VEHICLE GUIDANCE SYSTEMS FOR PRECISION AGRICULTURE
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Transcript VEHICLE GUIDANCE SYSTEMS FOR PRECISION AGRICULTURE
APPLICATION OF VEHICLE
GUIDANCE SYSTEMS FOR
PRECISION AGRICULTURE
Manual guidance means
Disk markers
Foam spray
Flags – aerial spraying
Tissue markers – aerial spraying
Vehicle Automated Guidance
Furrow followers
Cable tether
Buried Cable Followers
Machine Vision
Positioning Systems
Purpose
Increase efficiency
Reduce fatigue and boredom
Save money
Fewer operators
Resistance
Initial cost
Reliability
Elaborate set-up
Ag machines are “iron tough”
Vehicle Navigation
Requirements
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
GPS Receiver
Differential correction signal receiver
Differential correction antenna
Computer/monitor interface
GPS Light Bar
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
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
Trimble Navigation
Outback Guidance
Novatel
Beeline Technologies
Greenstar (John Deere)
Fieldstar (AGCO)
Outback System claims
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