JP7433352B2 - work vehicle - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a work vehicle that can automatically travel along a set travel route.

The work vehicle according to Patent Document 1 is equipped with a GPS module that outputs positioning data indicating the position of the aircraft body, and a gyro sensor that outputs azimuth data indicating the attitude and orientation of the aircraft body, and determines the target travel based on the positioning data or the azimuth data. Automated driving will occur along the route. If an abnormality related to positioning data is detected during automatic driving, after traveling a predetermined distance or a predetermined time from the time when the abnormality was detected, automatic driving is switched to manual driving, or driving is stopped.

JP 2017-136015 Publication

Positioning data (vehicle position data) output using radio waves from GNSS satellites will become abnormal if reception interference occurs due to radio wave obstructions such as trees or buildings, making it impossible to obtain the correct vehicle position. I won't be able to do that. Such reception interference is resolved when the satellite passes through an area where the satellite radio waves are blocked by a radio wave obstruction, so the vehicle travels in that state for a predetermined distance or a predetermined time. If the reception problem still cannot be resolved, automatic driving is switched to manual driving, or driving is stopped. When switching from automatic driving to manual driving, a problem arises in that unless the driver is skilled in driving, highly accurate work driving cannot be performed. To avoid this problem, it is preferable to stop the vehicle and wait for the satellite to move and the reception interference to clear up. However, if the engine is running while the vehicle is stopped, it will waste fuel. This brings about new problems such as consumption and CO2 emissions.
Therefore, even if the positioning data becomes abnormal, there is a need for a work vehicle that can appropriately wait until the satellite positioning data becomes normal again.

The work vehicle according to the present invention is a work vehicle that can automatically travel along a set travel route, and includes an engine that supplies power to the traveling device, a satellite positioning module that outputs satellite positioning data, and an engine that stops the engine. an engine stop control section ; an automatic steering control section that outputs automatic steering data based on the satellite positioning data; a main switch that accepts an on operation for driving the engine and an off operation for stopping the engine; The satellite positioning module is connected to a battery through two power supply lines, a basic power supply line and a detour power supply line, and the engine stop control unit is configured to operate the engine stop control unit when the main switch is turned on. and the engine stop can be executed in which the engine is stopped when an abnormal signal is generated while the gear shift operating tool is held at a neutral position, and when the engine stop is executed, and a work vehicle in which power supply to the basic power supply line is cut off and power supply via the detour power supply line is started, and power supply to at least the satellite positioning module is continued when the engine is stopped.
Further, the work vehicle according to the present invention is a work vehicle that can automatically travel along a set travel route, and includes an engine that supplies power to the travel device, a satellite positioning module that outputs satellite positioning data, and an inertial measurement an inertial measurement module that outputs data; an engine temporary stop control unit that temporarily stops the engine; and a braking device that stops running the vehicle, based on the satellite positioning data and the inertial measurement data. If an abnormality occurs in the satellite positioning data during automatic driving, the automatic steering control unit outputs steering data, and if an abnormality occurs in the satellite positioning data during automatic driving, automatic driving is continued as monitoring driving for a certain distance or a certain time, and after the monitoring driving, the engine and an automatic travel management section that instructs the temporary stop control section to execute the engine temporary stop.

According to this configuration, after abnormal satellite positioning data occurs during automatic driving, if the satellite positioning data does not become normal even if monitoring driving is performed for a certain distance or a certain period of time, the engine will be temporarily stopped. Therefore, wasted fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are suppressed. Furthermore, since this monitoring driving is an automatic steering driving that is performed without relying on satellite positioning data, it may cause anxiety to the operator. Therefore, stopping the monitoring run after a certain distance or a certain period of time also has the effect of removing such anxiety from the worker. This engine temporary stop is a temporary engine stop, also known as idling stop, and can be canceled by a simple operation by the driver, and the notification function for the driver is maintained even during the engine stop. It is possible. Abnormalities in satellite positioning data occur due to a decrease in the number of satellites that can be captured, a decrease in the reception sensitivity of satellite radio waves, poor communication with base stations, etc., leading to a decrease in the accuracy of satellite positioning data.

A work vehicle traveling in a work area such as a farm field does not necessarily stop even if the engine is stopped. If the work area is sloped or slippery and muddy, such as in rice fields, unintentional movement of the vehicle body may occur. In order to solve this problem, in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, when the engine is temporarily stopped after the monitoring run, the braking means also stops the vehicle running.

Even if an abnormality occurs in the satellite positioning data, monitoring driving will continue for a while, but since the satellite positioning data is not used in this monitoring driving, the driver needs to keep a close eye on its movements. Furthermore, once such an abnormality is resolved, normal automatic driving will be resumed, so the driver needs to be aware of this fact. Therefore, in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, a notification unit is provided to notify of an abnormality in the satellite positioning data and the resolution of the abnormality.

