JP6707857B2 - Work vehicle fuel management system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a fuel management system for work vehicles.

When the vehicle runs out of fuel, it is necessary to remove air from the engine system. In order to prevent this, a technique is known in which an automatically traveling work vehicle is provided with fuel detection means for detecting the remaining amount of fuel, and operates means for stopping the fuel supply when the amount of fuel falls below a set amount (Patent Document 1). ..

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-9336

However, if the traveling stopped in the field during autonomous traveling, the worker had to go near the vehicle in the field to supply fuel and move the vehicle. It is difficult to walk in the field, and if you are working such as plowing or scraping, it may damage the ground after the work, so it was necessary to improve the stopping of vehicles in the field. ..

It is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel management system for a work vehicle that allows a worker to perform refueling work without entering a field.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention includes a fuel remaining amount sensor for detecting a fuel remaining amount in a fuel tank, a control unit for controlling traveling, and is stored in advance in the control unit in a field. In a work vehicle that performs work while autonomously traveling along a planned travel route, the control unit switches to a refueling standby mode in which the vehicle automatically stops traveling after the amount of remaining fuel falls below a predetermined amount, after moving to the end of the field. It has a function of shifting , has fuel for refueling, has an unmanned aircraft that flies by remote control, has a refueling shutter that opens and closes a refueling nozzle at the lower part of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the control unit has the unmanned aircraft. When the open/closed state of the refueling nozzle transmitted from the aircraft is received and detected, and if the fuel remaining amount does not increase even though the refueling nozzle is in the open state, the first step is to shift to the refueling standby mode . Characterize.

According to the invention having the first feature, when it is detected that the remaining amount of fuel is low, the work vehicle in the field automatically moves to the ridge and stands by, so that the refueling work can be performed from outside the field. ..

In addition , when refueling with an unmanned aerial vehicle, it is expected that no fuel has entered the refueling tank of the unmanned aerial vehicle if the fuel level remains the same even when the refueling shutter is released, and external refueling work is required. Becomes Therefore, refueling work can be performed from outside the field by automatically moving to the edge.

Schematic diagram of fuel management system Control block diagram of fuel management system Schematic diagram of field shape measurement Schematic diagram of field shape measurement Side view of work vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle during refueling Top view of work vehicle in the field

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a fuel management system. The tractor 1 as an example of the work vehicle in the invention of the present invention appropriately decelerates the power generated by the engine E and drives the rear wheels 3 or the front wheels 2 to travel.

The engine E is provided inside the bonnet 5 and generates power by burning the fuel stored in the fuel tank 4 inside. A working machine (not shown) such as a rotary tiller is mounted on the rear side of the tractor 1. The power generated by the engine E is used not only to drive the vehicle but also to drive the working machine through a PTO shaft (not shown) that extracts the power to the outside.

The cabin 6 includes a front frame 6f, an intermediate frame 6m, a rear frame 6r, a cabin roof 8 and the like, and is provided so as to cover the driving part. A side window 6w is provided between the rear frame 6r and the intermediate frame 6m, and a door portion 6d through which a driver gets in and out is provided between the front frame 6f and the intermediate frame 6m.

A seat 9 is provided at the rear of the inner space of the cabin 6 for a driver to manually drive, and a steering wheel 10 for steering the front wheels 2 is provided in front of the seat 9. The steering wheel 10 is electrically and automatically rotated by a steering motor (not shown) during automatic traveling.

A forward-reverse lever 11 for switching between forward and reverse movements of the vehicle is provided below the steering wheel 10. Further, a clutch pedal 12 is provided near the left foot and an accelerator pedal is provided near the right foot when the driver is seated on the seat 9 therebelow. 13 etc. are provided.

The above-mentioned fuel tank 4 is provided below and to the left and right of the cabin 6, and an oil supply passage 14 is provided along the left front frame 6f of the cabin 6 from the left fuel tank 4 upward, and the fuel tank 4 of the cabin roof 8 is provided. A refueling port 15 is provided above.

A landing platform 16 of an unmanned aerial vehicle 30, which will be described later, is provided around the fuel filler port 15, and a vehicle-mounted GPS antenna 17 as a positioning device is installed in the center of the front part of the cabin roof. A tail pipe 18 that discharges engine exhaust to the outside is provided upright along the right front frame 6f of the cabin 6 on the opposite side of the oil supply passage 14.

