阅读说明：本技术 自主行驶系统 (Autonomous driving system ) 是由 中村翔一 于 2020-03-25 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明的自主行驶系统具备：位置获取部、惯性测量装置、行驶控制部、初始化控制部以及条件设定部。位置获取部使用卫星定位系统获取作业车辆的位置。惯性测量装置检测作业车辆的朝向。行驶控制部使作业车辆沿着预先设定的行驶路径自主行驶。初始化控制部基于在作业车辆进行沿规定方向直行的初始化行驶期间位置获取部的获取值,求出该作业车辆的朝向,从而进行惯性测量装置的初始化处理。对于条件设定部而言,设定作业车辆的电源从断开切换到接通来作为初始化处理的第一开始条件,并且设定在作业车辆的电源接通时接收到进行初始化处理的指示来作为初始化处理的第二开始条件。(The autonomous traveling system of the present invention includes: the vehicle-mounted navigation system includes a position acquisition unit, an inertia measurement device, a travel control unit, an initialization control unit, and a condition setting unit. The position acquisition unit acquires the position of the work vehicle using a satellite positioning system. The inertial measurement unit detects the orientation of the work vehicle. The travel control unit autonomously travels the work vehicle along a predetermined travel path. The initialization control unit obtains the direction of the work vehicle based on the acquired value of the position acquisition unit during the initialization travel in which the work vehicle travels straight in the predetermined direction, and performs the initialization process of the inertia measurement device. The condition setting unit sets a first start condition for the initialization process by switching the power supply of the work vehicle from off to on, and sets a second start condition for the initialization process by receiving an instruction to perform the initialization process when the power supply of the work vehicle is on.)

1. An autonomous traveling system, comprising:

a position acquisition unit that acquires the position of the work vehicle using a satellite positioning system;

an orientation detection unit that detects an orientation of the work vehicle;

a travel control unit that autonomously travels the work vehicle along a predetermined travel path;

an initialization control unit that obtains the direction of the work vehicle based on the acquisition value of the position acquisition unit during an initialization travel in which the work vehicle travels straight in a predetermined direction, and performs an initialization process of the direction detection unit; and

and a condition setting unit that sets a first start condition for the initialization process by switching the power supply of the work vehicle from off to on, and sets a second start condition for the initialization process by receiving an instruction to perform the initialization process when the power supply of the work vehicle is on.

2. The autonomous driving system of claim 1,

the travel control unit autonomously performs the initialization travel of the work vehicle when the initialization process is not completed, the first start condition or the second start condition is satisfied, and a travel permission condition is satisfied.

3. The autonomous driving system of claim 1,

the travel control unit stops autonomous travel along the travel path when the position acquisition unit cannot acquire the position of the work vehicle with a predetermined accuracy,

the initialization control unit resets an initialization completion state when the position acquisition unit cannot acquire the position of the work vehicle with a predetermined accuracy,

the travel control unit causes the work vehicle to autonomously perform the initialization travel when the position acquisition unit can acquire the position of the work vehicle with a predetermined accuracy, the first start condition or the second start condition is satisfied, and the travel permission condition is satisfied.

4. The autonomous traveling system according to claim 2 or 3,

the travel control unit sets, as a restart position, a position at which the position acquisition unit cannot acquire the position of the work vehicle with a predetermined accuracy and autonomous travel is stopped, and autonomously travels the work vehicle to the restart position after the initialization processing is completed.

5. The autonomous traveling system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the instruction to perform the initialization processing is transmitted from a wireless communication terminal provided separately from the work vehicle.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to an autonomous traveling system for autonomously traveling a work vehicle.

Background

Conventionally, an autonomous traveling system is known that acquires position information of a work vehicle based on radio waves received from GNSS satellites and autonomously travels the work vehicle along a predetermined route. In order to realize such autonomous traveling, the direction of the work vehicle needs to be grasped by an autonomous traveling control unit that autonomously travels the work vehicle.

Patent document 1 discloses a work vehicle having a configuration capable of receiving radio waves from GNSS satellites, in which a user manually drives the work vehicle to move the work vehicle straight or backward, and detects a change in the position of the work vehicle at that time based on the radio waves from the GNSS satellites. Then, the direction of the work vehicle (direction) is detected by regarding the direction of the work vehicle after the position of the work vehicle has changed or the opposite direction thereof as the direction of the work vehicle. This process is hereinafter referred to as an initialization process.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2018-163507

Patent document 1 describes that an initialization process is performed when a predetermined condition is satisfied when a work vehicle (tractor) is started. However, patent document 1 does not describe that the initialization process is performed at other times.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a main object thereof is to provide an autonomous traveling system capable of easily performing an initialization process.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are as described above, and means for solving the problems and effects thereof will be described below.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an autonomous traveling system having the following configuration. That is, the autonomous traveling system includes: the vehicle-mounted device includes a position acquisition unit, a direction detection unit, a travel control unit, an initialization control unit, and a condition setting unit. The position acquisition unit acquires the position of the work vehicle using a satellite positioning system. The direction detection unit detects a direction of the work vehicle. The travel control unit autonomously travels the work vehicle along a predetermined travel path. The initialization control unit obtains the direction of the work vehicle based on the acquisition value of the position acquisition unit during the initialization travel in which the work vehicle travels straight in a predetermined direction, and performs the initialization process of the direction detection unit. The condition setting unit sets a first start condition for the initialization process by switching the power supply of the work vehicle from off to on, and sets a second start condition for the initialization process by receiving an instruction to perform the initialization process when the power supply of the work vehicle is on.