Once the satellite positioning data becomes normal, the engine will stop temporarily stopping and automatic work operation will resume. Furthermore, if the satellite positioning data does not become normal within a predetermined period of time, the engine temporary stop ends and the vehicle shifts to manual work driving. In any case, if the engine is temporarily stopped and the engine is restarted when the driver is not aware of it, the driver may become panicked. Therefore, it is preferable that the driver consciously restarts the engine drive. In one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the return from the engine temporary stop is performed through an operation of a human operating tool by the driver.

When the power supply to the satellite positioning module is stopped when the engine is temporarily stopped, power must be supplied to the satellite positioning module by some method every time the satellite positioning data is checked. In order to avoid such troublesome control, in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, at least the power supply to the satellite positioning module is continued during the engine temporary stop.

Note that if data related to automatic steering equipment becomes abnormal during automatic driving, the vehicle body will deviate significantly from the target driving route in a short period of time, so it is necessary to stop immediately. Therefore, in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, when an abnormality occurs in data related to equipment for automatic steering during automatic driving, automatic driving is stopped, the engine is temporarily stopped, and the braking means is used to stop the vehicle from moving. The vehicle body traveling is also stopped by the braking means that is used to stop the vehicle.

Furthermore, even if an abnormality occurs in inertial measurement data that can detect sudden changes in the posture of the vehicle body due to vehicle slippage, etc., the vehicle body will deviate significantly from the target travel route in a short period of time. Therefore, in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, when an abnormality occurs in the inertial measurement data during automatic driving, the automatic driving is stopped, the engine is temporarily stopped, and the vehicle body movement is stopped by the braking means. Ru. Abnormalities in inertial measurement data are caused by cumulative errors such as drift errors or measurement failures due to abnormal driving such as slipping, leading to a decrease in the accuracy of inertial measurement data.

It is an overall side view of a rice transplanter. FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of the rice transplanter. It is a front view of a rice transplanter. It is a figure showing a steering unit. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a power supply circuit. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a control system. FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view of the entire field showing the operation of automatic steering control. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing automatic steering control using an inertial measurement unit. FIG. 2 is a screen diagram of a liquid crystal display, which is one of the display devices. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a data abnormality check routine.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. Here, a riding-type rice transplanter (hereinafter simply referred to as a rice transplanter) will be described as an example of the work vehicle of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the arrow F is the front of the traveling aircraft C, the arrow B is the rear of the traveling aircraft C, the arrow L is the left side of the traveling aircraft C, and the arrow R is is pointing to the right side of the traveling aircraft C.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the rice transplanter includes a traveling body C having a pair of left and right steering wheels 10 and a pair of left and right rear wheels 11 as a traveling device, and a rice transplanter that is capable of planting seedlings in a field. A seedling planting device W is provided as a possible working device. A pair of left and right steering wheels 10 are provided on the front side of the traveling body C so that the direction of the traveling body C can be freely changed, and a pair of left and right rear wheels 11 are provided on the rear side of the traveling body C. It is being The seedling planting device W is connected to the rear end of the traveling body C so as to be able to rise and fall via a link mechanism 21 that moves up and down by the expansion and contraction operation of the lifting hydraulic cylinder 20.

The front part of the traveling body C is provided with an openable/closeable bonnet 12. A rod-shaped center mascot 14 is provided at the tip of the bonnet 12 and serves as a guide for traveling along an index line drawn on the field by a marker device 33. The traveling body C is equipped with a body frame 15 extending along the front-rear direction, and a support column frame 16 is erected at the front part of the body frame 15.

An engine 13 is provided within the hood 12. Although not described in detail, the power of the engine 13 is transmitted to the steering wheels 10 and rear wheels 11 via an unillustrated HST (hydrostatic continuously variable transmission) provided in the aircraft body, and the power after shifting is transmitted to the electric drive. It is transmitted to the seedling planting device W via a motor-driven planting clutch (not shown).

The seedling planting device W plants the seedlings taken out from the mat-shaped seedlings for planting placed on the seedling platform 26 in the field. Although this seedling planting device W is configured as an eight-row planting type, it may also be a four-row planting type, a six-row planting type, a seven-row planting type, or a ten-row planting type. .

A plurality (for example, four) of normal spare seedling stands 28 and a spare seedling stand 29 are provided on the left and right sides of the bonnet 12 of the traveling body C. A pair of left and right spare seedling frames 30 are provided on the left and right sides of the bonnet 12 of the traveling body C as tall frame members that support each of the normal spare seedling stand 28 and the spare seedling stand 29. The upper parts of the frames 30 are connected to each other by a connecting frame 31.

A driving section 40 in which various driving operations are performed is provided in the center of the traveling body C. The driving section 40 includes a driver's seat 41, a steering handle 43, a main shift lever 44, and an operating lever 45. The driver's seat 41 is provided in the center of the traveling body C, and is configured such that a driver can sit thereon. The steering handle 43 is configured so that the steering wheel 10 can be steered by manual operation. The main shift lever 44 is configured to be capable of switching between forward and backward movement and changing the traveling speed. The operation lever 45 is used to raise and lower the seedling planting device W and to switch between the left and right marker devices 33. The steering handle 43, the main shift lever 44, the operating lever 45, etc. are provided on the upper part of the control tower 42 located at the front of the aircraft body above the driver's seat 41. A boarding step 46 is provided at the foot of the driving section 40. The boarding step 46 also extends to both left and right sides of the bonnet 12. A battery 17 that is charged by the rotation of the engine 13 is arranged below the driver's seat 41.

