JP2988975B2 - Steering control of reaper - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a contact-type steering control sensor for detecting an approach degree in a lateral width direction of a body to a row of stems to be planted in a field,
Based on the information of the steering control sensor, based on information of the approach determination means for determining the degree of approach to the stem row, the information of the approach degree determination means so that the degree of approach is maintained in a proper setting range. And a steering control means for performing steering control based on the steering control device of the reaper.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, as a steering control sensor, a sensor bar is swingably supported around a longitudinal axis of a base end portion, and is provided so as to return to a posture protruding in the lateral direction of the fuselage. In many cases, the degree of approach in the lateral width direction of the body with respect to the stem / culm row is detected based on the amount of swinging backward. (See FIG. 4.) By the way, the stem rods are usually planted in a field at intervals in stock units. Therefore, the contact-type steering control sensor that detects the degree of approach in the lateral direction of the vehicle body comes into intermittent contact with the stem and rod as the vehicle advances.

As a result, the detected value of the degree of approach to the stem row detected by the steering control sensor fluctuates greatly with intermittent contact with the stem row.

Therefore, conventionally, the detection value of the steering control sensor has been repeatedly sampled, for example, an average value of the set number of detection values has been obtained, and the obtained average value has been used as the value of the degree of proximity.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

When the average value of the detection values of the steering control sensors is used as the value of the proximity, the position of the outer end of each stem in the width direction of the body of the stem in the stem row cannot be determined as the approach to the stem row. Therefore, there is a possibility that an appropriate degree of approach cannot be determined. In other words, when the body is to follow along the stem line, it is possible to follow the outer end (hereinafter, abbreviated as the lateral end) of each stem in the body width direction of each stem in the stem line, Although it is possible to avoid pushing down the stem and the like, it is conventionally impossible to determine the position of the lateral end of each stem as the degree of approach to the stem row, and improvement has been desired.

By the way, as a contact sensor, for example, a detection object having a length in contact with a plurality of adjacent stems and stems of a stem and stem row can be freely moved in the machine body width direction by a parallel quadruple link mechanism, and on the stem and stem side. It is conceivable that the sensor is configured to detect the degree of approach to the stem and culm row based on the position of the detection object in the width direction of the body, but the sensor configuration is complicated. Was expensive.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances,
The purpose is to make it possible to determine the position of the lateral end of each stem and rod of the stem and stem row as the degree of closeness to the stem and stem row even by using a simple steering control sensor having a sensor bar. The object is to improve the follow-up performance.

[Means for solving the problem]

A steering control device for a reaper and harvester according to the present invention includes a contact-type steering control sensor for detecting the degree of approach of a stem row to be planted in a field in a lateral direction of the body, and information of the steering control sensor. Based on the information of the approach determining means so that the approach is maintained within a proper setting range. A control means is provided, and its characteristic configuration is as follows.

In the first characteristic configuration, the approach degree determination means samples the detection value of the steering control sensor every set time or every time the vehicle travels a set distance, and obtains the sampled value for the set number or within the set time. Is determined as the value of the degree of proximity.

In a second characteristic configuration, a pair of the steering control sensors is provided at an interval in the longitudinal direction of the fuselage, and the proximity determining means determines the proximity of each of the pair of steering control sensors based on the determined proximity. , The inclination of the body with respect to the stem row is determined, and the steering control means is configured to perform steering control based on the degree of approach and the inclination.

(Operation)

In the first characteristic configuration, the detection value of the sensor is sampled by utilizing the fact that the value of the approaching degree is minimized when the steering control sensor detects the lateral end of each stem / culm in the stem / culm row. do it,
The minimum value of the set number of sampling values is determined as the proximity, and the steering control is performed based on the determination information. By the way, the sampling number for determining the minimum value is set to a number that includes at least one of the sampling values corresponding to the detection of the lateral end of the stem.

In the second characteristic configuration, a pair of steering control sensors are provided at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the fuselage, and the inclination of the fuselage with respect to the stem row is obtained, and the steering control is performed based on the information of the tilt. .

〔The invention's effect〕

Thus, in the first characteristic configuration, the steering control can be performed while judging the degree of approach to the stem row based on the position of the lateral end of each stem, so that the followability to the stem row can be improved.

