JP7612561B2 - Farm Work Vehicle - Google Patents

Description

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

The self-driving rice transplanter according to Patent Document 1 is equipped with a clutch control unit that controls a planting clutch that switches the drive state of the seedling planting device, and a lift control unit that controls the lifting and lowering of the seedling planting device, so that the seedling planting device rises when the drive of the seedling planting device is stopped, and falls when the drive of the seedling planting device is started. Work travel is achieved by lowering the seedling planting device and traveling with the seedling planting device in a driven state. Non-work travel is achieved by lowering the seedling planting device and traveling without driving the seedling planting device, or by raising the seedling planting device and traveling without driving the seedling planting device.

JP 2021-108615 A

In a rice transplanter, the field is divided into an outer periphery and an inner region inside the outer periphery. For work in the inner region, multiple straight travel paths are set as work travel paths in the inner region with the work width as an interval, and each straight travel path is connected by a 180° turn in the outer periphery. For work in the outer periphery, a circular travel path is set. If the shape of the field is not rectangular but a convex or concave deformed polygon, each straight travel path must be connected by a 90° turn. For example, when working (planting seedlings or sowing) in an L-shaped unworked corner area, if work is started before the position where work should start in order to avoid missing work, overlapping work will occur, such as stepping on seedlings that have already been planted. Conversely, if work is started past the position where work should start in order to avoid stepping on seedlings that have already been planted, work will be left unplanted, etc.

In consideration of the above situation, the goal is to provide a field work vehicle that rationally solves the problems of overlapping work and leaving work unfinished.

One automatically travelling field work vehicle according to the present invention comprises a travel path setting unit which sets a travel path generated to match the shape of the field as a target travel path which is a target for automatic travel, a work device which performs work along a predetermined row direction, a work travel control unit which causes the vehicle body to travel with the work device in a working state, a non-work travel control unit which causes the vehicle body to travel with the work device in a non-working state, a worked travel path management unit which manages a work locus based on a worked travel path along which the work was performed by the work device, and a corner work start position determination unit which determines a work start position for the work in corner work travel which involves a direction change in an unworked corner area bounded by at least two sides of the work locus, taking the work locus into consideration , and work travel in the corner area is performed in an overlapping work travel mode in which work travel is performed by overlapping the work locus, or in a non-overlapping work travel mode in which work travel is performed by avoiding the work locus.
Another automatically travelling field work vehicle according to the present invention comprises a travel path setting unit that sets a travel path generated to match the shape of the field as a target travel path that is a target for automatic travel, a work device that performs work along a predetermined row direction, a work travel control unit that causes the vehicle body to travel when the work device is in a working state, a non-work travel control unit that causes the vehicle body to travel when the work device is in a non-working state, a worked travel path management unit that manages a work locus based on a worked travel path on which the work was performed by the work device, a corner work start position determination unit that determines the work start position of the work in corner work travel that involves a direction change in an unworked corner area bounded by at least two sides of the work locus, taking into consideration the work locus, and a work travel mode selection unit that selects between an overlapping work travel mode in which work travel is performed by overlapping the work locus in the corner area, and a non-overlapping work travel mode in which work travel is performed by avoiding the work locus, and the corner work start position determination unit determines the work start position based on the work travel mode selected by the work travel mode selection unit .

According to this configuration, when the vehicle travels while changing direction to work in an unworked corner area bounded by at least two sides of the work trajectory, the work start position is determined taking into consideration the work trajectory based on the work-completed travel path. In other words, by taking into consideration the range of work start positions where there is a high possibility of overlapping work and the range of work start positions where there is a high possibility of work being left unfinished (omission of work), a work start position is determined that rationally suppresses the occurrence of overlapping work and left unfinished work. For example, if the field work vehicle is a rice transplanter, the work performed by the work device is seedling planting work, and if the field work vehicle is a seed sower, the work performed by the work device is seed sowing work, and it is required to suppress overlapping work and left unfinished work in order to place seedlings and seeds as evenly as possible in the field.

Depending on the intention of the field work manager and the type of field work, there are cases where it is desirable to avoid missing work and cases where it is desirable to avoid leaving work unfinished. To address this problem, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a work travel mode selection unit is provided that selects between an overlapping work travel mode in which the work trajectory in the corner area is overlapped while work travel is performed, and a non-overlapping work travel mode in which the work trajectory is avoided while work travel is performed, and the corner work start position determination unit determines the work start position based on the work travel mode selected by the work travel mode selection unit. When the overlapping work travel mode is selected, work travel without missing work, for example, work travel without leaving planted seeds unplanted, is realized. Also, when the non-overlapping work travel mode is selected, work travel without overlapping work, for example, work travel without trampling planted seedlings, is realized.

If a field work manager has skilled driving techniques for a field work vehicle, work travel without leaving work behind or overlapping work, which is difficult with automatic steering, can be achieved by manual steering that optimally combines the work start position and turning techniques. For this reason, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the work travel mode selection unit has an optional work travel mode, and when the optional work travel mode is selected, the work start position is determined manually by the worker.

Even if the overlapping work driving mode is desired, if the amount of overlap is too large, the overlapping work driving mode must be avoided. In other words, the selection of the overlapping work driving mode often depends on the amount of overlap. For this reason, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, an overlapping work driving management unit is provided that calculates the amount of overlap of the work in the overlapping work driving mode, and the amount of overlap is notified. In this configuration, it is possible to determine whether to select the overlapping work driving mode or to abandon it based on the notified amount of overlap.

