JP2000161952A - Apparatus for converting ground heights into data - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To correctly know ground heights in respective regions by providing a receiving part on a traveling vehicle and obtaining the relative height of the ground, based on an incident position of a reference beam to the receiving part. SOLUTION: A receiving part (level sensor) S for controlling height is provided via a pillar 14 on the upper face of a traveling vehicle 3 such as an agricultural tractor. The level sensor S comprises a plurality of light-receiving parts (light receiving elements) of approximately 600 mm placed in a case for allowing light beams to be received in any horizontal directions, while a body 22 of a generating part (laser lighthouse) T, which emits a reference beam (beam-like laser light) L in the horizontal direction is supported by a tripod 21 placed on the ground. Then the vehicle 3 is made to travel, while the level sensor S can keep receiving the reference beam L, the heights of the ground over a field are measured based on the reference beam L measured by the level sensor S during the travel and are displayed as three-dimensional images. Thus changes in the heights of the ground of the field can be comprehended visually and easily known.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ground height data converting device, and more particularly, to a ground height data conversion device for detecting a change in ground height based on a reference light beam such as a laser beam transmitted horizontally from a transmitting unit installed on the ground. Related to measuring technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-54232 as a ground height data converting apparatus constructed as described above. In this conventional example, the apparatus moves up and down following a level change of the ground surface. A light receiver is provided at the upper end of a pole provided with a grounding body such as a wheel that rolls while contacting the ground surface so as to be displaced,
These are connected to the rear end of the tractor, and when the tractor is traveling, the ground level based on the laser light is set based on the position where the laser light emitted horizontally from the light emitter installed on the ridge enters the light receiver. The height is measured, stored in a storage device, and the average value of the ground surface height stored in the storage device is obtained and displayed.

[0003]

In the work for leveling a large ground, it is also necessary to obtain an average value of the set ground height because of the necessity of setting a leveling target height of a leveling device such as a blade. However, it is also necessary to grasp the height of each area on the ground and the level difference between adjacent areas from the viewpoint of improving work efficiency. Specifically, as in the prior art, the work is performed by setting the average value of the ground surface height to the leveling target height of a leveling device such as a blade. It is a good work form when the vehicle is traveling toward the level area, but when the vehicle is traveling in the opposite direction, it can not only send almost no earth and sand at the beginning of traveling Near the end of the run, the earth and sand on the ground is sent to the higher ground level side, and the work is wasted. To solve this inconvenience, it is necessary to grasp the tendency of the ground level change in advance. An object of the present invention is to rationally configure a device that can easily grasp the height of each area on the ground.

[0004]

According to a first feature of the present invention, a traveling unit is provided with a receiving unit for receiving a reference light beam transmitted horizontally from a transmitting unit installed on the ground. Height measuring means for calculating the relative height of the ground with respect to the reference light beam based on the incident position of the reference light beam with respect to the receiving unit, and storage means for holding a measurement result from the height measuring means with traveling of the traveling vehicle body; There is provided processing means for outputting the measurement result held in the storage means in accordance with the area in which the traveling vehicle body has traveled. The operation and effect are as follows.

[0005] A second feature of the present invention (claim 2) is that in claim 1, the receiving section is provided in a work device for leveling provided on a traveling vehicle body so as to be able to move up and down. In the point that it is also used in the receiving unit used when controlling the elevation of the work equipment for leveling so as to receive the reference light beam transmitted in the direction at a predetermined position of the receiving unit, its operation,
And the effect is as follows.

According to a third feature of the present invention (claim 3), the storage means according to claim 1, wherein the storage means measures the height at every set time when the traveling vehicle travels or every time the traveling vehicle travels a set distance. It is configured to hold the measurement result from the means, and its operation and effect are as follows.

According to a fourth feature of the present invention (claim 4), the processing means according to claim 1, wherein the processing means stores the measurement result held in the storage means in a three-dimensional manner with respect to an area corresponding to an area in which the running vehicle travels. It is configured to output an image, and its operation and effect are as follows.

According to a fifth feature of the present invention (claim 5), in accordance with claim 1, the processing means prints out the measurement result held in the storage means as a three-dimensional image corresponding to an area in which the running vehicle traveled. The operation and effect are as follows.

According to a sixth feature of the present invention (claim 6), based on claim 1, the processing means is configured to calculate, based on the measurement result held in the storage means, an average of the ground in an area where the running vehicle body travels. The configuration is such that arithmetic processing for obtaining the height is performed, and the operation and effect thereof are as follows.