In this way, the initialization process can be performed by separately instructing not only when the power supply of the work vehicle is turned on from off but also when the power supply of the work vehicle is kept on. Therefore, the initialization process can be performed without performing the process of turning off the power supply of the work vehicle, and therefore the initialization process for the orientation detection unit can be performed easily.

In the autonomous traveling system, it is preferable that the traveling control unit autonomously performs the initialization traveling of the work vehicle when the initialization processing is not completed, the first start condition or the second start condition is satisfied, and a traveling permission condition is satisfied.

In this way, since the initialization process can be performed by autonomously traveling the work vehicle, the labor required for the operator can be reduced as compared with the case where the operator manually travels the work vehicle.

The autonomous traveling system preferably has the following configuration. That is, the travel control unit stops autonomous travel along the travel path when the position acquisition unit cannot acquire the position of the work vehicle with a predetermined accuracy. The initialization control unit resets the initialization completion state when the position acquisition unit cannot acquire the position of the work vehicle with a predetermined accuracy. The travel control unit causes the work vehicle to autonomously perform the initialization travel when the position acquisition unit can acquire the position of the work vehicle with a predetermined accuracy, the first start condition or the second start condition is satisfied, and the travel permission condition is satisfied.

In this way, even when satellite positioning or the like fails, the work vehicle can be autonomously driven to perform the initialization processing, and thus the labor required for the operator can be reduced.

In the autonomous traveling system, it is preferable that the traveling control unit sets, as a restart position, a position at which the position acquisition unit cannot acquire the position of the work vehicle with a predetermined accuracy and the autonomous traveling is stopped, and autonomously travels the work vehicle to the restart position after the initialization processing is completed.

Thus, even after the position is changed by the initial travel, the work can be restarted from the restart position before the initial travel is performed.

In the autonomous traveling system, it is preferable that the instruction to perform the initialization process is transmitted from a wireless communication terminal provided separately from the work vehicle.

Thereby, the initialization process can be remotely executed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a side view showing an overall configuration of a rice transplanter used in an autonomous traveling system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the rice transplanter.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the autonomous traveling system.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a travel route formed in a field.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the process of performing the initialization process after the power supply of the rice planting machine is turned on from off.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a process of executing initialization processing in preparation for autonomous traveling.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a wireless communication terminal on which a screen relating to preparation for autonomous traveling is displayed.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a wireless communication terminal on which a screen relating to an autonomous traveling condition is displayed.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing a process of executing the initialization process during autonomous traveling.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing a wireless communication terminal on which a screen during autonomous driving is displayed.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a wireless communication terminal on which a screen showing that positioning failure of GNSS occurs during autonomous traveling is displayed.

Detailed Description

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a side view of a rice transplanter 1 used in an autonomous traveling system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rice transplanter 1. Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the rice transplanter 1 and the wireless communication terminal 7.

The autonomous traveling system 100 of the present embodiment is a system for autonomously traveling a rice transplanter 1 that transplants rice seedlings (plants rice seedlings) in a field. The autonomous travel is a control of a device related to travel by a control device provided in the rice planting machine 1, and at least autonomous steering is performed so as to follow a predetermined path. In addition to the steering, the vehicle may be configured to autonomously perform a work or the like based on the vehicle speed or the work machine. The autonomous travel includes a case where the rice transplanter 1 is occupied by a person and a case where the rice transplanter 1 is not occupied by a person. The working vehicle of the present invention is not limited to the rice transplanter 1, and may be, for example, a seeder, a tractor, a combine, or the like.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the rice transplanter 1 includes a body 11, front wheels 12, rear wheels 13, and a planting portion 14. The front wheels 12 and the rear wheels 13 are provided in a pair on the left and right with respect to the vehicle body portion 11.

The vehicle body portion 11 includes an engine cover 21. The engine cover 21 is provided at the front portion of the vehicle body portion 11. An engine 22 is provided inside the engine cover 21.

The power generated by the engine 22 is transmitted to the front wheels 12 and the rear wheels 13 via the transmission case 23. This power is also transmitted to the planting portion 14 via the transmission case 23 and the PTO shaft 24 disposed at the rear of the truck body portion 11.

The vehicle body portion 11 further includes an operator's seat 25 for an operator to sit thereon and a plurality of operation members. The driver seat 25 is disposed between the front wheels 12 and the rear wheels 13 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body portion 11. The plurality of operating members are, for example, a steering wheel 26 and a shift operating pedal 27.

The operator operates the steering wheel 26 to change the traveling direction of the rice planting machine 1. The operator operates the shift operating pedal 27 to adjust the traveling speed (vehicle speed) of the rice planting machine 1.

The planting part 14 is disposed behind the vehicle body part 11. The planting portion 14 is connected to the vehicle body portion 11 via a lifting link mechanism 31. The lifting link mechanism 31 is constituted by parallel links including an upper link 31a and a lower link 31 b.

The lift cylinder 32 is connected to the lower link 31 b. The planting portion 14 is moved up and down with respect to the vehicle body portion 11 by extending and contracting the lift cylinder 32. The lift cylinder 32 is a hydraulic cylinder in the present embodiment, but may be an electric cylinder.

