Systems for monitoring and using mat thickness and bale growth rate

A method, comprising:

• sensing, by a sensor of a round baler, a physical attribute associated with a moving part of the round baler while the round baler is operating in a crop field;
• receiving from the sensor, by a controller of the round baler, data corresponding to the sensed physical attribute;
• determining, by the controller, a value of the physical attribute based on the received data;
• estimating, by the controller, a mat thickness generated by the round baler based on the determined value of the physical attribute;
• and
• controlling, by the controller, an operation of the round baler or an operation of a tow vehicle, configured to tow the round baler, based on the estimated mat thickness,
• wherein the moving part is a movable floor of a crop pickup portion of the round baler, and wherein the movable floor is a flex pivot floor or a fixed pivot floor.

A method, comprising:

• sensing, by a sensor of a round baler, a physical attribute associated with a moving part of the round baler while the round baler is operating in a crop field;
• receiving from the sensor, by a controller of the round baler, data corresponding to the sensed physical attribute;
• determining, by the controller, a value of the physical attribute based on the received data;
• estimating, by the controller, a mat thickness generated by the round baler based on the determined value of the physical attribute;
• controlling, by the controller, an operation of the round baler or an operation of a tow vehicle, configured to tow the round baler, based on the estimated mat thickness;
• discharging, by the round baler, multiple bales;
• and
• displaying, by a display device, a yield map based on tracking of the discharged multiple bales and the estimated mat thickness.

A method, comprising:

• sensing, by a sensor of a round baler, a physical attribute associated with a moving part of the round baler while the round baler is operating in a crop field;
• receiving from the sensor, by a controller of the round baler, data corresponding to the sensed physical attribute:
• determining, by the controller, a value of the physical attribute based on the received data;
• estimating, by the controller, a mat thickness generated by the round baler based on the determined value of the physical attribute;
• controlling, by the controller, an operation of the round baler or an operation of a tow vehicle, configured to tow the round baler, based on the estimated mat thickness;
• repeating the sensing of the physical attribute while the round baler is operating in the crop field to obtain a set of data points of the physical attribute;
• receiving, by the controller, the set of data points;
• determining, by the controller, a set of values representative of the physical attribute based on the set of data points;
• estimating, by the controller, a change or a rate of change in the mat thickness based on the determined set of values;
• and
• controlling, by the controller, the operation of the round baler or the operation of the tow vehicle based on the estimated change or rate of change in the mat thickness.

A system, comprising a computing device, comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for tangibly storing thereon computer program code for execution by the processor, the computer program code comprising:

• executable logic executable to receive, from a sensor, data corresponding to a sensed physical attribute associated with a moving part of a round baler while the round baler is operating in a crop field, wherein the sensor is a part of the round baler, and wherein the sensor senses the physical attribute;
• executable logic executable to determine a value of the physical attribute based on the received data;
• executable logic executable to estimate a mat thickness generated by the round baler based on the determined value of the physical attribute;
• and
• executable logic executable to control an operation of the round baler or an operation of a tow vehicle, configured to tow the round baler, based on the estimated mat thickness,
• wherein the sensor is a pressure sensor, and wherein the sensed physical attribute is a sensed pressure associated with the moving part.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly encoded with computer-executable instructions, that when executed by a processor of a computing device the processor performs a method comprising the following operations:

• receiving, from a sensor, data corresponding to a sensed physical attribute associated with a moving part of a round baler while the round baler is operating in a crop field, wherein the sensor is a part of the round baler, and wherein the sensor senses the physical attribute;
• determining a value of the physical attribute based on the received data;
• estimating mat thickness generated by the round baler based on the determined value of the physical attribute;
• and
• controlling an operation of the round baler or an operation of a tow vehicle, configured to tow the round baler, based on the estimated mat thickness,
• wherein the sensor is a pressure sensor, and wherein the sensed physical attribute is a sensed pressure associated with the moving part.