JP7466201B2 - Travel route setting device, travel route setting method, and travel route setting program for farm work vehicle - Google Patents

Description

Article 30, paragraph 2 of the Patent Act applies. April 1, 2020. Instruction Manual for Autonomous Rice Transplanter, published by the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization

The present invention relates to a travel route setting device, a travel route setting method, and a travel route setting program for a field work vehicle, and in particular to a technology for setting a travel route for a field work vehicle that can perform work over the entire surface of a field while traveling automatically.

Conventionally, there is known a system that sets a driving route for a field work vehicle that performs a given task (agricultural work such as plowing, ridge making, sowing, and rice planting) while automatically driving within a field (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). In the driving route setting device described in Patent Document 1, first, an operator manually drives the field work vehicle to perform a work drive around the perimeter of the field, and the shape of the field is recognized from the vehicle position information acquired during the drive (this driving is called teaching driving). Then, the inside of the area where the teaching drive was performed is set as the target area for automatic driving, and a driving route for the field work vehicle to drive automatically is set.

In the travel path setting device described in Patent Document 1, when setting a travel path within a target area grasped by teaching travel, an outer periphery area is set along the outer shape of the field, and a round trip area is set inside the outer periphery area. Then, within the round trip area, a first round trip route is set that travels back and forth along one of a pair of opposing sides in the outer shape of the field, and a second round trip route is set that continues travel from the end of the first round trip route and travels back and forth along the other of the pair of opposing sides in the outer shape of the field. Furthermore, within the outer periphery area, a peripheral route is set that continues travel from the end of the second round trip route and travels along the outer periphery area, and that allows the vehicle to return to an end point within the first round trip area without passing through a route that has already been worked on.

The target route generation system described in Patent Document 2 includes a storage unit that stores basic data required to generate a target route, a priority item selection unit that allows the user to select a priority item for generating the target route (at least one of maximizing the work area, minimizing the non-work driving distance, optimizing the circular driving route portion along the perimeter of the work site, and avoiding the generation of overlapping route portions), and a target route generation unit that generates a target route based on the basic data and the selected priority item, allowing the user to easily obtain a target route for automatic driving that suits the user's values, etc. For example, if the priority item is optimizing the circular driving route portion, a target route is generated in which the width of the circular driving route portion that becomes the unworked area after driving and working on the center side of the work site is the same or approximately the same as an integer multiple of the working width of the work vehicle, regardless of the shape of the work site.

JP 2019-154393 A JP 2019-101932 A

In the travel route setting device described in the above Patent Document 1, when teaching travel is performed to recognize the shape of the field, in order to increase work efficiency, the vehicle performs a given task (travels around the outer periphery) even during teaching travel. For this reason, it is not possible to travel again in the outermost area where teaching travel has been performed, as this would disturb the route that has already been worked on. This causes problems in that it is not possible to leave the field by traveling around the outermost area when a given task is completed, or to perform auxiliary work required for the field work vehicle from the outermost area during a given task (such as supplying seedlings when planting rice).

The present invention was made to solve such problems, and aims to recognize the shape of a field by performing teaching driving along the perimeter of the field, and when setting a driving route for a field work vehicle to automatically drive while performing a given task based on the recognized shape, to set a driving route that can utilize the area where teaching driving was performed for another purpose without reducing the efficiency of the given task as much as possible.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the driving path setting device of the present invention comprises a field shape recognition unit that recognizes the shape of the field based on the current position and orientation of the field work vehicle detected by the position/orientation detection device when teaching driving is performed along the periphery of the field, and a driving path setting unit that sets a work driving path for driving while performing a given task for non-work areas where a given task is not being performed after the field shape recognition unit recognizes the shape of the field.Among the areas where teaching driving has been performed, areas where the vehicle has traveled during teaching driving without performing a given task are stored as teaching driving non-work areas, and a work driving path is set for the non-work areas, including the teaching driving non-work areas.

