WO2018179777A1

WO2018179777A1 - Autonomous travel system for agricultural work vehicles

Info

Publication number: WO2018179777A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/002711
Authority: WO
Inventors: 想介村田
Original assignee: ヤンマー株式会社
Priority date: 2017-03-31
Filing date: 2018-01-29
Publication date: 2018-10-04
Also published as: JP6726128B2; KR102245597B1; JP2018170989A; KR102394964B1; KR20210047965A; KR20190091329A; CN110430746A

Abstract

In this autonomous travel system for an agricultural work vehicle 1, the autonomous travel of the agricultural work agricultural work vehicle 1 is controlled by a remotely operated device 70 that is capable of communicating with the agricultural work vehicle 1. The autonomous travel system also has a server 100 capable of communicating with the agricultural work vehicle 1. The autonomous travel of the agricultural work vehicle 1 is controlled by the server 100 when the server 100 has been requested by the remotely operated device 70 to control the autonomous travel of the agricultural work vehicle 1.

Description

Autonomous traveling system for agricultural vehicles

The present invention relates to an autonomous traveling system for an agricultural work vehicle that causes the agricultural work vehicle to autonomously travel by communication between an operating device and the agricultural work vehicle.

In recent years, in order to efficiently and easily perform farm work on a farm field, an autonomous traveling system that autonomously travels an unmanned work vehicle on which an operator is not on board has been developed (see Patent Documents 1 and 2). In the autonomous traveling systems of

Patent Documents

1 and 2, an operator can remotely operate an operation device such as a tablet personal computer in order to monitor autonomous traveling of a work vehicle in a work area such as a farm field. Also, a production management system that uses a work plan registered for a work area in a remote server has been proposed (see Patent Document 3). In the production management system of Patent Document 3, a registered work plan is transmitted from a remote server to a remote monitoring terminal device mounted on an agricultural machine by manned operation and displayed on the remote monitoring terminal device.

JP2015-221614A JP 2016-095658 A JP 2016-076123 A

By the way, in the production management system of Patent Document 3, the work plan registered in the remote server indicates the type of farm work to be executed on the day when the operator gets on the work vehicle. In other words, since the work plan is not composed of a movement route (work route) of the work vehicle in the work area or a specific driving action, the production management system of Patent Document 3 remotely connects an unmanned work vehicle. It is difficult to operate with.

In the autonomous traveling systems of

Patent Documents

1 and 2, the unmanned work vehicle is remotely operated in a state where the operator monitors the unmanned work vehicle. However, when the battery of the operation device is replaced or the operator leaves the work area In such cases, it is necessary to stop the work vehicle. Every time the operator interrupts the monitoring of the work vehicle by the operating device, the work by the work vehicle must also be interrupted, and a long time is required until the work is completed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described present situation, and it is a technical problem to provide an autonomous traveling system for an agricultural work vehicle that can safely operate an agricultural work vehicle that is traveling autonomously.

The present invention is an agricultural traveling vehicle autonomous traveling system in which autonomous traveling of the agricultural working vehicle is controlled by a remote control device capable of communicating with the agricultural working vehicle, and includes a server capable of communicating with the agricultural working vehicle, When the remote control device requests the server to monitor and control the autonomous traveling of the farm vehicle, the server monitors and controls the autonomous traveling of the agricultural vehicle.

In the autonomous traveling system, when monitoring control of autonomous traveling of the farm work vehicle by the server is started, control of the farm work vehicle by an operation device other than the remote operation device and the server may be prohibited.

In the autonomous traveling system, when resumption of control by the remote operation device is accepted while monitoring control of the farm work vehicle is performed by the server, the monitoring control by the server is interrupted and control by the remote operation device is performed. May be resumed.

In the autonomous traveling system, the farm work vehicle includes a camera that photographs the periphery of the farm work vehicle, and when control by the server is started, photographing information by the camera may be transmitted to the server. Good.

In the autonomous traveling system, when monitoring request of the farm work vehicle by the remote control device is received while monitoring control of the farm work vehicle by the server is performed, the autonomous traveling of the farm work vehicle is stopped. Also good.

In the autonomous traveling system, when the farm work vehicle is controlled by the remote operation device, communication between the remote operation device and the farm work vehicle is interrupted, or the farm work vehicle is operated by the remote operation device. When the stop request is received, the autonomous traveling of the farm vehicle may be stopped.

According to the present invention, since the remote control device can request monitoring control by the server for autonomous traveling of the farm work vehicle, an operator operating the remote control device temporarily executes the monitoring control by the server. The monitoring operation of the autonomous traveling of the farm vehicle can be interrupted in a safe state. Therefore, even when the operator temporarily performs other work such as battery replacement of the remote control device or confirmation of the status of other farm work vehicles, or when taking a break temporarily, the farm work vehicle autonomously travels. Can be continued in a safe state, and it can be prevented that the working time by the farm vehicle becomes long.

It is a whole view showing composition of an autonomous running system in an embodiment. It is a side view of the tractor which is an agricultural work vehicle in the autonomous running system of FIG. It is a top view of the tractor. It is a functional block diagram of the tractor. It is a timing chart which shows the authentication operation | movement for the start of autonomous driving | running | working. It is a timing chart which shows the communication operation | movement during autonomous driving | running | working. It is a timing chart which shows the communication operation | movement when abnormality generate | occur | produces during autonomous driving | running | working. It is explanatory drawing which shows the communication state at the time of autonomous driving | running | working of a tractor. It is a flowchart which shows the autonomous running determination operation | movement in a tractor. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the remote control apparatus at the time of autonomous running monitoring. It is a timing chart which shows the communication operation | movement at the time of switching the monitoring of the tractor in autonomous running to a server. It is explanatory drawing which shows the communication state at the time of the monitoring of the tractor in the autonomous running by a server. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the remote control device at the time of server monitoring. It is a timing chart which shows the communication operation | movement at the time of switching the monitoring of the tractor in autonomous running to a remote control device. It is a whole side view of an unmanned tractor and a manned tractor. It is the whole side view of a plurality of unmanned tractors monitored with one remote control device.

