JP6066853B2 - Agricultural management system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an agricultural management system for remotely managing information generated in a wheel-driven farm vehicle that performs work traveling while working on a farm field and road traveling on a general road that connects between various farm fields.

  Some farm vehicles have a crawler traveling mechanism as a traveling device, and some have a wheel traveling mechanism. In a work vehicle equipped with a crawler traveling mechanism, it is difficult to travel on public roads (including highways), such as public roads to which the so-called road traffic law is applied. It will be. On the other hand, a work vehicle equipped with a wheel traveling mechanism can travel on a general road, which is advantageous when traveling on long distances in farm fields that are scattered in various places while traveling on a general road.

  With the recent development of IT technology, agricultural work vehicles are also converted to IT, and various information generated in the work vehicles is transmitted to a computer at a remote management center, and the technology managed there is also widespread. For example, in the combine disclosed in Patent Document 1, information such as an engine operating time integration meter, a fuel amount meter, and troubles is transmitted to a service center by a mobile communication system, whereby the maintenance status of a work vehicle under management is transmitted. Is grasped by the service center, and the service center can respond promptly and accurately. However, this combine is driven by a crawler travel mechanism, and basically it is practically only traveling on a farm field to move on a public road such as a highway or a general road at a relatively high speed. I don't get it. For this reason, the system disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not consider engine operating time or travel distance when traveling on a general road for traveling purposes at a much higher speed than during work. Furthermore, in this system, information such as engine operating time, fuel amount, engine rotational load factor, fuel consumption, working time, and vehicle speed is sent to the service center for evaluation, but the field can be evaluated through information such as yield. Not disclosed.

  In addition, information collected by agricultural vehicles such as combine and tractor (eg soil conditions, growth, yield, etc.) or information of the vehicle itself (eg engine rotation, wheel rotation, fuel consumption, etc.) and information from GPS are integrated. A measuring system is known from US Pat. Agricultural work vehicle that employs this system is equipped with a yield monitor that outputs GPS and analog signals, and is provided with yield information that is AD converted to GPS signals based on the timing of receiving GPS signals, and is a small microcomputer board Through the above process, the position information and the yield information are integrated to measure the yield. The system disclosed in Patent Document 2 discloses the idea of transmitting information about a farm field and information about a vehicle generated in a farm vehicle to a remote management center, and performing vehicle evaluation and field evaluation there. It has not been.

  Patent Document 3 discloses an agricultural information management system that harvests crops in a field with a combine, manages the information on the crops and the field separately, and manages the information in both directions between the combine and the management unit. Are known. In this system, the two-way communication between the combine, the management unit, and the terminal device is performed via a satellite, and the combine issues the start and end of harvesting in the field and produces information such as yield and moisture along with the field information. Is sent to the management department. This management unit does not manage the vehicle.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-228688 discloses a combiner that has a GPS function and can be connected to a public communication network that provides a communication network based on the Internet protocol. The operation state of this combine is detected by a sensor and stored as operation state data. When an abnormal condition notification button for notifying the occurrence of an abnormality of the combine is pressed, the operation state data up to a predetermined time before is sent to the maintenance management center through the network as the abnormal condition notification data together with the position information by GPS and the identification information of the own machine. The In the maintenance management center, a response to the abnormal state is arranged. In Patent Document 4, a configuration for receiving data from a GPS satellite and a configuration for establishing a communication path based on the Internet protocol and performing data communication are not described in detail.

  Further, the agricultural machine disclosed in Patent Document 5 includes a communication unit that communicates with a mobile terminal and a GPS that detects position information of the machine body, and determines that the start time of the engine is within a preset theft alarm setting time. If it is, the position information by GPS detected at that time is transmitted to the portable terminal through the communication means, and an alarm is notified.

  Further, Patent Document 6 discloses a position detection device that detects the position of the vehicle using GPS, a crop quality measurement unit that measures the moisture content, taste, and appearance quality of the grain sampled during the harvesting operation, and communication. A combine comprising the apparatus is disclosed. The measurement data by the crop quality measurement means is associated with the position information by the position detection device, and is sent to the central management device by wireless communication via the communication device, where there is a plurality of crop regions corresponding to a plurality of harvesting locations. A quality map is created.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2002-190871 (FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-315768 (FIGS. 1 and 7) JP 2006-81480 A (FIG. 1) JP 2004-139469 A (FIG. 1) JP 2008-222179 A (FIGS. 1 and 2) JP 11-53674 A (FIGS. 2 and 4)

  BACKGROUND ART A wheel-driven farm work vehicle that travels on a farm field and travels on a road between farm fields scattered in various places is widely used in farm work contract business. Such a wheel-driven agricultural work vehicle is driven under severe conditions such as working during the day and traveling on the road at night, so vehicle management becomes important. In addition, since farm work is performed in many fields over a wide area with different climates and soils, information on the field including harvest information that can be acquired by the work vehicle is valuable information on farm management. Therefore, there is a demand for a system that effectively uses information that can be acquired by such a wheel-driven farm vehicle.