According to the present invention configured as described above, the area traveled during teaching travel without performing a given task is stored as a teaching travel non-work area, and the work travel route is set including this teaching travel non-work area. Therefore, it is possible to set a route to travel again through this teaching travel non-work area after teaching travel, and the teaching travel non-work area can be used for another purpose. In addition, if part of the teaching travel area is set as the teaching travel non-work area and the remaining part is set as the worked area, it is not necessary to travel again through the worked area for work. As a result, when setting a route for a field work vehicle to automatically travel while performing a given task, it is possible to set a travel route that allows the teaching travel area to be used for another purpose without reducing the efficiency of the given task as much as possible.

1 is a plan view showing a schematic external configuration of a field work vehicle on which a travel route planning device according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted. 2 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of various electronic control devices mounted on the field work vehicle; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of a driving route planning device according to an embodiment of the present invention; 4A to 4C are diagrams for explaining a route setting operation by the travel route setting device according to the present embodiment. 4A to 4C are diagrams for explaining a route setting operation by the travel route setting device according to the present embodiment. 4A to 4C are diagrams for explaining a route setting operation by the travel route setting device according to the present embodiment. 4A to 4C are diagrams for explaining a route setting operation by the travel route setting device according to the present embodiment.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic external configuration of a field work vehicle 10 equipped with a travel path setting device for a field work vehicle according to this embodiment (hereinafter simply referred to as a travel path setting device). As shown in FIG. 1, the field work vehicle 10 is configured by connecting a work implement 2 to the rear of a vehicle body 1.

The field work vehicle 10 is an agricultural vehicle that runs on power from a power source provided in the vehicle body 1 and performs a given task using a work implement 2 provided at the rear of the vehicle body 1. The power source is, for example, an electric motor or an internal combustion engine. The given task refers to so-called agricultural work, and may be any agricultural work that can be performed by the work implement 2 connected to the vehicle body 1, such as fertilizing, sowing seeds, or rice planting. The work implement 2 may also be provided in front of the vehicle body 1.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of various electronic control devices mounted on the field work vehicle 10. As shown in Figure 2, the field work vehicle 10 is equipped with a travel route setting device 100, a position/orientation detection device 200, a travel control device 300, and a work machine control device 400 according to this embodiment.

The travel route setting device 100 is used to set a travel route that is the target route for the field work vehicle 10 to travel automatically through the field. The travel route setting device 100 recognizes the shape of the field by teaching travel along the perimeter of the field, and sets a travel route for the field work vehicle 10, which travels automatically while performing a given task, based on the recognized shape of the field. The specific configuration and operation of this travel route setting device 100 will be described later.

The position and orientation detection device 200 detects the current position and orientation of the field work vehicle 10, and can use known technology such as a GPS receiver or an autonomous navigation sensor. The driving control device 300 controls driving along the driving route set by the driving route setting device 100 based on the current position and orientation of the field work vehicle 10 detected by the position and orientation detection device 200.

The work machine control device 400 controls the operation of the work machine 2. For example, the work machine control device 400 controls the operation and stopping of the work machine 2. In the following, the state of traveling while the work machine 2 is operating is referred to as "work traveling", and the state of traveling with the work machine 2 stopped is referred to as "non-work traveling". The traveling control device 300 and the work machine control device 400 can control the traveling of the field work vehicle 10 and the operation of the work machine 2 by receiving instructions from the on-board controller or remote controller (hereinafter referred to as remote control) 500 of the field work vehicle 10 operated by the worker, and can also autonomously control the traveling of the field work vehicle 10 and the operation of the work machine 2 without receiving instructions from the on-board controller and remote control 500.

The field work vehicle 10 configured as described above is capable of performing a given task with the work implement 2 while traveling within a field, according to manual operation performed by a worker aboard the vehicle body 1. The field work vehicle 10 is also capable of performing a given task with the work implement 2 while traveling automatically along a travel route that is set in advance within the field by the travel route setting device 100, based on the current position and orientation detected by the position and orientation detection device 200.