The amount of overlap in the overlap work travel mode is related to the forward and reverse amounts of the vehicle body that enter the work trajectory. In addition, such forward and reverse movements of the vehicle body will damage the field scene, so this is also an important factor in selecting the work travel mode. For this reason, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the overlap work travel management unit has the function of calculating the forward and reverse amounts of the vehicle body that enter the work trajectory in the corner area in the overlap work travel mode, and reporting the forward and reverse amounts of the vehicle body. It is more convenient if the forward and reverse amounts of the vehicle body are also reported together with the amount of overlap.

Even if a non-overlapping work travel mode that allows remaining work is desired, if the remaining amount of work is too large, the non-overlapping work travel mode must be avoided. In other words, the selection of the non-overlapping work travel mode often depends on the remaining amount of work. For this reason, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a non-overlapping work travel management unit is provided that calculates the remaining amount of work for the work in the non-overlapping work travel mode, and the remaining amount of work is notified. In this configuration, it is possible to determine whether to select the non-overlapping work travel mode or to abandon it based on the notified remaining amount of work.

In corner work travel involving a change of direction, the amount of overlap and the amount of remaining work vary depending on the forward and backward movement of the machine body, and this can be used to optimize the amount of overlap and the amount of remaining work. For this reason, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, an overlap work travel management unit is provided that calculates the amount of overlap of the work in the overlap work travel mode, a non-overlapping work travel management unit is provided that calculates the amount of remaining work in the non-overlapping work travel mode, and an overlap adjustment unit is provided that can adjust the amount of overlap and the amount of remaining work to a minimum by adjusting the forward and backward movement of the machine body. With this configuration, it is possible to determine the optimal amount of overlap and the amount of remaining work by manual operation or automatically using a simulation program, etc.

Farmers plan optimal farming taking into account work time, material loss, and harvest volume. At that time, the farmer judges the farming results while changing the priority and weighting of farming factors such as work time, material loss, and harvest volume. In order to support such farming, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, an overlapping work travel management unit is provided that calculates the overlap amount of the work in the overlapping work travel mode, a non-overlapping work travel management unit is provided that calculates the remaining work amount of the work in the non-overlapping work travel mode, and a farming calculation unit is provided that calculates the increase or decrease in the harvest volume, the consumption loss of agricultural materials, and the increase or decrease in the required work time based on the overlapping work travel management unit and the non-overlapping work travel management unit. In this configuration, the farmer can set the ranking and weighting of the farming factors and have the farming calculation unit calculate the increase or decrease in the harvest volume, the consumption loss of agricultural materials, and the required work time. In addition, it is also possible to automatically output optimal farming results using a simulation program or the like. Furthermore, in conjunction with the work route generation function, it is possible to adopt a configuration that suggests a work route that prioritizes the factor that should be given the highest priority from among farming factors, for example, the yield.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a rice transplanter equipped with an automatic steering system. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating power transmission from the engine to the planting mechanism. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the raising and lowering of the seedling planting device and the ground leveling float. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a driving route for automatic driving of the rice transplanter. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between a set seedling planting start position and an actual seedling planting start position. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating 90-degree turning travel in the overlap work travel mode. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating 90-degree turning travel in a non-overlapping work travel mode. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a control system of the rice transplanter.

The following describes a rice transplanter as an example of one embodiment of the self-driving paddy field work vehicle of the present invention. In this embodiment, unless otherwise specified, "front" (the direction of arrow F shown in FIG. 1) means the front in the fore-and-aft direction (traveling direction) of the machine body, and "rear" (the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 1) means the rear in the fore-and-aft direction (traveling direction) of the machine body. In addition, the left-right direction or lateral direction means the left-right direction of the machine body (machine body width direction) perpendicular to the fore-and-aft direction of the machine body, "left" means the direction toward the front of the paper in FIG. 1, and "right" means the direction toward the back of the paper in FIG. 1.

[Overall structure]
As shown in Fig. 1, the rice transplanter is equipped with a riding type four-wheel drive vehicle body 1. The vehicle body 1 is equipped with a link mechanism 13 of a parallel four-link type connected to the rear of the vehicle body 1 so as to be able to rise and fall and swing, a hydraulic lifting cylinder 13a that drives the link mechanism 13 to swing, a seedling planting device 3A connected to the rear end region of the link mechanism 13 so as to be able to roll, and a fertilizer applicator 3B installed from the rear end region of the vehicle body 1 to the seedling planting device 3A, etc. In this embodiment, the seedling planting device 3A and the fertilizer applicator 3B are the working devices 3 provided on the autonomous working vehicle of the present invention, and perform seedling planting work along a predetermined row direction.

The vehicle body 1 is equipped with a wheeled running device 12, an engine 2A, and a hydraulic continuously variable transmission 2B, which is the main transmission. The continuously variable transmission 2B is, for example, an HST (Hydro-Static Transmission), and changes the power (rotation speed) output from the engine 2A by adjusting the angles of the motor swash plate and the pump swash plate. The running device 12 has left and right front wheels 12A that function as steering wheels for changing the vehicle's orientation, and left and right rear wheels 12B that cannot be steered.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle body 1 is provided with a driver's section 14 in its rear side area. The driver's section 14 is provided with a steering wheel 10 for steering the front wheels, a main speed change lever 7A for adjusting the vehicle speed by changing the speed of the continuously variable transmission 2B, a sub-speed change lever 7B for enabling the sub-speed change operation, an operation lever 11 for raising and lowering the seedling planting device 3A, a driver's seat 16 for passengers (driver, worker, manager), etc. Furthermore, in front of the driver's section 14, a spare seedling storage device 17A for storing spare seedlings is supported on a spare seedling support frame 17.

