Predicting runout times for agricultural material in a container
AssigneePrecision Planting LLC
InventorsJohn Michael Zietz, Jaden Young
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mechanism for determining a runout time for one or more sub-volumes carried in an interior volume of a container carrying pourable agricultural material. A distance determining system is used to determine a distance to multiple points on an exposed surface of the agricultural material. A flow rate monitoring system is used to determine one or more flow rates in different parts of the interior volume of the container. The determined flow rate(s) and the determined distance(s) are processed to predict or estimate the runout time(s) for the one or more sub-volumes.
Claims15
An agricultural system comprising:
- a container having an interior volume for carrying pourable agricultural material, the container having one or more outlets through which the pourable agricultural material is able to flow out of the container, wherein any exposed interior surface of the container and an exposed surface of the pourable agricultural material together define a combined exposed surface;
- a distance determining system configured to determine, for each of a plurality of points on the combined exposed surface, a distance between the distance determining system and said point;
- a flow rate monitoring system configured to monitor a flow rate of the pourable agricultural material in each of one or more first sub-volumes of the interior volume of the container;
- and
- a runout time prediction system configured to process each determined distance and each determined flow rate to predict a runout time for each of one or more second sub-volumes of the interior volume,
- wherein a runout time is a length of time until a flow rate of the pourable agricultural material through the second sub-volume reaches or falls below a predetermined flow rate;
- and
- wherein a positional relationship between each of the plurality of points, each first sub-volume and each second sub-volume is known.
A method comprising:
- carrying pourable agricultural material in a container having an interior volume, the container having one or more outlets through which the pourable agricultural material is able to flow out of the container, wherein an exposed interior surface of the container and an exposed surface of the pourable agricultural material together define a combined exposed surface;
- determining using a distance determining system, for each of a plurality of points on the combined exposed surface, a distance between the distance determining system and said point;
- monitoring, using a flow rate monitoring system, flow rate of the pourable agricultural material in each of one or more first sub-volumes of the interior volume of the container;
- and
- processing, using a runout time prediction system, each determined distance and each determined flow rate to predict a runout time for each of one or more second sub-volumes of the interior volume,
- wherein a runout time is a length of time until a flow rate of the pourable agricultural material through the second sub-volume reaches or falls below a predetermined flow rate, and
- wherein a positional relationship between each of the plurality of points, each first sub-volume and each second sub-volume is known.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.