The agricultural management system according to the present invention includes work travel information generated by associating information generated during work travel while traveling on a field and position information indicating the position of the vehicle, and general fields connecting various fields. A relay server for receiving road driving information generated by associating information generated in road driving on a road with the position information from a wheel-driven farm vehicle ;
A data input unit that receives the work travel information and the road travel information from the relay server ;
A field management unit for generating field management information based on the work travel information and the road travel information ;
A vehicle management unit that generates vehicle management information based on the work travel information and the road travel information ;
To notify the field manager, from the history of the field management information, to evaluate the field conditions and harvesting conditions, and field evaluation unit for generating a 圃 field evaluation information for each individual field,
To notify the vehicle manager, it comprises from the history of the vehicle management information, to evaluate the operating state of the vehicle, and the vehicle evaluation unit generating a vehicle both evaluation information for each individual vehicle, a,
The relay server can convert the expression format used in the location information,
The field management information includes at least one of planting information, input fertilizer information, harvest information, and tillage information,
The vehicle management information includes operating state information of an engine mounted on the agricultural vehicle, operating state information of a wheel traveling device mounted on the agricultural vehicle, and operating state information of an agricultural device mounted on the agricultural vehicle. Contains at least one of

In this system, on the agricultural work vehicle side, the information generated in the work travel and the information generated in the road travel are related to the position information and transmitted as work travel information and road travel information to the system side using line communication. . In the system side, it manages the working travel information and road driving information received from the agricultural vehicle separate the vehicle tube Rijo paper and field tube Rijo paper. Further, the vehicle is evaluated from the history of the vehicle management information, and the field is evaluated from the history of the field management information. If many agricultural vehicles are registered in this agricultural management system, maintenance management of many agricultural vehicles and farm management of many agricultural fields can be realized at the same time.

Specific examples of the vehicle tube Rijo paper to be handled by the agricultural management system according to the present invention, the operating state information of an engine mounted on the agricultural vehicle, operation state information of the mounted wheel traveling apparatus to the agricultural vehicle, wherein the agricultural vehicle The operational status information of the agricultural equipment mounted on the. Since the original information is generated in the work travel and the road travel, the engine operation state information and the wheel travel device operation state information can also be divided into those during the work travel and those during the road travel. For example, this is advantageous for vehicle evaluation such as a wheel replacement time that is worse than road driving in work driving at the same driving distance. Therefore, the vehicle evaluation information, work time distribution of daily working time distribution monthly, it is preferable to construct a vehicle evaluation unit to include at least one of the working time distribution of years. Based on this vehicle evaluation information , for example, it is possible to accurately determine the timing of oil replacement, filter replacement, tire replacement, and the like. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle evaluation information may include a maintenance notification created based on the operation time of the vehicle component.

Specific examples of the field tube Rijo paper to be handled by the agricultural management system according to the present invention, cropping information, put fertilizer information, crop information, it is preferable to include at least one of tilling information. This makes it possible to manage farming information from crop cultivation to harvesting in each field over time. In addition, if the farms to be managed are scattered over a wide area, and even throughout the country, it is possible to perform useful statistical evaluation in consideration of regional differences.

In addition, since the work travel information and road travel information sent from the farm work vehicle include position information, the position of the farm work vehicle, that is, the farm work vehicle in each place is based on the work travel information and the road travel information. It is possible to grasp the state of vehicle allocation. Thereby, for example, it is possible to know secondary information such that there are too many or too few farm vehicles performing a particular farm work in a particular district. Thus, in a preferred embodiment of the agricultural management system according to the present invention, the vehicle evaluation information, the contains agricultural vehicle distribution evaluated on the basis of the position information of each of the agricultural vehicle.

Furthermore, it is possible to detect vehicle theft by always managing such real-time position information of the work vehicle. That is, when an unplanned movement of a specific work vehicle is recognized, the fact can be notified to the driver or owner of the work vehicle, thereby preventing theft at an early opportunity. Therefore, the vehicle evaluation information output by a suitable agricultural management system includes a vehicle theft notification created based on the position information for each work vehicle.

The position information indicating the position of the work vehicle can be generated by a GPS module used in a car navigation system or the like. In addition, it is convenient to use a line communication module that uses a communication network such as a mobile phone in order for the work vehicle to transmit work travel information and road travel information . Thus, in one, the position information of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, before an information based on the onboard GPS module yesterday work vehicle, the work travel information and the received before yesterday work vehicle A relay server is provided that converts an expression format used in the position information of road traveling information and transfers the converted information to the data input unit. Thereby, the representation format (for example, data format) of the information transmitted from the farm vehicle to the farm management system can be converted into a more appropriate representation format. For example, when the agricultural work vehicle and the agricultural management system are located in different countries, it is possible to perform conversion to a unit decided by the countries or conversion to a language used. In particular, since there are countries where the latitude and longitude data generated by the GPS module is prohibited from being taken out of the country, the relay server uses the absolute position information expressed in longitude and latitude as a reference to a specific point. It is convenient to have the function of converting into relative position information.

It is a schematic diagram explaining the basic composition of the present invention. It is a side view of the corn harvester which is one of the wheel drive type agricultural work vehicles utilized in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of a corn harvester. It is a schematic diagram which shows the power transmission path | route of a corn harvester. It is a top view of the operation part area | region of a corn harvester. It is a side view which shows arrangement | positioning of an antenna unit and an antenna cable. It is a functional block diagram of the whole agricultural management system of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of one specific form of the communication unit and antenna unit mounted in the corn harvester. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the information flow in the agricultural management system of this invention.

Before describing a specific embodiment of an agricultural management system according to the present invention, a basic configuration characterizing the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The farm vehicle handled here includes a wheel traveling device 3A having wheels driven by the engine 31 and a working device 3B for farm work. A power transmission mechanism 2 also called a power train is interposed between the engine 31 and the wheel travel device 3A, and the engine power that has been shifted is transmitted to the wheel travel device 3A. At the time of farm work, power is also supplied from the engine 31 to the work device 3B, and farm work such as harvesting work is performed while traveling on the farm field.

  A sensor group for detecting the state of the engine 31, the power transmission mechanism 2, the wheel traveling device 3A, and the work device 3B is connected to the work vehicle control system of the wheel-driven farm work vehicle. Various sensors from this sensor group are connected to the work vehicle control system. A signal is input. Information generated based on various sensor signals during work traveling while working on the field is sent to the in-vehicle LAN 50 as work traveling information, and similarly, various sensor signals are generated during road traveling on general roads connecting various fields. The information generated based on the information is sent to the in-vehicle LAN 50 as road travel information.