The steering wheel 10 is connected to the front wheels 12A via a steering mechanism (not shown), and the steering angle of the front wheels 12A is adjusted by rotating the steering wheel 10. A steering motor M1 is connected to the steering mechanism, and during automatic steering, the steering motor M1 operates based on a steering signal to adjust the steering angle (steering degree) of the front wheels 12A. In addition, a gear shift motor M2 for automatically operating the main gear shift lever 7A is also provided, and during automatic driving, the gear shift position of the continuously variable transmission 2B is adjusted by the gear shift motor M2 operating based on a gear shift signal.

As shown in FIG. 2, the seedling planting device 3A is illustrated as an 8-row planting type as an example, but other types such as 6-row planting type or 10-row planting type may also be used. Power from the engine 2A is distributed to each planting mechanism 22 via the planting clutch C0 and each row clutch EC. The planting clutch C0 switches the drive state of the seedling planting device 3A by turning on and off the power transmission from the engine 2A. The each row clutch EC is configured to be able to select the start and stop of operation by the seedling planting device 3A for every two rows. By controlling the each row clutch, the planting type can be changed to 2-row, 4-row, 6-row, or 8-row planting.

1 and 2, the seedling planting device 3A includes a seedling platform 21, a planting mechanism 22, and the like. The seedling platform 21 is a platform on which eight rows of mat-shaped seedlings are placed. The seedling platform 21 moves back and forth in the left-right direction with a constant stroke corresponding to the left-right width of the mat-shaped seedlings, and each time the seedling platform 21 reaches the left-right stroke end, each mat-shaped seedling on the seedling platform 21 is vertically fed at a predetermined pitch toward the lower end of the seedling platform 21. The eight planting mechanisms 22 are rotary type and are arranged in the left-right direction at a constant interval corresponding to the spacing between the planting rows. Power is transmitted from the engine 2A to each planting mechanism 22, which cuts one seedling (a seedling to be planted) from the lower end of each mat-shaped seedling placed on the seedling platform 21 and plants it in the muddy soil after the land has been leveled. As a result, when the seedling planting device 3A is in operation, the seedlings can be taken out of the mat-shaped seedlings placed on the seedling platform 21 and planted in the muddy soil of the paddy field.

The fertilizer application device 3B has a hopper 25 that stores granular or powdered fertilizer (chemicals or other agricultural materials), a delivery mechanism 26 that delivers the fertilizer from the hopper 25, and a fertilizer application hose 28 that transports the fertilizer delivered by the delivery mechanism 26 and discharges the fertilizer into the field. The fertilizer stored in the hopper 25 is delivered in predetermined amounts by the delivery mechanism 26 and sent to the fertilizer application hose 28, transported through the fertilizer application hose 28 by the delivery wind of the blower 27, and discharged into the field from the furrow former 29. In this way, the fertilizer application device 3B supplies fertilizer to the field.

The furrow formers 29 are attached to the ground leveling floats 15. Each furrow former 29 rises and falls together with each ground leveling float 15, and when each ground leveling float 15 is on the ground during work travel, it forms a fertilizer furrow in the muddy part of the rice paddy and guides fertilizer into the fertilizer furrow.

As shown in FIG. 3, the seedling planting device 3A is raised and lowered by the link mechanism 13 that is displaced by the extension and contraction of the lifting cylinder 13a. The lifting cylinder 13a is extended and contracted by the hydraulic valve 13b controlled by the control command from the control unit 100. The raised and lowered position of the seedling planting device 3A can be detected, for example, by the lifting position sensor 332. In addition, the ground leveling float 15 is attached to the frame of the seedling planting device 3A by the swing link 15A so that it can swing up and down, and the swing angle of the ground leveling float 15 is detected by the float swing detection sensor that also functions as the ground sensor 331 and sent to the control unit 100. When the height of the seedling planting device 3A relative to the field surface (the surface of the paddy field, which is the muddy soil surface located below the paddy field surface) changes, the front end side of the ground leveling float 15 swings up and down relative to the frame of the seedling planting device 3A due to the ground reaction force acting on the ground leveling float 15. Therefore, the height of the seedling planting device 3A relative to the field surface can be detected from the swing angle of the soil leveling float 15 relative to the frame of the seedling planting device 3A. In other words, the soil leveling float 15 also functions as a detectable displacement object for the ground contact sensor 331. The seedling planting device 3A rises and falls between an upper position (raised position) where the soil leveling float 15 is higher than the paddy field surface, and a lower position (lowered position) where the soil leveling float 15 touches the field surface.

As shown in FIG. 1, the communication terminal 9, which is removably attached to the driving unit 14, is composed of, for example, a tablet computer, and can output various types of information to the operator as visual and audio information, as well as accept input of various types of information. The communication terminal 9 is connected wirelessly or via a wire to the rice transplanter's control system so that data can be exchanged. Various functions for automatic driving are installed in the communication terminal 9, and it is possible, for example, to remotely control the rice transplanter from a location away from the rice transplanter.

