Integrated gnss and steering for agricultural guidance systems

An integrated vehicle guidance unit, comprising:

• a vehicle steering interface configured to communicate with a steering actuator;
• an inertial measurement unit (IMU);
• a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver configured to receive position data from a GNSS radio antenna;
• a network interface configured to communicate with a computer terminal;
• and
• an integrated guidance central processing unit (GCPU) coupled to the vehicle steering interface, inertial measurement unit, GNSS receiver, and network interface.

A guidance central processing unit for steering a vehicle, comprising:

• a hardware processor;
• and
• a memory device coupled to the hardware processor including instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the hardware processor, cause the hardware processor operate software functions including:
• a steering controller configured to control a vehicle steering interface, the vehicle steering interface configured to communicate with a steering actuator;
• an inertial measurement unit (IMU) controller configured to control an IMU;
• a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) controller configured to control a GNSS receiver, the GNSS receiver configured to receive position data from a GNSS radio antenna;
• an external network interface configured to communicate over a network with external components located on the vehicle;
• and
• a main guidance controller configured to steer the vehicle based on data exchanged with the steering controller, IMU controller, GNSS controller, and external network interface.