  A communication unit 6 having a GPS module 62 for detecting the vehicle position is connected to the in-vehicle LAN 50 of the work vehicle control system. The GPS module 62 has a function of receiving radio waves from a plurality of GPS satellites and measuring the position of the own vehicle, as is known through a car navigation system or the like. The work travel information and the road travel information are related to the position information indicating the vehicle position generated by the GPS module 62 and are handled as work vehicle information. The work vehicle information includes the operation state information of the engine 31, the speed change state of the power transmission mechanism 2 (the state of the work clutch, the gear ratio of the disguise device, the rotation speed of the transmission shaft, etc.), the operation state information of the agricultural work device 3B, and the like. It is. The communication unit 6 is provided with a line communication module 63 that transmits work vehicle information to the management center 8 via a data communication line (such as a wireless communication line or the Internet) provided by a mobile phone carrier or the like. ing.

  The management center 8, substantially an agricultural management system (computer system) constructed in the management center 8, includes a data input unit 81a, an application server 82, and a database server 83. Since the data input unit 81a exchanges data with the communication unit 6 and the user terminal UT of the abscess working vehicle using the Internet protocol, the data input unit 81a is configured as a Web server 81 together with the data output unit 81b. The data input unit 81a receives work vehicle information uploaded from the communication unit 6 of the wheel-driven farm vehicle, and the data output unit 81b downloads necessary information to the wheel-driven farm vehicle or the user terminal UT upon request. Let

  The application server 82 includes a vehicle management unit 82a, an agricultural field management unit 82b, a vehicle evaluation unit 82c, and an agricultural field evaluation unit 82d. A program for generating vehicle management information from information relating to vehicle management included in the work vehicle information is installed in the vehicle management unit 82a. The farm field management unit 82b is installed with a program for generating farm field management information from information regarding farm field management included in the work vehicle information. The vehicle evaluation unit 82c is installed with a program for generating vehicle evaluation information including vehicle evaluation results for each individual vehicle from the history of vehicle management information generated by the vehicle management unit 82a in order to notify the vehicle manager. ing. A program for generating field evaluation information including field evaluation results for each individual vehicle from the history of field management information generated by the field management unit 82b is installed in the field evaluation unit 82d to notify the field manager. ing.

  Information relating to vehicle management includes almost common information regardless of the type of farm vehicle. For example, the operating state information of the engine 31, the operating state information of the wheel traveling device 3A mounted on the farm vehicle, the operating state information of the agricultural device 3B mounted on the agricultural vehicle, and the like can be mentioned. On the other hand, the information on the field management includes cropping information if the farm vehicle is a rice transplanter, input fertilizer information if the fertilizer is used, harvest information if the harvester is used, and cultivation information if the tractor is used.

  The vehicle evaluation results include information on the vehicle itself such as travel distance and travel time, and information on the work itself such as daily work time distribution, monthly work time distribution, and yearly work time distribution. I can go. In addition, the vehicle evaluation result includes a maintenance notification that indicates a time limit for oil change, tire change, periodic inspection, and the like, which is created based on the operation time of the vehicle component.

  In the conception diagram shown in FIG. 1, the expression format used in the work vehicle information is converted between the communication unit 6 of the wheel-driven farm work vehicle and the data input unit 8a of the management center 8. A relay server 80 for transferring data to the data input unit 81a is arranged. The data input unit 8a of the management center 8 is a transmission destination, the communication unit 6 takes in the work vehicle information that is the transmission source, and converts the information expression format (unit, language, etc.) to another expression format. An example of this format conversion is to convert position information expressed as longitude and latitude as position data expression format into position information expressed as a relative position with respect to a specific reference position.

  Next, a specific embodiment of the agricultural management system according to the present invention will be described. First, the structure of a corn harvester, which is an example of a farm work machine handled by this agricultural management system, will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, this corn harvester is a wheel drive type and includes a pair of left and right front wheels 3a and a pair of left and right rear wheels 3b that can be steered as a wheel traveling device 3A. The body frame 11 is supported on the ground by the wheel traveling device 3A. When there is no need to distinguish between the front wheel 3a and the rear wheel 3b, these are simply referred to as wheels 3. The corn harvester includes a harvesting processing device 12, a feeder 13, a storage tank 14, and a residue processing device 15 as the working device 3B. The harvesting processing device 12 is located at the front of the machine frame 11 and harvests corn. The feeder 13 extends in the front-rear direction from the rear part of the harvesting processing device 12 to the upper part of the machine frame 11 in the rearward direction, and conveys the harvested corn to a storage tank 14 as a storage part located at the rear part of the machine frame 11. The residue processing device 15 is located in the front and rear intermediate portion between the front wheel 3a and the rear wheel 3b below the body frame 11.

  Corn forms tufts containing many seeds (fruits) at the harvesting time against the stems to be planted. The tufted portion includes a large number of seeds inside the foliage, and the seeds are formed in a form aligned with the outer surface of the rod-shaped core. The corn harvester according to the present invention harvests and collects a tufted portion having a large number of seeds inside a foliage as a harvested product.

  The body frame 11 is provided with a driving part 17 in a state where the upper part is covered with a cabin 16 at the front part of the vehicle body, and an engine room 30 is provided on the rear side of the driving part 17 and on the right side of the vehicle body. The engine room 30 includes an engine 31 at a lower portion, and a radiator 32 for cooling the engine above the engine 31. A radiator fan 32a for taking in outside air through the radiator 32 is provided on the inner side in the vehicle width direction of the radiator 32, and dust contained in the outside air taken in is removed on the outer side in the vehicle width direction of the radiator 32. A porous dust-proof cover 34 is provided. As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 6, an air cleaner 35 a and a pre-cleaner 35 b as an intake mechanism 35 that sucks combustion air into the engine 31 are provided between the operating unit 17 and the engine 31. An air introduction pipe 35 c that connects between 35 a and the pre-cleaner 35 b extends along the rear wall of the cabin 16. The air introduction pipe 35c is fixed to the cabin 16 and the body frame at a plurality of locations using a fixing bracket. In FIG. 6, an upper fixing bracket 161 attached to the upper part of the frame of the cabin 16, an intermediate fixing bracket 162 attached to the middle part of the frame of the cabin 16, and a lower fixing bracket 163 attached to the body frame 11 are illustrated.

