Ultrasonic sensors for field roughness measurement

Abstract

A system measures the roughness of the ground surface over which an agricultural implement passes as measured in the direction of travel. The system includes at least one ground sensor attached to the agricultural implement that provides measurement of the distance to the ground. A controller is connected to the at least one ground sensor, and controls at least one adjustment of the agricultural implement. The at least one ground sensor provides instantaneous output based on the distance to the ground to the controller. The controller then calculates at least one statistical parameter from the instantaneous output. The at least one statistical parameter is calculated from variations in the distance to the ground in the direction of travel of the agricultural implement.

Claims

1. A system for measuring the roughness in the direction of travel of an implement of the ground surface over which the implement passes, the system comprising: at least one ground sensor comprising at least one rear ground sensor, said at least one ground sensor providing measurement of the distance to the ground; a controller connected to said at least one ground sensor, said controller controlling at least one adjustment of the implement; said at least one ground sensor providing to the controller instantaneous output based on the distance to the ground; the controller calculating at least one statistical parameter from said instantaneous output of said at least one ground sensor, said at least one statistical parameter being calculated from variations in the distance to the ground in the direction of travel of the implement, said at least one statistical parameter further comprising at least one statistical parameter calculated from instantaneous output received from said at least one rear ground sensor.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein: said at least one statistical parameter further comprises one of the variance and the average variance in the distance to the ground in the direction of travel of the implement.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein: said at least one ground sensor further comprises at least one front ground sensor; and said at least one statistical parameter further comprises at least one statistical parameter calculated from instantaneous output received from said at least one front ground sensor.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein: said controller further calculates a difference between said at least one statistical parameter calculated from instantaneous output received from said at least one front ground sensor and said at least one statistical parameter calculated from instantaneous output received from said at least one rear ground sensor.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein: said controller controls said at least one adjustment of the implement based on said at least one statistical parameter.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein: said controller being connected to a position locating system, said controller correlating said at least one statistical parameter to a location.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein: said location correlated at least one statistical parameter being used in a subsequent operation.

8. A method for measuring the roughness in the direction of travel of an implement having at least one ground engaging component of the ground surface over which the implement passes, comprising the steps of: providing at least one ground sensor at least one rear ground sensor attached to the implement rearward of the at least one ground engaging component, said at least one ground sensor providing measurement of the distance to the ground; providing a controller connected to the at least one ground sensor, said controller controlling at least one adjustment of the implement; said at least one ground sensor providing to the controller instantaneous output based on the distance to the ground; and the controller calculating at least one statistical parameter from said instantaneous output of said at least one ground sensor, said at least one statistical parameter being calculated from variations in the distance to the ground in the direction of travel of the implement, said at least one statistical parameter further comprises at least one statistical parameter calculated from instantaneous output received from said at least one rear ground sensor.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein: said at least one statistical parameter further comprises one of the variance and the average variance in the distance to the ground in the direction of travel of the implement.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein: said at least one ground sensor further comprises at least one front ground sensor attached to the implement forward of the at least one ground engaging component; and said at least one statistical parameter further comprises at least one statistical parameter calculated from instantaneous output received from said at least one front ground sensor.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of: said controller calculating a difference between said at least one statistical parameter calculated from instantaneous output received from said at least one front ground sensor and said at least one statistical parameter calculated from instantaneous output received from said at least one rear ground sensor.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of: said controller controlling said at least one adjustment of the implement based on said at least one statistical parameter.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein: said controller being connected to a position locating system, said controller correlating said at least one statistical parameter to a location.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein: said location correlated at least one statistical parameter being used in a subsequent operation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of the invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of an embodiment of an agricultural tillage implement incorporating the present invention, in the form of a field cultivator;

(3) FIG. 2 is a side view of the agricultural tillage implement shown in FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a partial rear perspective view of an embodiment of an agricultural tillage implement incorporating the present invention, in the form of a field cultivator; and

(5) FIG. 4 is a partial front perspective view of an embodiment of an agricultural tillage implement incorporating the present invention, in the form of a field cultivator; and

(6) FIG. 5 is a graphical representation of an embodiment of an agricultural tillage implement incorporating the present invention, in the form of a field cultivator.

