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EP-4201174-B1 - PROXY POSITION DETERMINATION FOR AGRICULTURAL VEHICLES

EP4201174B1EP 4201174 B1EP4201174 B1EP 4201174B1EP-4201174-B1

Inventors

  • DESAI, PINAKIN
  • HUNDLEY, CHRISTOPHER
  • ZEMENCHIK, ROBERT A.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20221213

Claims (15)

  1. A system (100) for providing a position for an agricultural vehicle (250), the system (100) comprising: a first receiver (130) structured to be coupled to a first vehicle (10), the first receiver (130) configured to receive position correction information from an external source and determine a first position of the first receiver (130) in three dimensions using the position correction information; a second receiver (22) structured to be coupled to a second vehicle (20) and configured to determine a second position of the second receiver (22), and one or more processing circuits (160), each processing circuit (160) including a processor (162) and a memory (164), the memory (164) having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor (162), cause the processing circuit (160) to determine a position of the second vehicle (20) in three dimensions, including a vertical position of at least a portion of the second vehicle (20), using the position correction information received by the first receiver (130), characterised in that the first receiver (130) is configured to determine the first position using the position correction information at a higher level of accuracy than the second receiver (22) is configured to determine the second position.
  2. The system (100) of claim 1, wherein the first vehicle (10) is the agricultural vehicle (205), wherein the second vehicle (20) is an agricultural implement (220), and wherein the first vehicle (10) is operably coupled to the second vehicle (20).
  3. The system (100) of claim 2, wherein the agricultural implement (220) is at least one of a scraper, ditcher, a tile plow, or a trencher.
  4. The system (100) of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more processing circuits (160) are included within at least one of the first receiver (130) or the second receiver (22).
  5. The system (100) of any preceding claim, wherein a corrected position of the first vehicle (10) in three dimensions, generated using the position correction information from the external source, is accurate within 5 centimeters of an actual position of the first vehicle (10).
  6. The system (100) of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more processing circuits (160) are configured to: determine a heading angle between the first receiver (130) and the second receiver (22), determine a pitch angle between the first receiver (130) and the second receiver (22), and determine a position of the second vehicle (20) using a corrected position of the first vehicle (10), generated using the position correction information, the heading angle, and the pitch angle.
  7. The system (100) of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more processing circuits (160) are configured to: determine a relative position of the second vehicle (20) relative to the position of the first vehicle (10) based on the position correction information, and determine an absolute position of the second vehicle (20) based on the position correction information received by the first receiver (130).
  8. The system (100) of any preceding claim, further comprising a plurality of second vehicles (20) and control circuitry configured to control an operation of at least one of the second vehicle (20) or an operation of the plurality of second vehicles (20) based on the determined position of the second vehicle (20) using the position correction information received by the first receiver (130).
  9. The system (100) of claim 8, wherein controlling the operation of at least one of the second vehicle (20) or the operation of the plurality of second vehicles (20) includes commanding a hydraulic system associated with the second vehicle (20) to modify the vertical position of the second vehicle (20) to implement a water management application.
  10. A method for providing a position for an agricultural vehicle (205) comprising: receiving, by a first receiver (130) coupled to a first vehicle (10), position correction information from an external source; determining, by the first receiver (130), a first position of the first vehicle (10) in three dimensions using the position correction information; determining, by a second receiver (22) coupled to a second vehicle (20), a second position of the second receiver (22); determining a position of the second vehicle (20) in three dimensions, including a vertical position of at least a portion of the second vehicle (20), using the position correction information received by the first receiver (130); and controlling at least a portion of an operation of the second vehicle (20) based on the determined position of the second vehicle (20) in three dimensions, characterised in that the first receiver (130) is configured to determine the first position using the position correction information at a higher level of accuracy than the second receiver (22) is configured to determine the second position.
  11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first vehicle (10) is an agricultural vehicle, wherein the second vehicle (20) is agricultural implement (220), and wherein the first vehicle (10) is operably coupled to the second vehicle (20).
  12. The method of claim 11, wherein the agricultural implement (220) is at least one of a scraper, a tile plow, or a trencher.
  13. The method of any of claims 10 to 12, wherein a corrected position of the first vehicle (10) in three dimensions, generated using the position correction information from the external source, is accurate within 5 centimeters of an actual position of the first vehicle (10).
  14. The method of any of claims 10 to 13, wherein controlling the operation of the second vehicle (20) includes at least one of controlling a vertical position of the second vehicle (20) or a speed of the second vehicle (20).
  15. The method of any of claims 10 to 14, wherein the method further comprises: determining an absolute position of the first vehicle (10) based on the position correction information received by the first receiver (130), and determining an absolute position of the second vehicle (20) based on the position correction information received by the first receiver (130).

Description

BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates generally to the field of position determination for industrial vehicles, such as agricultural or construction vehicles or other mobile/movable equipment. More specifically, in some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for improving the drainage of rainwater or the efficiency of irrigation systems or the tillage of agricultural fields. US 2016/255758 A1 describes a machine that includes a tool actuated by an actuating module and "a dual-frequency satellite positioning module able to take into account corrections relative to the disruptions affecting the propagation of radio navigation signals emitted by each of the visible radio navigation satellites and that are caused by the ionosphere, so as to determine an absolute position of the machine, and consequently of the tool", which is "precise to within a centimeter". US 2012/215410 A1 describes a spray vehicle including a material tank, a pump communicating with the tank, and nozzles of a spray boom communicating with the pump. A GNSS receiver mounted on the vehicle and interfaced to a controller tracks its position in relation to stored position coordinates of field boundaries separating spray zones from spray exclusion zones. SUMMARY One embodiment of the present disclosure is a system for providing a position for an agricultural vehicle. The system includes a first receiver structured to be coupled to a first vehicle, the first receiver configured to receive position correction information from an external source and determine a first position of the first receiver in three dimensions using the position correction information. The system also includes a second receiver structured to be coupled to a second vehicle and configured to determine a second position of the second receiver, wherein the first receiver is configured to determine the first position using the position correction information at a higher level of accuracy than the second receiver is configured to determine the second position. The system also includes one or more processing circuits, each processing circuit including a processor and a memory, the memory having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processing circuit to determine a position of the second vehicle in three dimensions, including a vertical position of at least a portion of the second vehicle, using the position correction information received by the first receiver. Another embodiment of the present disclosure is a method for providing a position for an agricultural vehicle. The method includes receiving, by a first receiver coupled to a first vehicle, position correction information from an external source, determining, by the first receiver, a first position of the first vehicle in three dimensions using the position correction information, determining, by a second receiver coupled to a second vehicle, a second position of the second receiver, determining a position of the second vehicle in three dimensions, including a vertical position of at least a portion of the second vehicle, using the position correction information received by the first receiver, and controlling at least a portion of an operation of the second vehicle based on the determined position of the second vehicle in three dimensions. Another embodiment of the present disclosure is a computer readable media for providing a position for an agricultural vehicle. The computer readable media includes a processing circuit including one or more processors and memory storing instructions. When the instructions are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors to perform operations including: receiving, by a first receiver coupled to a first vehicle, position correction information from an external source; determining, by the first receiver, a first position of the first vehicle in three dimensions using the position correction information; determining, by a second receiver coupled to a second vehicle, a second position of the second receiver; determining a position of the second vehicle in three dimensions, including a vertical position of at least a portion of the second vehicle, using the position correction information received by the first receiver; and controlling at least a portion of an operation of the water management implement based on the determined position of the water management implement in three dimensions, controlling the operation comprising controlling the vertical position of the at least a portion of the water management implement based on the determined position. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims, in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system including a first vehicle (e.g.