The rice transplanter further includes a positioning unit 8. The positioning unit 8 outputs positioning data for calculating the position and orientation of the vehicle body 1. The positioning unit 8 includes a satellite positioning module 8A that receives radio waves from satellites of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and an inertial measurement module 8B that detects the three-axial tilt and acceleration of the vehicle body 1. The positioning unit 8 is supported on the top of the spare seedling support frame 17.

[Route]
The operation travel in which the rice transplanter performs the operation of planting seedlings in a field by automatic travel will be described with reference to FIG. 4 .

The rice transplanter in this embodiment can selectively be driven manually or automatically. In manual driving, the driver manually (including remote control operation) operates the steering wheel 10, main shift lever 7A, sub-shift lever 7B, work operation lever 11, etc. to drive the planter for work. In automatic driving, the rice transplanter drives and works under automatic control along a preset target driving route.

When the rice transplanter is planting seedlings, the operator first manually drives the rice transplanter around the perimeter (outer edge) of the field without performing any work. As shown in Figure 3, this circular drive generates the outer shape of the field (field map), and the field is divided into an outer area OA and an inner area IA.

When the field map is generated, a driving route that the rice transplanter uses for automatic driving is generated. In the inner area IA, multiple straight driving routes (hereinafter, these will be referred to as straight driving routes, but are not necessarily limited to straight lines) that extend approximately parallel to one side of the field are generated. The extension direction of this driving route is also called the row direction. This straight driving route is a driving route that the rice transplanter uses to thoroughly travel and work throughout the entire inner area IA, and automatic steering during automatic driving is performed with this straight driving route as the target driving route. Each straight driving route is connected by a U-shaped turning driving route (effectively a 180-degree turning route). Driving along the straight driving route and driving along the turning driving route are performed by automatic driving control consisting of automatic steering and automatic gear shifting.

In the outer peripheral area OA, one or more circular travel routes are generated that travel around the outer peripheral area OA along the periphery (outer edge) of the field. For example, in the example of FIG. 4, the circular travel routes consist of two circular travel routes, an inner one and an outer one. The inner and outer circular travel routes can also be automatically traveled, but either one or both of them may be manually traveled.

Most of the travel along the straight-line travel path is work travel. During work travel, the vehicle body 1 travels while the seedling planting device 3A, which is the work device 3, is operating with the seedling planting device 3A lowered to the lower position. This allows linear seedling planting work to be performed in groups of several rows.

The 180-degree turn that changes the direction of the vehicle body 1 from the straight travel path where the work travel has ended to the next straight travel path where the work travel is to be performed is non-work travel, and the vehicle body 1 travels with the seedling planting device 3A, which is the work device 3, raised to the upper position, the ground leveling float 15 positioned above the paddy field surface, and the seedling planting device 3A stopped.

When planting seedlings in a rectangular field such as that shown in Figure 4, seedling planting is first performed in the inner area IA by combining straight-line driving, which is a work drive, and 180-degree turning driving, which is a non-work drive. Next, seedling planting is performed in the outer peripheral area OA by combining straight-line driving, which is a work drive, and 90-degree turning driving, which is a non-work drive, on the outer peripheral route. The 180-degree turning driving used in seedling planting in the inner area IA is performed in the outer peripheral area OA, which is in an unworked state (where no seedlings have been planted), so sufficient turning space can be secured.

However, in the 90-degree turning run performed in the L-shaped corner area in the outer peripheral area OA, the seedling planting work in the inner area IA is completed, so the area that can be freely used for turning run, that is, the unworked area where seedling planting work is not being performed, is limited, and it is difficult to accurately align the seedlings before and after this turning run. This is because the planting claws of the planting mechanism 22, which rotate while drawing an elliptical trajectory in the vertical direction, plant the seedlings in the field at their lower position, so unnecessary rotational movement occurs before the seedlings are planted. For example, as shown in (a) of Figure 5, even if the work run is started at the set planting start position: Ps assigned to the set travel route, the planting point by the planting mechanism 22 is delayed, so the actual planting start position: Pr where the seedlings are actually planted is a position where the vehicle body 1 has advanced by the delay distance: Lo. This causes some seedlings to be left unplanted.

To avoid the problem of leftover seedlings due to this delay, as shown in FIG. 5B, it is advisable to start the work run from the preceding planting start position: Pf, which is a leading distance: L1 away from the set planting start position: Ps. By setting the leading distance: L1 to the maximum delay distance: Lo or a distance slightly shorter than that, the distance that the actual planting start position: Pr moves away from the set planting start position: Ps in the travel direction is reduced, and leftover seedlings are essentially avoided. However, since the actual planting start position: Pr is likely to be between the preceding planting start position: Pf and the set planting start position: Ps, the seedlings planted here will approach the seedlings planted earlier, resulting in overlapping planting. Furthermore, when the set planting start position: Ps crosses the boundary line between the worked area and the unworked area, which is the work trajectory in the previous seedling planting work run, the vehicle body 1 at the preceding planting start position: Pf will enter the work trajectory. In other words, the previous work trajectory and the work trajectory from the preceding planting start position: Pf will partially overlap, which may result in the seedlings that were accepted earlier being trampled.

