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EP-4740724-A1 - METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN AGRICULTURAL WORKING MACHINE

EP4740724A1EP 4740724 A1EP4740724 A1EP 4740724A1EP-4740724-A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for controlling at least one agricultural machine (1, 15) comprising a harvesting attachment (4, 16) for picking up crops and a guidance system (11), wherein driving lanes (3a, 3b, ..., 3n, 8) to be driven by the agricultural machine (1, 15) in a territory (2) are generated by a route planning system (10) depending on the working width (5, 17) of the harvesting attachment (4, 16), wherein the route planning system (10) generates the driving lanes (3a, 3b, ..., 3n) in which the harvesting attachment (4, 16) operates in a first mode in which substantially the full working width (5, 17) of the harvesting attachment (4, 16) is used, and the driving lanes (8) in which the harvesting attachment (4, 16) operates in a second mode in which a partial working width of the The harvesting attachment (4, 16) is used and operated, wherein the territory (2) is subdivided by the route planning system (10) during lane planning into at least one territory (2a) to be processed in the first mode and at least one residual area territory (7) to be processed in the second mode, characterized in that the route planning system (10) identifies those lanes (8) of the residual area territory (7) on which the harvesting attachment (4, 16) is operated in the second mode, and that the route planning system (10) effects a change in the orientation relative to the respective identified lane (8) of the agricultural machine (1, 15) in the residual area territory (7) in such a way that the crop to be harvested is fed to the harvesting attachment (4, 16) substantially centrally in the at least one residual area territory (7).

Inventors

  • THIESMANN, WALDEMAR
  • Bormann, Bastian
  • Spiekermann, Sebastian
  • MEYER ZU HELLIGEN, LARS PETER

Assignees

  • CLAAS Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20251002

Claims (15)

  1. Method for controlling at least one agricultural machine (1, 15) comprising a harvesting attachment (4, 16) for picking up crops and a guidance system (11), wherein driving lanes (3a, 3b, ..., 3n, 8) to be driven by the agricultural machine (1, 15) in a territory (2) are generated by a route planning system (10) depending on the working width (5, 17) of the harvesting attachment (4, 16), wherein the route planning system (10) generates the driving lanes (3a, 3b, ..., 3n) in which the harvesting attachment (4, 16) operates in a first mode in which substantially the full working width (5, 17) of the harvesting attachment (4, 16) is used, and the driving lanes (8) in which the harvesting attachment (4, 16) operates in a second mode in which a partial working width of the harvesting attachment (4, 16) is used. 16) is used, is operated, wherein the territory (2) is subdivided by the route planning system (10) during lane planning into at least one territory (2a) to be processed in the first mode and at least one residual area territory (7) to be processed in the second mode, characterized in that the route planning system (10) identifies those lanes (8) of the residual area territory (7) on which the harvesting attachment (4, 16) is operated in the second mode, and that the route planning system (10) effects a change in the orientation relative to the respective identified lane (8) of the agricultural machine (1, 15) in the residual area territory (7) in such a way that the crop to be harvested is fed to the harvesting attachment (4, 16) substantially centrally in the at least one residual area territory (7).
  2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the driving lanes (3a, 3b, ..., 3n, 8) to be driven in the territory (2a) to be processed are analyzed by an analysis algorithm (12), wherein the driving lanes (8) on which the harvesting attachment (4, 16) is operated in the second mode are determined by the analysis algorithm (12).
  3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the crop to be taken up in the residual area territory (7) is a crop stand to be harvested.
  4. Method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the crop material to be taken up in the residual area territory (7) is at least one swath of crop material.
  5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the route planning system (10) generates at least one centering lane (9) for the at least one residual area territory (7) for operation in the second mode and transmits it to the guidance system (11), wherein the at least one working machine (1, 15) is guided by the guidance system (11) on the at least one centering lane (9).
  6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that the at least one working machine (1, 15) is guided by the guidance system (11) until reaching a lane (8) of the at least one residual area territory (7) generated by the route planning system (10), for the first mode on the at least one centering lane (9) and/or reaching a processing boundary (6) limiting the at least one residual area territory (7).
  7. Method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the at least one centering track (9) is generated depending on the position and orientation of the harvesting attachment (4, 16) and the geometry of the at least one residual area territory (7).
  8. Method according to claim 7, characterized in that the position and/or orientation of the harvesting attachment (4, 16) with respect to the geometry of the at least one residual area territory (7) is determined by the guidance system (11) by means of signals from a position tracking sensor and/or by means of at least one sensor device arranged on the harvesting attachment (4, 16) and/or on the working machine (1, 15).
  9. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the route planning system (10) for avoiding overlap includes a boundary area outside the processing boundary (6) of the at least one residual area territory (7) for determining the at least one centering lane (7). A distance of at least half the working width of the harvesting attachment (4, 16) to the working boundary (6) is used.
  10. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, by the route planning system (10), in the case of parallel processing of the territory (2) by at least two working machines (1, 15), the processing of the at least one residual area territory (7) is assigned to the working machine (1, 15) whose area performance is lower.
  11. Method according to claim 10, characterized in that the route planning system (10) schedules the machine (1, 15) with higher machine power for operation in the first mode and the machine (1, 15) with lower machine power for operation in the second mode.
  12. Method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the route planning system (10) schedules the working machine (1, 15) with a larger working width (5, 17) for operation in the first mode and the working machine (1, 15) with a smaller working width (4, 17) for operation in the second mode.
  13. Route planning system (10) for controlling at least one agricultural machine (1, 15) comprising a harvesting attachment (4, 16) for picking up crops and a guidance system (11), wherein the route planning system (10) is configured to generate driving lanes (3a, 3b, ... 3n, 8) to be driven by the agricultural machine (1, 15) in a territory (2) depending on the working width (5, 17) of the harvesting attachment (4, 16), wherein the route planning system (10) generates driving lanes (3a, 3b, ... 3n) in which the harvesting attachment (4, 16) can be operated in a first mode in which essentially the full working width (5, 17) of the harvesting attachment (4, 16) is usable, and in a second mode in which a partial working width of the harvesting attachment (4, 16) is usable. is, wherein the route planning system (10) divides the territory (2) into at least one territory (2a) to be processed in the first mode and at least one residual area territory (7) to be processed in the second mode, characterized in that the route planning system (10) is configured to identify those lanes (8) of the residual area territory (7) on which the harvesting attachment (4, 16) is to be operated in the second mode, and that the route planning system (10) is set up to effect a change in orientation relative to the identified driving lane (8) of the agricultural machinery (1, 15) in the residual area territory (7) in such a way that the harvesting attachment (4, 16) picks up the crop to be harvested in the residual area territory (7) substantially in the middle.
  14. Agricultural work machine (1, 15), comprising a harvesting attachment (4, 16) for picking up crops and a guidance system (11) for driving along tracks (3a, 3b, ... 3n, 8) generated by a route planning system (13) according to claim 13 in a territory (2) , wherein the work machine (1, 15) is equipped to carry out the method according to one of claims 1 to 12.
  15. Agricultural work machine (1, 15) according to claim 14, wherein the route planning system (10) is part of a driver assistance system of the work machine (1, 15).

