EP-4056020-B1 - AUTOMATIC ROW ALIGNMENT DRIVING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HIGH STEM CROP HARVESTER

EP4056020B1EP 4056020 B1EP4056020 B1EP 4056020B1EP-4056020-B1

Inventors

LI, HONGXIN
LI, BIN
QIN, Shuo
WANG, Qingquan
WANG, BO
YAO, YUAN
WU, DI

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20220330

Claims (9)

An automatic row alignment driving system for high stem crop harvester comprising: an elastic row sensing module (100) configured to be disposed on a grain divider (500) of the harvester (1000), and having a profile to be in contact with stemmed crop and collect contact data; wherein the elastic row sensing module (100) comprises multiple elastomers and multiple sensors, the elastomers are deformable, and the sensors are configured to detect deformation of the elastomers and generate the contact data; a processing module (200) configured to determine current alignment state of the harvester (1000) according to the contact data; a controlling module (300) configured to determine steering signal of the harvester (1000) according to the current alignment state; and a steering module (400) configured to control the harvester (1000) to drive in alignment according to the steering signal; wherein the elastic row sensing module (100) comprises a first sensor (107), a second sensor, a first sensor trigger (106), a second sensor trigger, and a connector (108), wherein the first sensor trigger (106) and the second sensor trigger are fixed in the elastomer (104), characterized in that two ends of the elastomer (104) are located to two respective sides of the grain divider (500), the first sensor (107) and the second sensor are disposed on two opposite centers of the elastomer (104); wherein the first sensor (107) is installed to be coaxial with the first sensor trigger (106), the second sensor is installed to be coaxial with the second sensor trigger, the connector (108) is connected to the first sensor (107) and the second sensor, the connector (108) is configured for power supply and communication for the first sensor (107) and the second sensor.
The system according to claim 1, wherein the contact data comprises a first sensor data and a second sensor data, the processing module (200) is configured to: extract a feature value based on the first sensor data to obtain a first feature value, extract the feature value based on the second sensor data to obtain a second feature value; compare the first feature value and the second feature value with a preset feature threshold to determine left-right alignment gap states; determine whether the alignment is abnormal according to the left-right alignment gap states; and determine an offset direction and an offset amount or determine data is abnormal according to the first sensor data and the second sensor data if the alignment is abnormal.
The system according to claim 2, wherein the left-right alignment gap states comprise a gap on the left, no gap on the left, a gap on the right and no gap on the right; wherein determine left-right alignment gap states comprises: if the first feature value is less than or equal to the preset feature threshold, the processing module determines there is a gap on the left, if the first feature value is greater than the preset feature threshold, the processing module determines there is no gap on the left; and if the second feature value is less than or equal to the preset feature threshold, the processing module determines there is a gap on the right; if the second feature value is greater than the preset feature threshold, there is no gap on the right.
The system according to claim 2, wherein the controlling module (300) is configured to determine a steering direction and a steering angle of the harvester (1000) according to the offset direction and the offset amount, generate a steering signal according to the steering direction and the steering angle.
The system according to claim 3, further comprising: an alarm module (600); wherein the processing module (200) is configured to generate a warning signal when the left-right alignment gap state is a gap on the left and a gap on the right; and wherein the alarm module (600) is configured to send a light alarm or a sound alarm according to the warning signal.
The system according to claim 1, further comprising: an input module (700) configured to obtain operation parameters; wherein the operation parameters comprise operation spacing, offset values, sensor calibration, and voltage feature threshold; and the operation parameters are used in conjunction with the contact data to generate the steering signal.
The system according to claim 1, further comprising: a positioning module (800) configured to determine current position of the harvester (1000); an attitude module (900) configured to determine current body state of the harvester (1000); and a display module (910) configured to display operating state of the harvester (1000) according to the current position, the current body state and the current alignment state.
An automatic row alignment driving method for high stem crop harvester comprising: obtaining contact data generated by an elastic row sensing module (100) contacting high stem crop, and obtaining operation parameters entered by a user; determining current alignment state of the harvester (1000) according to the contact data and the operation parameters; determining steering signal of the harvester (1000) according to the current alignment state; wherein the steering signal comprises a steering direction and a steering angle of the harvester; and controlling a steering module (400) of the harvester (1000) to execute the steering signal, to control the harvester (1000) to drive in alignment; wherein the elastic row sensing module (100) comprises a first sensor (107), a second sensor, a first sensor trigger (106), a second sensor trigger, and a connector (108), wherein the first sensor trigger (106) and the second sensor trigger are fixed in the elastomer (104), characterized in that two ends of the elastomer (104) are located to two respective sides of the grain divider (500), the first sensor (107) and the second sensor are disposed on two opposite centers of the elastomer (104); wherein the first sensor (107) is installed to be coaxial with the first sensor trigger (106), the second sensor is installed to be coaxial with the second sensor trigger, the connector (108) is connected to the first sensor (107) and the second sensor, the connector (108) is configured for power supply and communication for the first sensor (107) and the second sensor.