US-20260123579-A1 - NON-CROP AREA DETECTION AND AUTOMATED CONTROL

US20260123579A1US 20260123579 A1US20260123579 A1US 20260123579A1US-20260123579-A1

Abstract

A control system detects that a harvester is approaching an entry boundary of a passable non-crop area. A control signal is generated to control the harvester as the harvester passes through the passable non-crop area. The control signal may be generated in response to detection of the harvester crossing the entry boundary. The control system detects when the harvester crosses an exit boundary of the passable non-crop area and generates the control signal to control the harvester in response to the harvester crossing the exit boundary.

Inventors

NICHOLAS C. BALTZ
Cody W. Best
Tessa N. Pottebaum
ADAM J. ROYAL

Assignees

DEERE & COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20241101

Claims (20)

1 . A computer implemented method comprising: detecting an area ahead of an agricultural harvester in a direction of travel during a harvesting operation; locating a boundary of a passable non-crop area in the detected area; and generating a control signal to control the agricultural harvester in response to the agricultural harvester traversing the boundary of the passable non-crop area.
2 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the area ahead of the agricultural harvester comprises: capturing an image of the detected area.
3 . The computer implemented method of claim 2 , wherein locating the boundary comprises: performing image processing on the image of the detected area to identify the passable non-crop area and the boundary of the non-crop area.
4 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the area ahead of the agricultural harvester comprises: accessing a map of a field that includes the non-crop area; and detecting a location and a heading of the agricultural harvester, and wherein detecting the area ahead of the agricultural harvester in the direction of travel during the harvesting operation includes detecting the area ahead of the agricultural harvester based on the map and based on the location and the heading of the agricultural harvester.
5 . The computer implemented method of claim 4 , wherein locating a boundary comprises: locating the boundary of the passable non-crop area based on the map and the location and the heading of the agricultural harvester.
6 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein generating the control signal comprises: accessing a control settings value corresponding to the passable non-crop area; and generating the control signal to control the agricultural harvester based on the control settings value corresponding to the passable non-crop area.
7 . The computer implemented method of claim 6 , wherein accessing the control settings value comprises: identifying a type of the passable non-crop area; and identifying the control settings value based on the type of the passable non-crop area.
8 . The computer implemented method of claim 6 , wherein accessing the control settings value comprises: accessing a speed control value indicative of a target ground speed corresponding to the passable non-crop area, and wherein generating the control signal comprises generating the control signal to control a propulsion subsystem of the agricultural harvester to propel the agricultural harvester at the target ground speed while the agricultural harvester is traversing the passable non-crop area.
9 . The computer implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the agricultural harvester includes a header, wherein accessing the control settings value comprises: accessing a header height control value indicative of a target header height corresponding to the passable non-crop area, and wherein generating the control signal comprises generating the control signal to control a header position actuator to position the header at the target header height while the agricultural harvester is traversing the passable non-crop area.
10 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein locating the boundary comprises: locating an entry boundary of the passable non-crop area.
11 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein locating the boundary comprises: locating an exit boundary of the passable non-crop area.
12 . A control system comprising: a processing system configured to receive a sensor signal and detect a passable non-crop area ahead of an agricultural harvester in a direction of travel during a harvesting operation based on the sensor signal; a non-crop area processor configured to generate an output signal indicative of a location of the passable non-crop area; and a control signal generator configured to generate a control signal to control the agricultural harvester, based on the output signal, when the agricultural harvester is traveling in the passable non-crop area.
13 . The control system of claim 12 , further comprising: a machine work point processing system configured to detect when a work point on the agricultural harvester is in the passable non-crop area based on the output signal.
14 . The control system of claim 12 , further comprising a perception sensor configured to capture an image ahead of the agricultural harvester in the direction of travel, and wherein the processing system comprises: a perception sensor processing system configured to identify the passable non-crop area in the image.
15 . The control system of claim 12 , further comprising a position sensor configured to detect a location of the agricultural harvester, and wherein the processing system comprises: a location processing system configured to access a map of a field that includes the non-crop area and detect the area ahead of the agricultural harvester based on the map and based on the location of the agricultural harvester.
16 . The control system of claim 12 , wherein the non-crop area processor comprises: a boundary identification system configured to locate a boundary of the passable non-crop area and generate a boundary identifier indicative of the location of the boundary, the control signal generator configured to generate the control signal based on the boundary identifier.
17 . The control system of claim 12 , wherein the control signal generator comprises: a settings identification system configured to access a speed control value indicative of a target ground speed corresponding to the passable non-crop area; and a speed control processor configured to generate the control signal to control a propulsion subsystem of the agricultural harvester to propel the agricultural harvester at the target ground speed while the agricultural harvester is traversing the passable non-crop area.
18 . The control system of claim 12 , wherein the control signal generator comprises: a settings identification system configured to access a header control value indicative of a target header height corresponding to the passable non-crop area; and a control processor configured to generate the control signal to control a header position actuator on the agricultural harvester to move the header to the target header height while the agricultural harvester is traversing the passable non-crop area.
19 . An agricultural system comprising: a processing system configured to receive a sensor signal and detect a passable non-crop area ahead of an agricultural harvester in a direction of travel during a harvesting operation based on the sensor signal; and a control system configured to access a setting value corresponding to the passable non-crop area and generate a control signal to control the agricultural harvester with the setting value when the agricultural harvester is traveling in the passable non-crop area.
20 . The agricultural system of claim 19 , further comprising: a perception sensor configured to capture an image of an area ahead of the agricultural harvester in the direction of travel and generate the sensor signal based on the captured image.

