JP2022011847A - Agricultural implement and automatic travel method of agricultural implement - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an agricultural implement capable of acquiring a required reference azimuth for automatic travel, even when a travel state similar to an emergency evacuation state, occurs in teaching travel.SOLUTION: An agricultural implement comprises: a machine body position calculating part 40 for calculating a machine body position using satellite positioning; a first machine body position acquiring part 41 for setting a machine body position acquired in response to a first signal generated by a manual operation in harvesting work, to a first machine body position; a second machine body position acquiring part 42 for setting a machine body position acquired in response to a second signal which is generated by a manual operation at a place to which the machine body is moved from the first machine body position through advance travel, or both of advance travel and non-advance travel, to a second machine body position; a reference azimuth calculating part 43 for calculating an azimuth of a straight line coupling the first machine body position and the second machine body position as a reference azimuth; and a travel control part 50 for controlling automatic travel of the machine body, on the basis of the reference azimuth or a travel path calculated on the basis of the reference azimuth.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an agricultural work machine capable of automatic traveling and an automatic traveling method of the agricultural work machine.

The rice transplanter, which is one of the agricultural work vehicles, divides the field into an outer peripheral area and a central area located inside the field, and performs seedling planting work. For example, in the rice transplanter capable of automatic traveling according to Patent Document 1, a linear teaching traveling by manual steering is performed along the shore in the outer peripheral region before the seedling planting work is performed. The direction along the teaching path obtained by the teaching run is set as the target direction (reference direction). In automatic steering, a target direction and a target travel path are used. The seedling planting work is performed by automatic steering from the central area. Seedling planting work is carried out while going straight along the first target driving route by automatic steering, and the direction of the aircraft is changed by turning driving by manual steering performed near the shore, and the target direction and the next target driving are performed again. Seedling planting work is carried out by automatic steering using a route. By repeating such straight running and turning running, when the seedling planting work in the central area is completed, the seedling planting work is performed in the outer peripheral area, and after the seedling planting work in the outer peripheral area is completed, the rice transplanter is used in the field. I go outside.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-123804

When the harvester, which is one of the agricultural work vehicles, enters the field, if the harvesting work is not performed immediately, the harvested product will be pushed down. Further, in a harvester that performs automatic running using a reference direction calculated by using teaching running as disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is essential to perform teaching running before automatic running. Therefore, when entering the field and performing the harvesting work, it is preferable that the teaching run is performed at the earliest possible opportunity. The harvesting work of the harvester is first carried out by orbiting the field along the shore side. In the lap running, in the place where the protrusion area protruding from the shore, the water outlet, etc. exist, the avoidance running using the reverse movement is performed to avoid these. Furthermore, at the beginning of the harvesting work, the relationship between the vehicle speed and the processing speed of the harvesting equipment may not be appropriate, and when the harvest is clogged, the aircraft is temporarily stopped or the engine is stopped in order to clear the clogging. It will be necessary to make it. In the conventional teaching running as shown in Patent Document 1, an emergency evacuation running state such as reverse movement, stopping, and even engine stop during the teaching running is not taken into consideration, and such a running state occurs. Then, the teaching run is stopped, and then the teaching run is started again. This is a problem for drivers who want to shift to autonomous driving as soon as possible.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an agricultural work machine capable of obtaining a reference direction required for automatic driving even if an emergency evacuation driving state occurs in teaching driving.

The agricultural work machine according to the present invention has a traveling device for forward traveling and non-forward traveling, an aircraft position calculation unit for calculating the aircraft position using satellite positioning, and a first signal generated by manual operation. At a place moved from the first aircraft position through the forward travel, or through both the forward travel and the non-forward travel, with the first aircraft position acquisition unit whose first aircraft position is the aircraft position acquired in response. A straight line connecting the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position with the second aircraft position acquisition unit whose second aircraft position is the aircraft position acquired in response to the second signal generated by the manual operation of. It includes a reference azimuth calculation unit that calculates the azimuth as a reference azimuth, and a travel control unit that controls the automatic travel of the aircraft based on the reference azimuth or the travel route calculated based on the reference azimuth.

In this configuration, in the teaching running for acquiring the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position necessary for calculating the reference direction, not only through forward running but also through both non-forward running other than forward running, etc. Emergency evacuation driving conditions are also acceptable. Therefore, even if non-forward running occurs, if the teaching running by manual operation is performed only while the first machine position and the second machine position are acquired, the reference direction is obtained, and then the automatic running becomes possible. ..