When the main shift lever 44 is operated, the angle of the swash plate in the HST (not shown) is changed, and the power of the engine 13 is continuously shifted. Although not shown, the swash plate angle of the HST is controlled by a hydraulic unit equipped with a servo hydraulic control device. A known hydraulic pump, hydraulic motor, or the like is used as the servo hydraulic control device.

When the operating lever 45 is operated to the raised position, a planting clutch (not shown) is operated to disengage, cutting off power transmission to the seedling planting device W, and operating the lifting hydraulic cylinder 20 to raise the seedling planting device W. , the left and right marker devices 33 are operated to the retracted position. When the operating lever 45 is operated to the lowered position, the seedling planting device W is lowered and comes to a stopped state when it comes into contact with the field surface. When the operating lever 45 is operated to the right marker position in this lowered state, the right marker device 33 changes from the stored position to the operating position. When the operating lever 45 is operated to the left marker position, the left marker device 33 changes from the stored position to the operating position.

When starting rice planting work, the driver operates the operating lever 45 to lower the seedling planting device W, and starts power transmission to the seedling planting device W to start the rice planting work. When stopping the rice planting work, the user operates the operating lever 45 to raise the seedling planting device W and interrupts power transmission to the seedling planting device W.

As shown in FIG. 2, the operation panel 47 at the top of the control tower 42 of the operation section 40 is equipped with a touch panel type liquid crystal display 48 that can display various information as one of the notification devices 73 (see FIG. 6). ing. A push-operated start and end point setting switch 91 is provided on the right side of the liquid crystal display 48, and a push-operated target setting switch 92 is provided on the left side of the liquid crystal display 48. Note that a configuration may be adopted in which a start point/end point setting switch 91 is provided on the left side of the liquid crystal display 48, and a target setting switch 92 is provided on the right side of the liquid crystal display 48.

The grip portion of the main shift lever 44 is provided with a push-operated automatic steering switch 93. The automatic steering switch 93 is of an automatic return type, and commands switching of automatic steering control on and off each time it is pressed. The automatic steering switch 93 is arranged at a position where it can be pressed with, for example, a thumb while the grip portion of the main shift lever 44 is being held in the hand. The functions of the start point/end point setting switch 91, target setting switch 92, and automatic steering switch 93 will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 4, the traveling body C is equipped with a steering mechanism U that can automatically steer the left and right steering wheels 10. The steering mechanism U includes a steering operation shaft 64, a pitman arm 61, left and right linking mechanisms 62 interlockingly connected to the pitman arm 61, a steering motor 66, and a gear mechanism 63. The steering operation shaft 64 is operatively connected to the steering handle 43 via a clutch 67. The pitman arm 61 is configured to swing as the steering operation shaft 64 rotates. The gear mechanism 63 interlocks and connects a steering motor 66 to a steering operation shaft 64 .

The steering operation shaft 64 is operatively connected to the left and right steering wheels 10 via the pitman arm 61 and the left and right linking mechanisms 62, respectively. A steering angle sensor 65 made of a rotary encoder is provided at the lower end of the steering shaft 64, and the amount of rotation of the steering shaft 64 is detected by the steering angle sensor 65.

When automatically steering the steering mechanism U, the steering motor 66 is driven, and the steering operation shaft 64 is rotated by the driving force of the steering motor 66 to change the steering angle of the steering wheels 10. There is. When automatic steering is not performed, the steering mechanism U can be rotated by manual operation of the steering handle 43.

Next, a configuration for performing automatic steering control will be described.
This rice transplanter includes a satellite positioning module 81 and an inertial measurement module 82 as a positioning unit PS. The satellite positioning module 81 uses the well-known technology GPS (Global Positioning System) as an example of a satellite positioning system (GNSS) that detects the position of the aircraft by receiving radio waves from satellites. It has a satellite positioning function to determine the aircraft's position. In this embodiment, DGPS (Differential GPS) is used as satellite positioning, but other methods such as RTK-GPS (Real Time Kinematic GPS) can also be used. be. The inertial measurement module 82 includes a 3-axis gyro sensor and a 3-axis acceleration sensor. When the satellite positioning module 81 is powered on, it requires initial processing (warm-up processing) to set satellite acquisition information and correction information from the base station. Similarly, the inertial measurement module 82 also requires initial processing to set various correction values for error correction (drift correction, etc.) when the power is turned on.

As shown in FIG. 1, a satellite positioning module 81 including a satellite positioning antenna is attached to the connection frame 31 via a plate-shaped support plate.

