US 12,769,308 B2Granted

Guidance system to navigate intervening obstacles and methods for same

AssigneeRaven Industries, Inc.

InventorsYuri Sneyders, Jeffrey Allen Van Roekel, Matthew K. Rust, Rahul Ramakrishnan, Jared Ernest Kocer, Anthony Douglas Johnson Schmidt

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Abstract

A system having a guidance module to obtain a travel path from an agricultural machine to a target. The guidance module including a perception module to determine target line that extends from the machine to the target, and obstacle detection module to detect an obstacle in the first target line, the obstacle having an obstacle boundary that intersects the target line. The guidance module including a mitigation module to obtain a mitigation path around the obstacle based on the target line and the obstacle boundary, the mitigation path including a mitigation segment. The mitigation module including an entrance module configured to determine a starting position of the mitigation path based on a second target line and an exit module configured to determine the ending position of the mitigation path based on a third target line. The guidance module including convergence module to combine the mitigation path with the travel path.

Claims36

Dependent claims

A navigation system for an agricultural machine, the system comprising:

one or more processors configured to obtain a travel path from an agricultural machine position to a target position in a field, the one or more processors configured to:
determine a first target line, the first target line extending from the agricultural machine position to the target position;
detect a first obstacle disposed in the first target line between the agricultural machine position and the target position, the first obstacle having a first obstacle boundary that intersects the first target line at first and second intersections, the first intersection closer than the second intersection to the agricultural machine position;
obtain a mitigation path around the first obstacle based on the first target line and the boundary of the first obstacle, wherein the mitigation path includes at least one mitigation segment having a starting position and an ending position, and wherein to obtain the mitigation path the one or more processors are further configured to:
determine the starting position of the mitigation path based on a second target line, the second target line extending from the agricultural machine position to the first obstacle boundary;
determine the ending position of the mitigation path based on a third target line, the third target line extending from the first obstacle boundary to the target position, wherein the mitigation path is obtained based on a length of the at least one mitigation segment;
obtain an indexed path of a previous machine passage through the field, the indexed path comprising one or more segments aligned with crop rows to minimize crossing of crop rows;
determine a load of the agricultural machine;
and
edit the mitigation path to include the one or more segments of the indexed path according to the determined load of the agricultural machine when the load meets or exceeds a load threshold;
combine the mitigation path with the travel path to obtain a combined path;
and
control the agricultural machine using the combined path to guide the agricultural machine to the target position in the field.

10 more elements

A method for a navigation method for an agricultural machine, the method comprising:

obtaining a travel path from an agricultural machine position to a target position in a field by:
determining a first target line, the first target line extending from the agricultural machine position to the target position;
detecting a first obstacle disposed in the first target line between the agricultural machine position and the target position, the first obstacle having a first obstacle boundary that intersects the first target line at first and second intersections, the first intersection closer than the second intersection to the agricultural machine position;
obtaining a mitigation path around the first obstacle based on the first target line and the boundary of the first obstacle by:
determining a starting position of the mitigation path based on a second target line, the second target line extending from the agricultural machine position to the first obstacle boundary;
determining an ending position of the mitigation path based on a third target line, the third target line extending from the first obstacle boundary to the target position, wherein the mitigation path is obtained based on a length of at least one mitigation path segment;
obtaining an indexed path of a previous machine passage through the field, the indexed path comprising one or more segments aligned with crop rows to minimize crossing of crop rows;
determining a load of the agricultural machine;
and
editing the mitigation path to include the one or more segments of the indexed path according to the determined load of the agricultural machine when the load meets or exceeds a load threshold;
combining the mitigation path with the travel path to obtain a combined path, and
controlling the agricultural machine using the combined path to guide the agricultural machine to the target position in the field.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/836,616Filed 9 Jun 2022 · us provisional application
Priority: 9 Jun 2021
Published: US 2022/0397906 A115 Dec 2022
Granted: 20 Oct 2026
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

G05D 1/0214
With means for defining a desired trajectory: in accordance with safety or protection criteria, e.g. avoiding hazardous areas
A01B 69/008
Steering or guiding of agricultural vehicles, e.g. steering of the tractor to keep the plough in the furrow: automatic
G05D 1/0238
Using optical position detecting means: using obstacle or wall sensors
G05D 1/0257
Specially adapted to land vehicles: using a radar

Family

Application63/208,878Us provisional application · filed 9 Jun 2021
Application63/275,373Us provisional application · filed 3 Nov 2021
US 2022/0397906 A1Pre-grant publication · published 15 Dec 2022
US 12,693,664 B2Related patent
US 12,769,308 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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