Automatic steering using the reference direction can be realized in a plurality of control modes. One of them is that the reference direction is set as the target direction for automatic driving, and steering is performed so as to maintain the target direction from the time when the start command for automatic driving is issued. The other is that a travel path extending in the reference direction from the aircraft position at the time when the automatic travel start command is issued is set as a target route for automatic steering, and steering is performed along this target route. Is. In the former control mode, if a position shift occurs due to slipping or the like in the middle, there is a problem that the position shift cannot be corrected, but there is an advantage that the steering control algorithm becomes simple. In the latter control mode, the method of steering so as to eliminate the positional deviation (lateral displacement) of the aircraft with respect to the traveling path calculated by using the aircraft position by satellite positioning, and the steering by combining the positional deviation and the directional deviation are steered. There is a method, but whichever method is used, the problem of the former control mode is solved. From this, in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the traveling route is set based on the reference direction at the start of automatic traveling, and the traveling control unit automatically travels the aircraft so as to follow the traveling route. To control.

In one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the non-forward travel includes a reverse travel state and / or a reverse travel state, and the travel stop state includes an engine stop state or an engine drive state. ing. In this configuration, even if there is a protrusion area or a water outlet protruding from the shore in front of the aircraft moving forward for teaching running, the teaching running is not stopped and reverse movement is used to avoid these. Avoidance driving can be performed. Further, in this avoidance running, the teaching running is not stopped even if the vehicle is stopped or the engine is stopped, so that the teaching running is completed without waste and the reference direction required for the automatic running can be obtained.

In an agricultural work machine such as a harvester, when a crop is clogged, an emergency evacuation running state such as a temporary stop of the machine or an engine stop occurs in order to clear the clog. However, if the teaching running is not stopped despite the occurrence of such an emergency evacuation running state, the running while performing agricultural work such as harvesting work can also be used as the teaching running. From this, in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, even if the forward travel is a work travel or the forward travel is a non-work travel, the first aircraft position acquisition unit is the first. The position of one machine can be acquired, and the position acquisition unit of the second machine can acquire the position of the second machine.

When calculating the reference direction with the straight line connecting the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position calculated by satellite positioning, the distance between the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position is calculated in consideration of the satellite positioning error. The larger the value, the higher the accuracy of orientation calculation. From the desired reference direction calculation accuracy and the error of satellite positioning, the minimum required distance between the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position is estimated. For this reason, in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, traveling for a predetermined distance or more or traveling for a predetermined time or more from the position of the first aircraft is set as a condition for generating the second signal. The predetermined distance is determined from the desired reference direction calculation accuracy and the error of satellite positioning. Further, since the vehicle speed suitable for the mowing work is almost fixed, the time for traveling a predetermined distance can be obtained in the same manner.

When the minimum distance between the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position acquired in teaching driving is set and the distance is calculated by the mileage of the aircraft, in order to make an appropriate judgment, move backward to the mileage. Do not include the mileage of. Similarly, when the minimum time required for traveling between the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position acquired in the teaching operation is set, for proper determination, the minimum time is calculated. Do not include stop time. For this reason, in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the reverse distance is ignored as the predetermined distance, and the stop time is ignored as the predetermined time.

If the operation for setting the position of the first aircraft is performed at the start of farm work or shortly after the start of farm work, the operation for setting the position of the second aircraft can also be performed early from the start of farm work. As a result, the start of automatic driving can be accelerated. Therefore, in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the manual operation for generating the first signal is an operation for the work start operation tool for starting the work operation by the work device. With this configuration, it is possible to smoothly set the position of the first machine even at the start of farm work.

The present invention covers not only agricultural work machines but also automatic traveling methods for agricultural work machines. According to the present invention, the automatic traveling method of a harvester having a traveling device and having an aircraft that performs forward traveling and non-forward traveling is generated by a machine position calculation step for calculating the machine position using satellite positioning and a manual operation. The first aircraft position acquisition step in which the aircraft position acquired in response to the first signal is set as the first aircraft position, and through the forward travel, or through both the forward travel and the non-forward travel. The second aircraft position acquisition step with the aircraft position acquired in response to the second signal generated by the manual operation at the place moved from the position as the second aircraft position, the first aircraft position and the second aircraft A reference orientation calculation step that calculates the orientation of a straight line connecting positions as a reference orientation, and a travel control step that controls automatic travel of the aircraft based on the reference orientation or a travel route calculated based on the reference orientation. And. Also in the automatic traveling method according to the present invention, the above-mentioned action and effect on the agricultural work machine and the embodiment can be applied.

It is a side view of a combine. It is a functional block diagram of the control system about automatic driving. It is a schematic diagram which shows the running pattern in a harvesting work. It is a schematic diagram which shows other running patterns in a harvesting work. It is a schematic diagram which shows the teaching running. It is a schematic diagram which shows the transition from the manual steering running to the automatic steering running. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the basics of automatic operation control. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a harvesting work run.