(7) Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate embodiments of the invention, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(8) The terms “agricultural tillage implement,” “field cultivator,” and “ultrasonic sensor” are used principally throughout this specification for convenience but it is to be understood that these terms are not intended to be limiting. Thus, “agricultural tillage implement” or “field cultivator” may refer to any type of ground engaging agricultural or industrial implement. “Ultrasonic sensor” refers to a sensor that measures distance without physical contact using sound waves, but should not be construed as limiting and may represent an another type of sensor that functions to measure distance remotely and at high resolution, such as radar, infrared, laser, or sonar, as non-limiting examples.

(9) Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown an embodiment of an agricultural tillage implement incorporating the present invention. In the illustrated embodiment, the agricultural tillage implement 10 is in the form of a field cultivator for tilling and finishing soil prior to seeding. However, the present invention may be embodied in a planter, disk harrow, disk ripper, in-line ripper, or vertical tillage implement, as non-limiting examples. Further, the present invention may be embodied in a non-agricultural machine, such as a bulldozer, grader, trencher, snow plough, landfill or soil compactor, or mining excavator, as nonlimiting examples. Further, the present invention is shown as being incorporated into a towed implement, whereas it is contemplated that a self-powered machine is also within the scope of the invention.

(10) Agricultural tillage implement 10 is configured as a multi-section field cultivator, and includes a main frame section 12 and a plurality of wing sections 14A, 14B, 16A, 16B, 18A, and 18B. The left wings sections are designated 14A, 16A and 18A, and the right wing sections are designated 14B, 16B and 18B. Wing sections 14A and 14B are each inner wing sections, wing sections 16A and 16B are each middle wing sections, and wing sections 18A and 18B are each outer wing sections. Main frame section 12 is the center section that is directly towed by a traction unit, such as an agricultural tractor (not shown). Main frame section 12 includes a pull hitch tube 20 extending in a travel direction 22, and a tool bar 24 which is coupled with and extends transverse to pull hitch tube 20. Main frame section 12 generally functions to carry a main shank frame 28 for tilling the soil, and a main rear auxiliary implement 30 for finishing the soil. Main rear auxiliary implement 30 includes a spring tooth drag 32 and a rolling (aka, crumbler) basket 34 which coact with each other to finish the soil. However, main rear auxiliary implement 30 can be differently configured, such as a spike tooth drag, cultivator shanks, etc.

(11) Main shank frame 28 generally functions to carry cultivator shanks 36 with shovels 38 at their lower ends for tilling the soil. Main frame section 12 may be raised up and down using rear lift wheels 52 using hydraulic cylinder 54 and using hydraulic cylinder 55 connected to pull hitch 124. Main shank frame 28 also includes one or more gauge wheel assemblies 56 which function to level main shank frame 28. In the illustrated embodiment, main shank frame 28 includes two gauge wheel assemblies 56. Toolbar lift wheels 53 may be used to raise and lower wing sections 14A, 14B, 16A, 16B, 18A, and 18B along with the main frame section 12, using hydraulic cylinders 58. Another hydraulic cylinder 60 may further raise or lower the main shank frame 28 independent of the main frame section 12.

(12) Wing front shank frames 66A, 66B, 66C, 66D, 66E, and 66F of the wing sections 14A, 14B, 16A, 168, 18A, and 18B may be further raised and lowered using hydraulic cylinders 68, and may include one or more gauge wheel assemblies 70 which function to level the wing front shank frames 66A, 66B, 66C, 66D, 66E, and 66F. Wing section rear auxiliary implements 78, which may include spring tooth drags, crumbler baskets, spike tooth drags, cultivator shanks, or any combination thereof, may also be further raised and lowered. Diagonally angled draft tubes 72 extend between a forward end of pull hitch tube 20 and a respective tool bar 24 associated with the pair of middle wing sections 16A and 16B. Left main fold hydraulic cylinder 116A and right main fold hydraulic cylinder 116B may fold wing sections 14A, 14B, 16A, 16B, 18A, and 188 forward for transport as needed.

(13) A controller 80 may be provided for controlling the various hydraulic cylinders and functions of the field cultivator 10.