<Autonomous driving system>
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiments embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, an autonomous traveling system that autonomously travels a tractor that is an example of an agricultural work vehicle according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the following description, a tractor that performs autonomous traveling and autonomous work may be referred to as an “unmanned tractor” or a “robot tractor”, and a tractor that travels and operates by direct operation by an operator may be referred to as a “manned tractor”. .

In this embodiment, the difference between the unmanned tractor and the manned tractor is whether or not the operator directly operates, and the configuration as a tractor is common to unmanned and manned. That is, even an unmanned tractor can be operated (boarded) by an operator and operated directly (in other words, it can be used as a manned tractor). Moreover, even if it is a manned tractor, an operator can get off and can perform autonomous driving | running | working and autonomous work (in other words, it can be used as an unmanned tractor).

Furthermore, the autonomous traveling is a configuration in which the tractor 1 is provided for traveling by the autonomous traveling control device 51 or the like included in the tractor shown in FIG. 4, and the tractor 1 travels along a predetermined route. Means that. Further, in this specification, the autonomous work means that the configuration that the tractor 1 is equipped with for work is controlled by the autonomous traveling control device 51 and the like, and the tractor 1 performs work along a predetermined route.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the autonomous traveling system of the present embodiment, the remote operation device 70 operated by the operator performs wireless communication with the tractor 1 in the field (work area) H <b> 1, thereby The autonomous traveling of the tractor 1 that acquires position information (positioning information) by communication is controlled. The unmanned tractor 1 communicates with the server 100 installed in the management center C1 through a communication network N1 such as a telephone line network, and the driving information of the tractor 1 is transmitted to the server 100 together with position information (positioning information) and time information. Sent to. The server 100 accumulates driving information of the unmanned tractor 1 together with position information and time information, and stores it as work history information.

A reference station (portable reference station) 60 is installed in the vicinity of the farm field H1, and the reference station 60 includes position information serving as a reference point that is an installation position, and a signal from the positioning satellite 63 (hereinafter referred to as “satellite signal”). Is directly received by the positioning antenna 61, and a signal from the positioning satellite 63 (hereinafter referred to as "vehicle signal") received by the unmanned tractor 1 by the wireless communication antenna 64 is indirectly received.

The reference station 60 uses the reference station communication device 62 to calculate position correction information from the satellite signal and the vehicle signal by the RTK positioning method or the like, and transmits the position correction information to the tractor 1 through the wireless communication antenna 64. The tractor 1 corrects the satellite positioning information measured by the positioning antenna 6 (see FIG. 2) by using the correction information transmitted from the reference station 60, and the current position information of the tractor 1 (for example, latitude information / longitude information). )

In the field H1, the remote control device 70 performs wireless communication with the tractor 1 without communication connection to the communication network N1, receives the driving information of the tractor 1 together with position information and time information, and serves as work history information. Remember. The operator operates the remote operation device 70 while visually confirming the situation in the field H1 and the state of the tractor 1, thereby starting the autonomous traveling and the tractor 1 connected to the remote operation device 70 in communication. Stop can be instructed.

In the operator's office O1, the remote operation device 70 is connected to an access point 90 such as a router connected to the communication network N1 via an ONU (Optical Network Unit) or a modem. The remote operation device 70 can communicate with the server 100 via the communication network N1 by establishing communication connection with the access point 90 in the office O1. Then, the remote control device 70 becomes communicable with the server 100. The work history information of the tractor 1 already stored is transmitted to the server 100.

When the server 100 receives the work history information from the remote control device 70 (hereinafter referred to as “additional work history information”), the server 100 has already received and stored the work history information (hereinafter referred to as “basic work history”). Information)). Then, the server 100 collates the basic work history information and the additional work history information to generate updated work history information in which the additional work history information is added to the basic work history information, and the name of the operator who operated the tractor 1 It is memorized with the model etc.

The external terminal device (service tool) 80 is a terminal device possessed by a serviceman of the sales company or manufacturing company of the tractor 1 and can communicate with the tractor 1 by connecting to the tractor 1 by wire. When the tractor 1 connected to the external terminal device 80 communicates with the server 100 via the communication network N1, for example, software (firmware) update in a control device or the like in the tractor 1 or failure diagnosis of the tractor 1 can be performed. Executed.

<Tractor>
Next, the tractor 1 will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG.2 and FIG.3, the tractor 1 is equipped with the body 2 which autonomously travels the agricultural field H1. The machine body 2 is provided with a work machine 3 detachably. The work machine 3 is used for farm work. Examples of the work machine 3 include various work machines such as a tillage machine, a plow, a fertilizer machine, a mowing machine, and a seeding machine. A desired work machine 3 is selected from these as required, and the machine body 2 Can be attached to. The machine body 2 is configured to be able to change the height and posture of the mounted work machine 3. The airframe 2 which is the airframe of the tractor 1 has a front portion supported by a pair of left and right

front wheels

7 and 7 and a rear portion supported by a pair of left and right

rear wheels

8 and 8. The

front wheels

7 and 7 and the

rear wheels

8 and 8 constitute a traveling part.

A bonnet 9 is arranged at the front of the machine body 2. The bonnet 9 accommodates an engine 10 that is a drive source of the tractor 1. The engine 10 can be configured by, for example, a diesel engine, but is not limited thereto, and may be configured by, for example, a gasoline engine. Further, as the drive source, an electric motor may be used in addition to or instead of the engine.

A cabin 11 on which an operator is boarded is disposed behind the hood 9. Inside the cabin 11, there are mainly provided a steering handle 12 for the operator to steer, a seat 13 for the operator to sit on, and various operating devices for performing various operations. Yes. However, the agricultural work vehicle is not limited to the one with the cabin 11 and may be one without the cabin 11.

Although not shown, examples of the operation device include a monitor device, a throttle lever, a main transmission lever, a lift lever, a PTO switch, a PTO transmission lever, and a plurality of hydraulic transmission levers. These operating devices are arranged in the vicinity of the seat 13 or in the vicinity of the steering handle 12.