In the second characteristic configuration, the steering can be controlled based on the inclination of the body with respect to the stem row, so that the followability to the stem row can be further improved.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a steering control device of a rush harvester as a reaper will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the rush harvester is provided with a mowing part (2) at the front of a body (V) having a pair of right and left crawler traveling devices (1). The cutting unit (2) includes three weeding tools (3) acting on the root of the planted stem rod, a pair of left and right weeding devices (4) for loosening the entanglement of the planted stem rod, A triggering device (5) that introduces a post-grass planted stem rod while introducing it, a clipper-type cutting blade (6) that cuts off the stem of the raised stem rod, and the upper part of the cut stem rod is suspended and pinched. A nipping and conveying device (7) and the like, which is transported toward the rear of the aircraft, are provided in that order from the front of the aircraft.

The stems and rods transported to the rear of the machine body by the holding and conveying device (7) are cleaned by a sorting device (8) to remove defective substances such as debris, and are bound by a binding device (9) at predetermined intervals. And, it is designed to be loaded on a loading table (10) behind the body which can be freely tilted. Incidentally, in the drawing, (11) is a boarding control section.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rush harvester includes a pair of left and right steering clutches (14) for turning on and off the transmission of driving force to one of the pair of left and right crawler traveling devices (1). It is provided in the transmission section (15) of (1), and one of the clutches (14) is disengaged to steer. Then, the clutch (1
A pair of left and right steering hydraulic cylinders (16) are provided as steering actuators for turning operation 4), and an electromagnetically operated control valve (17) corresponding thereto is provided.

Of the three weeding tools (3), the one on the most cut side is also configured as a plate-shaped sensor cover (12). A pair of steering control sensors (SF) and (SR) that detect the stem and rods introduced between the center and the weeding tool (3) are arranged at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the fuselage. It is provided in the state where it is. As shown in FIG. 3, the sensor cover (12) is supported by a pair of links (12a) so that the sensor cover (12) can be moved to a storage position moved to the rear side of the fuselage. Although not described in detail, the pair of steering control sensors (SF) and (SR) are stored below the sensor cover (12) in accordance with the position change. In the figure, (12b) is a spring that biases the sensor cover (12) toward the storage position, (12b)
c) is a wire for manual operation for operating the sensor cover (12) to the operation position.

The pair of steering control sensors (SF) and (SR) have the same structure in the front and rear, and the configuration of the front sensor (SF) will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the sensor (SF) is composed of a sensor bar (13) that can swing from the front to the rear around the longitudinal axis of the base end and a sensor bar (13). A potentiometer (13A) for outputting a value corresponding to the swing angle. Although not shown, the sensor bar (13) is urged by a spring or the like to return to an initial position facing the sensor cover (12) in the lateral direction, and is positioned in the lateral direction where the sensor bar (13) comes into contact with the stalks of rush. Swings rearward in accordance with the vehicle. Accordingly, the potentiometer (13A) outputs information corresponding to the swing angle of the sensor bar (13) from the initial posture. However, the control device (18) shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the distance (l) from the inner edge to the surface of the stem in the body width direction is expressed in six steps from 0 to 5 based on the output value of the potentiometer (13A). Is determined as the value of the degree of proximity represented by.
In other words, it is determined that the state is closest to the stem and rod at 0,
It is determined that the larger the number is, the farther the distance (l) from the stem is. Accordingly, it is determined that the initial posture is the most distant at 5. Note that the swing angle range of the sensor bar (13) is divided into six steps so that the values of the six degrees of approach are equally spaced, and the range indicated by 3 is set in steering control described later. The area is set as an area corresponding to the appropriate range.

By the way, as shown in the figure, since the stalks of rushes are planted at intervals on a plant basis, even if there is no change in the approach of the body (V) to the stalks, the body (V) is not changed. With the travel of ()), the sensor bar (13) swings.