Here, automatic driving refers to a state in which the driving control device 300 of the field work vehicle 10 automatically controls steering and drives the vehicle without an operator being on board the field work vehicle 10 and manually operating the steering wheel (regardless of whether an operator is on board the field work vehicle 10). In other words, automatic driving refers to a driving state that is distinct from manual driving, in which the vehicle is driven by an operator manually operating the steering wheel.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the travel route setting device 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 3(a), the travel route setting device 100 according to this embodiment is configured to include a field shape recognition unit 11 and a travel route setting unit 12 as functional components. The travel route setting device 100 also includes a route storage unit 110 as a storage medium. As shown in Figure 3(b), the travel route setting unit 12 includes, as more specific functional components, an outer perimeter area setting unit 12A, a round trip area setting unit 12B, a round trip route setting unit 12C, and a circular route setting unit 12D.

The above-mentioned functional blocks 11-12 can be configured using any of hardware, DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and software. For example, when configured using software, the above-mentioned functional blocks 11-12 are actually configured with a computer's CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and are realized by the operation of a driving route setting program stored in a recording medium such as RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory.

Figures 4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining the route setting operation by the driving route setting device 100. Below, the functions and operations of each of the functional blocks 11 to 12 and 12A to 12D shown in Figure 3 will be explained with reference to Figures 4 and 5.

As shown in Figures 4(a) and 5(a), the field shape recognition unit 11 recognizes the shape of the field based on the current position and direction of the field work vehicle 10 detected by the position and direction detection device 200 when teaching driving is performed by manual driving along the perimeter of the field. During this teaching driving, the operator can perform work driving by pressing an operation button on the on-board controller or remote control 500, or non-work driving can be performed without pressing the operation button. The field shape recognition unit 11 stores the area where non-work driving was performed during teaching driving in the route memory unit 110 as a teaching driving non-work area, and stores the area where work driving was performed during teaching driving in the route memory unit 110 as a worked area.

In the example shown in Figures 4 and 5, the area traveled from the start position SP around the periphery of the field along three sides is stored in the route memory unit 110 as the teaching travel area. In the following description, one straight section is considered to be one stroke. In the example of Figures 4(a) and 5(a), the area of the first stroke traveled from the start position SP along the left side of the field, followed by the area of the second stroke traveled along the top side, and then the area of the third stroke traveled along the right side are stored as the teaching travel area.

Here, when performing teaching driving, the worker can operate the operation buttons on the on-board controller or remote control 500 to set one (or two) of the three areas of the first to third steps as non-work driving, and the remaining two (or one) as work driving. The field shape recognition unit 11 detects whether or not the operation button has been operated during teaching driving, and based on the detection result, stores the area where non-work driving has been performed in the route memory unit 110 as a teaching driving non-work area, and stores the area where work driving has been performed in the route memory unit 110 as a worked area.

In the examples of Figures 4(a) and 5(a), the first stroke is non-work travel, and the second and third strokes are work travel. For ease of explanation, in order to visually distinguish the non-work travel area from the work travel area, the non-work travel area is shown only with dashed arrows, and the work travel area is shown with a solid arrow with a stroke frame. The stroke frame is a rectangular frame with a width of one stroke (hereinafter referred to as the stroke width) that is approximately equal to the width of the work machine 2. The stroke frame is hatched to indicate an area where manual travel is performed.

As shown in Figures 4(b)-(d) and 5(b)-(d), the travel route setting unit 12 sets a work travel route for a non-work area where a given work is not being performed after the field shape recognition unit 11 recognizes the shape of the field. By recognizing the shape of the field through teaching travel, it becomes possible to recognize the shape of the non-work area as well, and a travel route can be set for the non-work area. Here, the travel route setting unit 12 sets a work travel route for the non-work area, including the teaching travel non-work area (the area of the first stroke shown in Figures 4(a) and 5(a)) stored in the route memory unit 110 by the field shape recognition unit 11.

As shown in FIG. 4(b) and FIG. 5(b), the outer perimeter area setting unit 12A of the travel route setting unit 12 sets the outer perimeter area OCA according to the external shape of the field, including the teaching travel non-work area stored in the route memory unit 110. The round trip area setting unit 12B sets the round trip area RTA inside the outer perimeter area OCA. The outer perimeter area OCA is a one-stroke wide area that is set on the periphery according to the shape of the field, targeting areas in the field other than the worked area stored in the route memory unit 110 by the field shape recognition unit 11 during teaching travel. The one-stroke wide area stored in the route memory unit 110 as the teaching travel non-work area is included in this area other than the worked area.