The monitor device is configured to display various information of the tractor 1. The throttle lever is for setting the rotational speed of the engine 10. The main transmission lever is used to change the transmission ratio of the transmission case 22. The raising / lowering lever is for raising / lowering the height of the working machine 3 mounted on the machine body 2 within a predetermined range. The PTO switch is used to intermittently transmit power to a PTO shaft (power extraction shaft) protruding outward from the rear end side of the mission case 22. That is, when the PTO switch is in the ON state, power is transmitted to the PTO shaft and the PTO shaft rotates to drive the work machine 3, while when the PTO switch is in the OFF state, the power to the PTO shaft is cut off. The PTO shaft does not rotate and the work machine 3 stops. The PTO shift lever is used to change the power input to the work machine 3, and specifically, is used to change the rotation speed of the PTO shaft. The hydraulic shift lever is for switching the hydraulic external take-off valve.

As shown in FIG. 1, a chassis 20 constituting the framework is provided at the lower part of the body 2. The chassis 20 includes a body frame 21, a mission case 22, a front axle 23, a rear axle 24, and the like.

The fuselage frame 21 is a support member at the front portion of the tractor 1 and supports the engine 10 directly or via a vibration isolation member. The mission case 22 changes the power from the engine 10 and transmits it to the front axle 23 and the rear axle 24. The front axle 23 is configured to transmit the power input from the mission case 22 to the front wheels 7. The rear axle 24 is configured to transmit the power input from the mission case 22 to the rear wheel 8.

As shown in FIG. 4, the tractor 1 is an engine control device that can communicate with each other via a vehicle bus line 18 as a control unit for controlling the operation (forward, reverse, stop, turn, etc.) of the airframe 2. 15, a machine control device 16 and a work machine control device 17 are provided. An output side of the engine control device 15 is electrically connected to a common rail device 41 as a fuel injection device provided in the engine 5. On the other hand, the input side of the engine control device 15 is electrically connected to a rotational speed sensor 31 that detects the rotational speed of the engine 5.

The output side of the machine control device 16 includes a transmission 42 including a hydraulic transmission that shifts the power from the engine 5, and left and right braking devices that brake power transmission to the left and right rear wheels 8 in the rear axle 24. 26 or the like. On the other hand, the input side of the machine control device 16 is electrically connected to a vehicle speed sensor 32 that detects the rotational speed of the rear wheel 3, a tilt angle sensor 33 that detects the tilt angle and the tilt angular speed of the fuselage 2, and the like. In addition, the output side of the work implement control device 17 is electrically connected to the work implement lifting / lowering actuator 44, and the input side of the work implement control device 17 detects the posture or operation state of the work implement 3. And electrically connected.

Further, the tractor 1 includes a vehicle-mounted terminal device 19 connected to the vehicle bus line 18, and the vehicle-mounted terminal device 19 can be connected to the communication network N1 via a wireless telephone line or the like. That is, the tractor 1 can communicate with the server 100 of the management center C1 by connecting to the communication network N1 through the vehicle-mounted terminal device 19. Further, the tractor 1 is provided with a vehicle bus line 18 and an external terminal (not shown) that can be connected, and an external terminal device (service tool) 80 such as a computer operated by a serviceman is electrically connected to the vehicle bus line 18. It is configured to be connectable.

The common rail device 41 is for injecting fuel into each cylinder of the engine 10. In this case, the fuel injection valve of the injector for each cylinder of the engine 10 is controlled to open and close by the engine control device 15, so that high-pressure fuel pumped from the fuel tank to the common rail device 41 by the fuel supply pump is sent from each injector to the engine 10. The injection pressure, the injection timing, and the injection period (injection amount) of the fuel injected into each cylinder and supplied from each injector are controlled with high accuracy.

The transmission 42 is specifically a movable swash plate type hydraulic continuously variable transmission, and is provided in the transmission case 22. By controlling the transmission 42 by the main unit control device 16 and adjusting the angle of the swash plate as appropriate, the transmission ratio of the transmission case 22 can be set to a desired transmission ratio.

The lift actuator 44 operates, for example, a three-point link mechanism that connects the work machine 3 to the machine body 2 to move the work machine 3 to a retracted position (a position where farm work is not performed) or a work position (a position where farm work is performed). It raises or lowers to either. By controlling the elevating actuator 44 by the work machine control device 17 and appropriately moving the work machine 3 up and down, for example, farm work can be performed by the work machine 3 at a desired height in the field area.

The tractor 1 having the control devices 15 to 17 as described above is configured such that the control devices 15 to 17 communicate with each other via the vehicle bus line 18 based on various operations of the operator boarded in the cabin 11. By controlling each part (the machine body 2, the work machine 3, etc.), the farm work can be executed while traveling in the farm field. In addition, the tractor 1 according to the embodiment can autonomously travel based on a predetermined control signal output from the remote operation device 70, for example, without an operator boarding.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the tractor 1 has various configurations such as an autonomous traveling control device 51 for enabling autonomous traveling. Further, the tractor 1 is provided with various configurations such as a positioning antenna 6 necessary for acquiring position information of itself (the body) based on the positioning system. With such a configuration, the tractor 1 can acquire its own position information based on the positioning system and can autonomously travel on the field.

Next, the configuration of the tractor 1 for autonomous traveling will be described in detail. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the tractor 1 includes an autonomous traveling control device 51, a steering control device 52, a positioning surveying device 53, a wireless communication router (low power data communication device) 54, and a steering actuator 43. A positioning antenna 6, a wireless communication antenna unit 48, and the like.

The autonomous traveling control device 51 and the steering control device 52 are configured to be able to communicate with the engine control device 15, the machine control device 16, and the work implement control device 17 via the vehicle bus line 18. In addition, the autonomous traveling control device 51 is connected to each of the positioning surveying device 53 and the wireless communication router 54 via the autonomous traveling bus line 56 in the autonomous traveling communication system different from the steering communication system using the vehicle bus line 18. Mutual communication is possible.