Therefore, the control device (18) samples and stores the output of each of the pair of steering control sensors (SF) and (SR) every 4 ms by a sensor input processing unit, and uses a microcomputer as a main unit. The control unit obtains and stores the minimum value of the approach degree during the set cycle (200 ms) every set cycle (200 ms), and at the same time, stores the set number of pieces (four).
Is determined as a value corresponding to the distance (l) to the stem rod. The value of the set cycle (200 ms) is a standard vehicle speed (for example, 27 cm / S).
Based on the planting pitch of the stalk and rod (for example, 20 cm) and the diameter of the stalk and rod (for example, 10 cm), a setting is made so that a plurality of cycles (for example, four cycles) can appear during traveling of the planting pitch. I have. However, the pair of steering control sensors (SF),
When storing the minimum value of each output of (SR), only storage is repeated until the number of storage reaches the set number (four),
After reaching the set number (four), the oldest minimum value is discarded and the latest minimum value is stored.

Further, the control device (18) obtains a minimum value for each of the pair of steering control sensors (SF) and (SR) for each of the set periods, and determines a difference between values before and after the minimum value for the pair of steering control sensors. The angle (θ) corresponding to the inclination of the body (V) with respect to the longitudinal direction is obtained, and the sum of the values before and after is obtained as the distance (λ) corresponding to the distance in the body width direction with respect to the stem row. It is. The process of obtaining the declination (θ) and the gap (λ) as information corresponding to the degree of approach to the stem and rod corresponds to the degree of approach determination means (100). By the way, θ =
The state where 0 and λ = 6 (3 + 3) is the state in which the body (V) follows the stem row in the proper setting state, and the steering is performed so as to maintain this state as described later. Control it.

When the control device (18) obtains the declination (θ) and the gap (λ) as described above, the control device (18) then performs control corresponding to the disengagement time of the left and right steering clutches (14) based on these information. An output (u) is obtained, and steering control is performed by energizing the control valve (17) based on the control output (u).

As shown in FIG. 11, the control output (u) is stored in advance as a table corresponding to the argument (θ) and the gap (λ), and the control device (18) stores this table in the table. The control output (u) will be obtained with reference to this.

The table is calculated by fuzzy inference based on the membership functions shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 and the control rules shown in FIG. The seventh
The figure shows the membership function of the argument (θ), FIG. 8 shows the membership function of the gap (λ), and FIG. 9 shows the control amount used as a weighting factor when calculating the control output (u). 3 shows a membership function of (Z).

To briefly explain the creation of the table, the control rule describes the argument (θ) and the gap (λ) as two fuzzy variables of the antecedent part, and the control amount (Z) as the consequent part. The degree of conformity (grade) of the argument (θ) and the distance (λ) to the control rule is determined by the smaller of the degrees of conformity to the membership function (FIGS. 7 and 8). Degree. Further, based on the degree of conformity determined in this manner, the degree of control is determined from the membership function (FIG. 9) of the control amount (Z). Incidentally, when a plurality of control rules are applied to the declination (θ) and the gap (λ), the control amounts (Z) for each control rule are obtained by the above-described procedure, and the control amounts (Z) are calculated. The value obtained by averaging the loads is defined as the final control amount (Z).

The control output (u) is obtained by multiplying the control amount (Z) obtained in the above procedure by the basic output (110 ms in this embodiment).

In FIG. 11, the upper value indicates the control amount (Z), and the lower value indicates the control output (u). In the calculation of the control amount (Z), arithmetic processing such as rounding is performed. Further, the control output (u) is determined in the range of +272 to -272, and the value of +273 or more is +272. , −
A value of 273 or less is -272. In addition, a negative control output (u) indicates that the left steering clutch (14) is disengaged to steer to the uncut side, and a positive control output (u) indicates a right steering clutch (14). ) Indicates that the vehicle is steered to the cut side.

The control output (u) of the table created as described above is
When the value of the declination (θ) is inclined from the appropriate setting range to the uncut side and the value of the distance (λ) is deviated from the proper setting range to the uncut side, the declination (θ) ) Is inclined from the setting appropriate range to the cut side, and the value of the distance (λ) is larger than when the value is shifted from the setting appropriate range to the cut side. The steering amount is set to be larger than the steering amount to the uncut side so as to prevent the stalk rod from being pushed into the row of stems and the stem rods from being depressed.
Incidentally, this corresponds to, for example, a comparison of the control output (u) in the case of SF = 1 and SR = 4 or 5 and the control output (u) in the case of SR = 1 and SF = 4 or 5.

