Actuated seed depth setting for a planter row unit
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsValentin Stefan Gresch, Cary S. Hubner, Elijah B. Garner, Christian Waibel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An agricultural planter row unit has a gauge wheel supported by a gauge wheel arm, to control planting depth. An actuator drives movement of a mechanical stop that bears against a gauge wheel support arm to position the gauge wheel support arm to obtain a desired planting depth. A seed depth control system generates a force estimate indicative of a force to make a planting depth adjustment. The control system automatically controls actuation of the seed depth actuator to exert the estimated force.
Claims20
A planting depth control system that controls a planting depth of a row unit on a planting machine, the planting depth control system comprising:
- estimation logic that receives a target depth signal indicative of a target planting depth and a current depth signal indicative of a current planting depth and generates an estimation output indicative of an estimated force to be exerted by a planting depth actuator assembly to change a relative position of a gauge wheel and a trench opener on the row unit to obtain the target planting depth;
- and
- control signal generator logic that receives the estimation output and generates a planting depth actuator control signal to control the planting depth actuator assembly based on the estimation output.
A method of controlling a row unit on a planting machine, the method comprising:
- receiving a target depth signal indicative of a target planting depth;
- receiving a current depth signal indicative of a current planting depth;
- generating an estimation output, with a computer-implemented estimation model, the estimation output being indicative of an estimated force to be exerted by a planting depth actuator assembly to change a relative position of a gauge wheel and a trench opener on the row unit to obtain the target planting depth;
- and
- generating a planting depth actuator control signal, with control signal generator logic, to automatically control the planting depth actuator assembly based on the estimation output.
A planting depth control system that controls a planting depth of a row unit on a planting machine, the planting depth control system comprising:
- estimation logic that receives a target depth signal indicative of a target planting depth and a current depth signal indicative of a current planting depth and generates an estimation output indicative of an estimated force to be exerted by a planting depth actuator assembly to change a relative position of a gauge wheel and a trench opener on the row unit to obtain the target planting depth;
- and
- control signal generator logic that receives the estimation output and generates a planting depth actuator control signal to control the planting depth actuator assembly to change the relative position of the gauge wheel and the trench opener on the row unit to obtain the target planting depth while the row unit is performing a planting operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.