The steering actuator 43 is provided, for example, in the middle of the rotating shaft (steering shaft) of the steering handle 12, and adjusts the turning angle (steering angle) of the steering handle 12. When the tractor 1 travels (as an unmanned tractor) along a predetermined route, the steering control device 52 calculates an appropriate rotation angle of the steering handle 12 so that the tractor 1 travels along the route. The steering actuator 43 is controlled so that the steering handle 12 rotates at the rotation angle.

Further, the steering control device 52 receives a detection signal of the rotation angle of the steering handle 12 from the steering angle sensor 35, and via the vehicle bus line 18, the engine control device 15, the machine control device 16, and the work implement control device 17. By communicating with each, steering according to the vehicle speed of the tractor 1 can be executed. Note that the steering actuator 43 does not adjust the turning angle of the steering handle 12, but may adjust the steering angle of the front wheel 7 of the tractor 1. In this case, the steering handle 12 even if turning is performed. Does not rotate.

The positioning antenna 6 receives signals from positioning satellites constituting a positioning system such as a satellite positioning system (GNSS). The positioning antenna 6 is disposed on the upper surface of the roof 14 in the cabin 11. The signal received by the positioning antenna 6 is input to the positioning surveying device 53, and the positioning surveying device 53 calculates the position information of the tractor 1 (strictly, the positioning antenna 6) as, for example, latitude / longitude information. The position information calculated by the positioning surveying device 53 is acquired by the autonomous traveling control device 51 and used for controlling the tractor 1.

The positioning surveying device 53 is electrically connected to the first wireless communication antenna 48a in the wireless communication antenna unit 48, and will be described later through a first wireless communication network (for example, a wireless communication network in the 920 MHz band) using specific low power wireless. Communicates with a reference station (portable reference station) 60 to be used. The wireless communication antenna unit 48 is disposed on the upper surface of the roof 14 in the cabin 11. The positioning surveying device 53 corrects the satellite positioning information of the tractor 1 (mobile station) by receiving correction information (positioning correction information) from the reference station 60 installed at the agricultural field proximity position via the first wireless communication antenna 48a. Then, the current position of the tractor 1 is obtained. For example, various positioning methods such as DGPS (differential GPS positioning) and RTK positioning (real-time kinematic positioning) can be applied.

In this embodiment, for example, RTK positioning is applied, and in addition to the positioning antenna 6 being provided in the tractor 1 on the mobile station side, the reference station 60 having the reference station positioning antenna 61 is provided. The reference station 60 is arranged at a position (reference point) that does not interfere with the traveling of the tractor 1, for example, around the farm field. The position information of the reference point that is the installation position of the reference station 60 is set in advance. The reference station 60 is provided with a reference station communication device 62 capable of communicating via a first wireless communication network established between the positioning surveying device 53 of the tractor 1 and a communication device using the first wireless communication antenna 48a.

In RTK positioning, the carrier phase (satellite positioning information) from the positioning satellite 63 is measured by both the reference station 60 installed at the reference point and the positioning antenna 6 of the tractor 1 on the mobile station side for which position information is to be obtained. ing. The reference station 60 generates correction information including the measured satellite positioning information and the reference point position information every time the satellite positioning information is measured from the positioning satellite 63 or every time the set period elapses, and the reference station communication device 62 To the first wireless communication antenna 48 a of the tractor 1. The positioning surveying device 53 of the tractor 1 (corresponding to the mobile station) corrects the satellite positioning information measured by the positioning antenna 6 by using the correction information transmitted from the reference station 60, thereby obtaining the current position information ( For example, latitude information / longitude information) is obtained.

In this embodiment, a high-accuracy satellite positioning system using the GNSS-RTK method is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other positioning systems can be used as long as high-accuracy position coordinates can be obtained. May be. GNSS-RTK is a positioning method that has been corrected based on information of a reference station whose position is known, and has improved accuracy. There are a plurality of methods depending on the distribution method of information from the reference station. Since the present invention does not depend on the GNSS-RTK system, details are omitted in this embodiment.

In addition, the positioning surveying device 53 can measure not only the position information of the tractor 1 (airframe 2) by satellite positioning, but also the front and rear, right and left tilt angle information by inertial surveying. The inclination angle information measured by the positioning surveying device 53 is acquired by the autonomous traveling control device 51 in a state associated with the position information (latitude / longitude information) and used for controlling the tractor 1. In addition, the positioning surveying device 53 can also measure the height position of the positioning antenna 6 with respect to the farm scene, and thus the vehicle height of the tractor 1 (airframe 2).

The wireless communication antenna unit 48 is disposed on the top surface of the roof 14 of the cabin 11 of the tractor 1 and first and second

wireless communication antennas

48a and 48b that are connected to communicate with the first and second wireless communication networks having different frequency bands. It has. The first wireless communication network is constructed by, for example, a specific low-power radio in the 920 MHz band having a high data transmission speed in order to communicate the positioning correction information by the reference station 60. The second wireless communication network is constructed by, for example, a 2.4 GHz band low-power data communication system in order to allow high-speed data communication such as image data to be performed at high speed. A part of the

antennas

48 a and 48 b may be disposed in the cabin 11.

The first wireless communication antenna 48a is electrically connected to the positioning surveying device 53, and the second wireless communication antenna 48b is electrically connected to the wireless communication router 54. The wireless communication router 54 connected to the second wireless communication antenna 48b communicates with the remote control device 70 capable of displaying an image operated by an operator outside the tractor 1 through the second wireless communication network. The wireless communication router 54 receives the control signal from the remote operation device 70 and transmits it to the autonomous travel control device 51 via the autonomous travel bus line 56.

Further, the wireless communication router 54 receives a captured image of the camera 36 by performing wireless communication with the camera 36 that captures the front of the tractor 1 via the second wireless communication network. The camera 36 is attached to an upper position of the cabin 11 and photographs a state of a farm field such as the vicinity of the hood 6 in front of the cabin 11. In the present embodiment, the camera 36 is integrally attached to the wireless communication antenna unit 48, but may be attached to a plurality of locations such as a side position and a rear position of the roof 14 of the cabin 11.