As shown in Fig. 4(c) and Fig. 5(c), the round trip path setting unit 12C sets a round trip path for round trip travel in the round trip area RTA following the teaching travel. The round trip path setting unit 12C sets a route for round trip travel parallel to one of the multiple sides that make up the outline of the field. In Fig. 4(c), a route for round trip travel parallel to the left and right sides of the field is set. In contrast, in Fig. 5(c), a route for round trip travel parallel to the top and bottom sides of the field is set. The difference will be described in detail later.

The round trip route set within the round trip area RTA is a route along which the field work vehicle 10 travels automatically while performing a given task. Since this round trip route is a work travel route, it is shown with a solid arrow with a journey frame. The journey frame is not hatched so that it can be visually distinguished as an area for automatic travel from the above-mentioned area for manual travel (area with a hatched journey frame).

The circular route setting unit 12D sets a circular route that continues traveling from the end of the round trip route and travels around the outer circumferential area OCA, as shown in Figures 4(d) and 5(d). The circular route set in the outer circumferential area OCA is a route along which the field work vehicle 10 travels automatically or manually while performing a given task. The end of this circular route becomes the end position GP of the series of travel routes that start from the position after the teaching travel. Data indicating the travel route set in this manner is stored in the route memory unit 110 and is used for control by the travel control device 300 and the work machine control device 400.

Figure 4 shows an example of a travel route that is set when the teaching travel non-work area is used as a route for the field work vehicle 10 to exit the field after a given task is completed. Figure 5 shows an example of a travel route that is set when the teaching travel non-work area is used as an area for performing auxiliary tasks for the field work vehicle 10 during a given task (such as supplying seedlings during rice planting).

For example, in a field where a slope is formed at the entrance and exit of the field and the field work vehicle 10 can only travel in the direction indicated by the arrow Y in FIG. 4, the travel path setting unit 12 sets the work travel path of the outer periphery area OCA and the round trip area RTA so that the field work vehicle 10 can exit the field while performing a given task in the teaching travel non-work area, as shown in FIG. 4(c) and (d). That is, the travel path setting unit 12 sets a travel path that can exit the field by traveling round trip through the round trip area RTA, circling the outer periphery area OCA, and traveling in reverse through the first path stored as the teaching travel non-work area. In this travel path, the start position SP and the end position GP coincide.

In addition, in order to enable the teaching travel non-working area to be used as an area for performing auxiliary work on the field work vehicle 10, the travel path setting unit 12 may set the work travel paths of the outer circumferential area OCA and the round trip area RTA so as to include a round trip path that is non-parallel to the teaching travel non-working area, as shown in Figures 5(c) and (d). In this case, the travel path setting unit 12 sets a travel path that travels around the outer circumferential area OCA after performing a round trip in the round trip area RTA so as to be non-parallel to the teaching travel non-working area.

In this travel route, it is not essential that the start position SP and the end position GP coincide. In the example of FIG. 5, the start position SP and the end position GP are different. In the example of FIG. 5, it is also possible to set a travel route in which the start position SP and the end position GP coincide by moving from the upper left point where the round-trip route ends to the start position SP by non-work travel in the first course of the teaching travel area, and then traveling around the four courses of the outer peripheral area OCA by work travel. Such a travel route can also be set as a travel route when the teaching travel non-work area is used to exit the field. However, in this travel route, the number of courses of the round-trip route is greater than that in FIG. 4, and the first course of the teaching travel area is traveled three times, so it is preferable to set a travel route that travels round-trip along the long side of the field as shown in FIG. 4.