As an example of the agricultural work machine according to the present invention, an embodiment of a conventional combine harvester, which is a harvester, is described below based on the drawings.

[Basic structure of combine harvester]
As shown in FIG. 1, this combine includes an airframe 1, a pair of steerable left and right crawler-type traveling devices 11, a boarding section 12, a threshing device 13, a grain tank 14, and a harvesting device 15. And a transport device 16 and a grain discharge device 18.

The traveling device 11 is provided in the lower part of the combine. The traveling device 11 has a pair of left and right crawler traveling mechanisms, and the combine can travel in the field as a harvesting work site by the traveling device 11. The boarding unit 12, the threshing device 13, and the grain tank 14 are provided above the traveling device 11, and these are configured as the upper part of the machine body 1. The combine driver boarded the boarding section 12. A drive engine (not shown) is provided below the boarding section 12. The grain discharge device 18 is connected to the rear lower portion of the grain tank 14.

The combine is traveled by the traveling device 11 while harvesting the crops in the field by the harvesting device 15. The transport device 16 is provided adjacent to the rear side of the harvest device 15. The harvesting device 15 and the transporting device 16 are supported on the front portion of the machine body 1 so as to be able to move up and down.

The crops harvested by the harvesting device 15 are transported to the threshing device 13 by the transport device 16 and threshed by the threshing device 13. The grain as a harvest obtained by the threshing process is stored in the grain tank 14. The grains stored in the grain tank 14 are discharged to the outside of the machine by the grain discharging device 18 as needed. The grain discharging device 18 is configured to be swingable around the vertical axis core at the rear of the machine body. That is, the free end portion of the grain discharge device 18 protrudes to the lateral outside of the machine body 1 so that the crop can be discharged, and the free end portion of the grain discharge device 18 is within the range of the machine width of the machine body 1. The grain discharging device 18 is configured so as to be switchable between the stored storage state and the positioned storage state.

A satellite positioning module 80 is provided on the ceiling of the boarding unit 12. The satellite positioning module 80 receives a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signal from the artificial satellite GS and outputs satellite positioning data indicating the position of the combine body. Signals of GNSS include GPS, QZSS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, and the like.

It is possible to calculate the direction (direction) of the aircraft 1 from the aircraft position between two points calculated based on satellite positioning data, but it is difficult to accurately calculate the instantaneous orientation of the aircraft 1 over a short distance. be. Therefore, in order to detect the orientation of the airframe 1, an inertial measurement module 81 called an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) is also provided in the airframe 1. The inertial measurement module 81 has a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor. The inertial measurement module 81 can detect the angular velocity of the turning angle of the airframe 1, and can calculate the directional change angle of the airframe 1 by integrating the angular velocity. For this reason, the measurement data measured by the inertial measurement module 81 includes data that can indicate the direction (direction) of the airframe 1. Although not described in detail, the inertial measurement module 81 can measure the angular velocity of the turning angle of the machine body 1, the left-right tilt angle of the machine body 1, the angular velocity of the front-back tilt angle of the machine body 1, and the like.

[Control unit configuration]
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a travel control system showing a function related to automatic travel control of the combine. This travel control system includes a general-purpose terminal VT, which is a tablet computer capable of data communication, and a control unit 4. The control unit 4 is a core element of the travel control system, and is an aggregate of a plurality of ECUs connected by an in-vehicle LAN or the like. The control unit 4 has an automatic traveling mode in which automatic traveling control is executed and a manual traveling mode in which traveling control is performed by manual operation.

The general-purpose terminal VT includes a touch panel 3 as a display device and a graphic user interface that manages input / output of information through the touch panel 3. The screen area of the touch panel 3 includes a support image display area 3a on which a running support image is displayed and an operation image display area 3b on which software buttons, lamps, and the like are displayed. In this embodiment, the first button 31 and the second button 32, which will be described in detail later, are arranged as software buttons in the operation image display area 3b. Further, various applications for processing information regarding the harvesting work by this combine are installed in the general-purpose terminal VT. One of the applications is a display information generation unit 30 that generates information to be displayed in the support image display area 3a.

The control unit 4 includes an aircraft position calculation unit 40, a first aircraft position acquisition unit 41, a second aircraft position acquisition unit 42, a reference direction calculation unit 43, a travel route creation unit 44, and a travel locus creation unit 45. The aircraft orientation calculation unit 46 and the travel control unit 50 are provided. Signals from the satellite positioning module 80, the inertial measurement module 81, and the general-purpose terminal VT are input to the control unit 4. Although not shown, signals such as a vehicle speed sensor, an engine torque sensor, and an obstacle detection sensor are also input to the control unit 4.