  The machine body of the corn harvester travels by shifting the power of the engine 31 provided in the engine room 30 to the pair of left and right front wheels 3a after driving the power transmission mechanism 2 and driving the front wheels 3a. Further, the rear wheel 3b is provided so as to be capable of changing its direction by a hydraulic cylinder for steering operation, which is not shown. Therefore, the airframe can turn by the steering operation of the rear wheel 3b while traveling by the driving force of the front wheel 3a.

  In this corn harvester, at the time of harvesting, the harvested product harvested by the harvesting processing device 12 while traveling the vehicle body is conveyed toward the storage tank 14 by the feeder 13 and stored in the storage tank 14. The stems left in the field at the time of harvest are shredded by the residue processing device 15.

  The harvesting processing apparatus 12 is formed with three rows of introduction paths arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction, and includes a pair of left and right harvesting rolls 12a at positions sandwiching each introduction path, a pair of left and right endless transport chains 12b positioned above the harvesting apparatus 12 and the like. ing. Although not described in detail, the harvesting roll 12a is rotatably supported around a rotation axis in a posture parallel to the introduction path, and pulls the harvested product (tufted portion) from the corn planting stems to be introduced. Cut and separate.

  In addition, an auger 12c is provided at a rear position of the plurality of harvesting rolls 12a and the plurality of endless transport chains 12b to transfer the harvested product to the lateral center position. This auger 12c transfers the crops separated from the planted stem culm to the central position in the lateral direction through the three rows of introduction paths. The auger 12c supplies the harvested product from its outlet to the conveyance start end of the feeder 13.

  The feeder 13 is provided in a state of being positioned at the center in the lateral direction of the machine body, and an endless rotation type conveyer conveyor (not shown) is provided in a rectangular tube-like feeder case 13a that is inclined upward toward the rear side. Then, the harvested product supplied from the outlet of the auger 12c is transported along the feeder case 13a, and the rear of the fuselage 14 is conveyed from the rear end of the feeder case 13a to the upper side of the storage tank 14 via the guide chute 13b. Drain in the direction.

  Although not described in detail, in the processing case 13c connected to the rear end of the feeder case 13a, leaf waste, stem scum waste, etc. discharged together with the harvest by the feeder 13 is different from the direction in which the harvest is discharged. A processing device for scraping and scraping the scraped non-harvest product is provided inside. The shredded product is scattered from the discharge port 13d and is discharged to the rear and upward.

The storage tank 14 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view and has a shape with an open top, and accepts the harvest from the open area. In addition, a dust exhaust fan 13e is provided at a position below the discharge portion of the feeder 13 so as to be positioned below the conveyance end portion of the feeder case 13a. The dust discharge fan 13e is configured to guide the blowing of leaf waste, stem scum waste, and the like discharged together with the harvested product by the feeder 13 toward the rear upper direction different from the direction of discharging the harvested product.
The residue processing device 15 is a hammer knife type shredding device that is driven and rotated around the horizontal axis, and is configured to shred the stems left in the field at the time of harvest.

  The harvesting processing device 12 is supported by the machine body so as to be swingable around the horizontal axis P1, and is provided so as to be movable up and down by a pair of left and right hydraulic processing cylinders. The residue processing device 15 is supported by the machine body so as to be swingable around the horizontal axis P2, and is provided so as to be movable up and down by a hydraulic cylinder.

The engine power transmission path system will be described with reference to FIG.
The power from the engine 31 is supplied to the working power transmission mechanism 4 to drive the working device 3B through the first belt transmission mechanism 31A, and is supplied to the traveling power transmission mechanism 2 through the second belt transmission mechanism 31B. , And is supplied to drive the radiator fan 32a through the third belt transmission mechanism 31c. The first belt transmission mechanism 31 </ b> A is provided with a work clutch 40 in order to turn on and off the transmission of engine power to the work power transmission mechanism 4. By disengaging the work clutch 40, power transmission to the entire work device 3B is interrupted.

  The working power transmission mechanism 4 transmits the power from the first belt transmission mechanism 31A to the harvesting processing device 12 and the power from the first belt transmission mechanism 31A to the feeder 13. A residue processing belt transmission mechanism 43 for transmitting power from the conveying belt transmission mechanism 42 and the first belt transmission mechanism 31A to the residue processing device 15 is included.

  The harvesting belt transmission mechanism 41 drives the harvesting roll 12a, the endless transport chain 12b, and the auger 12c. The conveying belt transmission mechanism 42 is branched into two systems, and one system drives the residue processing device 15. The other system drives an endless transport chain 13f, a scraping device 13g, and a shredding device 13h constituting the feeder 13. The scraping device 13g is a device that scrapes leaf waste, stem scum and the like discharged together with the corn body by the feeder 13 in a direction different from the discharging direction of the corn body, and the shredding device 13h is scraped by the scraping device 13g. It is a device that shreds trash and stalks.