The remote operation device 70 is specifically configured as a tablet personal computer including a touch panel. The operator can check the information displayed on the touch panel of the remote operation device 70 (for example, information on a field necessary for autonomous traveling). In addition, the operator operates the remote control device 70 to transmit a control signal for controlling the tractor 1 to the autonomous traveling control device 51 of the tractor 1. Note that the remote operation device 70 of the embodiment is not limited to a tablet personal computer, and may be configured by, for example, a notebook personal computer. Alternatively, a monitor device mounted on another tractor different from the tractor 1 can be a remote control device.

The autonomous traveling control device 51 compares the traveling route generated by the remote operation device 70 with the position information of the tractor 1 and autonomously operates at a predetermined traveling speed while performing a predetermined operation on the tractor 1 along the traveling route. In order to run, the steering angle of the tractor 1, the target engine speed, the gear ratio, and the like are calculated and communicated with the control devices 15 to 17 and 52 through the vehicle bus line 18. Thereby, the tractor 1 can perform farm work by the work implement 3 while autonomously traveling along the travel route. In this way, the route in the field area (travel area) where the tractor 1 autonomously travels may be referred to as “travel route” in the following description. In the field area (running area), the area (work area) to be farmed by the work machine 3 of the tractor 1 is determined as an area excluding the headland and the margin from the entire field area. Are set based on these registered points and the work width of the tractor 1 when the registration work of the registered points is executed.

The autonomous traveling control device 51 stops fuel injection in the common rail device 41 and communicates with the machine control device 16 by communication with the engine control device 15 when the operator performs a stop operation on the remote control device 70. By making the transmission 42 neutral by communication, a braking operation by a brake device 26 described later is applied. At this time, the autonomous traveling control device 52 controls the steering actuator 43 so that the handle 12 is set to the neutral position by communication with the steering control device 51, and directs the left and right

front wheels

7, 7 in the straight traveling direction. It is good.

The autonomous traveling control device 51 is in a communication state with the reference station 60 in the positioning surveying device 53 (communication state in the first communication network), and in a communication state with the remote control device 70 in the wireless communication router 54 (communication state in the second communication network). ) Confirm each via the autonomous bus line 56. When the autonomous traveling control device 51 confirms that the communication state in any of the first and second communication networks is cut off, the autonomous traveling control device 51 communicates with the engine control device 15 and the transmission control device 16 to thereby determine the autonomousness of the tractor 1. Stop driving. Note that the autonomous traveling control device 51 determines that the communication with the communication partner has been interrupted when the positioning surveying device 53 and the wireless communication router 54 have not received a signal from the communication partner for a predetermined period or longer. .

Furthermore, the tractor 1 is provided with a pair of left and

right brake devices

26 and 26 for braking the left and right

rear wheels

8 and 8 by two systems of operation of the brake pedal and parking brake lever and automatic control. That is, both the left and

right brake devices

26, 26 are configured to brake both the left and right

rear wheels

8, 8 by operating the brake pedal (or parking brake lever) in the braking direction. Further, when the turning angle of the handle 12 becomes equal to or larger than a predetermined angle, the brake device 26 for the rear wheel 8 on the inside of the turn automatically performs a braking operation according to a command from the machine control device 16 ( So-called auto brake).

The reference station 60 includes a reference station wireless communication antenna 64 that distributes correction information, a reference station positioning antenna 61 that receives a signal from the positioning satellite 63, and a reference station communication device that is electrically connected to the wireless communication antenna 64 and the positioning antenna 61, respectively. 62. The reference station 60 is installed at a reference point for specifying the position of the tractor (work vehicle) 1 serving as a mobile station. The portable reference station 60 installed at the reference point sends a signal from the positioning satellite 63 received by the reference station positioning antenna 61 to the reference station communication device 62, and the reference station communication device 62 measures the satellite positioning information and the reference point position information. The correction information including etc. is generated. Then, the reference station 60 distributes the correction information generated by the reference station communication device 62 via the first wireless communication network. The reference station 60 may be configured to be disassembled into a plurality of members, and each disassembled member may be configured to have a size that can be accommodated in a predetermined case and transported.

<Basic processing operation in autonomous driving system>
Next, the basic processing operation in the autonomous traveling of the unmanned tractor 1 in the agricultural field H1 will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, when the key switch is turned on for the unmanned tractor 1 in the field H1, the control devices 15 to 17, 51, 52, the positioning surveying device 53, and the wireless communication router 54 are powered on. At the same time, the engine 10 is driven to enter an idling state. At this time, the unmanned tractor 1 is stopped by the braking action of the left and right brake device 26. On the other hand, when the power of the remote control device 70 is turned on, a display 146 (see FIG. 13) configured with a touch panel is displayed and the device-side software is activated.

The unmanned tractor 1 controls the communication operation of the wireless communication router 54 by the autonomous traveling control device 51, so that the wireless communication router 54 starts searching for a remote control device 70 that can communicate through the second wireless communication network. That is, the wireless communication router 54 generates a communication confirmation signal including a tractor ID unique to the unmanned tractor 1 and transmits it from the second wireless communication antenna 48b. The remote operation device 70 stores in advance the tractor ID of the unmanned tractor 1 that can communicate with the autonomous traveling system. Then, when receiving the communication confirmation signal including the tractor ID, the remote operation device 70 authenticates the communication with the wireless communication router 54 of the unmanned tractor 1 when the received tractor ID matches the previously stored tractor ID. .

The remote operation device 70 authenticates communication with the unmanned tractor 1, generates a response signal to the communication confirmation signal, and transmits the response signal to the wireless communication router 54 of the unmanned tractor 1. The remote operation device 70 generates a response signal including a device ID unique to the own device and transmits the response signal to the wireless communication router 54 through the second wireless communication network. The unmanned tractor 1 stores in advance the device ID of the remote operation device 70 that can communicate with the autonomous traveling system in the autonomous traveling control device 51 or the wireless communication router 54. Therefore, when the unmanned tractor 1 receives the response signal at the wireless communication router 54 via the second wireless communication antenna 48b, the remote operation is performed when the device ID in the received response signal matches the device ID stored in advance. Communication with the device 70 is authenticated.