When the control valve (17) is energized to obtain the control output (u) based on the above table, the following points must be considered. That is, since there is a delay time from the start of energization to the control valve (17) to the actual disengagement of the steering clutch (14), if the energization time to the control valve (17) is too short, the actual In this state, the steering clutch (14) cannot be disengaged. Accordingly, the shortest time (eg, 88 m) during which the steering clutch (14) can be turned off
It is useless to output a clutch disengagement time shorter than s), so it is preferable not to output such a short clutch disengagement time.

Although not shown, the steering clutch (14) is configured so that it can be manually turned off manually. Also, in FIG. 1, (19) is an alarm device as an alarm device that operates as an alarm when the control operation of the steering control is stopped, (20) is a traveling transmission, and (21) is automatically. An automatic switch for instructing the control device (18) to perform steering control, and (E) is an engine. In addition, using the control device (18), the proximity determining means (100)
And energizing the control valve (17) based on the control output (u) so that the body (V) follows the stem row based on the information of the approach degree determining means (100). A steering control means (101) for performing steering control is configured.

To explain the steering control, the process for obtaining the value of the control output (u) is performed at the set cycle (200 m) as described above.
In step s), the actual output processing based on the discrimination information is performed using an output cycle (800 ms) having a value longer than the set cycle for obtaining the value of the control output (u). That is, when the steering direction of the control output (u) obtained this time is opposite to the previous one, and when the control output (u) becomes larger than the previous one even if the steering direction is the same, the current output is obtained immediately. The value of the control output (u) is output. On the other hand, if the control output (u) obtained this time changes in the same direction as the previous steering direction and in a direction approaching the set appropriate range, the output cycle (800 ms) from the time when the previous output was started. Is not output until the time elapses.

Therefore, if the deflection angle (θ) and the gap (λ) of the rush can not return to the set appropriate range in the previous steering operation, the control output corresponding to the current state is performed. As a result, the steering operation is repeatedly and continuously performed, and the return to the proper setting range can be accurately performed.
Then, when the vehicle is returning to the proper setting range, the steering operation is temporarily stopped to prevent over-control.

The control operation of each process for the steering control described above is performed when at least one of the pair of steering control sensors (SF) and (SR) approaches within a set distance with respect to the stem row. Starting with the detection of the state of the pedestal, and the state where both of the pair of steering control sensors (SF) and (SR) are apart from the stem row by a set distance or more for a set time or more. The detection is automatically switched based on the information of the pair of steering control sensors (SF) and (SR) so that the detection is stopped in accordance with the detection.

In addition, the pair of steering control sensors (S
F) and (SR) show that when there is no planted stem rod, it returns to the front side and the corresponding proximity becomes the maximum of 5, and when it comes into contact with the stem rod, it outputs an approach value of 0 to 4 Will do. Therefore, when the proximity of one of the front and rear sensors is less than 5, it is determined that the control condition is satisfied, and the mowing work and the steering control can be started.

Next, after the control condition is satisfied and the steering control is started, when the body (V) reaches the end of the work stroke and the planting stem stick disappears, the pair of steering control sensors (SF), ( SR) both return to the initial position, and the corresponding proximity is the maximum of 5. Therefore, if the state in which both the proximity of the front and rear sensors reaches a maximum of 5 continues for a set time or longer, it is determined that the control condition is not satisfied, and the mowing work and the steering control can be stopped.

Hereinafter, the operation of the control unit of the control device (18) will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the power of the control device (18) is turned on and the automatic switch (21) is turned on to start the operation,
After performing initial setting processing for executing processing such as setting the values of various variables to initial values, based on the proximity value detected by the pair of steering control sensors (SF) and (SR). It is determined whether the control condition is satisfied as described above.

If the control condition is not satisfied, the control operation is stopped and waited until the control condition is satisfied. If the control condition is satisfied, the control operation is started.

When the control operation is started, the minimum value is obtained at each set cycle as described above from the detection data of the pair of steering control sensors (SF) and (SR), and the stored minimum value is set to the set number (four pieces). ) Is determined as to whether or not a stack flag indicating whether or not the number has reached ON has been reached.

If the stack flag is not ON, the process of saving the minimum value to the storage stack is repeated. However, when the data saved in the stack is full, that is, when the minimum value has reached the set number, the data with the minimum value among the data saved in the stack is selected and the stack flag is turned ON. Become.