The work travel mode in which work travel starts at a timing such as that shown in FIG. 5(a) is called the non-overlapping work travel mode, and the work travel mode in which work travel starts at a timing such as that shown in FIG. 5(b) is called the overlapping work travel mode. Work travel is performed by selecting in advance the non-overlapping work travel mode or the overlapping work travel mode, mainly when work travel is performed in unworked corner areas. The work start position in each work travel mode is determined based on the boundary line between the worked area, which is the work trajectory of the previous seedling planting work travel, and the unworked area where seedling planting work has not been performed, and the start position of work travel, i.e., the work start position, differs between the non-overlapping work travel mode and the overlapping work travel mode.

Next, specific work travel in the L-shaped turning area, which is an unworked area, will be explained using Figures 6 and 7. In both figures, the work trajectory indicating the worked area where seedlings have already been planted is drawn in a light color. The travel routes set in this L-shaped turning area are the horizontal travel route Lh that extends left and right on the paper, and the vertical travel route Lv that is perpendicular to this horizontal travel route Lh.

Figure 6 shows the work travel in the non-overlapping work travel mode. The vehicle body 1, which has been performing seedling planting work from right to left along the horizontal travel path Lh, stops the seedling planting work at position: P01. This position: P01 is spaced apart from the work trajectory boundary line in the work travel along the vertical travel path Lv. The vehicle body 1 performs a 90-degree turn travel in non-working from position: P01 toward the vertical travel path Lv. The vehicle body 1 stops the 90-degree turn travel at position: P02 on the vertical travel path Lv, and then reverses along the vertical travel path Lv. In order to avoid entering the work-completed area, the reverse travel is stopped at position: P03, which is the intersection of the boundary line between the work-completed area and the non-working area and the vertical travel path Lv. After that, the work travel is started with position: P03 set as the planting start position: PS. As a result, a delay distance: Lo occurs, and a second left-planted area A2 (shown by diagonal lines in Figure 6) occurs. In addition, because this 90-degree turn in non-work travel begins at position P01, a first left-planting area A1 (shown by diagonal lines in FIG. 6) is generated between the work path in the work travel along the horizontal travel path Lh to position P01 and the work path in the work travel along the current vertical travel path Lv. The first left-planting area A1 and the second left-planting area A2 indicate the amount of left-planting (area or number of left-planting rows). In the non-overlapping work travel mode, seedlings are avoided from being trampled, but some seedlings are left unplanted.

Figure 7 shows the work travel in the overlapping work travel mode. The vehicle body 1, which has been performing seedling planting work from right to left along the horizontal travel path Lh, stops the seedling planting work at position P21. This position P21 is the right end of the work trajectory in the work travel along the vertical travel path Lv. Therefore, the first left-planting area A1 (shown by a virtual line in Figure 7) that occurred in the non-overlapping work travel mode is planted in the overlapping work travel mode, so the first left-planting area A1 does not occur. The vehicle body 1 performs a 90-degree turn from position P21 toward the vertical travel path Lv without working. Compared to the non-overlapping work travel mode, position P21, which is the start point of the turn, is closer to the vertical travel path Lv, so it turns over a little and enters the vertical travel path Lv. This turning over causes the vehicle body 1 to enter the work-completed area, resulting in the first stepping area B1. The vehicle body 1 stops the 90-degree turning at position P22 where it turns over and returns to the vertical travel path Lv, and then reverses along the vertical travel path Lv. In this reverse movement, the vehicle body 1 crosses the boundary between the work-completed area and the non-working area at position P23, enters the work-completed area, and stops the reverse movement at position P4. At that time, since the work trajectory in the previous work travel and the work trajectory in the current work travel partially overlap, a second stepping area B2 (drawn darkly) is generated, which is an area of the work width along the vertical travel path Lv between position P24 and position P23. Next, forward work travel is started from position P24 along the vertical travel path Lv. That is, in the overlap work travel mode, position P24 in the work-completed area becomes the set planting start position PS. As a result, there is a possibility that overlapping planting of seedlings occurs in the second stepping area B2. In the overlapping work travel mode, the first trampling area B1 and the second trampling area B2 are the overlapping amount (area or number of trampled rows). In particular, the second trampling area B2 indicates the amount of overlapping seedlings (area or number of overlapping seedling rows). In the non-overlapping work travel mode, seedlings are prevented from being left unplanted, but trampling or trampling of seedlings occurs.

Figure 8 shows a control block diagram of the control system of this rice transplanter. The control system of the rice transplanter consists of a control unit 100 that controls various operations of the rice transplanter, and a communication terminal 9 that can exchange data with the control unit 100. Signals from the positioning unit 8, manual operation tool sensor group 31, travel sensor group 32, and work sensor group 33 are input to the control unit 100. Control signals from the control unit 100 are output to the travel equipment group 1A and the work equipment group 1B.

The control unit 100 acquires positioning data for calculating the position and orientation (forward and backward orientation) of the vehicle body 1 from the satellite positioning module 8A of the positioning unit 8, and acquires inertial measurement data relating to the inclination and acceleration of the three axes of the vehicle body 1 from the inertial measurement module 8B.

The group of driving devices 1A includes, for example, a steering motor M1 and a gear shift motor M2. Based on a control signal from the control unit 100, the steering motor M1 is controlled to adjust the steering angle, and the gear shift motor M2 is controlled to adjust the vehicle speed.

