EP-4736611-A1 - METHODS AND APPARATUS TO DETERMINE A TARGET SPEED FOR AN AGRICULTURAL VEHICLE

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to determine a target speed for an agricultural vehicle are described. An apparatus described herein includes at least one processor circuit to obtain a terrain map corresponding to a field, obtain, from one or more sensors of a vehicle, orientation information and tire pressure information corresponding to the vehicle, execute a predictive model based on (a) the terrain map, (b) the orientation information, and (c) the tire pressure information, and determine, based on a result of the execution, a target speed for the vehicle on the field.

Inventors

• KRISHNAKUMAR, Shibinkumar
• BELLENAVAR, Girish Kumar

Assignees

• Deere & Company

Dates

Publication Date

20260506

Application Date

20250617

Claims (15)

1. An apparatus comprising: interface circuitry; machine-readable instructions; and at least one processor circuit to be programmed by the machine-readable instructions to: obtain a terrain map (114) corresponding to a field; obtain, from one or more sensors (108) of a vehicle (104), orientation information and tire pressure information corresponding to the vehicle (104); execute a predictive model based on (a) the terrain map (114), (b) the orientation information, and (c) the tire pressure information; and determine, based on a result of the execution, a target speed for the vehicle (104) on the field.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more of the at least one processor circuit is to cause the vehicle (104) to traverse the field at the target speed.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein one or more of the at least one processor circuit is to execute the predictive model based on a threshold speed obtained based on user input.
4. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the terrain map (114) includes altitude information corresponding to respective locations of the field.
5. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein one or more of the at least one processor circuit is to output the target speed for presentation by a user interface (110) of the vehicle (104).
6. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein one or more of the at least one processor circuit is to train the predictive model based on at least one of (a) simulation results corresponding to the vehicle (104) or (b) historical speed information corresponding to the field.
7. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein one or more of the at least one processor circuit is to execute the predictive model based on vibration information from the one or more sensors (108).
8. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the orientation information includes at least one of a pitch angle or a roll angle of the vehicle (104) with respect to ground at respective locations of the field.
9. At least one machine-readable medium comprising machine-readable instructions to cause at least one processor circuit to at least: obtain a terrain map (114) corresponding to a field; obtain, from one or more sensors (108) of a vehicle (104), orientation information and tire pressure information corresponding to the vehicle (104); execute a predictive model based on (a) the terrain map (114), (b) the orientation information, and (c) the tire pressure information; and determine, based on a result of the execution, a target speed for the vehicle (104) on the field.
10. The at least one machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the machine-readable instructions are to cause one or more of the at least one processor circuit to cause the vehicle (104) to traverse the field at the target speed.
11. The at least one machine-readable medium of claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the machine-readable instructions are to cause one or more of the at least one processor circuit to execute the predictive model based on a threshold speed obtained based on user input.
12. The at least one machine-readable medium of any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the terrain map (114) includes altitude information corresponding to respective locations of the field.
13. A method comprising: obtaining a terrain map (114) corresponding to a field; obtaining, from one or more sensors (108) of a vehicle (104), orientation information and tire pressure information corresponding to the vehicle (104); executing a predictive model based on (a) the terrain map (114), (b) the orientation information, and (c) the tire pressure information; and determining, based on a result of the execution, a target speed for the vehicle (104) on the field.
14. The method of claim 13, further including causing the vehicle (104) to traverse the field at the target speed.
15. The method of claim 13 or claim 14, wherein the terrain map (114) includes altitude information corresponding to respective locations of the field.

Description

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates generally to agricultural vehicles and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus to determine a target speed for an agricultural vehicle. BACKGROUND Agricultural vehicles have become increasingly automated. Agricultural vehicles may semi-autonomously or fully-autonomously drive and perform operations on fields using implements for planting, spraying, harvesting, fertilizing, stripping/tilling, etc. These autonomous agricultural vehicles include multiple sensors (e.g., Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR), Sound Navigation and Ranging (SONAR), telematics sensors, Computer Vision (CV) with mono-cameras and/or stereo-cameras, etc.) to provide information to help navigate without assistance, or with limited assistance, from human users. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which example speed control circuitry can be implemented in accordance with teachings of this disclosure.FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example implementation of the speed control circuitry of FIG. 1.FIG. 3 is a flow diagram representative of an example target speed prediction process that may be implemented by the speed control circuitry of FIGS. 1 and/or 2.FIG. 4 illustrates the example vehicle of FIG. 1 travelling and/or operating on an example field.FIG. 5 is a flowchart representative of example machine readable instructions and/or example operations that may be executed, instantiated, and/or performed by example programmable circuitry to implement the speed control circuitry 102 of FIG. 2.FIG. 6 is a flowchart representative of example machine readable instructions and/or example operations that may be executed, instantiated, and/or performed by example programmable circuitry to generate and/or train example speed prediction model(s).FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example processing platform including programmable circuitry structured to execute, instantiate, and/or perform the example machine readable instructions and/or perform the example operations of FIGS. 5 and/or 6 to implement the speed control circuitry 102 of FIG. 2.FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example implementation of the programmable circuitry of FIG. 7.FIG. 9 is a block diagram of another example implementation of the programmable circuitry of FIG. 7.FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example software/firmware/instructions distribution platform (e.g., one or more servers) to distribute software, instructions, and/or firmware (e.g., corresponding to the example machine readable instructions of FIGS. 5 and/or 6) to client devices associated with end users and/or consumers (e.g., for license, sale, and/or use), retailers (e.g., for sale, re-sale, license, and/or sub-license), and/or original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) (e.g., for inclusion in products to be distributed to, for example, retailers and/or to other end users such as direct buy customers). In general, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts. The figures are not necessarily to scale. Instead, the thickness of the layers or regions may be enlarged in the drawings. Although the figures show layers and regions with clean lines and boundaries, some or all of these lines and/or boundaries may be idealized. In reality, the boundaries and/or lines may be unobservable, blended, and/or irregular. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Agricultural vehicles are commonly used to perform one or more operations (e.g., harvesting, tilling, planting, spraying, etc.) on a field. In some instances, an operator of an agricultural vehicle manually steers the vehicle along one or more paths in the field to perform the operation(s). Further, the operator can control a speed (e.g., a travel speed) of the vehicle by, for instance, applying and/or adjusting a pressure to one or more control devices (e.g., a gas pedal and/or a brake pedal) of the vehicle. In some instances, the vehicle may be automated, such that steering and/or control of the vehicle necessitates little or no human intervention. Automation of agricultural vehicles is commercially desirable because automation can improve the accuracy with which operations are performed, reduce operator fatigue, improve efficiency, and accrue other benefits. Some automated vehicles include and/or are otherwise enabled for automation functionality, but the operator may need to engage and/or disengage the automation functionality. For example, an operator could switch a vehicle into an autonomous mode of operation, but the vehicle would not autonomously drive until the operator presses a button or toggles a switch to "engage" automation. As such, the vehicle can be referred to as being in a "standby" autonomous mode of operation when automation is enabled but not engaged and in a "fully" autonomous mode o