The inertial measurement module 82 includes a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor, and can detect the angular velocity of the turning angle of the traveling aircraft C, and can determine the angular displacement of the aircraft orientation by integrating the angular velocity. The inertial measurement module 82 is capable of measuring not only the angular velocity of the turning angle of the traveling body C, but also the angular velocity of the left-right inclination angle of the traveling body C, the angular velocity of the longitudinal inclination angle of the traveling body C, and the like. The inertial measurement module 82 is disposed at a lower position behind the driver's seat 41 and at a lower position in the center of the traveling body C in the width direction. The inertial measurement module 82 may be placed at the same location as the satellite positioning module 81.

The satellite positioning module 81 and inertial measurement module 82 that make up the positioning unit PS require initial processing (warm-up processing) when the power is turned on. Controls are built in to avoid it. In other words, the circuit configuration is such that power can be temporarily continued to be supplied to the satellite positioning module 81 and the inertial measurement module 82 even when the main key 22 is turned off or the engine is temporarily stopped (idling stop). A power supply circuit SC for this purpose is schematically shown in FIG.

The battery 17 and the positioning unit PS are connected through two power supply lines, a basic power supply line E1 and a detour power supply line E2. The basic feed line E1 is equipped with a first switch 23 that cuts off (OFF) and connects (ON) the basic feed line E1, and the detour feed line E2 is equipped with a first switch 23 that cuts off and connects the detour feed line E2. 2 switch 24 is interposed. The first switch 23 and the second switch 24 are turned ON/OFF by a control signal from the control device CU. The first switch 23 is also turned on/off by operating the main key 22. The main key 22 has an ON position (accessory position) for supplying power to electrical components, an ignition position for starting the engine, and the like. When the main key 22 is in the ON position, the first switch 23 is turned on, the basic power supply line E1 is energized, and it becomes possible to supply power from the battery 17 to the positioning unit PS through the basic power supply line E1. When the main key 22 is in the OFF position, the first switch 23 is turned OFF and the basic power supply line E1 is cut off, making it impossible to supply power from the battery 17 to the positioning unit PS through the basic power supply line E1.

This rice transplanter has an engine temporary stop function (so-called idling stop function) that automatically stops the engine 13 temporarily when a predetermined condition is met. Examples of the predetermined conditions include: (1) an abnormality occurs in satellite positioning data and automatic travel is performed for a certain distance or a certain time; (2) an abnormality occurs in inertial measurement data; (3) Examples include an abnormality in a predetermined specific sensor, and (3) operation by the driver of an operating tool for temporarily stopping the engine.
When this engine temporary stop is executed, the first switch 23 is turned off and the basic power supply line E1 is cut off. As a result, the power supply to the engine control device 25 such as the igniter is stopped, and the engine 13 is stopped. When the engine pause is canceled by recovery of satellite positioning data or by the driver's operation of the engine pause cancellation operating tool (for example, by stepping on the brake), the first switch 23 is turned ON and the basic power supply line E1 is energized. becomes. Furthermore, the starter is driven by the starter drive signal, and the engine 13 is started.

In response to the engine temporary stop, the first switch 23 is turned off by a control signal from the control device CU, thereby cutting off the basic power supply line E1. At the same time, the second switch 24 is turned on by a control signal from the control device CU, the detour power supply line E2 is energized, and power can be supplied from the battery 17 to the positioning unit PS through the detour power supply line E2. As a result, even if the engine is temporarily stopped or the power supply by the basic power supply line E1 is stopped, backup power supply by the detour power supply line E2 is realized, and the positioning unit PS operates without failure. Note that electronic sensors other than the positioning unit PS that require power supply even when the engine is temporarily stopped are connected to both the basic power supply line E1 and the detour power supply line E2.

In addition, in this embodiment, even when the main key 22 is operated to the OFF position, power can be supplied to special electronic devices such as the positioning unit PS using the detour power feed line E2 using the detour power feed line E2. be. If this main key 22 is turned off when the rice transplanter is stored in a barn or the like, the rice transplanter will not be used for a long time, and the backup power supply will be wasted, leading to the possibility of wasted use of the battery 17. becomes higher. Therefore, when the main key 22 is turned OFF, the backup power supply is also stopped after a predetermined period of time.

Of course, the battery 17 is not charged even when the engine is temporarily stopped, so if the engine is temporarily stopped for a long time, the battery 17 may become insufficiently charged due to power being supplied to the satellite positioning module 81 and the inertial measurement module 82 via the detour power supply line E2. Therefore, the backup power supply is stopped after a predetermined period of time.

FIG. 6 shows a part of the control system in the rice transplanter in the form of a functional block diagram. The control device CU includes an input/output processing unit 50 as an input/output interface. The input/output processing section 50 is connected to various devices such as a running state detector 74, a working state detector 75, and a manual operation unit 90. Furthermore, the above-mentioned power supply circuit SC is also connected. In this functional block diagram, the above-mentioned positioning unit PS is connected to the control device CU via the on-vehicle LAN. An engine control device 25 for driving the engine 13 receives control signals from an engine control unit 71 connected to the control device CU via the on-vehicle LAN. The notification device 73 receives a notification signal from the notification unit 72 connected to the control device CU via the in-vehicle LAN.