If the stack flag is ON, discard the oldest data in time, save the data corresponding to the newly obtained minimum value on the stack, and select the data with the minimum value in the stack become.

After selecting the minimum value in the stack, the control output (u) is calculated from the combination of the minimum value selected for each of the front and rear steering control sensors (SF) and (SR) in the table (see FIG. 10). ).

Next, it is determined whether the calculated control output (u) has the same steering direction as the previously obtained control output and is smaller, that is, in a direction in which the degree of approach to the rush approaches the set appropriate range. It is determined whether or not the output of the control valve (17) is maintained. If the output is smaller, the current output state of the previous control output is maintained. ) Is energized.

However, as described above, the current output state based on the previous control output is based on the value obtained last time without performing the output process based on the value obtained this time from the start of the current output until the end of the output cycle. Continue output processing.

After executing the output process, the processes from the process of determining whether or not the control condition is satisfied are repeated until the power is turned off.

(Another embodiment)

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the steering control sensor is provided in a pair of front and rear so as to be able to determine the inclination of the body with respect to the stem row is exemplified.However, with one steering control sensor, the approach in the body width direction is performed. The steering control may be simplified based on only the degree information.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where both the start and the stop of the control operation of the steering control are automatically performed is exemplified. However, only the stop is automatically performed, and the start is performed artificially. Is also good.

In the above embodiment, the steering control sensors (SF), (S
R) The example in which the sampling period of the detected value and the output period of the control output are made constant is illustrated. However, the sampling interval and the output period can be switched according to the vehicle speed so that the output period becomes a constant traveling distance interval. Alternatively, the vehicle speed may be detected and automatically switched or may be changed according to the vehicle speed. Further, for example, the control output (u) is selected so that a control amount can be selected according to a difference in a field condition such as a wet field or a dry field.
May be provided so that the table to be used can be switched by a changeover switch, or automatically switched according to the vehicle speed.

In the above embodiment, the minimum value of the sampling values within the set time (800 ms) is determined as the proximity, but the minimum value of the set number of sampling values may be determined as the proximity.

In the above-described embodiment, the alarm device (19) is used as an alarm device that operates as an alarm when the steering control device stops the control operation.
Is provided, but instead of the alarm (19), a lamp or the like for indicating whether the control operation is in the start state or the stop state is provided, or, for example, the engine (E) is automatically stopped. It may be. However, the alarm means may be omitted for the implementation.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a rush harvester is illustrated. However, the present invention can be applied to a combine or the like, and the specific configuration of each part can be variously changed.

In the claims, reference numerals are provided for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the structure shown in the attached drawings.

[Brief description of the drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of a steering control device of a reaper and harvester according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control configuration, FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a control operation, and FIGS. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a rush harvester,
6 is a side view, FIGS. 7 to 9 are explanatory diagrams of membership functions, FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of control rules, and FIG. 11 is a table of control output. (SF), (SR) ... steering control sensor, (V) ... body, (θ) ... tilt, (100) ... approach discrimination means, (1
01) ... Steering control means.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Arimoto 64 Ishizukita-cho, Sakai-shi, Osaka Kubota Sakai Works Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-59-5510 (JP, A) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A01B 69/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A contact-type steering control sensor (S) for detecting the degree of approach of a row of stems to be planted in a field in a lateral direction of the body.
F), (SR) and their steering control sensors (SF), (SR)
Based on the information of the pedicle row, based on the information of the approach determining means (100), so that the approach is maintained in a proper setting range. And a steering control device (101) for performing steering control based on the steering control device (101), wherein the approach degree determining means (100) includes the steering control sensor (S
F) and (SR) are sampled every set time or every time the vehicle travels a set distance, and the minimum value of the set number or the sampled value within the set time is determined as the value of the proximity. Control device of the reaper harvester configured as described above. 2. A steering control device for a reaper according to claim 1, wherein a pair of said steering control sensors (SF) and (SR) are provided at an interval in a longitudinal direction of the fuselage. The degree determining means (100) includes the pair of steering control sensors (SF),
(SR) is configured to obtain the inclination (θ) of the body (V) with respect to the stem row from the approaching degree determined for each, and the steering control means (101) is configured to determine the approaching degree and the inclination (Θ), a steering control device of the reaper, configured to perform steering control based on the steering control.