According to the first feature, when the measurement is performed, the traveling vehicle is caused to travel on the ground to be measured, so that the measuring means performs the measurement based on the incident position of the reference light beam on the receiving unit. It measures the height of the ground,
The measurement result is stored in the storage unit. After the measurement by the measuring unit is performed, the processing unit outputs a measurement result corresponding to the area in which the traveling vehicle body has traveled, based on the measurement result held in the storage unit. That is, the height information of each area on the ground on which the traveling vehicle body travels can be grasped.

According to the second feature, the cost can be reduced by using a sensor for controlling the lifting and lowering of a working device for leveling the ground without providing a dedicated sensor for the vehicle body. Thus, the structure can be simplified.

According to the third feature, the measurement result from the measuring means is stored in the storage means every time the vehicle body travels for the set time or every time the vehicle body travels for the set distance. The height of each area on the ground can be easily grasped.

According to the fourth feature, since the processing means outputs the measurement result to the display as a three-dimensional image,
The operator can visually grasp the ground level based on the output content to the display.

According to the fifth feature, since the processing means prints out the measurement result as a stereoscopic image, the operator can visually grasp the ground level based on the printed result.

According to the sixth feature, the processing means obtains the average height of the ground in the area where the traveling vehicle body has traveled based on the measurement results held in the storage means by arithmetic processing, so Can be easily set.

[Effects of the Invention] Accordingly, the height of each area is automatically measured and output only by moving the traveling vehicle on the ground, so that the height of the ground in each area of the ground can be accurately grasped. The device was rationally configured (claim 1). In addition, since the ground leveling operation is often performed after this measuring operation, the measuring device and the leveling operation can be performed by using the same device by using the receiving unit, and the cost and the structure can be improved. Is also reasonable (Claim 2), and by grasping the height of the ground for each area divided in a fixed unit, the determination of the height can be easily made without error, and (Claim 3) Even when checking the height of the ground, the difference in height can be easily determined visually as compared with numbers and letters (claim 4). Since the height of each area of the ground is printed on paper or the like, For example, it is easy to check the output result printed during the leveling work (claim 5), and it is not necessary to perform a special calculation when setting the target height during the leveling work. (Claim 5).

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, an engine 4 is mounted on a front portion of a traveling body 3 provided with a front wheel 1 and a rear wheel 2, and the power from the engine 4 is transmitted to the front and rear wheels 1 and 2 at a rear position of the traveling body 3. A transmission case 5 is provided. A steering handle 6 and a driver's seat 7 are provided at a central position of the traveling vehicle body 3. A farm tractor is constructed by linking.

A lift cylinder 10 is disposed above the transmission case 5. A pair of left and right lift arms 11, which are operated by the lift cylinder 10, are connected to the link mechanism 8 via a lift rod 12. The lift cylinder 10 is actuated to raise and lower the leveling blade 9. A potentiometer type is provided at the base end of the lift arm 11 for measuring the height of the rotary tillage device 9 relative to the vehicle body from the swing amount of the lift arm 11. And a level sensor S as a receiving unit for height control via a support post 14 on the upper surface of the grading blade 9.

A leveling blade 9 is provided on the side of the driver's seat 7.
A position lever 15 for controlling the lifting and lowering of the lever is disposed.
5 is provided with a potentiometer type position setting device 16 for measuring the operation position. When raising and lowering the leveling blade 9 in the position control mode, the lift arm sensor 13 detects that the lift arm 11 has moved up and down to a position corresponding to the set position of the lever 15 by manually operating the position lever 15. Control for driving the lift cylinder 10 is performed until the measurement is performed.

The level sensor S is, as shown in FIG.
A plurality of light receiving portions 19 having a vertical position of about 600 mm and having a large number of light receiving elements such as photodiodes and phototransistors with a resolution of 5 mm are arranged inside a vertically long cylindrical main body case 18 made of resin. The main body case 18 of the level sensor S is configured to be able to adjust a fixed position in the vertical direction with respect to the support column 14. In the level sensor S, the entire area in the vertical direction of the light receiving section 19 is a reception area Z, and an incident target position A is set to an intermediate position of the reception area Z as described later.

As shown in FIG. 1, a laser lighthouse T is configured as a transmitting unit that horizontally sends out a laser beam L as a reference light beam to be received by the level sensor S. The laser lighthouse T is supported by a tripod 21. The main body 22 is provided with a light emitting source (not shown) for transmitting a beam-shaped laser beam L in the horizontal direction, and a reflecting mirror or a prism in the main body 22 is rotated around a vertical axis Y. An electric motor (not shown) for turning the laser light beam L from the light emitting source is provided. The laser lighthouse T rotates the laser light L 600 times per minute (600 rpm).
Or 300 turns per minute (30
0 rpm).