The work equipment group 1B includes, for example, a lifting cylinder 13a that adjusts the elevation of the seedling planting device 3A, a seedling harvesting amount adjustment device that adjusts the amount of seedlings harvested by the planting mechanism 22, a feed amount adjustment device that changes the amount of fertilizer fed by the feed mechanism 26, and an on/off control device for the planting clutch C0 and each row clutch EC.

The manual operation tool sensor group 31 includes sensors and switches that detect the operating state of various manual operation tools. The travel sensor group 32 includes various sensors that detect the steering angle, vehicle speed, engine RPM, and other conditions and their corresponding settings. The work sensor group 33 includes a ground sensor 331 that detects the ground contact of the ground leveling float 15, a lifting position sensor 332 that detects the lifting position of the link mechanism 13, and various sensors that detect the operating state of the seedling planting device 3A and the fertilizer application device 3B.

The control unit 100 includes a driving control unit 6, an operation control unit 51, a vehicle position calculation unit 52, a driving route setting unit 53, and a driving trajectory management unit 54.

The vehicle position calculation unit 52 calculates the map coordinates (vehicle position) of the vehicle 1 based on the satellite positioning data and inertial navigation data successively sent from the positioning unit 8. These map coordinates may be coordinates in not only latitude and longitude but also in the field coordinate system or a specific coordinate system.

In this embodiment, the communication terminal 9 is equipped with a touch panel IF 90, a field information storage unit 91, a travel route map generation unit 92, a travel route generation unit 93, a remote control unit 94, and the like. The touch panel IF 90 is a graphic interface, and has the function of displaying and inputting information through a touch panel equipped in the communication terminal 9. Therefore, this communication terminal 9 can function as an input/output interface for information and data of the control unit 100.

The field information storage unit 91 stores information about the field, such as the entrance (exit) positions of the field and the positions where seedlings and fertilizer can be replenished. The travel route map generation unit 92 calculates the external dimensions of the field based on the travel trajectory obtained by driving the vehicle body 1 around the outermost part of the outer peripheral area OA (see FIG. 3) of the field, i.e., along the boundary line with the bank. The travel route generation unit 93 divides the field into an outer peripheral area OA and an inner area IA based on the external dimensions of the field, and generates a travel route for automatic travel. As shown in FIG. 3, the travel route consists of a circular travel route for traveling around the outer peripheral area OA and a straight travel route for traveling around the inner area IA. The generated travel route is sent to the control unit 100.

The remote control unit 94 has a program that causes the communication terminal 9 to function as a remote control for operating the rice transplanter. When the remote control unit 94 is operating, the manager can remotely operate the rice transplanter using hardware switches attached to the communication terminal 9 or software switches displayed on the touch panel of the communication terminal 9.

The driving route setting unit 53 built in the control unit 100 receives and manages the driving route generated by the driving route generation unit 93 from the communication terminal 9, and sequentially sets the driving route that is the target for the path following steering control as the target driving route.

The travel trajectory management unit 54 generates and manages a travel trajectory based on the vehicle body position calculated by the vehicle body position calculation unit 52. Furthermore, the travel trajectory management unit 54 has a completed travel trajectory management unit 541. The completed travel trajectory management unit 541 generates and manages a work trajectory that indicates the completed area (area where seedlings are planted) when the vehicle body 1 travels for work at a specified work width along the travel path, based on the travel trajectory that is the completed travel path of the vehicle body 1.

In automatic driving, the work control unit 51 automatically controls the work equipment group 1B based on a program provided in advance, and in manual driving, it controls the work equipment group 1B based on the driver's operation. The work control unit 51 works in conjunction with the driving control unit 6 to control the lifting and lowering of the seedling planting device 3A and the drive of the planting mechanism 22. At that time, the lifting and lowering cylinder 13a belonging to the work equipment group 1B is controlled to extend and retract by the lifting and lowering control unit 51a of the work control unit 51, so that the seedling planting device 3A is lifted and lowered.

The driving control unit 6 is equipped with an automatic driving control unit 6A, a manual driving control unit 6B, and a control management unit 6C. This rice transplanter can be switched between an automatic driving mode for automatic driving and a manual driving mode for manual driving. The control management unit 6C selects either the automatic driving mode or the manual driving mode based on a signal from a manual operating tool sensor (one of the manual operating tool sensor group 31) that detects the state of a driving mode switching operating tool (not shown) or a switching signal generated by the control unit 100.

The manual driving control unit 6B, which operates in manual driving mode, controls the steering motor M1 based on the amount of operation of the steering wheel 10, and also controls the gear shift operation motor M2 based on the operation of manual operating tools such as the main gear shift lever 7A and the sub gear shift lever 7B.

The automatic driving control unit 6A, which operates in the automatic driving mode, includes a path following steering unit 61, an automatic turning steering unit 62, a work driving control unit 63, a non-work driving control unit 64, a work driving mode selection unit 65, and a corner work start position determination unit 66. The path following steering unit 61 performs path following control so that the vehicle body 1 travels along the target driving route set in the driving route setting unit 53. In the path following control, the vehicle body position calculated by the vehicle body position calculation unit 52 is used to calculate the position deviation (lateral deviation from the target driving route) and the orientation deviation (deviation angle of the vehicle body orientation from the orientation of the target driving route) of the vehicle body 1 relative to the target driving route, and steering control is performed so that the position deviation and orientation deviation are reduced.