  The engine power supplied through the second belt transmission mechanism 31B is input to the transmission 2A constituting the power transmission mechanism 2 for traveling. The power shifted by the transmission 2A is further shifted by the gear transmission 2B.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the driving unit 17 is provided with a driving seat 17 a at the center in the lateral direction of the traveling aircraft inside the cabin 16. A side panel 17b is disposed on the right side of the driver seat 17a, and a steering wheel 176 is disposed in front of the driver seat 17a. Further, an electrical box 17c that houses various electronic devices and power feeding devices is disposed on the right side of the side panel 17b. An accelerator lever 177, a main transmission lever 171, an auxiliary transmission lever 172, and a work clutch lever 175 are arranged on the upper surface of the side panel 17b. A brake pedal 174 and an accelerator pedal 173 are disposed on the right side of the handle post to which the steering wheel 176 is attached.

  The main transmission lever 171 is linked to a swash plate adjustment mechanism that adjusts the swash plate angle of the continuously variable transmission 2A, which is HST in this embodiment. The continuously variable transmission 2A is shifted by the operation displacement of the main transmission lever 171 to change the vehicle speed. The main transmission lever 171 is a peristaltic lever, and the peristaltic range includes a forward high speed operation area, a forward low speed operation area, a neutral operation area, and a reverse operation area. When the main transmission lever 171 is operated to swing in the forward high-speed operation range, the continuously variable transmission 2A enters the forward high-speed driving state for moving travel. When the main transmission lever 171 is operated in the forward low speed operation range, the continuously variable transmission 2A is in the forward low speed drive state for work travel. When the main transmission lever 171 is operated to the neutral operation range, the continuously variable transmission 2A is in the neutral state. When the main transmission lever 171 is operated in the reverse operation range, the continuously variable transmission 2A is in a drive state for reverse travel.

  The sub-transmission lever 172 is also a peristaltic lever and is linked to the speed change operation portion of the high / low two-stage gear transmission 2B. In a general driving operation, the gear transmission 2B is set to a high speed stage for traveling on the road, and the gear transmission 2B is set to a low speed stage for work traveling such as field traveling.

  The work clutch lever 175 is linked to the operation portion of the work clutch 40 that turns on and off the transmission of engine power to the work power transmission mechanism 4. The work clutch lever 175 is a peristaltic lever, and the work device 3B is driven or stopped by switching the work clutch 40 between an on state and a disengaged state by a swinging operation thereof.

  The accelerator pedal 173 is linked to the operation unit of the accelerator device of the engine 31. By depressing the accelerator pedal 173, the rotational speed of the engine 31 is adjusted, and as a result, the vehicle speed is changed. The brake pedal 174 is linked to an operation unit of a brake device provided in the wheel traveling device 3A. By depressing the brake pedal 174, the brake device is actuated and the airframe is braked. Similarly to the accelerator pedal 173, the accelerator lever 177 disposed on the side panel 17b is linked to the operation unit of the accelerator device of the engine 31. By operating the accelerator lever 177, the rotational speed of the engine 31 is adjusted. As a result, the vehicle speed is changed. Note that the accelerator lever 177 is configured to be held at an arbitrary operation position by a friction mechanism, and is used when the engine speed is maintained at a predetermined speed.

Next, each functional element in the work vehicle control system mounted on this corn harvester will be described with reference to FIG.
The work vehicle control system includes various control function units that drive the corn harvester while harvesting corn, and various information processing function units that generate and manage various types of information via a data transmission line such as the in-vehicle LAN 50. It is provided in a transmittable form. As functional units particularly related to the present invention, in FIG. 7, a work travel information generation unit 51a, a road travel information generation unit 51b, a travel determination unit 53, a GPS module 62, a line communication module 63, a management unit 7, a management information generation unit. 72, a slip ratio calculation unit 73, and a position information correction unit 74 are shown.

  The work travel information generation unit 51a generates various pieces of information obtained when the corn is harvested and traveled in the corn field as work travel information. The road travel information generation unit 51b generates various information obtained when traveling on a general road including an expressway as road travel information in order to move corn fields scattered in various places. The management information generating unit 72 generates work vehicle information by associating position information indicating the vehicle position with work travel information and / or road travel information. The position information is longitude and latitude information that is an absolute position obtained by the GPS module 62.

  The GPS module 62 is integrated with the information acquisition unit 61 and the line communication module 63 and stored in the communication unit 6. The information acquisition unit 61 has a function like a LAN adapter, is connected to the in-vehicle LAN 50 via the connection cable 6a, acquires various information flowing through the in-vehicle LAN 50 for external transmission, and receives from the outside It has a function of flowing information to the in-vehicle LAN 50. In this embodiment, the line communication module 63 is configured to exchange data with the computer system of the management center 8 using a wireless communication line provided by a cellular phone carrier and connectable to the Internet. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the communication unit 6 includes a rectangular box-shaped sealed housing 64, in which an information acquisition unit 61, a GPS module 62, and a line communication module 63 are incorporated. Yes. A connector for the connection cable 6a is formed on one side surface of the housing 64, and a connector for the antenna cable 6b is formed on the other side surface. An antenna unit 60 is connected to the tip of the antenna cable 6b. The antenna unit 60 incorporates a GPS antenna 60 a for a transmission / reception device of the GPS module 62 and a line communication antenna 60 b for a transmission / reception device provided in the line communication module 63. Since the frequency used in mobile phone line communication and GPS is different, each antenna is usually configured separately, but if good reception sensitivity can be obtained with an integrated shared antenna, it should be It may be adopted.

  As shown in FIG. 5, an electrical box 17c is formed in the cabin 16, and the communication unit 6 is disposed in the electrical box 17c. The connection cable 6a is wired in the electrical equipment box 17c, and is connected to the in-vehicle LAN 50 indirectly or directly via another electronic control unit. The antenna unit 60 is placed on the flat portion of the upper fixing bracket 161 that fixes the air introduction pipe 35 c to the cabin 16. As shown in FIG. 6, the antenna cable 6 b penetrates the lower region of the cabin 16, further extends upward between the rear wall of the cabin 16 and the air introduction pipe 35 c, and is connected to the antenna unit 60. . With this configuration, the antenna unit 60 is arranged in the highest region of the body of the corn harvester, and good radio wave reception can be ensured.