As shown in FIG. 4, the agricultural tractor has a control unit 24 having a microprocessor as processing means.
The control device 24 includes a level sensor S, a potentiometer type level setting device 26 which is rotated by a dial 25, a potentiometer type sensitivity setting device 28 which is operated by a dial 27, and the position setting device. 16, a lift arm sensor 13, a steering sensor 29 for measuring the operation amount of the steering handle 6, a distance sensor 30 for measuring the traveling distance from the rotation amount of the front wheel 1 or the rear wheel 2, a measurement start switch 31, a measurement end switch 32 , A sampling setting switch 33 and a level control switch 34, and an electromagnetic control valve V for controlling the lift cylinder 10 and an output system for the liquid crystal monitor 35. . The control valve V is of a so-called electromagnetic proportional type that obtains an opening corresponding to the current value supplied to the electromagnetic solenoid, and the control device 24 is connected to an electromagnetic solenoid (not shown) of the control valve V. The duty ratio of the intermittent signal to be supplied is changed so that the supply power can be adjusted in a PWM manner. Further, the control device 24 includes a buffer memory Mb and a main memory Mm as storage means. The dials and switches are arranged on a panel in front of the steering handle 6, and a liquid crystal monitor 35 (an example of a display) is provided above the panel.

In this tractor, the vehicle body 3 is moved to the field with the leveling blade 9 kept at a level away from the field scene and at a level at which the laser beam L from the laser lighthouse T is received by the level sensor S. The laser beam L measured by the level sensor S during the traveling
Measurement control for measuring the level state of the entire field scene based on the above, and raising and lowering the leveling blade 9 so as to receive the laser beam L from the laser lighthouse T at the incident target position A of the level sensor S. The control operation of the control device 24 is set so as to perform the elevation control for leveling.

That is, the measurement control is set as shown in the flow chart of FIG. 5. In this control, the operation is started by operating the measurement start switch 31 and the traveling direction of the traveling vehicle body 3 when the measurement start switch 31 is turned ON. Is written into a main memory (not shown) provided in the control device 24, and after this process, data (measurement data) indicating the incident position of the laser beam L on the level sensor S is controlled. A process of sequentially writing data to the buffer memory Mb provided in the device 24 is performed. A process of writing the inserted measurement data into the main memory Mm is performed (steps # 101 to # 105). When it is determined based on a signal from the steering sensor 29 that the operation of turning the traveling vehicle body 3 has been performed in 6, a process of writing code data indicating the traveling direction after the direction conversion into the main memory Mm is performed. These processes are repeated until the measurement end switch 32 is operated. When the measurement end switch 32 is operated, the data written in the main memory Mm is three-dimensionally executed by executing the imaging processing routine. And output it to the liquid crystal monitor 35 (# 106 to # 108, # 200).
Steps). The measuring means is constituted by a program for performing processing for obtaining a ground level based on the incident position of the laser light L on the light receiving portion of the level sensor S.

More specifically, in this measurement control, as shown in FIG. 9, the traveling vehicle body 3 is made to travel straight in the field P as in the plowing operation, and the traveling sensor 3 is used by the distance sensor 30 when traveling straight in this field P. Each time it is determined that the vehicle 3 has traveled the set distance (each sampling timing), the address of the main memory Mm is incremented, and the above-described measurement data writing control is performed. The set distance can be arbitrarily set by operating the sampling setting switch 33 (for example, a numerical value such as 2 meters or 10 meters). When performing highly accurate measurement, the set distance is set. Is set to a short value.
When the traveling vehicle body 3 reaches the headland and turns and reverses the vehicle body 3, as described above, the code data corresponding to the traveling direction (one of two values of the forward direction and the reverse direction) is mainly used. Since the code data is written to the memory Mm, since the code data is written to the main memory Mm, when the data is read from the main memory Mm during the image processing, the measurement is performed between the code data and the code data. The data appears as an interposed form, and the traveling direction can be easily determined based on the code data. The code data is assigned a value not used in the measurement data.

The buffer memory Mb includes a level sensor S
Although the measurement data from is input continuously,
In the above-mentioned processing, since the processing of writing only the last data of the buffer memory Mb to the main memory is performed, a capacity for storing all data from the level sensor S is not required. If there is a sufficient capacity and a sufficient processing speed of the microprocessor, all data in the sampling cycle from the level sensor S are stored in the buffer memory Mb, and the average value of all the data in the buffer memory Mb at the sampling timing It is also possible to set the processing mode so as to write the data to the main memory Mm.

