated with a respective clip;

if said vehicle is in proximity to a respective GNSS-defined position associated with a respective clip, transmitting said clip to said vehicle;

playing a respective clip in response to said proximity determination;

annotating a waypoint along a travel path of said vehicle with said clip; and

said position-specific information being forward-predicted based on vehicle;

     1) position;

     2) heading determined by the positions of said GNSS antennas relative to each other and said vehicle; and

     3) speed determined from the GNSS positions of said vehicle and periodically updated based on an actual course for aerial or ground-based operations corresponding to a predictive vehicle course.

19. A global navigation satellite system (GNSS) based communication system utilizing position-specific information for a crop duster aircraft, which communication system includes:

a fixed-position base station including a base GNSS receiver;

a rover GNSS receiver mounted on the aircraft;

a data server associated with the aircraft and receiving input from said base station and said rover GNSS receiver;

said data server being adapted to associate position-specific information with a GNSS-defined position of the aircraft in real-time;

said location-specific information including an area of agricultural operation divided by a grid into multiple sectors and including reference corners and a scale of XY ranges;

a flight path for said aircraft calculated by said communication system;

a distribution pattern for applied materials comprising fertilizer, herbicide or pesticide based on GNSS-defined locations and information received by the aircraft from the base station via the Internet;

means for monitoring actual flight paths of multiple aircraft in real-time;

means for displaying to ground-based controllers and airborne pilots said actual flight paths of multiple aircraft in real-time;

displays in the base station and the aircraft graphically showing treated areas and untreated areas in said agricultural area;

means for documenting the agricultural area treatment operation; and

said communication system being programmed to automatically compute and select a best-fit solution for an agricultural operation on said area using auto-select functions for starting corners, scale, grid location, grid spacing, XY ranges and equipment parameters including speed, turning radius, swath width;

treatment area configurations, materials being applied, ambient conditions and data from previous agricultural operations; and

said position-specific information being forward-predicted based on vehicle;

     1) position;

     2) heading determined by the positions of said GNSS antennas relative to each other and said vehicle; and

     3) speed determined from the GNSS positions of said vehicle and periodically updated based on an actual course for aerial or ground-based operations corresponding to a predictive vehicle course.