The planting part 14 includes a planting input housing part 33, a plurality of planting units 34, a seedling stage 35, a plurality of floating bodies 36, and a preliminary seedling stage 37. The planting part 14 sequentially supplies seedlings from the seedling stage 35 to the respective planting units 34, and can continuously plant the seedlings.

Each planting unit 34 has a planting transmission housing portion 41 and a rotation housing portion 42. Power is transmitted to the planting transmission housing portion 41 via the PTO shaft 24 and the planting input housing portion 33.

The rotation housing portion 42 is rotatably mounted to the planting transmission housing portion 41. The rotary case 42 is disposed on both sides of the planting transmission case 41 in the vehicle width direction. Two planting claws 43 are attached to one side of each rotating case portion 42.

The two planting claws 43 are arranged in the traveling direction of the rice planting machine 1. The two planting claws 43 are displaced in accordance with the rotation of the rotating case 42. The seedlings of one row are planted by displacing the two planting claws 43.

The seedling stage 35 is disposed above and in front of the plurality of planting units 34. The seedling stage 35 can carry a seedling mat. The seedling stage 35 is configured to be able to supply seedlings of the mat placed on the seedling stage 35 to the respective planting units 34.

Specifically, the seedling support 35 is configured to be movable in a traverse direction (slidable in the traverse direction) so as to reciprocate in the vehicle width direction. The seedling stage 35 is configured to be capable of intermittently feeding and conveying the mat vertically downward at the reciprocating end of the seedling stage 35.

The floating body 36 is swingably provided at a lower portion of the planting part 14. The floating body 36 can be brought into contact with the field surface by the lower surface of the floating body 36 in order to stabilize the planting posture of the planting part 14 with respect to the field surface.

The preliminary seedling table 37 is provided in a pair on the right and left with respect to the body portion 11. The preliminary seedling stage 37 is disposed on the vehicle width direction outer side of the engine cover 21. The prepared seedling table 37 can be loaded with a seedling box for accommodating prepared mat-shaped seedlings.

The upper portions of the pair of right and left preliminary seedling stages 37 are connected to each other by a connecting frame 28 extending in the vertical direction and the vehicle width direction. A housing 29 is provided at the center of the connecting frame 28 in the vehicle width direction. Inside the housing 29, a positioning antenna 61, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)62, and a communication antenna 63 are provided.

The positioning antenna 61 is capable of receiving radio waves from positioning satellites constituting a satellite positioning system (GNSS). The position of the rice transplanter 1 can be acquired by performing known positioning calculation based on the radio waves.

The inertial measurement unit 62 has three gyro sensors (angular velocity sensors) and three acceleration sensors. Details of the information detected by the inertia measurement device 62 and the initialization process of the inertia measurement device 62 will be described later in detail.

The communication antenna 63 is an antenna for performing wireless communication with the wireless communication terminal 7 shown in fig. 3.

The control unit 50 includes an arithmetic device, a storage device, an input/output unit, and the like, which are not shown. Various programs, data, and the like are stored in the storage device. The arithmetic device can read and execute various programs from the storage device. By the cooperation of the hardware and software, the control unit 50 can be operated as the travel control unit 51, the work machine control unit 52, the initialization control unit 53, and the condition setting unit 54. The control unit 50 may be one piece of hardware or may be a plurality of pieces of hardware that can communicate with each other. In addition to the inertia measuring device 62, the position acquiring unit 64, the communication processing unit 65, the vehicle speed sensor 66, and the steering angle sensor 67 are connected to the control unit 50.

The position acquisition unit 64 acquires positioning information of the rice planting machine 1 as a mobile station based on the radio wave received by the positioning antenna 61 from the positioning satellite. More specifically, the position acquisition unit 64 acquires, for each positioning satellite that has received the radio wave, the pseudo distance from the positioning satellite to the positioning antenna 61 and the carrier phase at the time when the radio wave reaches the positioning antenna 61. The pseudo distance is obtained by multiplying the signal propagation time measured by using the internal clock of the positioning satellite and the internal clock of the position acquisition unit 64 by the speed of light. The carrier phase is obtained by measuring the difference between the phase of the carrier received by the positioning antenna 61 and the phase of the internal oscillator output of the position acquisition unit 64.

In addition, for the base station 120 whose position is known, the position acquisition unit 64 acquires positioning correction information generated based on the pseudo distance from the positioning satellite to the base station 120 and the carrier phase at the time of arrival at the base station 120. In the present embodiment, the position acquiring unit 64 acquires the positioning correction information by direct communication with the rice planting machine 1 via the base station 120. The position acquisition unit 64 may acquire the positioning correction information via a network, the wireless communication terminal 7, and the like.

The position acquiring unit 64 uses positioning information, which is an observed value obtained by the rice transplanter 1, and positioning correction information generated by the base station 120 to perform calculation by a known GNSS-RTK method, thereby continuously calculating a base-line solution between the rice transplanter 1 and the base station 120 as a mobile station. Thus, the positioning solution, which is the position of the rice transplanter 1, can be obtained in real time. In the GNSS-RTK method, since the carrier phase of the radio wave from the GNSS satellite is detected by both the seedling planting machine 1 and the base station 120 and used for positioning calculation, the position of the seedling planting machine 1 can be acquired with a precision significantly higher than that of normal individual positioning. In addition, instead of the GNSS-RTK method, for example, a positioning operation using a differential GNSS may be performed.