The imaging processing routine (# 200 step) can be outlined in the flowchart of FIG. 6. In this control, first, based on the data in the main memory Mm, the area where the traveling vehicle body 3 travels is determined. Is performed.
Specifically, a value obtained by multiplying the number of measurement data between the first code data and the next code data by the set distance is set as the distance of the first travel of the traveling vehicle body 3 in the straight line. The distance in the direction orthogonal to the straight traveling direction is determined by the distance traveled by the traveling body 3 first and the distance traveled by the traveling body 3
Is a value obtained by multiplying the number of strokes by the interval (arbitrarily set value) of the strokes traveled. Next, the area (not necessarily a rectangle) thus determined is determined as a drawing area, and the correspondence between the plane coordinates (x, y) of the drawing area and each measurement data in the main memory Mm is determined. 3D coordinate data (x, y, z) by setting height data (z) to each plane coordinate (x, y)
To determine. Thus, the solid coordinate data (x, y, z)
Is determined, a plane connecting the respective solid coordinates (x, y, z) is drawn, contour lines are drawn on the image drawn in this way, and a display for discriminating equal-level regions based on the contour lines After performing the process, the output is output to the liquid crystal monitor 35, and the “height at the time of leveling” of the field P is obtained by calculation,
The numerical value is output to the liquid crystal monitor 35 (# 201 to # 205 steps).

FIG. 8 shows an example of an image obtained by the image processing routine (# 200 step). In this example, the traveling body 3 travels 20 meters. The height data is sampled every time. It should be noted that the level that becomes “0” in the figure is the height at which the laser light L is incident on the level sensor S at the start of measurement.

After the measurement of the height of the field scene is completed, control is started by setting the "height at the time of leveling" obtained by the above-described processing to the target height. .
That is, the value of the “height at the time of leveling” is, for example, minus one.
In the case of 0 cm, the traveling body 3 is stopped at the position of the field P where minus 10 cm is obtained from the imaged data as the easiest setting form, and the leveling blade is placed on this ground by operating the position lever 15. 9 and the incident target A set at the center of the level sensor S in the vertical direction in this state (see FIG. 3A).
Is adjusted to set the fixed position of the level sensor S with respect to the column 14 so that the laser light L from the laser lighthouse T is incident, and after this adjustment, the level control switch 34 is turned on to control the leveling. In this control, the control sensitivity is set based on the set position of the sensitivity setting unit 28, and the incident position of the laser beam L to the level sensor S is determined as shown in the flowchart of FIG. By comparing the incident position with the dead zone, only when the incident position is within the dead zone, the vertical direction of the grading blade 9 is set, and the control valve V corresponding to the deviation between the control target and the incident position is set. The control for driving the electromagnetic solenoid of the control valve V by setting the target opening degree is continued until the level control switch 34 is turned off (# 3).
01 to # 308 steps).

When the sensitivity setting device 28 is set to the "standard" position during this control, a dead zone U having a predetermined width is formed with reference to the incident target position A as shown in FIG.
When the sensitivity setting device 28 is operated to the "sensitive" side from this state, the width of the dead zone U becomes narrow as shown in FIG. 3B, and the level setting device 26 is set to the "standard" position. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3A, the incident target position A is set at an intermediate position H in the vertical direction of the light receiving area Z, and when the level setting device 26 is operated to the "deep" side from this position, the incident light is incident. The control operation is set so that the target position A is displaced upward.

When the incident position is determined in step # 302, if the laser beam L is received simultaneously at a plurality of positions of the light receiving unit 19 due to the scattering of light rays by raindrops or fog, the detection error is minimized. As shown in FIG. 10, weighting is performed according to the incident target position A, and arithmetic processing is performed. That is, the characteristic K is set so that the "weight" of the center position in the vertical direction of the light receiving unit 19 is maximized and the "weight" of the upper and lower ends is minimized.
Is set. For example, when the laser beams L and L are simultaneously detected at the points a and b, the characteristic position Ka corresponding to the point a is detected.
And a characteristic position Kb, a triangular region M is obtained, and a point c corresponding to a position at which the area of this region is divided into two is determined as an incident position of the laser beam L.
When light is received at three or more places at the same time, a position at which the area of the plurality of regions is divided into two is obtained, and further, a position at which the area of the region formed by the positions thus obtained is divided by two is obtained. The incident position is determined by such processing.