The aircraft position calculation unit 40 calculates the aircraft position, which is the map position coordinates of the aircraft 1, at a predetermined repetition frequency based on the satellite positioning data output from the satellite positioning module 80.

The travel locus creation unit 45 creates a travel locus of the aircraft 1 based on the aircraft position acquired from the aircraft position calculation unit 40 over time. The created travel locus is sent to the display information generation unit 30 and image-processed so that the support image display area 3a of the touch panel 3 has a width corresponding to a linear line or a harvest width together with the combine icon. It is displayed as a band-shaped line BL.

The aircraft orientation calculation unit 46 calculates the orientation of the aircraft 1 based on the measurement data output by the inertial measurement module 81. When the inertial measurement module 81 is not mounted, the aircraft orientation calculation unit 46 can be configured to calculate the orientation of the aircraft 1 based on, for example, an electronic compass.

This combine performs teaching driving for automatic driving while performing harvesting work. For example, when the combine enters the field, the teaching run can be performed immediately or after the required posture change. The first machine position acquisition unit 41 receives the first signal generated by the driver clicking (touching) the first button 31 from the general-purpose terminal VT during the harvesting operation. The click operation of the first button 31 means the start of the teaching run. The first airframe position acquisition unit 41 acquires the airframe position at the timing of receiving the first signal from the airframe position calculation unit 40, and stores the airframe position as the first airframe position.

The second machine position acquisition unit 42 continues the teaching run, and when the machine 1 makes a work run to a place away from the first machine position, the driver clicks (touches) the second button 32. The second signal generated by this is received. The second machine position acquisition unit 42 acquires the machine position at the timing when the second signal is received from the general-purpose terminal VT from the machine position calculation unit 40, and stores the machine position as the second machine position. The click operation of the second button 32 means the end of the teaching run. It should be noted that this combine can also perform teaching running in an already-worked area where the harvesting work has already been completed or in a mixed area including the already-worked area and the unworked area.

Furthermore, in the teaching run that starts when the first machine position is acquired, the machine 1 is allowed to temporarily stop, stop the engine, and move backward, so the second machine position is permitted compared to the teaching run that allows only forward movement. The permit conditions for doing so will be diverse. For example, if the permission condition is that the mileage between the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the reverse distance is ignored. That is, the mileage in reverse and the forward mileage that supplements the mileage returned to the position side of the first aircraft by reverse must be excluded from the mileage for determining the condition. Further, when the permission condition is that the traveling time between the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position is longer than a predetermined time, the temporary stop time of the aircraft 1 and the traveling time and the reverse movement of the aircraft 1 are carried out. The total running time for forward running to compensate for the mileage returned to the position side of the first aircraft must be excluded from the running time for determining the conditions. In order to solve such a problem, the second machine position acquisition unit 42 includes a teaching travel management unit 421. The teaching travel management unit 421 determines whether or not the conditions for determining the position of the second aircraft are satisfied despite the temporary stop, engine stop, reverse movement, etc. of the aircraft 1, which are special traveling modes in the teaching travel. .. When the storage location of the first aircraft position is evacuated to another storage location due to engine stop or the like, the first aircraft position needs to be transferred from the evacuated storage location to the regular storage location after the engine is restarted. Such processing is also performed by the teaching travel management unit 421. Specifically, the first machine position acquired by the first machine position acquisition unit 41 is stored in the memory address assigned to the RAM, but when the power is cut off by a key-off operation or the like, it is stored in advance. It is saved and stored in the save area of the non-volatile memory. After that, when the power supply is restored by a key-on operation or the like, the position of the first machine is read from the save area of the non-volatile memory and stored in the previous memory address. In addition to such processing, maintaining the function of the RAM by a spare battery is also used to maintain the position of the first machine when the power is cut off by a key-off operation or the like. In any case, by such a recovery process, even if the engine is stopped and the power is cut off due to the key-off operation during the teaching running, the teaching running is effective.

The reference direction calculation unit 43 uses the direction of a straight line connecting the first machine position read from the first machine position acquisition unit 41 and the second machine position read from the second machine position acquisition unit 42 as the reference direction. Calculated as. This reference orientation is stored and used in automatic steering control.

The traveling route creating unit 44 has a function of calculating a straight line extending in a reference direction through a vehicle body position (a position of a vehicle body reference point such as a cutting center of the harvesting device 15) as a target line. As will be described in detail later, this target line is determined and fixed as a target path in the automatic steering control when the automatic steering start command is output based on the operation of the automatic steering starter 71. As a modification, the travel route creation unit 44 calculates a straight line extending in the reference direction through the vehicle body position as a target line at the time when the automatic steering start command is output, determines this target line as the target route, and fixes the target line. It may be configured to do so.