Description

The present invention relates to a method for controlling at least one agricultural machine comprising a harvesting attachment for picking up crops and a guidance system according to the preamble of claim 1, and a route planning system according to the preamble of claim 13. Furthermore, an agricultural machine is the subject of the present invention. From the EP 4 118 943 A1 A method for planning a field cultivation route by a driver assistance system of an agricultural machine is known. In an agricultural territory, the paths to be traversed by an agricultural machine typically only partially parallel a cultivation boundary. Territories usually have one or more cultivation boundaries that deviate from a straight line, necessitating an adjustment of the paths to be traversed. An algorithm is used to straighten curved or kinked paths, with the aim of minimizing the number of paths to be traversed with a contour deviating from a straight line. For this purpose, paths with a curved or kinked line, located between or adjacent to straight paths, are straightened through successive adjustments. The method according to the EP 4 118 943 A1 The underlying principle is to adapt the swaths to curved or angled paths, taking into account user preferences specified by the operator of the machine via the driver assistance system. A user preference is an overlap on the area to be cultivated between swaths straightened by the process, which is then processed or traversed twice by the machine when traversing the straightened swaths. This overlap occurs because, during the straightening process, partial areas of crop are created that are only partially covered by the machine's header. The process ensures that adjacent swaths, both straight and straightened, are traversed as essentially parallel connecting passes, depending on the working width of the header. The rows are oriented according to the position of the previous row, taking into account the working width of the harvesting attachment. This results in uneven crop pickup across the different sections of the area being worked. Based on the aforementioned prior art, the invention is based on the objective of providing a method for controlling at least one agricultural machine comprising a harvesting attachment for picking up crops and a guidance system, by which improved pickup of crops on the sub-areas of a territory to be cultivated is achieved. This problem is solved according to the invention by a method with the features of claim 1. Furthermore, the problem is solved by a route planning system with the features of dependent claim 13. Advantageous embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims. According to claim 1, a method for controlling at least one agricultural machine comprising a harvesting attachment for picking up crops and a guidance system is proposed, wherein the agricultural machine's tracks to be driven within a territory are generated by a route planning system depending on the working width of the harvesting attachment. The route planning system generates the tracks in which the harvesting attachment is operated in a first mode, in which substantially the full working width of the harvesting attachment is used, and the tracks in which the harvesting attachment is operated in a second mode, in which a partial working width of the harvesting attachment is used, wherein the territory is divided by the route planning system into at least one territory to be worked in the first mode and at least one residual area territory to be worked in the second mode. According to the invention, it is provided that the route planning system identifies those driving lanes of the residual area territory on which the harvesting attachment is operated in the second mode, and that the route planning system effects a change in orientation relative to the respective identified driving lane of the agricultural machine in the at least one residual area territory in such a way that the crop to be harvested is fed to the harvesting attachment in the residual area territory essentially in the middle. By automatically controlling the orientation of the agricultural machinery relative to the identified track on at least one remaining area, uneven or asymmetrical crop intake by the harvesting attachment is avoided. The uneven or asymmetrical crop intake, as is typical in modern technology, results in a correspondingly one-sided load on the downstream working units of the harvesting machine, to which the crop picked up by the header is fed. This one-sided load can lead to increased crop losses as early as the initial crop intake stage. Depending on the type of harvesting machine and its working units, increased crop losses can also occur during subsequent processing steps performed by these units. Furthermore, the one-sided load can affect the quality of subsequent processing steps, whether performed by the harvesting machine itself or by a machine working the field afterward. Th