With this configuration, the level sensor S is set on the traveling vehicle body 3 prior to the leveling operation, and the level sensor S receives the laser light L from the laser lighthouse T so as to receive the laser light L from the laser lighthouse T. After a simple setting such as setting the height of T is performed, the level change of the entire surface of the field P can be measured and output to the liquid crystal monitor 35 simply by moving the traveling vehicle body 3 to the field P. It is assumed that the level change of the field P can be easily grasped visually by this output, and at the same time as this measurement, the “height at the time of leveling” is obtained.
Can also be grasped. When performing the leveling work, the “height at the time of leveling” is simply set to the target height of the leveling work. As a result, the control valve V is automatically operated so that the laser beam L is received at the incident target position A of the level sensor S, and the leveling blade 9 is automatically moved up and down. As a result, a wide field is precisely and efficiently leveled on a horizontal plane. It can be done. In particular, it is possible to easily improve the work efficiency, for example, it is possible to immediately determine that the traveling vehicle body 3 travels from the high level direction to the low level direction based on the image output to the liquid crystal monitor 35.

[Another Embodiment] In addition to the above embodiment, the present invention stores measurement data in a main memory of a control unit 24 of a traveling vehicle body 3 as shown in FIG. The measurement data is transmitted from the communication terminal 38 to the communication terminal 40 of the computer 39 outside the vehicle body by data communication using IrDA or the like, and the height data is transferred to the computer 39 based on the measurement data, and the stereoscopic image is displayed on the display 41. , And a three-dimensional image can be printed out by the printer 42. In this alternative embodiment, the computer 39 corresponds to the processing means.

In the present invention, the traveling direction of the traveling body 3
In order to determine the traveling distance, the position of the traveling vehicle body 3 is determined using so-called GPS as a geodetic means using an artificial satellite, and sampling is performed every time the traveling vehicle body 3 travels a predetermined distance based on the determination result. It is possible to set a control operation to perform the operation, to set the timing for storing the height data from the level sensor S by a combination of the traveling speed and the time, or to manually operate the switch by an operator. It is also possible to set the control operation so as to perform sampling at.

In the present invention, the control operation can be set so that the height of the field P in the measured area is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 35 as a three-dimensional image simultaneously with the measurement operation. When the operation is set, the height change of the field can be accurately grasped even during the measurement operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an agricultural tractor and a laser lighthouse.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a level sensor.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an incident target and a dead zone of a light receiving unit.

FIG. 4 is a block circuit diagram of a control system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of measurement control.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an imaging processing routine.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a leveling operation.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a stereoscopic image obtained by an imaging processing routine;

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a traveling mode of the agricultural tractor in a field.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing weighting characteristics for determining an incident position of a laser beam;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 Running body 9 Working device 35 Display L Reference beam Mm Storage means S Receiver T Transmitter

Claims (6)

[Claims] A traveling unit is provided with a receiving unit for receiving a reference light beam transmitted in a horizontal direction from a transmitting unit installed on the ground, and a relative position of the ground to the reference light beam based on an incident position of the reference light beam on the receiving unit. Height measuring means for obtaining the height, storage means for holding the measurement results from the height measuring means as the traveling vehicle travels, and the measurement results stored in the storage means corresponding to the area where the traveling vehicle traveled. And a processing means for outputting the data. 2. The receiving unit is provided in a work device for leveling provided on a traveling vehicle body so as to be able to move up and down, and receives a reference beam transmitted horizontally from a transmitting unit at a predetermined position of the receiving unit during leveling work. 2. The ground height data conversion device according to claim 1, wherein the device is also used as a receiving unit used when raising and lowering the work equipment for leveling. 3. The storage means is configured to hold a measurement result from the height measurement means at a set time when the traveling vehicle travels or every time the traveling vehicle travels a set distance. 1. The ground height data conversion device according to 1. 4. The ground height according to claim 1, wherein the processing means is configured to output a measurement result stored in the storage means as a three-dimensional image to a display corresponding to an area where the traveling vehicle traveled. Data conversion device. 5. The ground height data conversion according to claim 1, wherein said processing means is configured to print out a measurement result held in said storage means as a three-dimensional image corresponding to an area in which a traveling vehicle body has traveled. apparatus. 6. The processing unit according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit performs an arithmetic process for calculating an average height of the ground in an area where the traveling vehicle traveled based on the measurement result held in the storage unit. The ground height data conversion device as described.