The driving state detector 74 includes sensors for detecting the driving state, such as a vehicle speed sensor, an engine rotation speed sensor, a brake pedal detection sensor, and a parking brake detection sensor. The working state detector 75 includes a sensor that detects the states of various members constituting the seedling planting device W and a sensor that detects the amount of seedlings on the seedling platform 26.

The manual operation unit 90, which includes switches, buttons, volume controls, etc., provides control commands through manual operation by the driver, and the operation commands are input to the control device CU. The manual operation unit 90 includes the start point/end point setting switch 91, target setting switch 92, automatic steering switch 93, etc. described above.

The control device CU includes a vehicle position calculation unit 80, a travel control unit 51, a work control unit 52, an automatic steering control unit 53, a travel mode management unit 54, an engine temporary stop control unit 55, a backup power supply control unit 56, and a backup power supply. A management section 57, an automatic driving management section 59, and the like are provided.

The own vehicle position calculation unit 80 calculates the map coordinates (own vehicle position) of the traveling body C and the direction (azimuth) of the traveling body C based on the positioning data sequentially sent from the positioning unit PS. At this time, the own vehicle position can be converted to the position of a specific location on the traveling body C (for example, the center of the body or the work center of the seedling planting device W).

The travel control unit 51 provides a steering signal and a vehicle speed signal to the steering mechanism U and the traveling equipment group. Since this rice transplanter can perform rice transplanting work by automatic or manual travel, the travel control section 51 includes an automatic travel control section 511 and a manual travel control section 512. Further, a brake control section 513 is provided to automatically stop the traveling body C when a specific condition occurs. Examples of this specific state include: (1) After an abnormality occurs in satellite positioning data during automatic driving, the traveling aircraft C automatically travels for a certain distance or a certain period of time as a monitoring operation; (2) An abnormality during automatic driving. generation of inertial measurement data, (3) abnormality in a specific sensor that detects the status of various operating devices related to automatic steering (for example, a specific sensor that detects the rotation direction, angle, and force of the steering mechanism U) data abnormalities), etc. In response to this command from the brake control unit 513, the brake is activated and the HST, which is the electric drive mechanism, is operated in a neutral state, and the running body C is stopped. The function of stopping the rice transplanter based on a command from the braking control unit 513 is the braking means in the present invention.

The work control unit 52 controls the raising and lowering of the seedling planting device W and the driving of the seedling planting device W as the traveling body C travels.

Note that in order to perform automatic driving, an automatic driving mode is set, and in order to perform manual driving, a manual driving mode is set. Such a driving mode is managed by the driving mode management section 54. When the automatic driving mode is set, the automatic driving control section 511 receives automatic steering data (steering amount) from the automatic steering control section 53.

The automatic steering control unit 53 includes a teaching route calculation unit 531, a route setting unit 532, a deviation amount calculation unit 533, and a steering amount calculation unit 534. The teaching route calculation unit 531 calculates data of a reference route defined through teaching travel. The route setting unit 532 sets a target travel route that is a target for automatic travel based on the data of the reference route. The deviation amount calculation unit 533 calculates the positional deviation and azimuth deviation of the traveling aircraft C with respect to the target travel route. The steering amount calculation unit 534 calculates a steering amount that reduces positional deviation and azimuth deviation.

The engine temporary stop control unit 55 temporarily stops the engine 13 when a predetermined condition (engine temporary stop condition) is satisfied. The conditional elements of the engine temporary stop condition include that the gear shift lever is held in the neutral position, that the brake is activated, that the engine 13 is idling, and that the remaining amount of seedlings on the seedling stand 26 is below a predetermined level. This includes the fact that the driver is not seated in the driver's seat 41, and that the driver is not seated in the driver's seat 41. If at least one or a combination of these elements of the engine temporary stop condition is satisfied for more than a predetermined period of time, engine temporary stop processing is executed. In this engine temporary stop process, in order to temporarily stop the engine, the first switch 23 is turned off to cut off the basic power supply line E1 from the battery 17 to the engine control device 25. At the same time, fuel supply to the engine 13 is stopped through the engine control unit 71.

If an abnormality occurs in the satellite positioning data during automatic driving, the automatic driving management unit 59 causes the automatic driving to continue as a monitoring driving for a certain distance or a certain time, and after this monitoring driving, the automatic driving management unit 59 causes the engine temporary stop control unit 55 to temporarily stop the engine. Commands execution of stop processing. Furthermore, when an abnormality occurs in the inertia measurement data during automatic driving, or when an abnormality occurs in the automatic steering data during automatic driving, the automatic driving management unit 59 stops automatic driving, temporarily stops the engine, and applies the brakes. Stopping the running of the vehicle by means of means.

In response to the engine temporary stop, the backup power supply control unit 56 performs backup power supply to supply power to the satellite positioning module 81 and the inertial measurement module 82 using the detour power supply line E2.