  Although only schematically shown in FIG. 6, the housing 64 of the communication unit 6 is detachably fixed by a clamp fitting provided in the electrical box 17c. That is, the communication unit 6 can be taken out of the transmission box 17c by removing the antenna cable 6b from the connector, removing the connection cable 6a from the connector, and removing the housing 64 from the clamp fitting. That is, in this embodiment, the mounting portion 65 for mounting the communication unit 6 so as to be capable of data transmission and detachment is constituted by a connector for the connection cable 6a, a connector for the antenna cable 6b, and a clamp fitting for the housing 64. Yes.

  The travel determination unit 53 is configured to be able to acquire necessary information through the in-vehicle LAN 50. In this embodiment, the speed change state of the power transmission mechanism 2 (the state of the work clutch 40, the speed ratio of the transmission 2A, the rotational speed of the transmission shaft). And the like)), the shift state is specified, and the work traveling and the road traveling are discriminated based on the specified shift state. Of course, it is possible to adopt a function of judging whether the vehicle is traveling on the road or on the road by comparing the map information with the position information obtained through the GPS module 62, or having both functions. Good.

  The traveling determination unit 53 includes a work state signal indicating whether the vehicle is working from a sensor group or a switch group for the operation device of the work device 3B, and a transmission 2A or a gear transmission 2B of the power transmission mechanism 2. A shift state signal indicating a shift state of the power transmission mechanism 2 is input from a sensor group or a switch group for the transmission device. For example, a work clutch detection signal from a work clutch sensor that detects the on / off state of the work clutch 40 and a vehicle speed signal from a vehicle speed detection sensor are input. An example of the vehicle speed detection sensor is a rotation speed sensor that detects the rotation speed of a gear (for example, a gear of a differential mechanism) that indicates the rotation speed of the power transmission mechanism 2 after shifting. An example of the shift position detection sensor is a shift state signal from a detection signal from the sub shift sensor 93b that detects whether the high and low gear transmission (sub transmission) 2B is in the high speed stage or the low speed stage. Is generated. The determination result in the traveling determination unit 53 is sent to a necessary function unit through the in-vehicle LAN 50 or a dedicated signal line.

The management unit 7 includes a communication management unit 71 that manages communication operations in the communication unit 6. External transmission of internal information to the management center 8 or the like using the line communication module 63 is preferably performed not only during work travel and during road travel but also during parking. In particular, for the purpose of preventing theft, external transmission of internal information during night parking is essential. However, since the battery is not charged while the engine 31 is stopped, power consumption must be suppressed as much as possible. For this reason, the communication management unit 71 includes a program for optimizing power saving and external transmission of information, and optimizes and controls not only the line communication module 63 but also the GPS module 62 as necessary. The functions included in the power saving program in this embodiment are listed below: (a) When the vehicle main switch 178 is set to ON or when the engine is running, the battery is not supplied with power, so the line communication module The transmission interval of information from 63 to the outside, particularly work vehicle information, is made as short as possible. That is, the transmission interval at this time is set shorter than the transmission interval when the vehicle main switch 178 is set to ON or when the engine is operating.
(B) When the vehicle main switch 178 is set to OFF, the vehicle is moved based on position information acquired by operating the GPS module 62 at predetermined intervals (several minutes to several tens of minutes) when the engine is stopped. If it is detected, exception handling related to power saving is executed. In this exceptional process, prior to power saving, the transmission interval of information to the outside is shortened to monitor vehicle theft that may be performed in some cases.
(C) In a work vehicle such as a corn harvester or a civil engineering work vehicle, the work travel is generally performed at a relatively low speed of 10 km / h or less, and the road travel is from 20 km / h to the legal control speed. Done at high speed. In a work vehicle, information during work is more important than information during non-work. In consideration of this, the transmission interval of the information from the line communication module 63 to the outside when the low-speed driving is determined by the driving determination unit 53, particularly the transmission interval of the work vehicle information, is the transmission when the high-speed driving is determined. It is set shorter than the interval.
(D) Needless to say, when the traveling determination unit 53 determines the work traveling or the road traveling, this determination result can be used. For example, the transmission interval of information from the line communication module 63 to the outside, particularly the work vehicle information, when the travel determination unit 53 determines the work travel is shorter than the transmission interval when the road travel is determined. Is set.

  The slip ratio calculation unit 73 in this embodiment calculates a rotational speed (drive wheel speed) of the front wheels 3a as drive wheels based on signals from the sensor group, and position information obtained from the GPS module 62 every moment. It has a function of calculating a traveling speed (vehicle speed) based on (GPS position). In general, the slip ratio is obtained by dividing the difference between the vehicle body speed and the drive wheel speed by the drive wheel speed. Therefore, when no slip occurs between the wheel and the ground, the slip ratio becomes zero. Specifically, the slip ratio calculation unit 73 calculates the average value of the drive wheel speeds at a predetermined time, calculates the vehicle body speed from the change in the GPS position at the predetermined time, and calculates the slip ratio at this time. . The slip rate calculated sequentially is related to the field identification name (work location identification name) for specifying the field or the GPS position in the field (work location). ) Can be managed as.

  In this embodiment, the position information correction unit 74 uses a first function for correcting the position information using a map matching method using a road map when traveling on a road, and a map matching method using a work place map when traveling on a road. And a second function for correcting the position information. Since the correction of the GPS position error by map matching using a road map is adopted in the car navigation system, the GPS module 62 is also used as the car navigation system and has the first function. In the position information correction unit 74, the first function can be omitted. However, general work sites (here, farms) are outside the road, and the maps used in car navigation systems are often private sites, especially in general-purpose maps. It has not been. For this reason, a work place map showing the shape and position of a field or the like is created in advance, and this work place map is set before work. Since the work vehicle being worked exists in the work place, the GPS position error can be corrected using this fact.

