Work machine with bucket monitoring

A work machine, comprising:

• a chassis;
• a backhoe assembly carried by said chassis, said backhoe assembly comprising:
• a boom pivotably linked to said chassis at a boom pivot point;
• a boom angle sensor associated with said boom pivot point;
• a stick extendably linked to said boom;
• a stick extension sensor associated with said stick;
• a bucket pivotably linked to said stick at a bucket pivot point;
• a bucket angle sensor associated with said bucket pivot point;
• a boom actuator linked to said boom;
• a stick actuator linked to said stick;
• and
• a bucket actuator linked to said bucket;
• and
• a controller coupled to said boom angle sensor, said stick extension sensor, and said bucket angle sensor, said controller configured to:
• determine a boom angle of said boom relative to said chassis;
• determine a stick extension of said stick relative to said chassis;
• determine a bucket angle of said bucket relative to said stick;
• output a bucket location signal corresponding to a current bucket position and a current bucket orientation, relative to said chassis, based on said determined boom angle, stick extension, and bucket angle;
• selectively activate at least one of said boom actuator, said stick actuator, and said bucket actuator;
• and
• predict a future bucket location based on said selective activation of at least one of said boom actuator, said stick actuator, and said bucket actuator.

A method of locating a bucket of a work machine including a chassis, comprising:

• determining a boom angle of a boom pivotably linked to said chassis, relative to said chassis, at a boom pivot point based on at least one signal from a boom angle sensor associated with said boom pivot point;
• determining a stick extension of a stick extendably linked to said boom, relative to said chassis, based on at least one signal from a stick extension sensor associated with said stick;
• determining a bucket angle of said bucket pivotably linked to said stick, relative to said stick, at a bucket pivot point based on at least one signal from a bucket angle sensor associated with said bucket pivot point;
• outputting a bucket location signal corresponding to a current bucket position and a current bucket orientation, relative to said chassis, based on said determined boom angle, stick extension, and bucket angle;
• visualizing said work machine on a display of said work machine;
• outputting a visualization update signal to said display;
• and
• updating said visualization of said work machine based on said output visualization update signal.

A method of locating a bucket of a work machine including a chassis, comprising:

• determining a boom angle of a boom pivotably linked to said chassis, relative to said chassis, at a boom pivot point based on at least one signal from a boom angle sensor associated with said boom pivot point;
• determining a stick extension of a stick extendably linked to said boom, relative to said chassis, based on at least one signal from a stick extension sensor associated with said stick;
• determining a bucket angle of said bucket pivotably linked to said stick, relative to said stick, at a bucket pivot point based on at least one signal from a bucket angle sensor associated with said bucket pivot point;
• outputting a bucket location signal corresponding to a current bucket position and a current bucket orientation, relative to said chassis, based on said determined boom angle, stick extension, and bucket angle;
• selectively activating at least one of a boom actuator linked to said boom, a stick actuator linked to said stick, and a bucket actuator linked to said bucket;
• and
• predicting a future bucket location based on said selective activation.