When the main key 22 is operated to the OFF position or when the engine temporary stop process is executed by the engine temporary stop control unit 55, the first switch 23 is turned OFF and the basic power supply line E1 is cut off, so that the basic power supply line E1 is cut off. Through E1, the power supply to the satellite positioning module 81 and the inertial measurement module 82 is stopped. However, as explained using FIG. 5, the satellite positioning module 81 and the inertial measurement module 82 are configured to use a backup power supply using the detour power supply line E2 that bypasses the basic power supply line E1 even if the power supply by the basic power supply line E1 is stopped. be done.

Since the battery 17 is not charged while the engine is stopped, the longer the engine is stopped, the more the battery 17 becomes insufficiently charged. Therefore, if the engine is stopped for a long time, it is necessary to stop the backup power supply. The backup power supply management unit 57 determines whether or not such backup charging is necessary. For example, the backup power supply management unit 57 determines that the engine has been stopped for a long time based on information such as the detection results of the running state detector 74 and the working state detector 75, the position of the rice transplanter in the field, the current time, and the time since the start of work. It is also possible to determine the backup power supply time by determining whether the situation is such that the engine is stopped for a short period of time or the engine is stopped for a short period of time. Furthermore, if the main key 22 is turned off during the warm-up process, it is assumed that the engine has changed from a temporary stop to a full-fledged stop due to the operation of the main key 22, so backup power supply is stopped. In addition, if a temporary engine stop occurs during the warm-up process that is executed when the engine starts at the start of seedling planting work, such engine temporary stop conditions are considered to be canceled immediately, so the warm-up process continues until the end.

As shown in Figure 7, this rice transplanter travels along a straight path for seedling planting work, and then moves to a straight path near the edge of the ridge for the next seedling planting work. Repeat this alternately. At this time, the first linear route is a teaching route that is manually steered, and the next linear route is set based on the teaching route information by the route setting unit 532 so that the teaching route is parallel to the teaching route. , set target travel routes LM(1) to LM(6).

To start the seedling planting work, the driver positions the traveling machine C at the starting point position Ts at the edge of the ridge in the field, and operates the starting point/end point setting switch 91. At this time, the control device CU is set to manual steering mode. Then, while the driver manually controls the vehicle, the traveling body C travels from the starting point Ts along the linear shape of the ridge on the side side, moves to the ending point Tf near the ridge on the opposite side, and then moves from the starting point to the ending point. Operate the setting switch 91 again. As a result, the teaching process is executed. That is, from the positional coordinates of the starting point position Ts and the positional coordinates of the ending point position Tf based on the positioning data acquired by the satellite positioning module 81, a teaching route connecting the starting point position Ts and the ending point position Tf is set. A direction along this teaching route is set as a reference target orientation LA. Note that the position coordinates at the end point position Tf are determined not only by the positioning data by the satellite positioning module 81 but also by the distance from the start point position Ts based on the vehicle speed sensor (not shown), and the azimuth information of the traveling aircraft C based on the inertial measurement module 82. The configuration may be calculated based on . Further, the travel of the traveling body C between the starting point position Ts and the end point position Tf may be a working traveling accompanied by rice planting work, or may be traveling in a non-working state.

After the setting of the teaching route is completed, a 180 degree turning run is performed in order to move to the starting point position Ls adjacent to the teaching route where the first target travel route LM(1) is set. Turning is performed by the driver manually operating the steering wheel 43.

When this turning run is completed and the target setting switch 92 is operated at the stage when the next route is set, the target traveling route LM(1) is set by the route setting unit 532. Next, when the automatic steering switch 93 is operated, automatic steering traveling along the set target traveling route LM(1) is started. Note that if the target travel route LM(1) is too far from or too close to the teaching route due to the operation of the target setting switch 92, and normal seedling planting cannot be performed, a warning is notified through the notification device 73. Furthermore, if the position, direction, etc. of the traveling aircraft C at the stage when the automatic steering switch 93 is operated are inappropriate for automatic steering, transition to automatic steering is prohibited, and a warning is issued through the notification device 73. Ru. Note that the target setting switch 92 and the automatic steering switch 93 may be made common and configured as a single switch.

Unfavorable conditions for automatic steering driving include a significantly large azimuth deviation between the own aircraft's heading NA with respect to the target heading LA, the direction of the steering wheel 10 being largely displaced from side to side, and the vehicle speed of the traveling aircraft C being too fast. Examples include being too late or too late. Furthermore, the fact that the number of navigation satellites that can be captured by the satellite positioning module 81 is smaller than a preset number is also exemplified as an adverse condition for automatic steering control.

When automatic steering driving is permitted, the driving mode is switched from manual steering mode to automatic steering mode, and automatic steering along the target driving route LM(1) is started. The target travel route LM(1) is set along the target orientation LA in a state adjacent to the teaching route, and is the target travel route LM on which the traveling body C first performs work travel after the teaching process.

When the target setting switch 92 is operated at any timing after completion of work travel on the target travel route LM(1), the route setting unit 532 changes the next target travel route LM(2) to the previous target travel route LM( 1) is set adjacent to the unworked area side. Next, by operating the automatic steering switch 93, automatic steering travel is started along the newly set target traveling route LM(2), and the traveling body C performs automatic work traveling.