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the contact data comprises a first sensor data and a second sensor data; wherein determining current alignment state of the harvester according to the contact data and the operation parameters comprises: extracting a feature value based on the first sensor data to obtain a first feature value, extracting the feature value based on the second sensor data to obtain a second feature value; comparing the first feature value and the second feature value with a preset feature threshold to determine left-right alignment gap states; determining whether the alignment is abnormal according to the left-right alignment gap states; and determining an offset direction and an offset amount or determine data is abnormal according to the first sensor data and the second sensor data if the alignment is abnormal.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to the field of agriculture, in particular to an automatic row alignment driving system and method for high stem crop harvester. BACKGROUND In vast lands with sparse rural population, agricultural production urgently needs to develop towards automation and intelligence. The automation and smart-acting abilities of agricultural machinery and equipment is the premise and foundation of large-scale cultivation of modern agriculture. There are many kinds of ridge crops, such as corn, sorghum, sugarcane, and other high stem crops. When harvesting the above high stem crops, especially corn, the driver needs to constantly adjust his forward direction to ensure precise operation. While driving the harvesting machine, the driver must be drive carefully, and observe the conditions and progress of the harvesting, in addition to other operation. Manual operation increases the operation cost, and extended operation time may exhaust the driver, resulting in declining in operation efficiency and precision. US2015334920A1discloses that a first sensor is associated with a first arm to provide a first sensor signal response indicative of a first position or first movement of the first arm with respect to a first row, a second sensor is associated with a second arm to provide a second sensor signal response indicative of a second position or second movement of the second arm with respect to the first row, or second row, a data processor is adapted to estimate a center point of the first row or a center point between the first row and the first row, or the second row based on targeting substantial symmetry in the first sensor signal response and the second sensor signal response as an indication that a longitudinal axis of the vehicle is aligned with the center point. Therefore, improvement is desired. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure provides an automatic row alignment driving system and method for high stem crop harvester, so as to reduce the workload of the harvester driver and improve the harvesting efficiency. In order to achieve this purpose, an automatic row alignment driving system according to claim 1, and an automatic row alignment driving method according to claim 8 are provided. An examplary embodiment provides an automatic row alignment driving system of high stem crop harvester, including: an elastic row sensing module is disposed on a grain divider of the harvester, and configured to make contact with the high stem crop and collect contact data; wherein the elastic row sensing module comprises multiple elastomers and multiple sensors, the elastomers are deformed by physical contact with the high stem crop, and the sensors are configured to detect deformation of the elastomers and generate the contact data;a processing module is configured to determine current alignment state of the harvester according to the contact data;a controlling module is configured to determine steering of the harvester according to the current alignment state; and A steering module is configured to control the harvester to drive in alignment according to a steering signal. The elastic row sensing module comprises a first sensor, a second sensor, a first sensor trigger, a second sensor trigger, and a connector, two ends of the elastomer are configured to be attached to two respective sides of the grain divider, the first sensor and the second sensor are disposed on two opposite centers of the elastomer. The first sensor trigger and the second sensor trigger are fixed in the elastomer, the first sensor is installed to be coaxial with the first sensor trigger, the second sensor is installed to be coaxial with the second sensor trigger, the connector is connected to the first sensor and the second sensor, the connector is configured for power supply and communication for the first sensor and the second sensor. Optionally, in the automatic row alignment driving system provided by some embodiments, the contact data includes a first sensor data and a second sensor data, the processing module is configured to extract a feature value based on the first sensor data to obtain a first feature value, and extract a feature value based on the second sensor data to obtain a second feature value. The first feature value and the second feature value are compared with a preset feature threshold to determine left-right alignment gap states, and determine whether the alignment is abnormal according to the left-right alignment gap states. An offset direction and an offset amount is calculated if, according to the first sensor data and the second sensor data, the alignment is found to be abnormal. Optionally, in the automatic row alignment driving system provided by some embodiments, the left-right alignment gap states include a gap on the left, no gap on the left, a gap on the right and no gap on the right; wherein the determined left-right alignment gap states includes: if the first feature value i