The travel control unit 50 includes an automatic steering module 51, a manual steering module 52, and a vehicle speed control module 53. The automatic steering module 51 controls the automatic traveling of the machine body 1 at the time of automatic traveling by a method described later. The manual steering module 52 controls the traveling of the aircraft 1 based on the operation of the driver during the manual traveling. The vehicle speed control module 53 controls the vehicle speed when the aircraft 1 moves forward and backward, and the vehicle 1 stops. The traveling device 11 of this combine is composed of a crawler type left traveling mechanism 11a and a right traveling mechanism 11b. Therefore, the traveling control unit 50 gives a shifting control signal to the left shifting mechanism 10a to adjust the speed of the left traveling mechanism 11a, and also gives a shifting control signal to the right shifting mechanism 10b to speed the right traveling mechanism 11b. To adjust. By driving the left traveling mechanism 11a and the right shifting mechanism 10b at different speeds, the machine body 1 is steered.

[About the harvesting work route]
This combine travels across the field to harvest planted grain rods such as wheat and rice. At that time, the frequently used harvesting running patterns are schematically shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In the pattern shown in FIG. 3, the combine that has entered the field travels while performing harvesting work along a boundary line (one side of the field) such as the shore that borders the field. When the running on one side is completed, the aircraft 1 makes a turn (turns 90 degrees in FIG. 3) so as to follow the next side. Although this change of direction is simplified in the figure, it is actually a turning run with reverse movement called an alpha turn (switchback turn). In this way, the traveling around the field is performed by combining the linear traveling and the turning traveling. When the aircraft 1 reaches the starting point, the next lap is run on the route that has entered the inside by the amount of the harvest width. In this way, by repeating the circular running inward in a spiral shape, the harvesting work running of the entire field is completed.

The pattern shown in FIG. 4 is a linear path for the combine that has entered the field to make a lap of about 2 to 3 laps and the inner unworked area (inner area) left by this lap. It consists of a reciprocating run that repeats the direction change at the U-turn (180 ° U-turn turn in FIG. 4). The 180 ° U-turn turn is performed on the existing work area (outer peripheral area). In the 180 ° U-turn turn using only forward movement, the distance from the straight path after running to the next straight path becomes large, but in the 180 ° U-turn turn using the switchback turn, that is the case. The distance is short, and it is possible to have a running pattern in which a straight path that has finished running and the next straight path are adjacent to each other.

In the above two harvesting running patterns, there are long linear paths other than the turning path for turning. The automatic traveling control of the present invention is a control for traveling on this linear path by automatic steering as much as possible. The linear path here includes not only a strict straight path but also a linear path consisting of a polygonal line and a path drawing a large curve.

[About automatic steering control]
As shown in FIG. 5, the first aircraft position (indicated by point A in FIG. 5) and the second aircraft position (indicated by point A in FIG. 5) and the second aircraft position (indicated by point A in FIG. 5) through the teaching run performed by the combine that entered the field during the harvesting work run. Then, (indicated by point B) and is acquired. There are various forms of teaching running, such as a form consisting only of forward running and a form including non-forward running. The non-forward traveling includes a reverse traveling state and / or a traveling stopped state, and the traveling stopped state includes an engine stopped state and / or an engine driving state. The traveling mode shown in FIG. 5A is a standard traveling mode using only forward traveling. The traveling mode shown in FIG. 5 (b) is one of the non-forward traveling modes, in which reverse traveling (indicated by a dotted arrow) is performed in the middle, and then forward traveling is performed again. It is a driving mode. The traveling mode shown in FIG. 5 (c) is also one of the non-forward traveling modes, which is a special traveling mode in which the aircraft 1 in the middle is stopped (stopped) and then the forward traveling is performed again. When the vehicle is stopped, there are an engine drive state in which the engine is driven as it is and an engine stop state in which the engine is stopped, both of which are regarded as effective teaching running. Regardless of whether it is a standard driving condition or a special driving condition, when the second aircraft position is effectively acquired, the reference azimuth is the direction of a straight line connecting the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position. Is calculated. The automatic traveling of the present invention is performed based on this reference direction or a traveling route as a target route calculated based on this reference direction. It should be noted that a configuration may be adopted in which not all of the above-mentioned special running conditions are regarded as effective teaching running, but only one of the special running conditions is regarded as effective teaching running. Further, the position of the first machine body and the position of the second machine body can be acquired when the machine body 1 is traveling and the harvesting work is being performed, or can be acquired when the machine body 1 is not performing the harvesting work. Further, either the first machine position or the second machine position can be acquired even when the machine 1 is stopped and the harvesting work is being performed. Considering that the calculation accuracy of the aircraft position based on the satellite positioning data deteriorates when the aircraft 1 is stationary, the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position are harvested while the aircraft 1 is traveling. It is preferable to get it when.

