EP2788830A1

EP2788830A1 - Method and control device for guiding an agricultural machine

Info

Publication number: EP2788830A1
Application number: EP12778675.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Florian Belser; Peter Biber; Thomas Maurer; Frank Hofmann
Original assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Current assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Priority date: 2011-12-09
Filing date: 2012-10-09
Publication date: 2014-10-15
Also published as: WO2013083311A1; DE102011120886A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method (700) and a device (104) for guiding an agricultural machine (104). The method (700) comprises a detection step (702), a determination step (704), a step of reading in (706) and a definition step (708). In the detection step (702), a reference trajectory (102a) of the agricultural machine (104) is detected while the agricultural machine (104) is moved on a reference track (108). In the determination step (704), a distance (110) of the agricultural machine (104) from the reference trajectory (102a) is detected after a turning maneuver of the agricultural machine (104) in order to obtain a distance information. In the step of reading in (706), an altered distance value input by a user of the agricultural machine (104) is read in, representing an altered distance (112) of the agricultural machine abstand (104) from the reference trajectory (102a). In the provision step (708), a control signal for guiding the agricultural machine (104) on a guide track is provided, the guide track running at the altered distance (112) from the reference trajectory (102a).

Description

Method and control device for driving an agricultural machine

description

The present invention relates to a method for guiding an agricultural machine, to a control device for guiding an agricultural machine and to a corresponding computer program product. In conventional fieldwork, an implement is towed by a tractor which is then manually steered to an already-processed track. In this case, an operator of the tractor follows a scratched mark in the ground, which has been scored by means of a marking device on the work machine during the last run. It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved method for guiding an agricultural machine, an improved control device for guiding an agricultural machine and an improved computer program product.

This object is achieved by a method for guiding an agricultural machine, a control device for guiding an agricultural machine and a corresponding computer program product according to the main claims.

The present invention is based on the finding that by detecting a position of a web on a field, for example by means of position signals, it is possible to travel down the detected web at a desired distance. An operator only intervenes in corrections due to, for example, terrain characteristics in the tracking.

Advantageously, a processing of a field by an automated tracking can be done faster and more economically. The server can be relieved and one Monitor processing success directly. The tracking presented here can be realized at low cost, since no special precision of the sensors involved is required. Corrections to the tracking can be brought in intuitively by the operator. A method of driving an agricultural machine includes the following steps:

Detecting a reference trajectory of the agricultural machine while the agricultural machine is being moved on a reference trajectory; Determining a distance of the agricultural machine from the reference trajectory after a turning maneuver of the agricultural machine to obtain distance information;

Reading in a changed distance value input by an operator of the agricultural machine representing a changed distance of the agricultural machine to the reference trajectory; and

Providing a control signal for guiding the agricultural machine on a guideway, wherein the guideway is in the changed distance to the reference trajectory. The present invention further provides a control device which is designed to implement or implement the steps of the method according to the invention in corresponding devices. Also by this embodiment of the invention in the form of a control device, the object underlying the invention can be achieved quickly and efficiently. In the present case, a control device can be understood as meaning an electrical device which processes sensor and / or input signals and outputs control and / or data signals in dependence thereon. The control unit may have an interface, which may be formed in hardware and / or software. In the case of a hardware-based design, the interfaces can be part of a so-called system ASIC, for example, which contains various functions of the control unit. However, it is also possible that the interfaces are their own integrated circuits or at least partially consist of discrete components. In a software training, the interfaces may be software modules that are present, for example, on a microcontroller in addition to other software modules. A computer program product with program code which can be stored on a machine-readable carrier such as a semiconductor memory, a hard disk memory or an optical memory and is used to carry out the method according to one of the embodiments described above if the program product is installed on a computer or a device is also of advantage is performed.