  Work vehicle information created by associating work travel information, road work information, and position information with each other by the function of the management information generation unit 72 is transmitted to the management center 8 through the line communication module 63. In this embodiment, the work vehicle information transmitted to the management center 8 through the line communication module 63 is once transferred to the relay server 80, and at least part of data data in the format conversion unit 80 a provided in the relay server 80. The format is converted. One example of conversion of this data format is to convert position information expressed by longitude and latitude as position data expression format into position information expressed by a relative position with respect to a specific reference position. This is because when the country from which the work vehicle information is acquired is different from the country in which the management center 8 is installed, it is prohibited to take out latitude and longitude data from some countries. As described above, when information flows globally, it is required to convert the data format of the flowing information depending on the relationship between the sending country and the receiving country of the information. Such functions of the format converter 80a include unit conversion, language conversion (so-called translation), and the like.

  The computer system constructed in the management center 8 is configured as a Web server in this embodiment, and performs various data processing with a data input / output unit 81 having functions of a data input unit 81a and a data output unit 81b. An application server 82 and a database server 83 for storing various data are constructed. The application server 82 includes a vehicle management unit 82a, an agricultural field management unit 82b, a vehicle evaluation unit 82c, and an agricultural field evaluation unit 82d.

  The data input / output unit, that is, the Web server 81 transfers the uploaded work vehicle information to the application server 82. The vehicle management unit 82a extracts information relating to the field management from the work vehicle information as the field management information, performs necessary primary processing, and stores the information in the database server 83 so that it can be searched and extracted based on the target field identification data and date / time data. The field management information is a general term for planting information, input fertilizer information, harvested information, and the like. The cropping information includes cropping varieties, cropping date and time, and cropping form, the input fertilizer information includes fertilizer species, input amount, input date and time, fertilization form, etc., and the crop information includes crop type, yield, moisture, etc. It is.

  The field management unit 82b extracts information on management of registered vehicles such as a corn harvester from the work vehicle information as vehicle management information, performs necessary primary processing, and performs vehicle identification data, vehicle equipment identification data, driver It is stored in the database server 83 so that it can be searched and extracted by identification data, date / time data, and the like. The vehicle management information is a generic term for work mileage information, road mileage information, fuel consumption, and the like.

  The vehicle evaluation unit 82c performs secondary processing on the vehicle management information and creates vehicle evaluation information used for maintenance of the work vehicle. In order to perform to the user, a maintenance notification indicating a necessary maintenance time and the like is created based on the vehicle evaluation information.

  The field evaluation unit 82d performs secondary processing on the field management information and creates field evaluation information used for evaluating the field. This field evaluation information includes fertilizer distribution, growth state distribution, yield distribution, taste distribution, and the like. Further, the farm field evaluation unit 82d creates a farming proposal notification that is guided based on the farm field evaluation information in order to make a farming proposal to the user.

Next, the generation of information and the flow of information in each functional unit in a work vehicle such as a corn harvester and each functional unit in the management center 8 that manages the work vehicle will be described with reference to FIG.
First, signals detected or generated by various sensor groups and switch groups equipped in the vehicle are given to the work travel information generation unit 51a and the road travel information generation unit 51b (# 01). In addition to the above-described ON / OFF signal of the vehicle main switch 178, this signal includes an engine oil pressure SW signal, a work clutch SW signal, a vehicle speed sensor signal, and a detection signal such as a harvest amount per hour and a total harvest amount. , Etc. are included. The work travel information generation unit 51a generates work travel information from a signal received during work travel (# 02), and the road travel information generation unit 51b generates road travel information from a signal received during road travel (# 03). ). Note that the position information is acquired by the GPS module 62 during travel regardless of road travel and work travel (# 04). This position information is represented by longitude and latitude data, and further includes time (date and time) data. Therefore, this position information can be handled as time information. The detection signal acquired when the vehicle is parked or the like is handled as road travel information for convenience. For example, a door opening signal during parking or a key ON signal during non-working hours is used as a theft detection signal. . When work travel information or road travel information and position information are generated, work vehicle information is generated by associating these (# 05).

  In this embodiment, the generated work vehicle information is transmitted to the outside via the line communication module 63 at a predetermined transmission timing determined by the communication management unit 71 (# 10). In this embodiment, it is assumed that the work place (farm field) and the management center 8 belong to different countries. Information take-out restrictions in the country to which the work place belongs prohibits taking out latitude and longitude data indicating terrain outside the country. It is assumed that Therefore, the work vehicle information including the position information transmitted via the line communication module 63 is once relayed to the relay server 80, and the longitude / latitude data included in the work vehicle information is constructed in the relay server 80. The format conversion unit 80a converts the format into relative position data having a predetermined reference position such as a reference point of the field as a base point (# 11). The work vehicle information subjected to the format conversion is further transferred to a management center 8 that manages the work vehicle (corn harvester) via a data communication line such as the Internet.

  The work vehicle information once transferred from the relay server 80 to the management center 8 is handled by the Web server 81 functioning as the data input unit 81a in the management center 8 (# 21). The work vehicle information input to the Web server 81 is stored in the database server 83 for each work vehicle and / or for each driver, and is transferred to the application server 82 for information secondary processing.

  On the other hand, in the application server 82, the work vehicle information is processed into information related to the field management and becomes the field management information (# 22). The field management information includes information necessary for managing the characteristics of the field, such as the yield of each field or each minute section in the field, the state of the soil, and the like. On the other hand, the work vehicle information is processed into vehicle management information and becomes vehicle management information (# 23). The vehicle management information includes information necessary for managing the vehicle, such as road travel distance, work travel distance, work device drive time, and engine drive time.