The communication processing unit 65 is electrically connected to the communication antenna 63. The communication processing unit 65 can perform modulation processing or demodulation processing in an appropriate manner, and can transmit and receive data to and from the wireless communication terminal 7.

The vehicle speed sensor 66 detects the vehicle speed of the rice transplanter 1. The vehicle speed sensor 66 is provided at an appropriate position of the rice planting machine 1, for example, at an axle of the front wheel 12. In this case, the vehicle speed sensor 66 generates a pulse corresponding to the rotation of the axle of the front wheel 12. Data of the detection result obtained by the vehicle speed sensor 66 is output to the control unit 50.

The steering angle sensor 67 detects the steering angle of the front wheels 12. The steering angle sensor 67 is provided at an appropriate position of the rice transplanter 1, for example, at a king pin, not shown, provided at the front wheel 12. The steering angle sensor 67 may be provided to the steering wheel 26. Data of the detection result obtained by the steering angle sensor 67 is output to the control unit 50.

The travel control unit 51 performs automatic control related to travel of the rice planting machine 1. For example, the travel control unit 51 can perform vehicle speed control and steering control. The travel control unit 51 may perform both the vehicle speed control and the steering control at the same time, or may perform only the steering control. In the latter case, the speed of the rice transplanter 1 is operated by the operator using the shift operating pedal 27.

In the vehicle speed control, the vehicle speed of the rice transplanter 1 is adjusted based on predetermined conditions. Specifically, the travel control unit 51 performs control for bringing the current vehicle speed obtained from the detection result of the vehicle speed sensor 66 closer to the target vehicle speed for vehicle speed control. This control is realized by changing at least one of the gear ratio of the transmission in the transmission 23 and the rotational speed of the engine 22. The vehicle speed control also includes control for stopping the rice planting machine 1 by setting the vehicle speed to zero.

The steering control is control for adjusting the steering angle of the rice planting machine 1 based on predetermined conditions. Specifically, the travel control unit 51 performs control for bringing the current steering angle obtained from the detection result of the steering angle sensor 67 closer to the target steering angle for steering control. This control is realized, for example, by driving a steering actuator provided on the rotation shaft of the steering wheel 26. In the steering control, the travel control unit 51 may directly adjust the steering angle (wheels) of the front wheels 12 of the rice planting machine 1, instead of adjusting the turning angle (steering angle) of the steering wheel 26 by the travel control unit 51.

The work implement control unit 52 can control the operation (lifting operation, planting work, or the like) of the planting unit 14 based on predetermined conditions. The initialization control unit 53 and the condition setting unit 54 perform processes to be described in detail later.

The wireless communication terminal 7 is a tablet terminal, and includes a communication antenna 71, a communication processing unit 72, a display unit 73, an operation unit 74, a storage unit 75, and an arithmetic unit 80. The wireless communication terminal 7 is not limited to a tablet terminal, and may be a smartphone or a notebook computer. The wireless communication terminal 7 performs various processes related to the autonomous travel of the rice planting machine 1, but the control unit 50 of the rice planting machine 1 may perform at least a part of these processes. Conversely, the wireless communication terminal 7 may perform at least a part of various processes related to autonomous travel performed by the control unit 50 of the rice planting machine 1.

The communication antenna 71 is an antenna for short-range communication for wireless communication with the rice planting machine 1. The communication processing unit 72 is electrically connected to the communication antenna 71. The communication processing unit 72 performs modulation processing of a transmission signal, demodulation processing of a reception signal, and the like. Either the rice transplanter 1 or the wireless communication terminal 7 is provided with a mobile communication antenna for performing communication using a mobile phone line and a network. This makes it possible to store a part of the information stored in the rice transplanter 1 or the wireless communication terminal 7 in an external server, or to acquire the information from the external server, for example.

The display unit 73 is a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like, and is configured to be capable of displaying an image. For example, the display unit 73 can display information related to autonomous travel, information related to setting of the rice planting machine 1, detection results of various sensors, warning information, and the like.

The operation unit 74 includes a touch panel and a hardware key. The touch panel is disposed so as to overlap the display unit 73, and can detect an operation by a finger or the like of the operator. The hardware key is disposed on a side surface of the housing of the wireless communication terminal 7, around the display unit 73, or the like, and can be pressed by the operator. The wireless communication terminal 7 may be configured to include only one of a touch panel and a hardware key.

The storage unit 75 is a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory or a hard disk. The storage unit 75 stores information related to autonomous traveling, for example.

The arithmetic unit 80 is an arithmetic device such as a CPU. The arithmetic unit 80 can read and execute various programs from the storage unit 75. The above-described cooperation of hardware and software enables the arithmetic unit 80 to operate as the display control unit 81 and the initialization instruction control unit 82. The processing performed by the display control unit 81 and the initialization instruction control unit 82 will be described later.

Next, a field and a travel route for autonomous travel will be described with reference to fig. 4. The field comprises a working area and a ridge area. The working area is located at the center of the field and is an area for performing work. The ridge area is located outside the work area and is used for performing work appropriately in the work area. For example, the ridge area is used to move the rice transplanter 1 that enters the field to the start position of the operation in the operation area. The ridge area is also used as an area for turning the rice transplanter 1.

