Transcript VEHICLE GUIDANCE SYSTEMS FOR PRECISION AGRICULTURE

APPLICATION OF VEHICLE
GUIDANCE SYSTEMS FOR
PRECISION AGRICULTURE
Manual guidance means
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Disk markers
Foam spray
Flags – aerial spraying
Tissue markers – aerial spraying
Vehicle Automated Guidance
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Furrow followers
Cable tether
Buried Cable Followers
Machine Vision
Positioning Systems
Purpose
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Increase efficiency
Reduce fatigue and boredom
Save money
Fewer operators
Resistance
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Initial cost
Reliability
Elaborate set-up
Ag machines are “iron tough”
Vehicle Navigation
Requirements
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Parallel swathing
Crop-edge tracking
Precision path tracking
Turning assists function
Remote guidance
Multi-vehicle cooperation
First guidance attempt
First furrow follower patented in 1924
 U.S. Patent 1,506,706
 Suggested use of guide wheel as a mechanical
feeler tethered to the steering wheel so that the
tractor could follow a furrow for cultivation
Low Cost Auto Steer - Australia
Furrow Guide
 Developed by University of Southern
Queensland Nat’l Center for Engineeering
 Speeds to 15 km/hr
 Furrow following skids or chain
 Accuracy of +/- 25 mm
 U.S $6,250
Machine Vision Research
 Carnegie-Mellon Robotics Institute (1996)
NH Speedrower at 7.2 km/hr
Vision based perception of cut and uncut crop
 Stanford University
Carrier phase GPS on JD 7800 tractor
Accuracy of 2.5 cm, 0.1 degree heading at 3.25 km/hr
 Michigan State University
Straight row guidance of Case 7190 MFW tractor
Error of 6 cm at 4.8 km/hr, 12 cm at 12.9 km/hr
 University of Illinois
Joint study with Hokkaido University, Japan
Used GPS, vision, inertial, and geomagnetic sensors
Other attempts
 Tethered wire for circular operation, Univ. of
Illinois, 1941
 Mechanical feelers
 Buried cables
 John Deere orchard sprayer
US DOD Global Positioning
System
 24 satellites, 6 orbital planes
 Orbit height of 11,000 miles
 Four satellites needed for accurate
positioning
 Differential correction required for field
navigation
Hardware requirements
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GPS Receiver
Differential correction signal receiver
Differential correction antenna
Computer/monitor interface
GPS Light Bar
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WAAS or L Band correction
Define first pass
Bright color LEDs define on or off track
Parallel, contour, or standard field tracking
Cost $4,000 - $5,000
Operable day or night
Tracking accuracy, 15 cm
GPS Autoguidance
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Parallel, contour, or standard field tracking
WAAS or L Band corection
Increased field efficiency
Increased equipment utilization
Operable day or night
14 cm (6 inch) accuracy sysyem, $9500
One cm (one inch) accuracy, $40,000+
Manufacturers
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Trimble Navigation
Outback Guidance
Novatel
Beeline Technologies
Greenstar (John Deere)
Fieldstar (AGCO)
Outback System claims
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Install in two hours or less
Operate in 15 minutes or less
Exclusive “Contour” driving
Huge payback (dependent on crop)
Future of Vehicle Guidance
 Lightbar systems will be commonplace
 Automated systems will increase in higher
value crops
 Multiple vehicle operation will be feasible
 Remote vehicle operation will be feasible
References
 New Frontiers in the 21st Century: A Status Report on
Autonomous Guidance of Agricultural Vehicles in the
U.S., Dr. John Reid, University of Illinois
 www.trimble.com
 www.outbackguidance.com
 “Driverless Tractors”; American Society of
Agricultural Engineers, 2001, J. F. Reid & D.G.
Niehubr
 The Precision Farming Guide for Agriculturalists,
Deere & Company, 1997