As described above, when communication is established between the unmanned tractor 1 (wireless communication router 54) and the remote control device 70, the unmanned tractor 1 notifies the server 100 that communication has been established. At this time, the unmanned tractor 1 transmits the tractor ID of the unmanned tractor 1 and the device ID of the remote control device 70 to the server 100 from the vehicle-mounted terminal device 19 via the communication network N1.

Further, when the key switch of the unmanned tractor 1 is turned ON and the positioning surveying device 53 is turned on, the position information (unmanned tractor 1) is obtained by communicating with the positioning satellite 63 and the reference station 60 through the

antennas

6 and 48a. (Latitude / longitude information). Then, after the above-described authentication process between the unmanned tractor 1 (wireless communication router 54) and the remote control device 70, the position information of the unmanned tractor 1 is transmitted to the server 100 together with the tractor ID and the device ID.

When the server 100 confirms from the tractor ID and the device ID that the tractor 1 and the remote control device can be used in the autonomous traveling system, the server 100 authenticates the unmanned tractor 1 to enable communication between the unmanned tractor 1 and the server 100. . When the server 100 authenticates the unmanned tractor 1, the server 100 reads map information centered on the position information received from the unmanned tractor 1 and transmits the read map information to the unmanned tractor 1. At this time, the server 100 confirms the field (work area) assigned to the operator who operates the unmanned tractor 1 based on the tractor ID and the device ID, and maps the information on the field (work area) as the work target to the map information. And transmitted to the unmanned tractor 1.

When the vehicle-mounted terminal device 19 receives the map information from the server 100, the unmanned tractor 1 gives the received map information to the wireless communication router 54 via the autonomous traveling control device 51, and the map information is sent from the wireless communication router 54. Transmit to the remote control device 70. The remote control device 70 that has received the map information displays a map including the field (work area) assigned to the operator on the display 146 (see FIG. 13) based on the received map information.

The operator operates a touch panel that constitutes the display 146 (see FIG. 13) of the remote control device 70, and the like, from the map displayed on the display 146, the farm field (working area) that is the work target by the unmanned tractor 1 Is specified. In addition, the operator can use the unmanned tractor 1 to perform operations (cultivation work, sowing work, fertilization work, pricking work, upsetting work, etc.) on the remote control device 70 and the size of the work machine and the work machine. specify.

When the remote operation device 70 generates a response signal including the field (work area) and the work machine designated by the operator and transmits the response signal to the unmanned tractor 1, the unmanned tractor 1 performs the work by the designated field and work machine. Based on the calculation, a work route (work route) along which the unmanned tractor 1 moves is generated. That is, when the autonomous traveling control device 51 is notified of the contents of the farm field and the work implement included in the response signal received by the wireless communication router 54, the autonomous traveling control device 51 operates the work route from the designated farm field and the working implement. Set. Then, the wireless communication router 54 transmits a communication confirmation signal including the set work route to the remote operation device 70.

When the remote operation device 70 receives an operation for starting autonomous traveling by the operator, the remote operation device 70 generates a response signal for permitting autonomous traveling and transmits the response signal to the unmanned tractor 1 (wireless communication router 54). When the unmanned tractor 1 receives the response signal serving as the autonomous traveling permission signal by the wireless communication router 54, the autonomous traveling control device 51 passes through the engine control device 15, the machine control device 16, the work implement control device 17, and the steering control device 52. The control operation of each part is executed, and the autonomous traveling of the unmanned tractor 1 is started.

When the unmanned tractor 1 starts autonomous traveling, the driving state of the machine body 2 and the work machine 3 (engine speed, vehicle speed of the machine body 2, engine load, tilt attitude of the machine body 2, tilt attitude of the work machine 3, The lift position, the braking operation of the left and right brake devices 26, the steering angle of the handle 10, the switching of the PTO switch, etc.) are transmitted to the server 100 and the remote control device 70 together with the position information and time information. The position information is latitude / longitude information calculated by the positioning surveying device 53 based on information received from the positioning satellite 63 and the reference station 60. The time information is the control devices 15 to 17, 52,. 53 is information indicating the time counted in any one of 53.

The unmanned tractor 1 that is traveling autonomously connects the vehicle-mounted terminal device 19 to the server 100 for each time T1, and obtains drive state information, position information, and time information indicating the drive states of the machine body 2 and the work machine 3. And transmitted to the server 100 via the communication network N1. The server 100 stores the driving state information, the position information, and the time information received every time T1 in association with the field ID and the tractor ID indicating the designated field (working area).

In addition, the unmanned tractor 1 includes a drive confirmation information, a position information, and time information indicating the drive states of the machine body 2 and the work implement 3 together with a communication confirmation signal from the wireless communication router 54 every time T2 obtained by dividing the time T1 into n equal parts. Is transmitted to the remote control device 70 via the second wireless communication network. When receiving the communication confirmation signal from the unmanned tractor 1 (wireless communication router 54), the remote control device 70 returns a response signal serving as an autonomous travel permission signal to the unmanned tractor 1 (wireless communication router 54). Further, the remote operation device 70 stores the driving state information, position information, and time information received every time T2 in association with the field ID and the tractor ID indicating the designated field (working area). At this time, the number of items of driving state information stored in the remote operation device 70 may be larger than the number of items of driving state information stored in the server 100.

In the wireless communication router 54, the unmanned tractor 1 confirms whether or not a response signal is returned from the remote operation device 70 in response to the communication confirmation signal transmitted every time T2, and returns a response signal from the remote operation device 70. When there is no more than a predetermined time or a predetermined number of times, autonomous running is stopped. That is, when the remote control device 70 is located outside the communicable range with the wireless communication router 54 due to the operator moving to a position away from the unmanned tractor 1, Communication is interrupted. At this time, the autonomous traveling control device 51 determines that the distance is difficult for the operator to monitor the unmanned tractor 1 and stops the autonomous traveling of the unmanned tractor 1. Moreover, if the unmanned tractor 1 stops autonomous running during work, it notifies the server 100 that autonomous running is stopped during work.

