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US 2026/0223773 A1Published application
Mower control for sequenced patch cleanup
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsBryce A. CARNAHAN, David L. ANDERSON
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A patch cleanup control system receives a path plan for a mowing vehicle and calculates the size and location of portions of uncut grass that will remain uncut by the mowing vehicle when the mowing vehicle executes the path plan. The path cleanup control system computes cleanup passes that cover the portions of uncut grass and modifies the path plan to incorporate the cleanup passes in a desired sequence of passes.
Claims20
A method of controlling a mowing vehicle, comprising:
- generating a path plan identifying a route for the mowing vehicle to mow an area of interest, the route including passes across the area of interest and a cleanup lap following a boundary of the area of interest;
- prior to executing the path plan, estimating a location and size of an uncut patch in the area of interest that will not be mowed by the mowing vehicle when following the route identified in the path plan;
- generating a patch cleanup pass to cover the uncut patch based on the location and size of the uncut patch;
- and
- adding the patch cleanup pass to the route for the mowing vehicle to obtain a modified route.
2 more elements
A mowing vehicle, comprising:
- a set of cutting heads;
- a propulsion subsystem;
- a steering subsystem;
- a patch cleanup control system configured to receive a path plan identifying a route for the mowing vehicle to mow an area of interest, the route including passes across the area of interest and a cleanup lap following a boundary of the area of interest, the patch cleanup control system being configured to receive an estimated location and size of an uncut patch in the area of interest that will not be mowed by the mowing vehicle when following the route identified in the path plan, and to receive an indication of a patch cleanup pass to cover the uncut patch based on the location and size of the uncut patch, and to generate a modified route with the patch cleanup pass added to the route, the patch cleanup control system being configured to access a patch cleanup decision value to determine whether to control the mowing vehicle to follow the route or the modified route and generate a decision output indicator based on the patch cleanup decision value;
- and
- a navigation system configured to control the propulsion subsystem and the steering subsystem to follow the route or the modified route based on the decision output indicator.
3 more elements
A mowing vehicle, comprising:
- a cutting head;
- a propulsion subsystem;
- a steering subsystem;
- a patch cleanup control system configured to receive an estimated location and size of an uncut patch in an area of interest that will not be mowed by the mowing vehicle when following a predefined route, and to receive an indication of a patch cleanup pass to cover the uncut patch based on the estimated location and size of the uncut patch, and to generate a modified route with the patch cleanup pass added to the predefined route;
- a communication system configured to receive an operator input indicative whether to control the mowing vehicle to follow the predefined route or the modified route, the patch cleanup control system configured to generate a decision output indicator based on the operator input;
- and
- a navigation system configured to control the propulsion subsystem and the steering subsystem to follow the predefined route or the modified route based on the decision output indicator.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.