The tractor 1 transmits and receives signals by communicating with a mobile terminal 20 such as a tablet. The mobile terminal 20 is configured to be able to communicate with an unmanned aerial vehicle 30 described later, and also has a function as a controller for remotely operating the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 with the operation sticks 20L and 20R.

An image display unit 21 is provided in the center of the mobile terminal 20, and an image captured by a camera 31 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 described later, a control button of the unmanned aerial vehicle 30, and the like are displayed.

The attitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 is controlled by the output balance of the plurality of motors 33 equipped with the propellers 32, and the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 can freely move and hover by flight. The attitude control of the machine body is performed simultaneously with the control by the operation signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 20 and the automatic control by the built-in acceleration sensor or the like.

On the lower part of the unmanned aerial vehicle 30, a landing leg part 34, a camera 31 for photographing the lower part, and a refueling tank 35 for mounting refueling fuel are mounted, and a refueling nozzle 36 is provided in the lower center of the refueling tank 35. It is designed to fly well. The refueling nozzle 36 is provided with a refueling shutter 37 so that refueling can be interrupted at an arbitrary timing. A flight GPS antenna 38 is mounted on the upper portion of the unmanned aerial vehicle 30.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the fuel management system. The tractor 1 is equipped with a vehicle ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 50 as a control unit that controls the traveling of the vehicle and a position information processing ECU 60 that processes position information based on signals obtained by the vehicle-mounted GPS antenna 17.

The vehicle ECU outputs a signal from a vehicle speed sensor 51 that detects a traveling vehicle speed, a signal from a stelling sensor 52 that detects a steering angle of the front wheels 2, a signal from a gear shift sensor 53 that detects a gear shift position, and a fuel tank 4 And a signal from a fuel remaining amount sensor for detecting the remaining fuel amount in the inside. From the vehicle ECU, a signal for controlling the output of the engine E, an operation signal for the steering motor 55 for controlling the steering angle of the steering wheel 10, a shift operation signal for the transmission 56, and a brake for stopping the traveling of the vehicle are operated. The brake operation signal to the brake cylinder 57 is output.

The position information processing ECU 60 and the vehicle ECU 50 can transmit and receive information to and from each other by wire communication, and can execute various controls according to the position of the vehicle. The vehicle ECU 50 can also transmit and receive information to and from the mobile terminal 20 by wireless communication, and can also display the vehicle state and work status on the image display unit 21 of the mobile terminal 20.

The mobile terminal 20 can also send and receive information by wireless communication with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) ECU 70 mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 for controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle 30. A position information signal from a flight GPS antenna 38, a video signal from a camera 31, an attitude information signal from an acceleration sensor 71, etc. are input to the unmanned aerial vehicle ECU 70. From the unmanned aerial vehicle ECU 70, an opening/closing signal to a refueling shutter 37 and a motor 33. Output control signal is output.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are schematic diagrams when registering the field shape for setting the route for self-propelled traveling of the vehicle. When the position information and the shape information of the farm field are measured using the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 and registered in the mobile terminal 20, the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 is used as shown in FIG. While checking the image captured by the camera 31 on the image display unit 21, manually fly the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 above the corner A of the field to be measured, and adjust the position of the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 based on the marker 22. When the position setting button 24 is tapped, the position of the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 at that time is stored as a point. The coordinates at that time are displayed on the coordinate display unit 23.

Similarly, when the corner B and the corner C are registered, and the setting end button 25 is tapped after the last corner is registered above the corner D as shown in FIG. The travel route for the operation is automatically generated based on the field shape information.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the tractor 1 and the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 as an example of the work vehicle at the time of refueling using the unmanned aerial vehicle 30. The refueling nozzle 36 is designed to be inserted into the refueling port 15 when the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 is aligned and landed on the landing platform 16 while checking the image of the camera 31.

When the insertion of the refueling nozzle 36 is confirmed, the refueling shutter 37 is opened to start refueling. During refueling, when the detection value of the remaining fuel amount sensor 54 in the fuel tank 4 detects that the fuel is filled in a predetermined range, that is, near full tank, a signal from the vehicle ECU 50 is transmitted via the portable terminal 20. The unmanned aerial vehicle ECU 70, which is transmitted to the unmanned aerial vehicle ECU 70 and receives the signal, closes the refueling shutter 37 to stop the refueling operation.