FIG. 6 shows a method of determining a traveling route that is a target route for automatic steering. Alignment that finally reaches the desired route (a virtual route before the travel route is determined) for the driver to manually steer and try to drive the aircraft 1 in a straight line next. Drive while assuming the route. When the aircraft 1 reaches a position suitable for starting automatic driving, the driver operates the automatic steering starter 71. In this embodiment, a target line in the direction of the reference direction passing through the cutting center of the harvesting device 15 (one of the reference points of the aircraft 1 set in advance) is constantly calculated, and when automatic steering is started (1). (When the automatic steering starter 71 is operated), the target line is determined and fixed as a traveling path. Therefore, the traveling route is determined and fixed in response to the operation of the automatic steering starter 71 by the driver. This makes it possible to start automatic driving. For example, in the harvesting running pattern as shown in FIG. 4, running toward the next linear path through a 180 ° U-turn turn in the surrounding region is alignment running. In the 180 ° U-turn turn, the non-harvesting work run with the harvesting device 15 raised is performed, and when the next linear path is entered, the harvesting work running with the harvesting device 15 lowered is started, and the harvesting work run is automatically started at this timing. It is convenient if steering is also started. Since the start of the harvesting work accompanied by the descent of the harvesting device 15 is performed by the harvesting work operating tool, when the harvesting work operating tool is used as the automatic steering starting tool 71, the start of the harvesting work and the automatic steering is one operating tool. It is possible and convenient by the operation of. It should be noted that the target line is always calculated, and when the automatic steering is started, the target line is determined as a traveling path and is not fixed, but a reference that passes through the reference point at that time when the automatic steering is started. A configuration may be adopted in which a target line in the direction of orientation is created and fixed as a traveling route.

The automatic steering control for automatic driving can be performed in the following three steering modes, and at least one of them is incorporated in the automatic steering module 51. When multiple modes are incorporated, they are selected and used.

(1st steering mode)
In this mode, as shown in FIG. 7, the travel route is determined and fixed by the travel route creation unit 44, and the aircraft orientation calculated by the aircraft orientation calculation unit 46 and calculated by the aircraft position calculation unit 40. Aircraft position is used. The angle formed by the traveling route (target route) extending in the reference direction and the aircraft azimuth line (line indicating the direction of the aircraft 1 passing through the reference point of the aircraft 1) is the orientation deviation: θ, and the aircraft 1 with respect to the traveling route. The deviation (distance from the reference point of the aircraft 1 to the traveling path) is the positional deviation: d. In steering control, directional deviation and misalignment are used as control inputs, and a steering control signal is output so that the misalignment falls within the permissible range of orientation. If the misalignment exceeds the permissible position, priority is given. The steering control signal is output so that the misalignment falls within the allowable position range. In addition, instead of handling the misalignment and misalignment individually, by using the sensor fijun technology, control is adopted in which the steering control signal is directly output by inputting both the misalignment and the misalignment. You may. In this mode, a traveling route is set at the start of automatic driving.

(Second steering mode)
In this mode, the directional shift is not used as the steering control input, only the misalignment is used as the steering control input. That is, a steering control signal is output so as to eliminate the misalignment, and the reference point of the aircraft 1 is steered so as to be on the traveling path. In this mode, a traveling route is set at the start of automatic driving.

(Third steering mode)
In this mode, the misalignment is not used as the input value for steering control, and only the directional deviation, which is the deviation of the aircraft orientation with respect to the reference orientation, is used as the input for steering control. Therefore, it is not necessary to create a traveling route at the start of automatic traveling. From the start of automatic steering, a steering control signal is output so that the aircraft orientation becomes the reference orientation. If a position shift occurs due to slippage or accumulation of measurement errors during automatic steering control, the correction is not performed, so this mode is mainly used for fields with little slippage and running with a short straight line distance.

[Flow of harvesting work]
Next, an example of the harvesting work run will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this harvesting work run, a part of the run on the first side of the lap work run is regarded as a teaching run, and the first machine position (point A) and the second machine position (point B) are acquired to calculate the reference direction. (See Fig. 5). Subsequent linear paths are automatically driven by automatic steering in the first steering mode described above. The traveling pattern shown in FIG. 4 is adopted, and when traveling on two sides orthogonal to one side, an orientation obtained by rotating the reference orientation by 90 degrees is used as the reference orientation.