Further, when the remote operation device 70 accepts the operation of stopping the autonomous traveling, the remote operation device 70 cuts off the communication with the unmanned tractor 1 (wireless communication router 54) and stops the response signal. Thereby, the unmanned tractor 1 stops the autonomous traveling by the autonomous traveling control device 51 in order to confirm that the wireless communication router 54 does not return a response signal to the communication confirmation signal. Therefore, when a person or an animal enters the field (working area) H1, or when the unmanned tractor 1 deviates from the work route, an operator who monitors the unmanned tractor 1 appears on the display 146 of the remote control device 70. The unmanned tractor 1 can be stopped by touching the displayed stop button 159 (see FIG. 13), and the autonomous traveling system can be operated safely.

<Monitor switching>
In the autonomous traveling system of the present embodiment, during the autonomous traveling of the unmanned tractor 1, the operator 100 can request monitoring of the unmanned tractor 1 by the server 100, and monitoring from the autonomous traveling by the server 100 to the monitoring by the remote operation device 70. A return to can also be requested. That is, in the autonomous traveling system of this embodiment, monitoring of the unmanned tractor 1 during autonomous traveling can be switched between the operator who operates the remote control device 70 and the management center C1 where the server 100 is installed. Hereinafter, monitoring switching of the unmanned tractor 1 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 9, when the unmanned tractor 1 establishes communication with the server 100 and the remote control device 70 respectively (Yes in STEP50, Yes in STEP51), the autonomous traveling control device 51 is replaced with the engine control device 15, Based on the presence or absence of error signals from the machine control device 16 and the work machine control device 17, the presence or absence of an abnormality in the unmanned tractor 1 is determined (STEP 52). The autonomous traveling control device 51 determines that the unmanned tractor 1 can normally perform work and traveling (YES in STEP 52), and requests autonomous traveling from the remote operation device (second remote operation communication device) 70. When the request signal is received by the wireless communication router 54 (YES in STEP 53), autonomous traveling according to the work route set for the farm field (work area) H1 is started (STEP 54).

When the unmanned tractor 1 starts autonomous travel (STEP 54), when the wireless communication router 54 confirms that an abnormality has occurred in communication with the remote control device 70 (Yes in STEP 55), or emergency stop from the remote control device 70 When there is a request (Yes in STEP 56) or when the operation of the unmanned tractor 1 is completed (Yes in STEP 57), the autonomous traveling control device 51 stops the unmanned tractor 1 (STEP 58).

In addition, when the process proceeds to STEP 54 and the unmanned tractor 1 starts autonomous traveling, and switching from the remote control device 70 to monitoring by the server 100 is requested (YES in STEP 59), the video (image) taken by the camera 36 is displayed. ) Is added to the driving state information, position information, and time information, and transmitted to the server 100 (STEP 60).

That is, as shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, when the remote control device 70 receives a touch operation on the switch request button 160 displayed on the display 146, a switch notification signal for requesting monitoring by the server 100 is obtained. It transmits to unmanned tractor 1 (wireless communication router 54). When the unmanned tractor 1 receives the switching notification signal from the remote operation device 70, the unmanned tractor 1 is requested to monitor the unmanned tractor 1 during autonomous traveling from the vehicle-mounted terminal device 19.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, when monitoring of the unmanned tractor 1 by the server 100 is started, the unmanned tractor 1 does not receive the response signal from the remote control device 70, Continue sending. The unmanned tractor 1 stores the device ID of the remote operation device 70 that is communicating before the monitoring request to the server 100 is made. Therefore, when the unmanned tractor 1 receives a response signal from a remote operation device that is different from the stored device ID, the unmanned tractor 1 rejects the communication connection without authenticating the communication with the remote operation device. Accordingly, the unmanned tractor 1 prohibits remote operation from a remote operation device other than the remote operation device 70 that was executing communication before the monitoring request to the server 100 is made.

In addition, the unmanned tractor 1 periodically transmits shooting information by the camera 36 to the server 100 together with driving state information, position information, and time information. Note that the information transmission timing to the server 100 may be the timing for every time T1 as when the autonomous operation of the unmanned tractor 1 is monitored by the remote operation device 70, or as a timing shorter than the time T1. It doesn't matter. When the server 100 receives the driving state information, the position information, and the time information from the unmanned tractor 1, the position and driving state of the unmanned tractor 1 and the video image taken by the camera 36 are displayed at the management center C <b> 1 where the server 100 is installed. It is displayed on a monitor (not shown) connected to the server 100.

The staff in the management center C1 checks whether there is an abnormality around the unmanned tractor 1 and the unmanned tractor 1 that are traveling autonomously by confirming the work state and surrounding conditions of the unmanned tractor 1 displayed on the monitor. it can. When the server 100 receives a monitoring request from the unmanned tractor 1 in order to start monitoring by the server 100, the management center C1 uses a monitor (not shown) or a speaker (not shown) connected to the server 100 to unmanned. The staff is notified that the monitoring of the tractor 1 is started.

The staff of the management center C1 executes an operation for stopping the autonomous traveling of the unmanned tractor 1 with respect to the server 100 when an abnormality occurs around the unmanned tractor 1 and the unmanned tractor 1 during autonomous traveling. Accordingly, when there is no abnormality around the unmanned tractor 1 and the unmanned tractor 1 that are traveling autonomously, there is no operation on the server 100, so the server 100 determines that there is no abnormality, and the unmanned tractor 1 Then, a response signal based on the autonomous travel permission signal is transmitted.

