A fill control system on a harvester detects that a receiving vehicle is to be repositioned relative to the harvester. The fill control system generates a signal indicative of how the receiving vehicle is to be repositioned relative to the harvester. The harvester sends the signal to a mobile device that is remote from the harvester. A mobile device receives an indication from a fill control system on a harvester that indicates how a receiving vehicle is to be repositioned relative to the harvester. The mobile device controls a user interface mechanism to generate an output indicating how the receiving vehicle is to be repositioned relative to the harvester.

The invention provides an unloading system which can be arranged to move a bin or box a distance away from metering equipment of an agricultural machine, such as a dry pneumatic applicator, to allow access to bottom oriented-gates of the bin and retractable chutes for directing particulate material out of the bin and away from the machine. In one aspect, the bin can be lifted or vertically raised by one or more cylinders to allow access to the bottom gates and allow gravity to empty the material from the box, through the bottom gates, down one or more chutes directed to a particular area. One or more hoppers of the bin, typically 1 to 4, can each have a bottom positioned slide gate or door that can be operated to expose a chute for emptying the material out of the box.

An apparatus for feeding or conveying grain includes (i) a conveyor for moving grain and having an input end and an output end, and (ii) a viscous clutch either directly or indirectly connected to the input end of the conveyor for transmitting torque from an input component to the conveyor in a variable manner. A method of feeding or conveying grain using the conveyor includes operating the viscous clutch to transmit torque from the input component to the conveyor.

An agricultural product delivery applicator for delivering particulate product to a field. The applicator comprises a bin to hold the product, a pneumatic conveying system to provide an airflow, a metering system operably connected between the supply compartment and the pneumatic conveying system, and a rail system. The metering system meters product with the airflow to result in a mixed flow of airflow and product. The rail system includes first and second foldable rails.

An extendable and retractable conveyor comprises a hopper for receiving agricultural product a housing having an inlet and an outlet that are separated by a fixed distance, the inlet being adjacent to the hopper for receiving the agricultural product from the hopper. The conveyor may include a belt conveyor disposed within the housing for conveying the agricultural product from the inlet to the outlet, the conveyor defining a direction of conveyance. The conveyor further includes a hood connected to the outlet for deflecting the agricultural product relative to the direction of conveyance. The conveyor further includes a movable spout that is slidably connected to the tube and disposed beneath the hood to receive the agricultural product from the hood, the movable spout being slidable in a direction parallel to the direction of conveyance to thereby extend or retract the conveyor.

A control system includes a controller configured to determine a target speed between a first target position of a haul vehicle relative to a harvester and a second target position of the haul vehicle relative to the harvester based on a flow rate of agricultural product through a conveyor of the harvester. The haul vehicle is coupled to a storage compartment, an outlet of the conveyor is aligned with a first unloading point within the storage compartment while the haul vehicle is positioned at the first target position, and the outlet of the conveyor is aligned with a second unloading point within the storage compartment while the haul vehicle is positioned at the second target position. Furthermore, the controller is configured to output a control signal indicative of instructions to direct the haul vehicle from the first target position to the second target position at the target speed.

A vehicle automated unloading system may include a fill model and an unloading controller. The fill model is a model of a fill characteristic of a container as a function of variables comprising material unloading times, material unloading rates and material unloading locations. The unloading controller is to (a) determine a current model-based fill characteristic of the container using the dynamic fill model and (b) output control signals to adjust at least one of a material unloading time, a material unloading rate and a material unloading location based upon the current model-based fill characteristic of the container.

Described herein are technologies that use LIDAR and computer vision to detect locations of receiving vehicles grouped together relative to a forage harvester and detect fill levels of crop material within each receiving vehicle and path and landing position of material expelled from the harvester into a bin of a receiving vehicle of the group. Such information is used as feedback for operating the harvester or one or more self-propelled vehicles moving the receiving vehicles. Some embodiments detect ground level in front of the harvester or the receiving vehicles and use such information as feedback. Some embodiments include a link to communicate the feedback to a GUI for user visualization of the feedback and semi-automated operations. For example, readings from LIDAR and a camera of the harvester detect a position and a crop material fill level for each receiving vehicle in the group, and the GUI outputs the information.

Described herein are technologies that use LIDAR and computer vision to detect a location of a receiving vehicle relative to a forage harvester, fill levels of crop material within the receiving vehicle, and path and landing position of material expelled from the forage harvester and received by a bin of the receiving vehicle. The technologies use such information as feedback for operating the harvester or the receiving vehicle. Some embodiments detect ground level in front of the harvester or the receiving vehicle, and such information is used as feedback too. Some embodiments include a link to communicate the feedback to a GUI for user visualization of the feedback and semi-automated operations of the harvester or the receiving vehicle. For example, readings from LIDAR and a camera of the harvester detect a topography of the material deposited in the bin of the receiving vehicle, and a GUI outputs the topography.

A system for controlling an unloading system of an agricultural harvester includes a frame. A crop unloading system includes an unloading tube operably coupled to the frame and a spout operably coupled with the unloading tube. The crop unloading system is configured to discharge harvested crop from the agricultural harvester. A computing system is communicatively coupled to a user interface and the crop unloading system. The computing system is configured to store a predetermined unloading position based on a defined location of the unloading tube and a defined location of the spout received through one or more inputs. When an input is actuated for a minimum threshold, the computing system controls an operation of one or more actuators such that the unloading system is moved relative to the frame from a current position to the predetermined unloading position.