Which of the driving routes to be set by the driving route setting unit 12, between the driving route when the teaching driving non-work area is used to exit the field and the driving route when the teaching driving non-work area is used for auxiliary work, is determined in advance, for example, by a driving route setting program. Alternatively, the worker may be able to select which driving route to set by operating the user interface of the on-board controller or remote control 500.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a travel route set by the travel route setting unit 12 when non-work travel is performed in the second step of the teaching travel area. This FIG. 6 shows a travel route when the teaching travel non-work area of the second step is used for auxiliary work for the field work vehicle 10, and shows a state (c) up to the point where a reciprocating route has been set for the reciprocating area RTA by the reciprocating route setting unit 12C, and a state (d) where a circular route has been set for the outer circumferential area OCA. When the second step of the teaching travel area is set as the teaching travel non-work travel area, the travel route setting unit 12 sets a travel route that travels reciprocally in the reciprocating area RTA so as to be non-parallel to the area of the second step, and then travels in a circular manner around the outer circumferential area OCA.

Figure 7 shows an example where the shape of the field is a trapezoid. This figure shows an example of teaching travel in which a path along one of the two legs forming the opposite sides of the trapezoid, which is the hypotenuse, is the first step, and a path along the other leg is the third step. This figure also shows an example of a travel path that is set when non-work travel is performed in the first step of the teaching travel area. This figure also shows a travel path when the teaching travel non-work area is used for auxiliary work for the field work vehicle 10, and shows a state (c) up to the point where a round-trip path has been set for the round-trip area RTA by the round-trip path setting unit 12C, and a state (d) where a circular path has been set for the outer circumferential area OCA.

In the example of FIG. 7, the round-trip path setting unit 12C sets a first round-trip path that travels back and forth parallel to the third stroke of the teaching travel area (the area along the other leg of the trapezoid), and then sets a second round-trip path that travels back and forth parallel to the first stroke of the teaching travel area (the area along one leg of the trapezoid). In this case, an overlapping area occurs between the first round-trip path and the second round-trip path. In this overlapping area, a part of the first round-trip path that travels first is set as a non-working travel path, and the second round-trip path that travels later is set as a working travel path. When the round-trip paths are set as in FIG. 7, the first round-trip path is non-parallel to the area of the first stroke that is stored as the teaching travel non-working area.

The method by which the travel route setting unit 12 sets the travel route for the outer circumferential area OCA and the round trip area RTA may be any method that satisfies the above-mentioned purpose of use. For example, the method described in Patent Document 1 may be applied.

As described above in detail, this embodiment includes a field shape recognition unit 11 that recognizes the shape of the field based on the current position and orientation of the field work vehicle 10 detected by the position/orientation detection device 200 when teaching travel is made along the periphery of the field, and a travel path setting unit 12 that sets a work travel path for the non-work area after the shape of the field is recognized by teaching travel. The area traveled during teaching travel without performing a given task is stored as a teaching travel non-work area, and the area traveled during teaching travel while performing a given task is stored as a worked area. A round trip path and a circular path are set as a work travel path for the non-work area (the outer periphery area OCA and the round trip area RTA), including the teaching travel non-work area.

According to this embodiment configured as described above, the area traveled during teaching travel without performing a given task is stored as a teaching travel non-work area, and a work travel route is set including this teaching travel non-work area. Therefore, it is possible to set a route to travel again through this teaching travel non-work area after teaching travel, and the teaching travel non-work area can be used for another purpose. In addition, if a part of the teaching travel area is set as a teaching travel non-work area and the remaining part is set as a worked area, it is not necessary to travel again through the worked area for work. This makes it possible to set a travel route that allows the area traveled during teaching travel to be used for another purpose without reducing the efficiency of the given task as much as possible.

In the above embodiment, the field work vehicle 10 is configured to include the travel route setting device 100, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the travel route setting device 100 may be installed outside the field work vehicle 10, and the field work vehicle 10 may be configured to include a route data storage device that stores data on the travel route set by the travel route setting device 100.

In the above embodiment, an example is described in which a round-trip route is set to travel back and forth parallel to one of the sides of the outline of the field, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a round-trip route may be set to travel diagonally at a predetermined angle to one of the sides of the outline of the field.