On the other hand, if an abnormality occurs around the unmanned tractor 1 and the unmanned tractor 1 that are traveling autonomously, the server 100 accepts an operation by a staff member in the management center C1, so the server 100 determines that there is an abnormality and A response signal based on a stop request signal is transmitted to the tractor 1. As a result, the unmanned tractor 1 receives the stop request signal from the server 100 and stops the autonomous traveling. Further, when the unmanned tractor 1 is monitored by the server 100, when the work by the unmanned tractor 1 is finished, the unmanned tractor 1 stops the autonomous traveling and notifies the server 100 that the work is finished.

When the unmanned tractor 1 is being monitored by the server 100 as described above, as shown in FIG. 9, the unmanned tractor 1 determines whether to receive a stop request signal from the server 100 (STEP 56) and works. An end determination (STEP 57) is executed, and it is confirmed whether or not communication with the remote control device 70 has been resumed (STEP 61). At this time, when communication with the remote operation device 70 is resumed (YES in STEP 61), monitoring by the server 100 is presented, and abnormality determination of communication with the remote operation device 70 in STEP 55 is restored.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, when the remote operation device 70 receives a touch operation on the restart request button 161 displayed on the display 146, a switching notification signal for requesting monitoring by the remote operation device 70. Are transmitted to the unmanned tractor 1 (wireless communication router 54) together with the device ID of the own device. When the unmanned tractor 1 receives the switching notification signal from the remote operation device 70, the unmanned tractor 1 notifies the server 100 of the resumption of monitoring by the remote operation device 70 from the vehicle-mounted terminal device 19. At this time, the unmanned tractor 1 confirms that it is the remote operation device 70 that has been connected for communication before the monitoring of the server 100 based on the device ID received together with the switching visual inspection signal, and performs the observation with the remote operation device 70. After permitting, the server 100 is notified of the resumption of monitoring by the remote operation device 70.

When monitoring of the unmanned tractor 1 by the remote control device 70 is resumed, the unmanned tractor 1 transmits drive state information, position information, and time information to the server 100 every time T1, while the time T2 Every time, the driving state information, the position information, and the time information are transmitted to the remote operation device 70. When the unmanned tractor 1 confirms either the occurrence of an abnormality in communication with the remote operation device 70, the stop request from the remote operation device 70, or the end of work, the unmanned tractor 1 stops autonomous traveling. When monitoring of the unmanned tractor 1 by the remote control device 70 is resumed, monitoring of the unmanned tractor 1 is stopped by a monitor (not shown) or a speaker (not shown) connected to the server 100 in the management center C1. Inform staff of this.

Further, when the stop button 159 in the remote operation device 70 is operated while the unmanned tractor 1 is being monitored by the server 100, the communication between the remote operation device 70 and the unmanned tractor 1 is resumed, The unmanned tractor 1 stops autonomous traveling. At this time, the unmanned tractor 1 receives the device ID together with the stop request signal from the remote operation device 70 to confirm that the unmanned tractor 1 is the remote operation device 70 that was performing communication before monitoring by the server 100. Stop autonomous driving.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be embodied in various forms. The configuration of each unit is not limited to the illustrated embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. That is, in the above-described embodiment, it is assumed that the single tractor 1 is operated in the field, but the multiple tractors 1 may be operated. At this time, for example, as shown in FIG. 15, a part of the farm work is performed by the unmanned tractor 1 in the field, and the remaining farm work is performed by the manned tractor 1A. By performing cooperative work of farm work, follow-up work, accompanying work, etc. by unmanned tractor 1 and manned tractor 1A, farm work can be shared in a single farm field. Further, in the cooperative work described above, the unmanned tractor 1 may perform the farm work in a certain farm field, and at the same time, the manned tractor 1A may perform the farm work in another farm field. Further, as shown in FIG. 16, any one of the cooperative work, the follow-up work, and the accompanying work may be executed by a plurality of

unmanned tractors

1, 1A, 1B.

1 Tractor (work vehicle)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Engine control apparatus 16 This machine control apparatus 17 Work implement control apparatus 18 Vehicle bus line 19 Vehicle-mounted terminal apparatus 48 Wireless communication antenna unit 48a First wireless communication antenna 48b Second wireless communication antenna 51 Autonomous traveling control apparatus 52 Steering control apparatus 53 Positioning side quantity device 54 Wireless communication router 56 Autonomous traveling bus line 60 Reference station 63 Positioning satellite 70 Remote control device 80 External terminal device 90 Access point 100 Server C1 Management center H1 Farm field (work area)
N1 communication network O1 office

Claims

An autonomous traveling system for an agricultural work vehicle in which autonomous traveling of the agricultural work vehicle is controlled by a remote control device capable of communicating with the agricultural work vehicle,
A server capable of communicating with the farm vehicle,
When the remote control device requests the server to monitor the autonomous traveling of the agricultural vehicle, the autonomous monitoring system of the agricultural vehicle is monitored and controlled by the server. .
2. The farm work according to claim 1, wherein when monitoring control of the autonomous traveling of the farm work vehicle by the server is started, control of the farm work vehicle by an operation device other than the remote operation device and the server is prohibited. Autonomous driving system for vehicles.
When the monitoring control of the farm work vehicle by the server is being executed, if the resumption of the control by the remote operation device is accepted, the monitoring control by the server is interrupted and the control by the remote operation device is resumed. The autonomous traveling system for agricultural vehicles according to claim 1.
2. The farm work vehicle includes a camera for photographing the periphery of the farm work vehicle, and when monitoring control by the server is started, photographing information by the camera is transmitted to the server. An autonomous traveling system for agricultural vehicles described in 1.
2. The autonomous traveling of the farm work vehicle is stopped when a request for stopping the farm work vehicle is received by the remote control device while the server performs monitoring control of the farm work vehicle. An autonomous traveling system for agricultural vehicles described in 1.
When communication between the remote operation device and the agricultural vehicle is interrupted when the agricultural vehicle is controlled by the remote operation device, or when a request to stop the agricultural vehicle is received by the remote operation device The autonomous traveling system for agricultural work vehicles according to claim 1, wherein autonomous traveling of the agricultural working vehicle is stopped.