JPS62278904A - Automatic propelling control apparatus of moving agricultural machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention 3. Detailed Description of the Invention (alTechnical Field) This invention is a vehicle that travels between ridges formed in farmland and performs treatments such as spraying chemicals on crops located on the ridges. The present invention relates to a mobile agricultural machine, and particularly relates to an automatic travel control device for automatically driving the mobile agricultural machine.

(b1 Summary of the Invention The automatic travel control device for a mobile agricultural machine according to the present invention can be summarized as follows: same direction steering means for giving steering angles in the same direction and at the same angle to the front and rear wheels when the inclination detection means detects the inclination of the vehicle body. and opposite direction steering means for giving steering angles of the same angle to the front and rear wheels in mutually opposite directions when the direction detection means detects an error in the traveling direction of the vehicle body with respect to the reference direction. It is designed to correct changes in posture.

FC+Prior Art and Its Disadvantages Generally, in farmland where vegetables, fruit trees, etc. are planted in rows, a large number of linear ridges are formed in parallel at equal intervals on the farmland surface, and so-called furrow irrigation is performed. Spraying chemicals is one of the agricultural operations carried out on such farmland. In this chemical spraying,
The effect of drug damage on the human body is a major problem.

For this reason, there have conventionally been mobile agricultural machines that are equipped with a tank containing a chemical and a means for dispersing the chemical, and that travel between furrows and spray the chemical. This allows the vehicle to travel automatically by reproducing a pre-stored travel pattern, making it possible to run unmanned without the need for an operator.

This prevents the worker from approaching the chemical spraying position, ensuring worker safety.

However, the surface of farmland is not smooth, and the wheels of conventional mobile agricultural machines move slightly when traveling straight, and the direction of movement of the vehicle body may deviate from the target direction. For this reason,
There were drawbacks such as mobile agricultural machines running onto ridges and damaging crops, and vehicles overturning and disrupting work. These drawbacks are problems that arise not only in pesticide spraying but also in other agricultural operations when mobile agricultural machines are operated automatically.

(d1 Purpose of the Invention The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional technology, and to solve the problem when a mobile agricultural machine traveling between furrows causes an error in the traveling direction due to a disturbance such as an irregularity of the farmland surface. Automatic driving control that detects the inclination of the vehicle body and corrects the direction of travel by applying steering angles to the front and rear wheels in accordance with changes in posture, thereby preventing damage to crops caused by mobile agricultural machinery or interruption of work due to overturning of mobile agricultural machinery. The goal is to provide equipment.

(e) Structure and effect of the invention The automatic travel control device for a mobile agricultural machine of the present invention includes a mobile agricultural machine equipped with independent steering means for each of the front and rear wheels, and a tilt detection means for detecting the inclination of the vehicle body, and a vehicle body relative to a reference direction. azimuth detection means for detecting an error in the direction of travel; same-direction steering means for setting a steering angle in the direction of inclination at the same angle for the front and rear steering means when the inclination detection means detects an inclination; an opposite direction steering means for setting a front wheel steering angle in the opposite direction to the error direction in the front steering means when detecting the error direction, and setting a rear wheel steering angle in the opposite direction to the front wheel steering angle at the same angle as the front wheel steering angle in the rear wheels; It is characterized by having

With the above configuration, when any wheel runs onto the slope of the ridge and causes the vehicle body to tilt, the tilt detection means detects this, and the same direction steering means directs the front and rear wheels to the same angle in the direction in which the vehicle body is tilted. The steering angle is given. Additionally, if an error occurs in the direction of travel of the vehicle with respect to a preset reference orientation, the orientation detection means detects this, and the opposite direction steering means gives the front wheels a steering angle in the opposite direction to the direction of the orientation error. The rear wheels are given the same steering angle in the opposite direction as the front wheels.

As described above, according to the present invention, when a mobile agricultural machine runs straight through a furrow, if the wheels run onto the slope of the furrow due to irregularities in the farmland surface, or if an error occurs in the traveling direction of the vehicle body, In this case, the tilt detection means and the azimuth detection means detect changes in the attitude of the vehicle body, and in response to a tilt, the vehicle body is moved parallel to the traveling direction, and in response to an azimuth error, the vehicle body is turned. In this way, appropriate steering angles can be set for the front and rear steering means in accordance with the state of change in the posture of the vehicle body, and this can be corrected by appropriate operation. Therefore, interruption of work due to damage to crops and overturning of the vehicle body during automatic travel of the mobile agricultural machine can be prevented.

(f) Examples The present invention will be described in detail below using a speed sprayer for spraying chemicals as a mobile agricultural machine.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a speed sprayer having an automatic steering function, which is an embodiment of the present invention.

A pilot seat 2 is formed in the front part of the speed sprayer main body 1. In order to automatically steer the speed sprayer body 1, it is necessary to teach the driving pattern.

During this teaching work and when traveling outside of farmland, the operator sits in the driver's seat 2 and steers the steering wheel 8. The speed sprayer main body 1 travels by rotation of front wheels 4 and rear wheels 5. The front wheels 3 and the rear wheels 5 consist of a pair of left and right balloon tires.

A tank 6 is loaded in the rear half of the speed sprayer main body 1. This tank 6 stores chemicals to be sprayed on trees and the like. A spray device 9 and a fan 7 are provided at the rear of the tank 6.

The spray device 9 sprays the medicine stored in the tank 6 to the outside by blowing air from the fan 7. A bumper 3 is provided at the front end of the speed sprayer main body 1 so as to be extendable and retractable in the straight direction.

Figures 3 and 3 are external views showing the speed sprayer in running condition.