The automatic turning steering unit 62 performs steering control for normal turning, such as 90-degree turns or 180-degree turns, in which a sufficient turning area is secured for changing the direction of the vehicle body 1. Each turning control is performed by executing a pre-registered program.

The work travel control unit 63 drives the vehicle body 1 for work travel with the seedling planting device 3A lowered to the lower position, and at the same time drives the planting mechanism 22 to plant the seedlings in the field.

The non-work driving control unit 64 controls the vehicle body 1 to drive while the operation of the seedling planting device 3A is stopped (non-working state). Non-work driving is used when changing the direction of the vehicle body 1, such as when turning 90 degrees or 180 degrees, or when reversing.

As described above, in this embodiment, an overlapping work travel mode and a non-overlapping work travel mode are provided for seedling planting work travel involving turning travel in unworked areas of corners such as L-shaped corners. Of course, a skilled driver can manually operate the vehicle to perform work travel without trampling seedlings or damaging the field, even in unworked areas of corners. In other words, the driver may input control points such as the work start position in corner work travel based on the seedling planting state of the field and perform automatic work travel. Of course, the driver may perform manual work travel. This type of work travel is also called an optional work travel mode, because the manager or driver arbitrarily determines the start position of the corner work travel. The manual work travel mode is included in the optional work travel mode. The work travel mode selection unit 65 selects one work travel mode from the overlapping work travel mode, the non-overlapping work travel mode, and the optional work travel mode based on an instruction from the manager or the driver. In the optional work driving mode, either a mode in which control points such as the work start position are input to perform automatic work driving or a manual work driving mode is selected. The optional work driving mode may be the manual work driving mode only.

The corner work start position determination unit 66 determines the work start position for seedling planting work in a corner work run involving a change of direction in an unworked corner area bounded by at least two sides of the work trajectory, taking into account the work trajectory, in particular the boundary between the worked area and the unworked area. In this embodiment, the corner work start position determination unit 66 has a non-overlapping work run management unit 661 and an overlapping work run management unit 662.

The non-overlapping work driving management unit 661 manages the work driving control in the non-overlapping work mode, in which work driving is performed while avoiding the work trajectory in corner areas, i.e., avoiding entry into areas where work has been completed, as described using FIG. 6. The overlapping work driving management unit 662 manages the work driving control in the non-overlapping work driving mode, in which work driving is performed while overlapping the work trajectory in corner areas, i.e., allowing entry into areas where work has been completed, as described using FIG. 7.

The non-overlapping work drive management unit 661 also has a simulation function to calculate the remaining amount of work in non-overlapping work mode, and can notify the remaining amount of work before work drive. Furthermore, the non-overlapping work drive management unit 661 has a function to calculate the remaining amount of work in non-overlapping work mode based on the actually obtained work trajectory, and can also notify the remaining amount of work in a post-event manner. These notifications are made via the touch panel IF 90.

The overlap work travel management unit 662 also has a simulation function that calculates the amount of overlap in the overlap work travel mode (the amount of seedling trampling and the amount of seedlings planted overlapping as described above), and can notify the amount of overlap before work travel. Furthermore, the overlap work travel management unit 662 has a function that calculates the amount of overlap in the overlap work travel mode based on the work trajectory that was actually obtained, and can also notify the amount of overlap after the fact. These notifications are made via the touch panel IF 90.

Before work driving, the above overlap amount in overlap work driving mode, the forward movement amount of the vehicle body, the backward movement amount of the vehicle body, and the remaining work amount in non-overlapping work mode can be grasped, so that the overlap work driving mode or non-overlapping work mode optional work driving mode can be appropriately selected.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the travel control unit 6 is equipped with an overlap adjustment unit 6D and a farming calculation unit 6E. The overlap adjustment unit 6D can perform calculations to minimize the overlap amount and the remaining work amount in cooperation with the non-overlapping work travel management unit 661 and the overlap work travel management unit 662. Specifically, the overlap adjustment unit 6D evaluates the remaining work amount calculated by the non-overlapping work travel management unit 661 and the overlap amount calculated by the overlap work travel management unit 662 while adjusting the forward movement amount (forward movement distance) and reverse movement amount (reverse movement distance) of the vehicle body 1, and optimizes the remaining work amount and the overlap amount. The overlap adjustment unit 6D operates automatically when the farmer inputs the optimization conditions. Of course, it is also possible to operate the overlap adjustment unit 6D fully automatically based on the conditions set by default.

The farming calculation unit 6E calculates farming data such as the increase or decrease in harvest yield, consumption loss of agricultural materials, and increase or decrease in required work time based on the remaining work amount calculated by the non-overlapping work travel management unit 661 and the overlap amount calculated by the overlapping work travel management unit 662. The operation of the farming calculation unit 6E is performed automatically when the farmer inputs the desired conditions while changing the priorities and weights of farming factors such as work time, material loss, and harvest yield. In addition, the farming calculation unit 6E may perform calculations based on default conditions, for example, top priority given to harvest yield, and have the farmer propose a work travel that maximizes the harvest yield and a work travel route for this purpose.