An agricultural machine may, for example, be understood to mean a harvester or an agricultural tractor. The farm tractor can pull a working implement. The implement or harvester may have a structurally defined working width. In order to completely process a field or a field, it is necessary to move the agricultural machine over the field or the field in adjacently arranged paths which are at most the working width. A reference trajectory may be a first of the trajectories over which the agricultural machine is manually steered by an operator of the agricultural machine. The reference trajectory may, for example, run along an edge of the field. For example, a reference trajectory may be a trajectory of a point of the agricultural machine while the agricultural machine is moving on the reference trajectory. At a beginning of the reference trajectory, a starting point of the reference trajectory can be detected. After the agricultural machine has reached an end of the reference trajectory, an end point of the reference trajectory can be detected. Following the reference trajectory, the agricultural machine may be steered by the operator in a turning maneuver to reverse a direction of travel of the agricultural machine. The operator can steer the agricultural machine so that the lane in front of the agricultural machine is directly adjacent to the reference lane. At the beginning of the path, a distance of the agricultural machine to the reference trajectory can be determined. The distance can be a vertical distance to the reference trajectory. A distance information may be a numerical value of the distance (distance value). If the working width of the agricultural machine overlaps the reference trajectory or an unprocessed area remains between the working width and the reference trajectory, the operator may alter the distance value to minimize the overlap or to minimize the unprocessed area between the trajectories. A control signal may be designed to influence at least one steering of the agricultural machine, so that the agricultural machine is guided at the changed distance to the reference trajectory. The self-driven train can be referred to as a guideway. The changed distance value can be detected by reading a signal of an additional control lever. An additional control lever may be a joystick that can be operated by the operator in addition to the steering wheel to change the distance. The distance can also be changed by means of buttons, a rotary or slide control or another man-machine interface. By an additional control element, the distance can be sensitively changed without seriously changing the orientation of the agricultural machine on the track. Drastic curves of the web can be avoided. In the providing step, a warning signal may be provided when the guideway is out of tolerance. A warning signal may be, for example, an acoustic stimulus or an optical stimulus. The operator can be informed of a maloperation. The control signal may guide the agricultural machine at an angle to the reference trajectory that is within an angular tolerance. At an angle to the reference trajectory, a steepness of the path to the reference track can be understood. By limiting the angle to an angular tolerance, the web can be driven with small lateral deviations and the orientation of the agricultural machine in the field can be substantially maintained.

The method can include a step of receiving image information from a sensor for detecting an environment of the agricultural machine, which images an edge of the guideway in the region of the agricultural machine, wherein the image information is provided to the operator in the step of reading. Such a sensor may be an imaging sensor or, more generally, a sensor for detecting the environment (or environmental contour) around the agricultural machine. This may, for example, a camera, a PMD, stereo video, laser (scanners), etc. understood. The sensor can be attached to the agricultural machine and depict a lateral boundary of the working width of the agricultural machine. A camera allows the operator to monitor one edge of the web without dislocations and in ergonomic working posture.

The image information can be overlaid with a virtual image information, wherein the virtual image information represents the changed distance. In the camera image can a Mark or a corrupted image representing a result of a desired change in distance. Superimposed images allow the operator to intuitively plan how the agricultural machine will be managed.

The providing step may be performed in response to an acknowledgment signal. An acknowledgment signal can be read in by means of another input device. By delaying the tracking up to the confirmation signal, errors in the changed distance can be corrected without the agricultural machine being guided, for example, in serpentine lines, until the distance is correct.

A new reference trajectory may be detected while providing the control signal, and the reference trajectory may be replaced with the new reference trajectory in response to a next turning maneuver of the agricultural machine. By progressively using the last fully traveled lane of the agricultural machine, an error in the lane guidance can be minimized because deviations can not accumulate.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. Show it:

1 is an illustration of a field on which a trajectory according to an embodiment of the invention is mapped;

FIG. 2 shows an illustration of a trajectory of an agricultural machine during a change in distance according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.

3 is an illustration of a guided track of a land vehicle with a change in distance according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a schematic diagram of an image information presentation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 shows a schematic representation of an image overlay according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 6 is a block diagram of a control apparatus for guiding an agricultural machine according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

7 shows a flow chart of a method for guiding an agricultural machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The same or similar elements may be provided in the following figures by the same or similar reference numerals. Furthermore, the figures of the drawings, the description and the claims contain numerous features in combination. It is clear to a person skilled in the art that these features are also considered individually or that they can be combined to form further combinations which are not explicitly described here.