When the combine enters the field through the doorway (# 01), the combine starts the harvesting run by manual steering (# 02). Next, a teaching run is performed to obtain a reference direction required for automatic steering. In order to start the teaching run, the driver clicks the first button 31 (see FIG. 2) displayed in the operation image display area 3b of the touch panel 3 (# 11). In response to this click operation, the first aircraft position, which is the aircraft position at that time, is acquired (# 12). At the same time, the point A indicating the position of the first machine is displayed in the support image display area 3a of the touch panel 3 (# 13). Along with the harvesting work run, as shown in FIG. 2, in the support image display area 3a, a band-shaped line BL showing the run trajectory of the combine from the point A is displayed together with the combine icon in the harvest width ( # 14). Further, in the support image display area 3a, a sign line GL indicating a line parallel to the shore or the ridge of the field is displayed in order to perform accurate teaching running. If the orientation of the planting strips of the harvested crop is known, a line parallel to the planting strips may be displayed as a marker line GL.

The end condition of the teaching run is whether the combine has traveled a predetermined distance (for example, 5 m) or more from the position of the first aircraft, or whether a predetermined time required for traveling a predetermined distance has elapsed. Here, it is determined whether or not sufficient teaching running has been performed on condition that the running distance is equal to or longer than a predetermined distance (# 15). At that time, not only the above-mentioned standard running mode but also a special running mode is regarded as effective teaching running, and the teaching running management unit 421 meets the end condition of the teaching running according to each running mode. Check if it is.

When the condition indicating sufficient teaching running is satisfied (# 15Yes branch), the second button 32 is displayed in the operation image display area 3b of the touch panel 3 (# 16). When the driver clicks the second button 32 (# 17Yes branch), in response to this click operation, the second aircraft position, which is the aircraft position at that time, is acquired (# 18), and the support image display area 3a Point B indicating the position of the second aircraft is displayed on the traveling locus displayed in (# 19). The driver can confirm the teaching run by the points A and B displayed in the support image display area 3a and the running locus between them. Further, the direction of the straight line connecting the position of the first machine and the position of the second machine is calculated and stored as the reference direction (# 20).

When the teaching run, which is the harvesting work run by manual steering, is completed, the combine can shift from manual steering to automatic steering. The automatic steering starter 71 is used for the operation for starting the automatic running in the automatic steering. It is checked whether or not the automatic steering starter 71 has been operated (# 30). When the driver determines that the aircraft 1 is in the position where the automatic steering should be started and the automatic steering starter 71 is operated (# 30Yes branch), the aircraft at that time is as explained with reference to FIG. The travel route is determined and fixed based on the position and the reference direction (# 31). Then, in this example, automatic steering in the first steering mode is started (# 32).

When the automatic steering is started, it is checked whether or not the automatic steering is stopped due to a change of direction or the like (# 33). There are various conditions for shifting from automatic steering to manual steering, and one of them is the operation of the steering lever (not shown) for turning. When the automatic steering is stopped (# 33Yes branch), the combine is in the manual steering state (# 34). The driver manually turns the aircraft 1 and adjusts the position for the harvesting work in the next section. Then, in order to shift from manual steering to automatic steering again, it is checked whether or not the start of automatic steering by the operation of the automatic steering starter 71 is required (# 35).

When the start of automatic steering is requested by the operation of the automatic steering starter 71 (# 35Yes branch), the vehicle jumps to step # 31, and the traveling route is determined based on the aircraft position and the reference direction at that time. It is fixed and automatic steering is started. When the reference direction of a different direction is stored as the reference direction, the reference direction having a direction close to the direction of the aircraft 1 at the time when the start of automatic steering is requested is used for determining the traveling route. Used. Of course, a configuration may be adopted in which the driver selects the reference direction used for determining the traveling route.

The resumption of the automatic steering is usually performed from the harvesting work running in which the harvesting device 15 is lowered following the direction change running (non-harvesting work running) by the manual steering in which the harvesting device 15 is raised. For this reason, even if a work start operation tool for starting a work operation by a harvesting device such as a harvesting device 15 which is a working device is used in combination with the automatic steering starter 71 or instead of the automatic steering starter 71. good.

[Another Embodiment]
The present invention is not limited to the configuration exemplified in the above-described embodiment, and the following will exemplify another typical embodiment of the present invention.

(1) In the above-described embodiment, the aircraft orientation calculation unit 46 for calculating the orientation of the aircraft 1 based on the measurement data of the inertial measurement module 81 is provided, but it is calculated over time by the aircraft position calculation unit 40. A configuration may be adopted in which the direction of the aircraft 1 is calculated from the aircraft position.