  The field management information is applied to a field evaluation program that evaluates and outputs a field state, a harvesting situation (work result), etc., using various information included in the field management information as input parameters, and has an evaluation result having such a field evaluation result. Result information is derived (# 24). The harvest status includes not only the yield of each field that is the harvest target at that time but also the annual distribution of the harvest including the past harvest. Furthermore, other farm work machines such as fertilizer machines are also registered in the management center 8, and the field evaluation result indicating the field condition includes the field fertilization condition and the like. Such a field evaluation result is converted into a Web page so that it can be downloaded as a farming notification, and can be viewed by the user accessing it through the Internet (# 25).

  Similarly, the vehicle management information can also be applied to a vehicle evaluation program that evaluates and outputs the parts replacement time and maintenance time of the vehicle using various information included in the vehicle management information as input parameters. The vehicle evaluation information is derived (# 26). The content to be notified to the user of the derived vehicle evaluation result is disclosed to each user via e-mail or a web page in the form of maintenance guidance, for example (# 27). This vehicle evaluation result also includes an evaluation result for detecting theft derived from vehicle management information indicating vehicle movement in an unplanned time zone and driving of the engine in an unauthorized time zone, When such a party insight result is derived, a vehicle theft notification is immediately sent to the user by e-mail (# 28).

[Another embodiment]
(1) The agricultural work vehicle handled by the agricultural management system according to the present invention is not limited to an agricultural work vehicle that travels only by wheels, and a traveling device other than wheels may be added. The important point is that it is possible to move through various fields by running on the road. (2) When the reception sensitivity from the GPS satellite is insufficient, a configuration in which the position can be detected by the gyro method instead of the GPS method may be adopted. Alternatively, a GPS method may be employed for road traveling, and a hybrid method may be employed that combines a GPS method and a gyro method for work traveling on a farm field. In particular, if the GPS position is mapped to the traveling locus based on the rotation of the wheel and the steering angle, the vehicle position can be accurately acquired in the field.
(3) The communication method used in the line communication module 63 is preferably a mobile phone communication line because of the wide service area, but other wireless data communication lines may be used. Further, a communication unit capable of communicating with a plurality of different mobile phone communication lines may be provided, and a communication unit having a high reception sensitivity may be selected.
(4) The functional part of the work vehicle control system shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. Accordingly, the functional units shown here may be arbitrarily combined, or a single functional unit may be further divided. For example, the management unit 7 may be incorporated in the communication unit 6 or the management information generation unit 72. In addition, the travel determination unit 53, the work travel information generation unit 51a, the road travel information generation unit 51b, and the management information generation unit 72 are easily integrated.
(4) The functional part of the computer system in the management center 8 shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. Accordingly, the functional units shown here may be arbitrarily combined, or a single functional unit may be further divided. For example, the application server 82, the database server 83, and the web server 81 may be constructed by separate computers connected via a network. That is, this agricultural management system may be constructed as a cloud system when viewed from a large number of wheel-driven farm vehicles and user terminals UT.

  The system according to the present invention works not only on corn harvesters as employed in the embodiment, but also on wheat and rice harvesters (combines), as well as wheel-driven farm vehicles such as rice transplanters, fertilizers, and tractors. It can be used as a transmission source of car information.

3A: Wheel traveling device 3B: Working device 31: Engine 50: In-vehicle LAN
6: Communication unit 60a: GPS antenna 60b: Line communication antenna 61: Information acquisition unit 62: GPS module 63: Line communication module 7: Management unit 71: Communication management unit 8: Management center 80: Relay server 80a: Format conversion Unit 81: Web server 81a: data input unit 81b: data output unit 82: application server 82a: vehicle management unit 82b: field management unit 82c: vehicle evaluation unit 82d: field evaluation unit 83: database server

Claims (7)

Work travel information generated by associating information generated during work traveling while working on a field and position information indicating the position of the vehicle, and generated during road travel traveling on a general road that connects between various fields. A relay server that receives road driving information generated by associating the generated information and the position information from a wheel-driven farm vehicle ;
A data input unit that receives the work travel information and the road travel information from the relay server ;
A field management unit for generating field management information based on the work travel information and the road travel information ;
A vehicle management unit that generates vehicle management information based on the work travel information and the road travel information ;
To notify the field manager, from the history of the field management information, to evaluate the field conditions and harvesting conditions, and field evaluation unit for generating a 圃 field evaluation information for each individual field,
To notify the vehicle manager, it comprises from the history of the vehicle management information, to evaluate the operating state of the vehicle, and the vehicle evaluation unit generating a vehicle both evaluation information for each individual vehicle, a,
The relay server can convert the expression format used in the location information,
The field management information includes at least one of planting information, input fertilizer information, harvest information, and tillage information,
The vehicle management information includes operating state information of an engine mounted on the agricultural vehicle, operating state information of a wheel traveling device mounted on the agricultural vehicle, and operating state information of an agricultural device mounted on the agricultural vehicle. An agricultural management system that includes at least one of The agricultural management system according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle evaluation information includes at least one of a daily work time distribution, a monthly work time distribution, and an annual work time distribution. The agricultural management system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle evaluation information includes a maintenance notification created based on an operation time of the vehicle component. Wherein the vehicle evaluation information, agricultural management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the distribution of the agricultural vehicle has been evaluated on the basis of the position information of each of the agricultural vehicle are included. The agricultural management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the vehicle evaluation information includes a vehicle theft notification created based on the position information for each agricultural work vehicle. The location information, agricultural management system according to claims 1 information Ru der based on GPS module installed before yesterday work vehicle in any one of 5. The agricultural management system according to claim 6 , wherein the relay server converts absolute position information expressed in longitude and latitude into relative position information with a specific point as a reference.

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