The position and shape of the field are created based on the change in position information when the rice transplanter 1 is caused to travel along the outer periphery of the field. Further, the position and shape of the field may be created by a user designating a range on a map displayed on the display unit 73, for example, without actually driving the rice planting machine 1. In the present embodiment, the information on the field is stored in the wireless communication terminal 7, but may be stored in the server. At this time, the wireless communication terminal 7 acquires information on the field from the server.

In the present embodiment, a travel path 91 for causing the rice transplanter 1 to travel autonomously is created. The travel route 91 is created by the arithmetic unit 80, for example. As shown in fig. 4, the travel path 91 includes a plurality of straight paths 91a and a plurality of curved paths 91 b. Further, a start position (S in fig. 4) and an end position (G in fig. 4) are set on the travel path 91. The travel route 91 shown in fig. 4 is an example, and the rice transplanter 1 can also travel autonomously along a route having other characteristics.

Next, the inertial measurement unit 62 will be described in more detail.

The inertial measurement unit 62 is a sensor unit capable of determining the posture, acceleration, and the like of the rice transplanter 1. Specifically, the inertial measurement unit 62 includes a sensor group in which an angular velocity sensor and an acceleration sensor are mounted on a first axis, a second axis, and a third axis that are orthogonal to each other.

Specifically, the inertia measuring device 62 includes a first acceleration sensor that detects acceleration in the first axial direction, a second acceleration sensor that detects acceleration in the second axial direction, a third acceleration sensor that detects acceleration in the third axial direction, a first angular velocity sensor that detects an angular velocity around the first axis, a second angular velocity sensor that detects an angular velocity around the second axis, and a third angular velocity sensor that detects an angular velocity around the third axis.

The inertial measurement unit 62 is mounted on the center of gravity of the rice transplanter 1 with a fixed position with respect to the direction of the rice transplanter 1 so that the first angular velocity sensor can detect the lateral swing angular velocity of the rice transplanter 1, the second angular velocity sensor can detect the vertical swing angular velocity of the rice transplanter 1, and the third angular velocity sensor can detect the horizontal swing angular velocity of the rice transplanter 1. In other words, the first axis is arranged to coincide with the front-rear direction of the rice transplanter 1, i.e., to be a yaw rotation axis. The second axis is arranged to coincide with the right-left direction of the rice transplanter 1, i.e., to be a pitch rotation axis. The third axis is arranged to be aligned with the vertical direction of the rice transplanter 1, i.e., to be a yaw rotation axis.

The detection result of the inertial measurement unit 62 having such a configuration makes it possible to determine the angular velocity (yaw angular velocity, pitch angular velocity, and yaw angular velocity) of the attitude change of the rice planting machine 1, and the acceleration in the front-rear direction, the left-right direction, and the up-down direction. The integrated angular velocity is used to obtain the posture of the rice transplanter 1. Information on the posture of the rice transplanter 1 is input to the control unit 50, and used for correcting the position information acquired by the position acquisition unit 64 or for other control.

Further, by performing a known inertial navigation operation using the information on the attitude change and the acceleration of the rice planting machine 1 acquired by the inertial measurement device 62, the position of the rice planting machine 1 during the time can be obtained when the position information cannot be calculated when the radio waves from the GNSS satellites are temporarily interrupted.

In order to allow the rice transplanter 1 of such a configuration to properly autonomously travel, it is not sufficient to accurately grasp the position information of the rice transplanter 1 only by the control unit 50, and it is necessary to accurately grasp the orientation of the rice transplanter 1 by the control unit 50. In this regard, the angular velocity sensor of the inertial measurement unit 62 can detect a change in the orientation of the rice transplanter 1, but cannot detect the orientation itself of the rice transplanter 1. In particular, the angle (yaw angle) indicating the direction in which the rice transplanter 1 is oriented cannot be obtained by setting the gravitational acceleration as the initial point.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the rice planting machine 1 is actually caused to travel straight in a predetermined direction (for example, forward or backward), the change in position of the rice planting machine 1 at that time is determined using GNSS radio waves, and the yaw angle is determined based on the direction indicated by the change in position. The process of determining the orientation (yaw angle) of the rice planting machine 1 in this way is referred to as initialization processing, and the process of moving the rice planting machine 1 straight for initialization processing is referred to as initialization running. In addition, a vehicle speed and a travel distance for performing the initial travel are determined in advance. The initialization control unit 53 performs control related to initialization processing. The condition setting unit 54 sets a condition for starting the initialization process.

The orientation detection unit may be configured differently from the inertial measurement unit 62 of the present embodiment as long as it can detect at least the orientation of the rice planting machine 1 (specifically, the orientation with the vertical direction as the rotation center).

Patent document 1 describes that the initialization process is performed only at the time of starting the tractor. Patent document 1 describes that an operator manually performs initial travel. Therefore, in the configuration of patent document 1, in order to perform the initialization process, it is necessary that the operator boards the tractor to turn the power supply from off to on, and then the operator operates the tractor to perform the initialization travel. In this regard, in the present embodiment, while the power of the rice planting machine 1 is kept turned on, the operator can autonomously perform the initialization travel without manually instructing the initialization process remotely without approaching the rice planting machine 1. The following description is made in detail.

First, a flow of initialization processing of the inertia measurement device 62 at the time of starting the rice transplanter 1 will be described with reference to fig. 5.