Description

FIELD OF THE DESCRIPTION The present descriptions relate to mobile agricultural machines. More specifically, the present description relates to mobile agricultural harvesting machines configured to harvest at a field. BACKGROUND There are a wide variety of different mobile agricultural machines. One such mobile agricultural machine is a mobile agricultural harvesting machine. The mobile agricultural harvesting machine can include a header, such as a corn header, a grain header, a draper header, an auger header, etc. It is not uncommon, when performing harvesting operations in a field, for an agricultural harvester to approach different types of passable non-crop areas in the field. By passable it is meant that the harvester can drive through or pass through the non-crop area during the harvesting operation. For instance, the agricultural harvester may approach a passable waterway where no crop is growing. Such waterways may be areas in a field used to drain water from other areas in the field. In addition, a field may have a field road. A field road extends through the field where no crop is planted. During harvesting, the harvester may encounter a field road as well. There are also other types of passable non-crop areas in fields that a harvester may encounter. Discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. SUMMARY A control system detects that a harvester is approaching an entry boundary of a passable non-crop area. A control signal is generated to control the harvester as the harvester passes through the passable non-crop area, based on detection of the harvester crossing the entry boundary. The control system detects when the harvester crosses an exit boundary of the passable non-crop area and generates a control signal to control the harvester in response to the harvester crossing the exit boundary. This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. The claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in the background. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial pictorial, partial block diagram of a combine harvester in an agricultural system. FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are pictorial illustrations of a combine harvester traversing a non-crop area. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing one example of a non-crop area control system. FIGS. 6A and 6B (collectively referred to herein as FIG. 6) is a flow diagram showing one example of the operation of a harvester control system. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing one example of an agricultural system deployed in a remote server environment. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of one example of a mobile device that can be used in architectures and systems shown in other figures. FIG. 9 is one example of a mobile device that can be used in architectures and systems shown in other figures. FIG. 10 shows one example of a mobile device that can be used in architectures and systems shown in other figures. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing one example of a computing environment that can be used in architectures and systems shown in other figures. DETAILED DESCRIPTION For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the present disclosure, reference will now be made to the examples illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is intended. Any alterations and further modifications to the described devices, systems, methods, and any further application of the principles of the present disclosure are fully contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the disclosure relates. In particular, it is fully contemplated that the features, components, and/or steps described with respect to one example may be combined with the features, components, and/or steps described with respect to other examples of the present disclosure. As discussed above, agricultural harvesters, while performing harvesting operation in a field, may encounter non—crop areas in the field. Such non—crop areas may be passable areas where the agricultural harvester passes through the non—crop area then continue the harvesting operation on the other side of the non—crop area. Examples of such passable non—crop areas may include such things as waterways, field roads, etc. An operator of an agricultural harvester may wish to change operational settings of the agricultural harvester while the agricultural harvester is passing through the non—crop area. For instance, the agricultural harvester