(2) Each functional unit shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 2 may be combined with another functional unit, or one functional unit may be separated into a plurality of functional units.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position are the aircraft positions at the operation timings of the first button 31 and the second button 32, respectively, but instead of this, the first button It may be a representative value (average value, etc.) of a plurality of aircraft positions before and after the operation timing of the 31 and the second button 32.

(4) In the above-described embodiment, the traveling device 11 is composed of a crawler type left traveling mechanism 11a and a right traveling mechanism 11b, and the aircraft 1 is due to a speed difference between the left traveling mechanism 11a and the right traveling mechanism 11b. However, a traveling device 11 in which the aircraft 1 is steered by changing the steering angle of the steering wheel may be adopted.

(5) In the above-described embodiment, the teaching run is performed while performing the harvesting work, but it is also possible to perform the teaching running without performing the harvesting work and calculate the reference direction.

The configuration disclosed in the above embodiment (including another embodiment, the same shall apply hereinafter) can be applied in combination with the configuration disclosed in other embodiments as long as there is no contradiction. Moreover, the embodiment disclosed in the present specification is an example, and the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this, and can be appropriately modified without departing from the object of the present invention.

The present invention can be applied to agricultural work machines such as self-removing combine harvesters, rice transplanters, direct seeding machines, tractors, and management machines, in addition to ordinary combine harvesters.

1: Aircraft 3: Touch panel 3a: Support image display area 3b: Operation image display area 4: Control unit 15: Harvesting device 30: Display information generation unit 31: First button 32: Second button 40: Aircraft position calculation unit 41: 1st aircraft position acquisition unit 42: 2nd aircraft position acquisition unit 43: Reference direction calculation unit 44: Travel route creation unit 421: Teaching travel management unit 45: Travel locus creation unit 46: Aircraft orientation calculation unit 50: Travel control unit 51 : Automatic steering module 52: Manual steering module 71: Automatic steering starter 80: Satellite positioning module 81: Inertial measurement module VT: General-purpose terminal

Claims (8)

An aircraft that has a traveling device and performs forward traveling and non-forward traveling,
The aircraft position calculation unit that calculates the aircraft position using satellite positioning, and
A first aircraft position acquisition unit whose first aircraft position is the aircraft position acquired in response to the first signal generated by manual operation.
The second aircraft is the aircraft position acquired in response to a second signal generated by manual operation at a location moved from the first aircraft position through the forward travel or both forward and non-forward travel. The second aircraft position acquisition unit to be the position and
A reference orientation calculation unit that calculates the orientation of a straight line connecting the first aircraft position and the second aircraft position as a reference orientation, and
A travel control unit that controls the automatic travel of the aircraft based on the reference direction or the travel route calculated based on the reference orientation.
Agricultural work machine equipped with. The agricultural work machine according to claim 1, wherein the traveling route is set based on the reference direction at the start of automatic traveling, and the traveling control unit controls the automatic traveling of the aircraft so as to follow the traveling route. The agricultural work machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the non-forward traveling includes a reverse traveling state and / or a traveling stopped state, and the traveling stopped state includes an engine stopped state or an engine driven state. .. Even if the forward running is a working run or the forward running is a non-working run, the first machine position acquisition unit can acquire the first machine position and the second machine position acquisition unit. Is the agricultural work machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the position of the second machine can be acquired. The agricultural work machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a running of a predetermined distance or more or a running of a predetermined time or more is set as a condition for generating the second signal. The agricultural work machine according to claim 5, wherein the reverse distance is ignored as the predetermined distance, and the stop time is ignored as the predetermined time. The agricultural work machine according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the manual operation for generating the first signal is an operation for a work start operation tool for starting a work operation by the work device. It is an automatic running method of an agricultural work machine equipped with a traveling device and an aircraft that performs forward traveling and non-forward traveling.
The aircraft position calculation step to calculate the aircraft position using satellite positioning, and
The first aircraft position acquisition step in which the aircraft position acquired in response to the first signal generated by manual operation is set as the first aircraft position, and
The second aircraft is the aircraft position acquired in response to a second signal generated by manual operation at a location moved from the first aircraft position through the forward travel or both forward and non-forward travel. The second aircraft position acquisition step to be the position and
A reference direction calculation step for calculating the direction of a straight line connecting the first machine position and the second machine position as a reference direction, and
A travel control step that controls the automatic travel of the aircraft based on the reference direction or the travel route calculated based on the reference orientation.
Automatic running method of agricultural work machine equipped with.

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