1 shows a representation of a field 100. A trajectory 102 of an agricultural machine 104 is shown on the field 100. The agricultural machine 104 includes a controller 106 for guiding the agricultural machine 104 according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is connected to a steering device of the agricultural machine 104. The controller 106 is configured to perform a method of guiding the agricultural machine 104 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the illustrated embodiment, the agricultural machine 104 departs a path as a reference path 108 that is aligned parallel to an edge of the panel 100. The reference path 108 may also be arranged freely on the field 100 and, for example, run at the same height in order to reduce erosion. Trajectory 102 of agricultural machine 104, while traveling on reference track 108, is detected as reference trajectory 102a. For this purpose, a signal current of a position sensor can be evaluated. When the agricultural machine 100 has reached an end of the reference lane 108, the capture is terminated and the agricultural machine 104 is inverted to begin a next lane adjacent to the reference lane 108. The agricultural machine 104 is guided on the next lane by the controller 106 in parallel with the reference trajectory 102a. For example, during turning, the trajectory 102 describes a semicircle 102b. In the illustrated case, a distance 110 between a starting point and an end point of the semicircle 102b is too large. The too large semicircle 102b results in a distance between the tracks, and the field 100 is not completely processed while the agricultural machine 104 is guided along the reference trajectory 102a. Therefore, a driver intervenes and operates an input device, such as a joystick, and sets a distance change. The specified change in distance can be determined by means of a signal to be released, whereupon the control unit 106 to the agricultural machine 104 moves on a predetermined angle trajectory 102c to the reference trajectory 102a to reduce the distance 1 10. If the tracks are directly adjacent to each other, the agricultural machine 104 has reached the correct distance 1 12. The controller 106 continues to run the agricultural machine 106 at the correct distance 112 parallel to the reference trajectory 102a on a final trajectory 102d.

FIG. 2 shows a detail of the trajectory 102 in the range of the change in distance according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The agricultural machine travels on the trajectory 102 in the far distance parallel to the reference trajectory. The control signal of the control unit triggers a steering movement until the agricultural machine travels at a predetermined angle 200 on a ramp 202 toward the reference trajectory. The control signal initiates a steering movement in an opposite direction in order to terminate the angular trajectory 102c at the correct distance in order to guide the agricultural machine parallel to the reference trajectory. In this case, a rash of the steering movement may be limited. Due to the limitation, a turning radius of the agricultural machine is known and the agricultural machine can swivel tangentially onto the correct trajectory 102d without overshooting and further corrections. Likewise, the controller may run the agricultural machine if the initial distance is too small. Then, the controller moves the agricultural machine on the slope 202 away from the reference trajectory to increase the distance.

FIG. 3 shows an illustration of the course of the trajectory 102 of the track of the agricultural machine, as shown in FIG. 2. As a result of the oblique travel, the trajectory 102d reaches a lateral offset 300 to a projected extension 300 of the trajectory 102.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic representation of an image information 400 which, according to one exemplary embodiment, depicts an edge 402 of a track of an agricultural machine. If the image information is displayed in a field of view of an operator of the agricultural machine, the operator may decide whether the edge 402 is as desired without having to avert his attention. The image information 400 can depict a section of the web which has already been processed and is arranged in the region of the agricultural machine. The image information 400 may also map an area in front of the agricultural machine, wherein the edge 402 may then be superimposed as an auxiliary line 402 in the image information 400. FIG. 5 shows a schematic representation of the image information 400 from FIG. 4. In addition to the representation in FIG. 4, the image information 400 with the edge 402 is superimposed on a virtual representation of a shifted edge 500. The virtual representation 500 represents an arrangement of the edge 402 if it were shifted by a preselected lateral offset by the operator. The virtual representation 500 allows the operator to pre-screen and evaluate the effectiveness of his change input. This allows the agricultural machine to be controlled more precisely because the change input is no longer based on an estimate of the operator. 6 shows a block diagram of a control device for guiding 106 of an agricultural machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control unit 106 corresponds to the control unit 106 from FIG. 1. The control unit 106 has a device 600 for detecting, a device 602 for determining, an interface for reading 604 and a device 606 for providing. The device for detecting is designed to detect a reference trajectory of the agricultural machine from a signal curve of a position signal of a position detection device 608 while the agricultural machine is being moved on a reference path. The position detector 608 is configured to provide the position signal based on a signal from a GPS receiver 610 and a direction detector 612. The direction detection device 612 can have three rotation rate sensors and three acceleration sensors. The means for determining 602 is configured to determine a distance of the agricultural machine from the reference trajectory after a turning maneuver of the agricultural machine in order to obtain distance information. For determining, the device 602 may use a position of the agricultural machine after the turning maneuver relative to an end of the reference trajectory. The read-in interface 604 is configured to read in a changed distance value input by an operator of the agricultural machine. The changed distance value represents a changed distance of the agricultural machine to the reference trajectory. The changed distance value is received by an additional input device 614. The additional input device 614 may be, for example, a joystick. The provisioning device 606 is designed to provide a control signal for guiding the agricultural machine on a guideway, the guideway running at the changed distance from the reference trajectory. The means for providing 606 is configured. For example, to provide a steering angle for an electro-hydraulic steering 616. FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a method 700 for guiding an agricultural machine according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The method is suitable for being executed on a control unit as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. The method 700 includes a detecting step 702, a determining step 704, a reading-in step 706, and a providing step 708. In the step of detecting 702, a reference trajectory of the agricultural machine is detected while the agricultural machine is being moved on a reference trajectory. In the determining step 704, a distance of the agricultural machine from the reference trajectory after a turning maneuver of the agricultural machine is obtained to obtain distance information. In the read-in step 706, a changed distance value input by an operator of the agricultural machine is read in, which represents a changed distance of the agricultural machine to the reference trajectory. In the providing step 708, a control signal for guiding the agricultural machine on a guideway is provided to guide the agricultural machine, the guideway being at the changed distance from the reference trajectory.