After the traveling aircraft C reaches the end point position Lf(2) of the target traveling route LM(2), the target traveling route LM(3), LM(4), LM(5), LM(6) The setting of the target travel route LM after turning and the work travel are repeated in this order.

During automatic steering control, the satellite positioning module 81 acquires information about the aircraft's position over time. Further, while the vehicle speed is calculated, the relative azimuth change angle ΔNA is measured over time by the inertial measurement module 82, as shown in FIG. The deviation amount calculation unit 533 calculates the own aircraft orientation NA from the point where automatic steering is started over time by integrating the orientation change angle ΔNA. Then, the deviation amount calculation unit 533 calculates the azimuth deviation between the own aircraft azimuth NA and the target azimuth LA. The steering amount calculation unit 534 calculates a steering amount so that the own aircraft orientation NA matches the target orientation LA, and provides the steering amount to the automatic travel control unit 511. The automatic travel control unit 511 drives the steering motor 66 based on the given steering amount. Thereby, the traveling body C automatically travels along the target travel route LM with high precision.

As shown in FIG. 9, the status of the aircraft is displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal display 48. A plurality of display areas, such as a work information area 100, a positional deviation information area 101, and a vehicle speed information area 102, are divided and arranged on this screen. The work information area 100 displays work date and time, work results, etc. at the upper left end of the screen. The positional deviation information area 101 displays the amount of positional deviation of the traveling aircraft C with respect to the target traveling route LM in the upper center. The vehicle speed information area 102 displays the vehicle speed at the upper right end. A large area other than the upper part of the screen is a position information area 104, and the position information area 104 indicates the position of the traveling machine C in the field. A small area at the left end of the position information area 104 is a steering status information area 103, and the steering status information area 103 indicates the driving mode being executed by the control device CU, that is, automatic driving mode (automatic steering) or manual driving mode ( manual steering). At the right end of the position information area 104, a touch panel operated software button group 120 is arranged. Further to the right of the liquid crystal display 48, a group of physical buttons 121 is arranged.

In the position information area 104, the working status of the field around the traveling aircraft C, the target traveling route LM, and the aircraft symbol SY indicating the own aircraft position are displayed. Of the target travel routes LM, the target travel route LM during work travel is drawn with a thick solid line to make it easier to understand. Further, in areas where rice planting has already been completed, each planted seedling is displayed in stippled form. Thereby, the worked area and the unworked area are visually clearly distinguished. In addition, the display of the planted seedling marks may be a line indicating a linear planting row other than dotted lines.

An example of travel control when an abnormality occurs in the satellite positioning data and the inertial measurement data will be described. The flowchart in FIG. 10 shows a data abnormality check routine that is executed when the automatic driving mode is selected and automatic driving with automatic steering is started.

In this rice transplanter, either the manual running mode or the automatic running mode can be set manually or automatically, and the set running mode is written in the memory. Therefore, first, the current driving mode is read out (#01), and it is checked whether the driving mode is set as the manual driving mode or the automatic driving mode (#02). If the setting of the driving mode has not been changed and it is still in the automatic driving mode (automatic driving branch at #02), first, it is checked whether the inertial measurement data is normal or abnormal (#03). If the inertial measurement data is normal (normal branch at #03), then it is checked whether the satellite positioning data is normal or abnormal (#04). If the satellite positioning data is also normal (normal branch at #04), the process returns to step #01.

If the inertial measurement data is abnormal in the check in step #03 (abnormal branch in #03), the fact that the inertial measurement data is abnormal is notified through the notification device 73 such as a display, buzzer, speaker sound, lamp, etc. #05). In this notification, if a cause of abnormality in the inertial measurement data (including an error code) is detected, the cause is also notified. Further, the engine is temporarily stopped (#06), and the traveling aircraft C is completely stopped by operating the brakes or operating the HST in neutral (#07). Since automatic steering is not possible, the driving mode is forcibly set to manual driving mode (#08), and the process returns to step #01.

If the satellite positioning data is abnormal in the check in step #04 (abnormal branch in #04), it is announced through the notification device 73 such as a display, buzzer, speaker sound, lamp, etc. that the satellite positioning data is abnormal. (#11). In this notification, if the cause of the abnormality in the satellite positioning data (such as insufficient sensitivity of received radio waves or insufficient number of available satellites) is detected, the cause (including error code) will also be notified. . However, in order to see whether the satellite positioning data recovers to normal, automatic driving is continued as a monitoring driving (#12). During monitoring driving, automatic steering is performed using only inertial measurement data, without using satellite positioning data. The monitoring run is performed only for a certain distance or for a certain period of time. Note that during this monitoring run, the vehicle speed may be lowered. During the monitoring run, satellite positioning data is checked (#13). If the satellite positioning data remains abnormal in the check in step #13 (abnormal branch in #13), it is further checked whether this monitoring run was performed for a certain distance or for a certain period of time (#14) . In the check at step #14, if the monitoring run ends after being carried out for a certain distance or for a certain period of time (Yes branch in step #14), the notification device 73 indicates that the abnormality in the satellite positioning data has not been recovered. (#15). Further, the engine is temporarily stopped (#16), and the traveling aircraft C is completely stopped by operating the brakes or operating the HST in neutral (#17). Since automatic steering is not possible, the driving mode is forcibly set to manual driving mode (#18), and the process returns to step #01.