The front end 4 and rear wheels 5 of the speed sprayer main body 1 are each provided with an independent steering device. As shown in FIG. 3, when the front wheels 4 and rear wheels 5 are steered in the same direction and by the same angle, the vehicle moves straight in the direction of arrow A.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. The front '#14 and rear wheels 5 of the speed sprayer main body 1 are each connected to a hydraulic steering device 14.
It is equipped with 15. Each of the hydraulic steering devices 14 and 15 has a bumper 3 and an expander 21 at the front end of the speed sprayer main body 1 that provides a steering angle in the direction of arrow C or D to the front end 4 and rear wheels 5 by the operation of oil valves 22 and 23. It is attached via a , and is expandable and retractable in the direction of arrow E or F. Approximately at the center of the speed sprayer main body 1, a known geomagnetic sensor 12 serving as an azimuth detecting means and a known swing sensor 11 serving as an inclination detecting means are provided. The geomagnetic sensor 12 detects the geomagnetism to know the direction of a given direction of travel and also detects the direction of the current direction of travel. Further, the swing sensor 11 detects the inclination of the vehicle body with respect to the vertical direction in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction.

The CPU 31 of the control unit has an I10 interface 34.
Detection data of the swing sensor 11 and the geomagnetic sensor 12 are inputted via. Furthermore, detection data of the steering volume 13 provided in the steering wheel 8 and the steering angle volume provided in the hydraulic steering device 14, 15 are also input. CPU31 has ROM32 and RAM
33 are provided. The detection data input to the CPU 31 is stored in each memory area of the RAM 33, and the control data is used to control the hydraulic steering system 14. '
It is used as a working area when calculating the steering angle of 15.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the automatic travel control device for the mobile agricultural machine.

When the mobile agricultural machine starts automatic travel, the current orientation Sa is detected by the geomagnetic sensor 12 at nl.

In n2, the value of the reference orientation S set prior to the start of automatic driving is subtracted from the value of the current orientation Sa, and the orientation error Z is calculated.
shall be. At n3, the absolute value of the orientation error Z is compared with the allowable error. If the azimuth error Z is not within the allowable error range, the process proceeds to n4, where the sign of the azimuth error Z is determined. The geomagnetic sensor 12 assumes that the north pole of geomagnetism is 0 degrees, and gives a positive sign in the clockwise direction and a negative sign in the direction of the half-hour hand. Therefore, if the azimuth error Z is a positive value at n4, the vehicle body has an error in the right direction with respect to the reference azimuth Y, as shown in FIG. At this time, the process proceeds to n5, and the vehicle body is rotated by the front steering device 1 in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG.

On the other hand, if the orientation error Z is a negative value at n4, an error occurs to the left from the reference orientation. In this case, the process proceeds to n6, where the front steering device 14 is given a steering angle of θ degrees to the right, and the rear steering device 15 is set to a steering angle of θ degrees to the left. This causes the car body to rotate clockwise,
The direction of travel is located at the reference direction. In the above, 03~n
6 corresponds to the opposite direction steering means of this invention.

n5. After the direction of travel of the vehicle coincides with the reference azimuth by the control of the steering device 14, 15 at n5, or when the azimuth error Z is within the allowable error range at n3, the process proceeds to nl. At nl, it is determined whether or not the swing sensor 11 is on.
If it is on, the process advances to n8 and the tilt direction is determined. If the vehicle body is tilted to the left with respect to the traveling direction at n8, the process proceeds to n9, and a steering angle of θ degrees is set to the left in the front steering device 14 and the rear steering device 15. As a result, the vehicle body moves from the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 (Bl, (C)) to the state shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, and the tilted posture is corrected.

If the vehicle body is tilted to the right with respect to the traveling direction at n8, the process proceeds to nlO, and a steering angle of θ degrees is set to the right in the front steering device 14 and the rear steering device 15. The above n8 to nlO correspond to the same direction steering means of the present invention.

After correction of tilted posture is completed in n9, nlO, or n
If the swing sensor 11 is not turned on at l, nl
Return to and repeat the operation.

As described above, according to the present invention, the swing sensor 11 and the geomagnetic sensor 12 detect changes in the attitude of the vehicle body of the mobile agricultural machine during automatic travel, and adjust the appropriate steering angles to the front and rear wheels according to the tilt state and the azimuth error state. You can immediately correct your posture.

Note that the present invention can also be implemented in mobile agricultural machines other than speed sprayers.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a mobile agricultural machine equipped with an automatic travel control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows the relationship between each device and a control section shown in a schematic plan view of the mobile agricultural machine. Second
The figure is an external perspective view of the mobile agricultural machine, Figure 3 (Al and (B)
1 is an external view showing the traveling state of the mobile agricultural machine. Figures 4-(C) show the posture correction operation of the mobile agricultural machine, Figures 4-(C) are schematic diagrams of the plane, and (Bl is a diagram of the front view. Figure 5 is the automatic traveling machine) It is a flowchart showing the operation of the control device. 1-Speed spray main body, 11-Swing sensor (inclination detection means), 12-Geomagnetic sensor (azimuth detection means), 14.15-Steering device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An automatic travel control device that automatically travels a mobile agricultural machine equipped with independent steering means for each of the front and rear wheels through a multi-row furrow, which includes a tilt detection means for detecting the tilt of the vehicle body, and a reference direction. azimuth detection means for detecting an error in the traveling direction of the vehicle body relative to the vehicle body; same direction steering means for setting steering angles in the direction of inclination at the same angle for the front and rear steering means when the inclination detection means detects an inclination; and azimuth detection means When an error is detected, the front steering means is set to a front wheel steering angle in the opposite direction to the direction of the error, and the rear steering means is set to a rear wheel steering angle at the same angle as the front wheel steering angle in the opposite direction. An automatic travel control device for a mobile agricultural machine comprising a steering means.