In addition, the above embodiments are merely examples of how the present invention can be implemented, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be interpreted in a limiting manner based on these. In other words, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from its gist or main features.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 11 Field shape recognition unit 12 Travel route setting unit 12A Outer perimeter area setting unit 12B Round trip area setting unit 12C Round trip route setting unit 12D Circulation route setting unit 100 Travel route setting device 110 Route storage unit 200 Position/direction detection device 300 Travel control device 400 Work machine control device

Claims (7)

A device for recognizing a shape of a field by teaching travel along the periphery of the field, and setting a travel route for a field work vehicle traveling while performing a given work based on the recognized shape of the field,
a field shape recognition unit that recognizes the shape of the field based on a current position and direction of the field work vehicle detected by a position and direction detection device when the teaching travel is performed along the periphery of the field;
a travel path setting unit that sets a work travel path for traveling while performing the given work in a non-work area where the given work is not being performed after the field shape recognition unit recognizes the shape of the field,
the farm field shape recognition unit stores, among the areas where the teaching travel has been performed, an area where the robot has traveled during the teaching travel without performing the given work as a teaching travel non-work area;
The travel route setting device for a field work vehicle, wherein the travel route setting unit sets the work travel route for the non-work area, including the teaching travel non-work area. the field shape recognition unit further stores, among the areas where the teaching travel has been performed, an area where the given work has been performed during the teaching travel as a worked area;
The travel route setting unit is
an outer perimeter area setting unit that sets an outer perimeter area according to the outer shape of the field recognized by the field shape recognition unit, but not including the worked area and including the teaching travel non-work area;
a reciprocating region setting unit that sets a reciprocating region inside the outer circumferential region;
a round-trip route setting unit that sets a round-trip route for traveling round-trip within the round-trip area;
2. The travel route setting device for a field work vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a circuit route setting unit that sets a circuit route for continuing travel from an end of the round trip route and traveling in a circle around the outer periphery area. The travel path setting device for a field work vehicle as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the field shape recognition unit detects whether a work machine for performing the given work is in operation or not, and stores an area where teaching travel has been performed while the work machine is not in operation as the teaching travel non-work area, and stores an area where teaching travel has been performed while the work machine is in operation as a worked area. The travel route setting device for a field work vehicle described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the travel route setting unit sets the work travel route so that the vehicle can exit the field while performing the given work in the teaching travel non-work area. The travel route setting device for a field work vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the travel route setting unit sets the work travel route so as to include a round trip route that is non-parallel to the teaching travel non-work area. A method for determining a travel route for a farm work vehicle that travels while performing a given task, based on the recognized shape of the field, by performing teaching travel along an outer periphery of the field, the method comprising:
a first step in which a field shape recognition unit of a travel route setting device recognizes a shape of the field based on a current position and direction of a field work vehicle detected by a position/direction detection device when the field work vehicle travels along the periphery of the field during the teaching travel;
a second step in which a travel route setting unit of the travel route setting device sets a work travel route for traveling while performing the given work in a non-work area in which the given work is not being performed, after the field shape recognition unit recognizes the field shape,
In the first step, the field shape recognition unit stores an area in which the teaching travel has been performed without performing the given work during the teaching travel as a teaching travel non-work area,
A method for setting a travel path for a field work vehicle, characterized in that in the second step, the travel path setting unit sets the work travel path for the non-work area, including the teaching travel non-work area. A travel route setting program that causes a computer to execute a process of recognizing a shape of a field by teaching travel along an outer periphery of the field, and setting a travel route for a field work vehicle that travels while performing a given work based on the recognized shape of the field,
a field shape recognition means for recognizing a shape of the field based on a current position and direction of the field work vehicle detected by a position/direction detection device when the field work vehicle makes the teaching travel along the periphery of the field; and a travel route setting means for setting a work travel route for traveling while performing the given work in a non-work area where the given work is not being performed after the field shape recognition means has recognized the shape of the field,
the farm field shape recognition means stores, among the areas where the teaching travel has been performed, an area where the robot has traveled during the teaching travel without performing the given work as a teaching travel non-work area;
A program for setting a travel path for a field work vehicle, wherein the travel path setting means sets the work travel path for the non-work area, including the teaching travel non-work area.