In addition, the unmanned aerial vehicle ECU 70 receives a signal of a refueling stop operation from the mobile terminal 20, or a signal when the detection value of the fuel remaining amount sensor 54 does not change for a predetermined time, or the fuel remaining amount sensor 54. Even when the signal when the detected value of 1 indicates an abnormal value is received, the refueling shutter 37 is closed and the refueling work is stopped.

With the above configuration, even when the work vehicle is stopped in the field or the like due to lack of fuel, the worker can perform refueling work without entering the field.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the work vehicle in the field. When the remaining fuel amount sensor 54 detects a value equal to or less than a predetermined amount at the midway position 1b during autonomous traveling on the planned traveling route R set in the field, the tractor 1 shifts to the refueling standby mode and interrupts the work. It automatically runs to the position of the ridge 1a and stops. Since the operation is stopped in this state, the worker can directly perform the refueling work from above the ridge to the fuel tank 4 without entering the field. The position information processing ECU 60 stores the midway position 1b when the work is interrupted, and when the work restart operation is performed after the completion of the refueling work, the position information processing ECU 60 automatically returns to the midway position 1b to restart the work.

During the refueling operation by the unmanned aerial vehicle 30, if the fuel level sensor 54 does not detect an increase in the fuel even though the refueling shutter 37 is opened, the refueling tank 35 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 is empty. It is expected that. Therefore, the tractor 1 shifts to the refueling standby mode while fixing the unmanned aerial vehicle 30 on the landing platform 16 and automatically moves to the edge 1a. At this time, if the GPS antenna 38 on the unmanned aerial vehicle side has higher accuracy, this positioning information may be used. At this time, the positional relationship between the position of the landing platform 16 and the front end, rear end, and left and right side surfaces of the vehicle is stored in advance and added to the positioning information of the GPS antenna 38 on the unmanned aerial vehicle side to accurately bring the tractor to the edge. It is possible to collect 1.

Further, the vehicle ECU 50 stores the work width W in advance, and calculates the work area from the work width W and the traveling locus. From this work area and the amount of fuel consumed during the work, the fuel consumption amount per unit work area can be calculated. The area of the field can be obtained from the coordinates of the corners A, B, C, D. The remaining work area is calculated from the difference between the field area and the work area, and the required fuel amount is calculated by multiplying this by the fuel consumption amount per unit area. By comparing the required fuel amount and the remaining fuel amount, it is determined whether or not the work in the field can be completed with the remaining fuel.

When the remaining fuel amount is insufficient, the fact is transmitted to the mobile terminal 20 and the administrator is notified. This allows the manager to determine in advance whether fuel supply is necessary, and if necessary, it becomes easy to arrange fueling work at an appropriate timing.

Further, although the tractor 1 has been described in this embodiment, it can be applied to a combine harvester, a rice transplanter, and other work vehicles.

E Engine R Planned travel route W Working width (working width information)
1 tractor (work vehicle)
4 Fuel tank 17 Positioning device (GPS antenna)
20 portable terminal 30 unmanned aerial vehicle 37 refueling shutter 50 vehicle ECU (control unit)
54 Fuel level sensor

Claims (1)

It is equipped with a fuel level sensor that detects the amount of fuel remaining in the fuel tank.
Equipped with a control unit that controls running,
In a work vehicle that performs work while autonomously traveling along a planned traveling route stored in advance in the control unit in the field,
The control unit has a function of shifting to a refueling standby mode that automatically stops traveling after moving to the end of the field when the remaining fuel amount is equal to or less than a predetermined amount,
It has fuel for refueling and has an unmanned aerial vehicle that flies by remote control,
A refueling shutter that opens and closes a refueling nozzle is provided at the bottom of the unmanned aerial vehicle,
The control unit receives and detects the open/closed state of the refueling nozzle transmitted from the unmanned aerial vehicle,
If the remaining fuel amount does not increase even though the refueling nozzle is in the open state, the refueling standby mode is entered,
Work vehicle fuel management system.

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