[Another embodiment]
(1) In the above-described embodiment, a rice transplanter is taken as the field work vehicle of the present invention, and the field work performed by the rice transplanter is seedling planting work using the seedling planting device 3A. If the field work vehicle is a seed sower, the field work is seed sowing work.
(2) When a tractor is taken as the field work vehicle of the present invention, the tilling device equipped on the tractor becomes the working device 3. Since overlapping travel by such a tractor creates a double tilled area, and non-overlapping travel by the tractor creates an uncultivated area, the present invention can also be effectively applied to a tractor. The same applies if the working device 3 equipped on the tractor is a chemical supplying device or other device. Furthermore, when a combine is taken as the field work vehicle of the present invention, the reaping part of the combine becomes the working device 3, overlapping travel by the combine creates wasted travel, and non-overlapping travel by the combine creates an uncut area. The present invention can also be effectively applied to a combine as it is.
(3) The above-mentioned work travel mode in the corner area can be registered in advance in the travel route set by the travel route setting unit 53.
(4) In the above embodiment, the traveling device 12 is a steering wheel type. However, it may be a crawler type.
(5) The functional blocks described using FIG. 8 are just an example, and various modifications are possible, such as each functional unit being integrated with other functional units, each functional unit being divided into multiple functional units, or the control unit 100 being distributed into multiple control subunits.

The configurations disclosed in the above embodiment (including other embodiments, the same applies below) can be applied in combination with configurations disclosed in other embodiments, provided no contradictions arise. Furthermore, the embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. Appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The present invention can be applied to farm work vehicles that can travel automatically along a travel route.

1: Vehicle body 3: Work device 3A: Seedling planting device 6: Travel control unit 6D: Overlap adjustment unit 6E: Farming calculation unit 8: Positioning unit 51: Work control unit 51a: Lifting control unit 52: Vehicle body position calculation unit 53: Travel route setting unit 54: Travel trajectory management unit 541: Work completed travel trajectory management unit 61: Path following steering unit 62: Automatic turning steering unit 63: Work travel control unit 64: Non-work travel control unit 65: Work travel mode selection unit 66: Corner work start position determination unit 661: Non-overlapping work travel management unit 662: Overlapping work travel management unit A1: First left-planting area A2: Second left-planting area B1: First trampling area B2: Second trampling area Lh: Horizontal travel route Lv: Vertical travel route

Claims (8)

An autonomous farm work vehicle,
a travel route setting unit that sets a travel route generated according to the shape of the field as a target travel route that is a target for automatic travel;
A working device that performs work along a predetermined strip direction;
a work travel control unit that causes the vehicle body to travel while the working device is in a working state;
a non-working travel control unit that causes the vehicle body to travel while the working device is not working;
a completed travel path management unit that manages a work path based on a completed travel path along which the work is performed by the work device;
a corner work start position determination unit that determines a work start position for the work in a corner work travel involving a direction change in an unworked corner area bounded by at least two sides of the work trajectory, taking the work trajectory into consideration ;
The farm work vehicle performs work travel in the corner area in an overlapping work travel mode in which the work locus is overlapped, or in a non-overlapping work travel mode in which the work locus is avoided . An autonomous farm work vehicle,
a travel route setting unit that sets a travel route generated according to the shape of the field as a target travel route that is a target for automatic travel;
A working device that performs work along a predetermined strip direction;
a work travel control unit that causes the vehicle body to travel while the working device is in a working state;
a non-working travel control unit that causes the vehicle body to travel while the working device is not working;
a completed travel path management unit that manages a work path based on a completed travel path along which the work is performed by the working device;
a corner work start position determination unit that determines a work start position of the work in a corner work travel involving a direction change in an unworked corner area bounded by at least two sides of the work trajectory, taking the work trajectory into consideration;
a work travel mode selection unit that selects between an overlapping work travel mode in which the work travel is performed by overlapping the work locus in the corner area, and a non-overlapping work travel mode in which the work travel is performed by avoiding the work locus,
The corner work start position determination unit determines the work start position based on the work travel mode selected by the work travel mode selection unit . The field work vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the work travel mode selection unit has an optional work travel mode, and when the optional work travel mode is selected, the work start position is determined by manual operation by the operator. The field work vehicle according to claim 2 or 3, which is provided with an overlap work travel management unit that calculates the amount of overlap of the work in the overlap work travel mode, and notifies the amount of overlap. The field work vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the overlapping work travel management unit calculates the vehicle body forward movement amount and vehicle body reverse movement amount entering the work trajectory in the corner area in the overlapping work travel mode, and the vehicle body forward movement amount and vehicle body reverse movement amount are notified. 6. The field work vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising a non-overlapping work travel management unit that calculates a remaining work amount of the work in the non-overlapping work travel mode, and notifies the remaining work amount. An overlapping work travel management unit is provided that calculates an overlap amount of the work in the overlapping work travel mode, and a non-overlapping work travel management unit is provided that calculates a remaining work amount of the work in the non-overlapping work travel mode,
4. The farm work vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an overlap adjustment unit that adjusts the amount of forward movement and the amount of reverse movement of the vehicle body to minimize the amount of overlap and the amount of remaining work. An overlapping work travel management unit is provided that calculates an overlap amount of the work in the overlapping work travel mode, and a non-overlapping work travel management unit is provided that calculates a remaining work amount of the work in the non-overlapping work travel mode,
4. The field work vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an agricultural operation calculation unit that calculates an increase or decrease in harvest yield, consumption loss of agricultural materials, and an increase or decrease in required work time based on the amount of overlap of work and the amount of remaining work.

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