Agricultural hitch with a system for management and guidance of operations and a method thereof

A method for automated or semiautomated management of maneuvers of a hitch comprising a tractor, an agricultural machine hitched to the tractor by an articulated linkage, and a system for management and guidance of maneuvers provided with a computing and control unit integrated with the agricultural machine, a sensor informing the computing and control unit about current mutual relative positions of operational components of the hitch connected to one another by the articulated linkage, a unit for management and control of the tractor, an interface for communication with a driver, and means for parameter assignment or programming, the method comprising:

• computing a set path for a maneuver to come, initiated automatically or by the driver, the set path being based on preprogrammed parameters relating to characteristics of the tractor and at least one of objectives or constraints related to the agricultural work to be executed and to the ground to be treated and to functioning options of the hitch and by employing a path-computing algorithm for prediction of paths and a path-optimizing algorithm for optimization of path settings;
• and
• automatically executing the maneuver by steering the tractor, directly or by the unit for management and control of the tractor, and by recording, during maneuvering, differences between a predefined set path and a real or currently estimated path, in order to correct the differences automatically, or assisting in semiautomatic execution of the maneuver by signaling the differences to the driver in semiautomatic mode by employment of an adapted algorithm, of measures for correction of a path to be followed,
• wherein a parameter for computing the set path includes a turning angle of steered wheels of the tractor based on a wheelbase of the tractor and a turning radius of the tractor which is then corrected by taking interactions with soil into account, and the corrected turning angle of the steered wheels of the tractor is used to calculate transitional entrance and exit phases of the tractor, the interactions with the soil including a drift angle created on the steered wheels due to resistance of the soil on both sides of the steered wheels,
• wherein the method further comprises, prior to treatment of a jobsite, assigning parameters to the path-computing algorithm by indicating different functional, structural and dimensional characteristics of the tractor and of the agricultural machine, and
• wherein the following characteristics and variables are entered during a phase of assigning parameters to the path-computing algorithm:
• a maximum turning angle of the tractor,
• maximum widths of the components of the hitch,
• a forward speed desired during the maneuver,
• a maximum angular speed of turning of the steered wheels of the tractor,
• angles of maximum articulation or pivoting between the components of the hitch,
• a distance between a rear bridge of a component of the hitch and a hitch point of a next component that is connected thereto,
• a distance between a rear bridge of a hitched component and its point of hitching to a preceding component,
• wheelbases of the components of a kinematic assembly formed by the hitch, and
• a turning direction.