In the autonomous traveling system 100 of the present embodiment, as in patent document 1, an initialization process is also performed at the time of starting the rice planting machine 1. The time of starting the rice planting machine 1 means the time when the power supply of the rice planting machine 1 is switched from off to on (strictly speaking, before a predetermined time elapses after the switching to on).

The initialization control unit 53 determines whether or not the power of the rice planting machine 1 is switched from off to on (i.e., whether or not the rice planting machine 1 has just started). When it is determined that the power of the rice transplanter 1 is switched from off to on, the initialization control unit 53 determines whether the GNSS-RTK positioning is valid (S102). The GNSS-RTK positioning is effective in that it is possible to appropriately receive both the positioning information of the rice transplanter 1 as a mobile station and the positioning correction information generated by the base station 120 and perform calculation using the GNSS-RTK method. Therefore, when the GNSS-RTK positioning is effective, the position of the rice transplanter 1 can be acquired with high accuracy (predetermined accuracy). On the other hand, when the positioning information and the positioning correction information of the rice transplanter 1 cannot be arbitrarily acquired due to an obstacle or the like, the GNSS-RTK is not effective, and therefore the position of the rice transplanter 1 cannot be acquired with high accuracy. In addition, it is possible to obtain the position of the rice transplanter 1 with low accuracy (below a predetermined accuracy) based on the individual positioning.

In the case where the GNSS-RTK positioning is not effective, the initialization process cannot be properly performed. Therefore, when determining that the GNSS-RTK positioning is valid, the initialization control unit 53 performs an initialization process (S103). Specifically, the initialization control unit 53 instructs the travel control unit 51, and the travel control unit 51 performs the initialization travel by moving the rice planting machine 1 straight (forward or backward) with the steering angle in the middle. In this way, while the travel control unit 51 can autonomously travel the rice planting machine 1 during the initial travel, the operator may manually travel the rice planting machine 1. During the initialization travel, the initialization control unit 53 performs the initialization process of the inertia measurement device 62 as described above. The value calculated by the initialization processing is stored in the control unit 50 or the like, and is used to calculate the position and orientation of the rice planting machine 1.

In this way, as a first start condition of the initialization process, the condition setting unit 54 sets the power supply to be turned from off to on. In the present embodiment, as another condition for starting the initialization process, it is set that the GNSS-RTK positioning is effective. Further, the rice transplanter 1 may store the value calculated by the initialization processing for a constant time even after the power is turned off. In this case, even when the power of the rice planting machine 1 is switched from off to on in a case where there is no significant change in the orientation of the rice planting machine 1 during the power-off period of the rice planting machine 1 (for example, in a case where the rice planting machine 1 is restarted), the value calculated by the previous initialization processing may be used.

Next, a flow of initialization processing performed after the power of the rice planting machine 1 is turned on and before the start of autonomous traveling will be described with reference to fig. 6 to 8. Specifically, if a positioning failure or the like occurs in preparation for autonomous travel, the autonomous travel of the rice transplanter 1 cannot be executed unless the initialization process of the inertia measuring device 62 is performed again.

The initialization control unit 53 determines whether or not the initialization process is completed (S201). When the initialization process is completed, the process related to autonomous traveling is performed (S206) because the initialization process is not necessary.

When the initialization process is not completed, the initialization control unit 53 determines whether the GNSS-RTK positioning is valid (S202), as in step S102. When determining that the GNSS-RTK positioning is valid, the initialization control unit 53 transfers the determination to the radio communication terminal 7. As a result, the display control unit 81 validates the initialization processing start button (S203).

The initialization process start button is a button for an operator to instruct the start of the initialization process. In the present embodiment, the initialization processing start button is a button on the GUI displayed on the display unit 73 of the wireless communication terminal 7. The display of the start button of the initialization process will be specifically described below with reference to fig. 7 and 8. Fig. 7 shows a screen displayed on the display unit 73 of the wireless communication terminal 7 in preparation for autonomous traveling. On this screen, a work vehicle icon 101 showing the position of the rice planting machine 1 on a map showing a field to be autonomously traveled is displayed. Also, on this screen, a determination result button 102 indicating the determination result of the autonomous traveling condition and an autonomous traveling start button 103 for starting autonomous traveling are displayed.

The determination result button 102 displays whether or not the autonomous traveling condition is satisfied. In the example shown in fig. 7, since the autonomous traveling condition is not satisfied, it is displayed as "NG". The autonomous traveling start button 103 is a button for instructing the start of autonomous traveling. In the example shown in fig. 7, the autonomous traveling start button 103 is deactivated (gray) because the autonomous traveling condition is not satisfied. The screen shown in fig. 8 is displayed by operating the determination result button 102.

The autonomous travel condition is shown in detail in the screen of fig. 8. In the present embodiment, the autonomous travel conditions include that the steering angle is in the middle, the work vehicle position coincides with the start position of the travel path, and the initialization process of the inertia measurement unit 62(IMU) is completed. When the initialization process is not completed, an initialization process start button 104 is displayed in the vicinity thereof. The display position, display hierarchy, and the like of the initialization processing start button 104 are examples, and the initialization processing start button 104 may be displayed on the screen shown in fig. 7, for example.

