Semi-autonomous farm transport vehicle for picked produce

A method of moving produce picked by a person from at least one row of plants in a field to a distribution location with a semi-autonomous transport vehicle having a platform, comprising:

• autonomously moving the vehicle to the field location of the person in the at least one row to receive the picked produce on the platform;
• sensing with a proximity sensor on the vehicle when the person moves;
• autonomously moving the vehicle to follow the person after the step of sensing with the proximity sensor;
• recording the movement of the vehicle;
• autonomously stopping the vehicle when the person stops;
• receiving weight data with a sensor on the vehicle to recognize received produce on the platform;
• repeating the above steps until the weight of picked produce placed on the vehicle reaches a maximum weight
• autonomously transporting the received produce on the vehicle to the distribution location, by retracing the recorded movements, for removal when the weight data reaches a threshold value;
• and
• sensing when the weight of the picked produce placed on the vehicle has been removed and autonomously moving the vehicle to retrace the recorded movement after the above step;
• and
• repeating the above steps.

A system for moving produce picked by a person from at least one row of plants in a field to a distribution location, comprising:

• at least one semi-autonomous transport vehicle configured to:
• travel to a field location of the person in the at least one row to collect picked produce,
• sense when the person moves,
• autonomously move the vehicle to follow the person,
• record the movement of the vehicle,
• autonomously stop the vehicle when the person stops,
• sense when the produce placed on the transport,
• repeat the above steps until the weight of picked produce placed on the vehicle reaches a maximum weight, autonomously move the vehicle to retrace the recorded movements,
• sense when the weight of the picked produce placed on the vehicle has been removed and autonomously moving the vehicle to retrace the recorded movement after the above step;
• and
• repeating the above steps
• to the distribution location for removal,

A method for an electric transport vehicle to autonomously follow a person picking produce, the method comprising:

• sensing when the person moves;
• autonomously moving the vehicle to follow the person;
• recording the movement of the vehicle;
• autonomously stopping the vehicle when the person stops;
• sensing picked produce placed on the vehicle;
• repeating the above steps until the weight of picked produce placed on the vehicle reaches a maximum weight;
• and
• autonomously moving the vehicle to retrace the recorded movements;
• sensing when the weight of the picked produce placed on the vehicle has been removed and autonomously moving the vehicle to retrace the recorded movement after the above step;
• and
• repeating the above steps.