If the satellite positioning data has recovered normally in the check in step #13 (normal branch in #13), the transition will be made from monitoring driving to normal automatic driving (#21), and this will be notified through the notification device 73. (#22), return to step #01.

If it is determined in step #02 that the travel mode has been changed to manual travel mode (manual travel branch in #02), the process moves to a manual travel control routine. Cancellation of the engine temporary stop may be performed by a specific operation by the driver (operation on a human operating tool), or may be performed automatically when a predetermined condition is met.

In the teaching process, a teaching path connecting the starting point Ts and the ending point Tf is set from the positional coordinates of the starting point Ts and the ending point Tf. The starting point position Ts, the ending point position Tf, and the shore position are also stored in the memory after the data is acquired, but after a predetermined period of time (e.g. 8 hours) has elapsed, or after another day, the controller CU If it is stopped for a long time, it will be automatically deleted. This eliminates the inconvenience of automatically steering the vehicle using the previous data.

On the screen of the liquid crystal display 48, it is possible to display the satellite positioning level (GPS level) based on the rate of decrease in accuracy (DOP) in the satellite positioning module 81, especially the rate of decrease in horizontal accuracy (HDOP). The satellite positioning level is also lowered when the number decreases. This allows the driver to understand whether abnormalities in satellite positioning data are likely to occur.

[Another embodiment]
The present invention is not limited to the configurations illustrated in the embodiments described above, and other representative embodiments of the present invention will be illustrated below.

[1] In Fig. 10, inertial measurement data and satellite positioning data are taken up as data abnormalities, but there are also abnormal signals from sensors related to motors such as power steering, and various components of the control system including the control unit CU. Similar notification processing, engine temporary stop processing, and braking processing for the traveling aircraft C may be performed in response to the occurrence of an abnormal signal or the like from the ECU (computer unit). At this time, the engine temporary stop process may be skipped and the traveling aircraft C may be immediately braked and stopped.

[2] In the power supply circuit SC shown in FIG. 5, the basic power supply line E1 and the detour power supply line E2 were completely independent from each other, but this is a schematic form, and the upstream side of the power supply is common. It may be configured with a power supply line. In addition, this power supply circuit SC can be implemented in various forms to achieve the object of the present invention.

[3] The engine may be temporarily stopped not only automatically when a predetermined condition is met, but also manually by the driver's operation.

[4] In the above-described embodiment, the positioning unit PS is used as an electronic device that receives backup power supply when the engine is temporarily stopped; however, in addition to this, electronic sensors whose data necessary for operation are erased when the power supply is stopped, An abnormality in an electronic sensor that requires an initial process lasting more than several tens of seconds at startup may also be treated as a trigger for the engine temporary stop process or the braking process for the traveling aircraft C.

11: Rear wheel (traveling device)
17: Battery 22: Main key 23: First switch 24: Second switch 25: Engine control device 43: Steering handle 44: Main gear shift lever 45: Operation lever 47: Operation panel 48: Liquid crystal display 53: Automatic steering control unit 54 : Driving mode management part 55 : Engine temporary stop control part 56 : Backup power supply control part 57 : Backup power supply management part 59 : Automatic driving management part 72 : Notification unit 73 : Notification device 81 : Satellite positioning module 82 : Inertial measurement module 91 : Start point/end point setting switch 92 : Target setting switch 93 : Automatic steering switch 511 : Automatic traveling control section 512 : Manual traveling control section 513 : Braking control section 534 : Steering amount calculation section CU : Control device PS : Positioning unit

Claims (3)

A work vehicle that can automatically travel along a set travel route,
an engine that supplies power to the traveling gear;
a satellite positioning module that outputs satellite positioning data;
an engine stop control unit that stops the engine;
an automatic steering control unit that outputs automatic steering data based on the satellite positioning data;
a main switch that accepts an on operation to drive the engine and an off operation to stop the engine ;
Equipped with a gear change operation tool to control vehicle running ,
The satellite positioning module is connected to a battery through two power supply lines, a basic power supply line and a detour power supply line,
The engine stop control unit executes the engine stop in which the engine is stopped when an abnormal signal is generated while the main switch is turned on and the gear shift operating tool is held at a neutral position. can,
When the engine stop is executed, power supply to the basic power supply line is cut off, and power supply via the detour power supply line is started;
A work vehicle in which power supply to at least the satellite positioning module is continued when the engine is stopped. It is further equipped with a sensor that detects the condition of the vehicle body,
The work vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the abnormality signal is generated according to a detection result of the sensor. 3. The work vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein if the engine is not restarted within a predetermined period of time after the engine is stopped, power supply to the satellite positioning module via the detour power supply line is stopped.

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