In the present embodiment, the initialization processing start button 104 is normally not displayed, but is displayed when it is validated in step S203. Instead of displaying it in gray or the like as usual, it may be operable when the activation is performed in step S203. In the present embodiment, the initialization processing start button 104 is a button on the GUI, but may be a hardware key of the wireless communication terminal 7. The initialization processing start button 104 may be provided not in the wireless communication terminal 7 but in another terminal held by the operator, or may be provided in the rice transplanter 1.

When the initialization process start button 104 is operated, a signal instructing the start of the initialization process is transmitted from the arithmetic unit 80 (initialization instruction control unit 82) to the control unit 50 (initialization control unit 53). The initialization control unit 53 determines whether or not the initialization processing start button 104 is operated based on the presence or absence of reception of the signal (S204). When it is determined that the initialization process start button 104 has been operated, the initialization control unit 53 performs the initialization process in the same manner as in step S103 (S205).

As described above, in the present embodiment, since the initialization process can be performed without turning off the power supply of the rice planting machine 1, the time for restarting is not required, and thus the initialization process can be performed in a short time and easily. In addition, even when there is a setting that is eliminated by turning off the power supply of the rice transplanter 1, the time and effort required for such setting can be reduced.

The autonomous traveling system 100 may perform the initial traveling manually or may perform the initial traveling autonomously. However, by autonomously performing the initialization travel, the labor required for the operator can be reduced. In particular, even when the rice transplanter 1 is autonomously driven by no person (without the operator being mounted on the operator's seat 25), the labor required for the operator to move to the rice transplanter 1 for the initial driving can be reduced.

In addition, when the initial travel is autonomously performed, the initial travel is started only when the travel permission condition is satisfied. Examples of the driving permission conditions include: (1) no obstacle is present in the area through which the vehicle passes during the initial travel; (2) the start of the initialization travel is reported by an alarm or the like; and (3) the operator is seated in the operator's seat 25 in a case where the operator gets on the operator's seat 25. The condition (3) can be detected by a seat switch or the like provided in the driver seat 25 or below. This travel permission condition is applied not only to the initial travel performed in a state where the power of the rice transplanter 1 is turned on, but also to the initial travel performed when the power of the rice transplanter 1 is switched from off to on.

It is needless to say that the initialization process needs to be performed in a state where the power of the rice planting machine 1 (control unit 50) is turned on. In this regard, in the present embodiment, the rice transplanter 1 and the wireless communication terminal 7 can communicate only when the power of the rice transplanter 1 is turned on. That is, when the power of the rice transplanter 1 is turned off, the initialization process is not performed even if the initialization process start button 104 is operated. In the case where the initialization process start button 104 is provided on the rice planting machine 1 side, the initialization process start button 104 may be activated only when the power of the rice planting machine 1 is turned on.

By performing the initialization processing, IMU initialization conditions among the autonomous driving conditions are satisfied. When the other autonomous traveling conditions are satisfied, the autonomous traveling start button 103 is activated (the gray color is released). When it is detected that the autonomous traveling start button 103 is operated, the traveling control unit 51 starts autonomous traveling (S206).

As described above, the condition setting unit 54 sets, as a second starting condition of the initialization process, that an instruction (reception signal) to perform the initialization process is received when the power of the rice planting machine 1 is turned on. In the present embodiment, as another condition for starting the initialization process, it is set that the GNSS-RTK positioning is effective.

Next, a flow of initialization processing that is required due to positioning failure or the like during autonomous traveling and is performed will be described with reference to fig. 9 to 11.

Fig. 10 shows a screen displayed on the display unit 73 during autonomous traveling. In autonomous travel, the position of the rice transplanter 1 in the field and the travel path are shown. In addition, an autonomous travel stop button 105 is displayed instead of the autonomous travel start button 103. The autonomous travel is stopped by operating the autonomous travel stop button 105.

The control section 50 detects whether the GNSS-RTK positioning is valid (S301). In the following description, GNSS-RTK positioning is not effectively referred to simply as "poor positioning" or the like. As described above, when the positioning failure occurs, the position of the rice transplanter 1 cannot be accurately acquired.

When the positioning failure occurs, the travel control unit 51 stops autonomous travel and stores the current position as the restart position (S302). The restart position refers to a position for restarting autonomous traveling. That is, since the rice transplanter 1 moves by performing the initial travel, an area where no work is performed is generated. In order to prevent this, the autonomous traveling system 100 is configured to restart the autonomous traveling after returning the rice planting machine 1 to the restart position.

When a positioning failure occurs, a value (set value) obtained by the initialization process performed before becomes an unnecessary value. Accordingly, the initialization control unit 53 resets the completion state of the initialization processing (S303). Thereby, the set value obtained by the initialization processing performed before is eliminated. Further, the autonomous travel of the rice transplanter 1 along the travel path 91 is prohibited from being resumed until a new initialization process is performed.

Further, the autonomous traveling is also transmitted to the wireless communication terminal 7 when the positioning is not good. The display control unit 81 of the wireless communication terminal 7 receives the stop of autonomous traveling due to poor positioning from the control unit 50, and then displays a message indicating the stop on the display unit 73 (see fig. 11). As shown in fig. 11, this message may include a process requiring initialization. Then, the display control unit 81 displays an initialization processing start button 104 on the display unit 73. Before the misregistration is eliminated, as shown in fig. 11, the initialization processing start button 104 is not activated.