In other words, the approach presented here describes a novel steering method for agricultural machinery. A flow of the steering method can be summarized as follows. A reference path is given. Subsequently, it is turned manually. The automatic tracking according to the approach presented here is switched on. A driver of the agricultural machine changes a lateral offset while maintaining alignment with the reference track.

For a technical implementation signals of a position sensor (odometry), which can be used for example gyroscopes, speed sensors and acceleration sensors, as well as signals of a satellite navigation system. Thereby, a velocity vector Vberechnet can be provided. A steering control unit can therefrom calculate a yaw angle of the agricultural machine by means of a state observer (eg Kalman filter). Furthermore, using a user request, a steering angle for the agricultural machine can be calculated. The calculated steering angle can be sent as a default, for example, to an electro-hydraulic steering (EHL) of the agricultural machine. The user request can be made via an input device z. B. a joystick can be specified by the user as desire offset. The desired offset can be defined as a lateral offset to a previous track of the agricultural machine. To determine the yaw angle (heading, alignment) can z. As the DCU and / or the GPS can be used. These sensors can be used to specify a reference path. The steering angle specification can be implemented via a means for steering such as EHL and / or an assisted steering system (AFS). As an input option, for example, a steering wheel, a joystick, a slider or a lever can be used.

While auto-tracking is enabled, it is only necessary for the user to determine the track offset. The agricultural machine essentially retains alignment. For example, the user activates the joystick to the right, whereupon the tractor steers to the right. When the user releases the joystick, the tractor automatically returns to the specified direction. Optionally, a fixed offset can be preset step by step by tapping the joystick. A warning may be issued if the track deviates (eg this can be secured by an additional sensor). A stop of the input option (eg joystick / lever) can be used to specify a steepness of the correction maneuver. The steepness can be defined as an angle between the old track and a steering slope. The same angle can be specified between the steering slope and a corrected path.

In a nutshell, the approach presented here can automatically move parallel to a given direction. The driver determines the other degree of freedom.

The exemplary embodiments shown are chosen only by way of example and can be combined with one another.

Claims

claims

A method (700) of driving an agricultural machine (104), the method (700) comprising the steps of:

Detecting (702) a reference trajectory (102a) of the agricultural machine (104) while the agricultural machine (104) is moving on a reference trajectory (108);

Determining (704) a distance (110) of the agricultural machine (104) from the reference trajectory (102a) after a turning maneuver of the agricultural machine (104) to obtain distance information;

Reading (706) a changed distance value input by an operator of the agricultural machine (104) representing a changed distance (1 12) of the agricultural machine (104) to the reference trajectory (102a); and

Providing (708) a control signal for guiding the agricultural machine (104) on a guideway, the guideway running at the changed distance (1 12) to the reference trajectory (102a).

Method (700) according to claim 1, wherein in the step of reading in (706) the changed distance value is detected by reading out a signal of an additional control lever.

A method (700) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein in the step of providing (708), a warning signal is provided when the guideway is out of tolerance.

The method (700) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein in the step of providing (708), the control signal guides the agricultural machine (104) at an angle (200) to the reference trajectory (102a) that is within an angular tolerance.

The method (700) according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a step of receiving image information (400) from a sensor for detecting an environment around the agricultural machine camera, which has an edge (402) of the guideway in the Area of the agricultural machine (104), wherein in the step of reading (706) the image information (400) is provided to the operator.

The method (700) according to claim 5, wherein in the step of reading (706) the image information (400) is overlaid with virtual image information (500), the virtual image information (500) representing the changed distance (1 12).

The method (700) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the providing step (708) is performed in response to an acknowledgment signal.

Method (700) according to one of the preceding claims, in which a new reference trajectory (102d) is detected while the control signal is being provided, and the reference trajectory (102a) in response to a next turning maneuver of the agricultural machine (104) by the new reference trajectory ( 102d) is replaced.

A controller (106) for guiding an agricultural machine (104) adapted to perform the steps of a method (700) according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

A computer program product with program code for carrying out the method according to one of claims 1 to 8, when the program product is executed on a device.