Controlling the position of an agricultural implement coupled to an agricultural vehicle based upon three-dimensional topography data

An agricultural vehicle with an agricultural implement coupled to the agricultural vehicle having a system for controlling the position of the implement, the implement being movable with respect to the vehicle by a positioning arrangement configured to move the implement in response to position control signals, the system comprising:

• a field topography database containing three-dimensional data of the topography of a field;
• a location signal generation arrangement for providing location data of the position of at least one of the vehicle and the implement in the field;
• an implement position sensor arranged to sense the position of the implement with respect to the ground;
• and
• a control unit connected to the field topography database, the location signal generation arrangement, the implement position sensor and the positioning arrangement, the control unit operable to provide position control signals to the positioning arrangement based upon actual position data received from the implement position sensor and expected required position change data that are derived from elevation data recalled from the field topography database based upon the location data to automatically move the implement into a predefined position with respect to the surface of ground.

A method for controlling the position of an agricultural implement coupled to an agricultural vehicle, the implement being movable with respect to the vehicle by a positioning arrangement configured to move the implement in response to position control signals, the method comprising:

• providing a field topography database containing three-dimensional data of the topography of a field;
• providing a location signal generation arrangement producing location data of the position of at least one of the vehicle and the implement in the field;
• providing an implement position sensor sensing the position of the implement with respect to the ground;
• providing a control unit connected to the field topography database, the location signal generation arrangement, the implement position sensor and the positioning arrangement;
• and
• operating the control unit to provide position control signals to the positioning arrangement based upon a combination of actual position data received from the implement position sensor and expected required position change data that are derived from elevation data recalled from the field topography database based upon the location data to automatically move the implement into a predefined position with respect to the surface of ground.