After that, when it is determined that the positioning error has been eliminated (S304), the display control unit 81 releases the gray color of the initialization processing start button 104, and activates the initialization processing start button 104 (S305). When the initialization process start button 104 is operated (S306), the initialization instruction control unit 82 transmits a signal instructing the start of the initialization process to the control unit 50. When determining that the signal has been received, the initialization control unit 53 performs initialization travel to perform initialization processing of the inertia measurement apparatus 62 in the same manner as step S205 (S307). Note that points related to the travel permission conditions are also the same as in step S205.

Thereafter, when all the autonomous traveling conditions are satisfied and the autonomous traveling start button 103 is operated, the traveling control unit 51 autonomously moves the rice transplanter 1 to the restart position and starts autonomous traveling from the restart position (S308).

The second start condition of the initialization process is common to both preparation for autonomous traveling and stop of autonomous traveling.

As described above, the autonomous traveling system 100 according to the present embodiment includes the position acquisition unit 64, the inertia measurement device 62, the traveling control unit 51, the initialization control unit 53, and the condition setting unit 54. The position acquiring unit 64 acquires the position of the rice transplanter 1 using a satellite positioning system. The inertial measurement unit 62 detects the orientation of the rice transplanter 1. The travel control unit 51 autonomously travels the rice planting machine 1 along a predetermined travel route 91. The initialization control unit 53 determines the orientation of the rice transplanter 1 based on the value obtained by the position obtaining unit 64 during the initialization travel in which the rice transplanter 1 travels straight in a predetermined direction, and performs the initialization process of the inertia measuring device 62. The condition setting unit 54 sets that the power of the rice planting machine 1 is switched from off to on as a first starting condition of the initialization process, and the condition setting unit 54 sets that an instruction to perform the initialization process is received when the power of the rice planting machine 1 is on as a second starting condition of the initialization process.

Thus, the initialization process can be performed by separately instructing not only when the power of the rice planting machine 1 is switched from off to on but also when the power of the rice planting machine 1 is kept on. Therefore, the initialization process can be performed without performing the process of turning off the power supply of the rice transplanter 1, and therefore the initialization process of the inertia measuring device 62 can be easily performed.

In the autonomous traveling system 100 according to the present embodiment, the traveling control unit 51 autonomously initiates traveling of the rice transplanter 1 when the initialization process is not completed, the first start condition or the second start condition is satisfied, and the traveling permission condition is satisfied.

Thus, since the rice transplanter 1 can be autonomously driven to perform the initialization processing, the labor required for the operator can be reduced as compared with the case where the operator manually drives the rice transplanter 1.

In the autonomous traveling system 100 according to the present embodiment, when the position obtaining unit 64 cannot obtain the position of the rice planting machine 1 with a predetermined accuracy, the traveling control unit 51 stops the autonomous traveling along the traveling path. When the position acquiring unit 64 cannot acquire the position of the rice planting machine 1 with a predetermined accuracy, the initialization control unit 53 resets the initialization completion state. The position acquiring unit 64 can acquire the position of the rice planting machine 1 with a predetermined accuracy, and when the first start condition or the second start condition is satisfied and the travel permission condition is satisfied, the travel control unit 51 autonomously initiates travel of the rice planting machine 1.

Thus, even when satellite positioning or the like fails, the rice transplanter 1 can be autonomously driven to perform the initialization processing, and thus the labor required for the operator can be reduced.

In the autonomous traveling system 100 according to the present embodiment, the traveling control unit 51 sets, as the restart position, a position at which the position obtaining unit 64 cannot obtain the position of the rice planting machine 1 with a predetermined accuracy and the autonomous traveling is stopped, and after the initialization process is completed, autonomously travels the rice planting machine 1 to the restart position.

Thus, even after the position is changed by the initialization running, the work can be restarted from the restart position before the initialization running is performed.

In the autonomous traveling system 100 according to the present embodiment, an instruction to perform the initialization process is transmitted from the wireless communication terminal 7 provided separately from the rice planting machine 1.

Thereby, the initialization process can be remotely executed.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above configuration can be modified as follows, for example.

The flowcharts shown in the above embodiments are examples, and some of the processes may be omitted, the contents of some of the processes may be changed, or new processes may be added. For example, when the initial travel is autonomously performed, a process of displaying the result on the display unit 73 may be added. In addition, it is also possible to determine again whether the GNSS-RTK positioning is valid after the initialization processing start button is operated.

In the above embodiment, after the initialization process start button 104 is operated, it is determined whether or not the travel permission condition is satisfied. Instead, the initialization processing start button 104 may be activated when the driving permission condition is satisfied.

In the above embodiment, the completion state of the previous initialization processing is automatically reset when the positioning is defective, but the completion state may be reset upon receiving an instruction from an operator. In this case, a button for instructing reset of the previous initialization process and a button for instructing start of the new initialization process may be separated. Alternatively, the two processes may be performed by operating one button.

Description of reference numerals:

1 … rice transplanter (working vehicle); 7 … wireless communication terminal; 50 … control section; 51 … running control part; 52 … work machine control section; 53 … initializing the control section; 54 … condition setting unit; a 64 … position acquisition section; 62 … inertia measuring device (orientation detecting part); 80 … calculation unit; 81 … display control unit; 82 … initializing the instruction control section; 100 … autonomous driving system.