(14) Turning now to FIG. 3, there is shown a partial isometric rear view of a field cultivator 10. Wing section rear auxiliary implements 78 are attached to the toolbar 24 of the wing sections 14, 16, 18, so that the wing section rear auxiliary implements 78 are pulled along in the travel direction 22. Toolbar lift wheels 53 are connected to the toolbar 24 of the wing sections 14, 16, 18 by way of hydraulic cylinders 58, so that the wing sections 14, 16, 18 may be raised and lowered using the hydraulic cylinders 58. The wing section rear auxiliary implements 78 may be provided with cultivator shanks 36, in addition to the cultivator shanks of the wing front shank frames 66 (not shown in FIG. 3). The cultivator shanks 36 of both the wing section rear auxiliary implements 78, if provided, and those of the wing front shank frames 66 have shovels for tilling the ground. The wing section rear auxiliary implements 78 are, for example, provided with spring tooth drags 32 and crumbler baskets 34.

(15) The field cultivator 10 is further provided with one or more rear ground sensors 40 which may be ultrasonic ground sensors 40. Alternately, the ground sensors 40 may be another type of sensor that functions to measure distance remotely and at high resolution, such as radar, infrared, laser, or sonar, as non-limiting examples. The rear ground sensors 40 are shown attached to the wing section rear auxiliary implements 78 so that they sense the ground after it has been worked by the cultivator shanks 36 of the field cultivator 10. As shown, the rear ground sensors 40 are attached to the wing section rear auxiliary implement 78 subsequent to the cultivator shanks 36.

(16) Alternately, the rear ground sensors 40 may be attached rearward of the spring tooth drags 32 and/or the crumbler baskets 34, or may be attached to the toolbar 24 just to the rear of the main shank frame 28 and wing front shank frames 66 (not shown in FIG. 3). The rear ground sensors 40 are connected to the controller 80 (not shown in FIG. 3), so that output from the rear ground sensors 40 is used by the controller to determine the relative roughness in the direction of travel of the field over which the field cultivator 10 has passed, thereby giving an indication of the quality of work performed by the agricultural implement. Alternately, the output from the rear ground sensors 40 is passed to a controller or other device in the towing vehicle (not shown). The controller 80 or other device, whether connected directly to the field cultivator 10 or carried by the towing vehicle, may utilize this information to make adjustments to the field cultivator 10 using the hydraulic cylinders 54, 55, 58, 60, and 68. The controller 80 may be an electrical processing circuit (EPC), which EPC may be configured as any type of suitable processor, such as a digital controller, an analog processor, hardwired components, or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

(17) Turning now to FIG. 4, there is shown a partial isometric front view of a field cultivator 10. The main frame section 12 again includes a toolbar 24 and a main shank frame 28. Wing sections, of which only left inner wing section 14A and right inner wing section 14B are visible, have left inner wing front shank frame 66A and right inner wing front shank frame 66B, respectively. A pull hitch tube 20 extends in the travel direction 22 so that the field cultivator 10 may be attached to a towing vehicle (not shown). Rear lift wheels 52 are attached to the main frame section 12 and are actuated by hydraulic cylinders 54, so that the rear lift wheels 52 may be used to raise and lower the main frame section 12. Additional hydraulic cylinders 58 actuate toolbar lift wheels 53 (not shown) in order to raise and lower the wing sections 14, 16, 18 in similar manner. Each of the main shank frame 28 and wing front shank frames 66 is provided with multiple cultivator shanks 36 having shovels 38 for tilling the ground. Main shank frame 28 also includes one or more gauge wheel assemblies 56 which function to level main shank frame 28. In the illustrated embodiment, main shank frame 28 includes two gauge wheel assemblies 56. Another hydraulic cylinder 60 may further raise or lower the main shank frame 28 independent of the main frame section 12. A main rear auxiliary implement 30 including spring tooth drags 32 and crumbler baskets 34 (not shown) may be attached to the main shank frame 28. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, one or more front ground sensors 42 precede the cultivator shanks 36. These again may be ultrasonic ground sensors 42, or may be another type of sensor that functions to measure distance remotely and at high resolution, such as radar, infrared, laser, or sonar, as non-limiting examples. The front ground sensors 42 are shown attached to the front of the main shank frame 28, as well as to the front of the wing front shank frames 66. The front ground sensors 42, which are also connected to the controller 80 (not shown in FIG. 4), again provide output to the controller 80 or to another device in the towing vehicle (not shown). The output from the front ground sensors 42 is used by the controller to determine the relative roughness in the direction of travel of the field over which the field cultivator is about to pass, which may be compared to the relative roughness in the direction of travel of the field after the field cultivator has passed over it. This gives further indication of the quality of work performed by the agricultural implement.

(18) As shown in FIG. 5, the controller 80 of the field cultivator 10 stores and uses the instantaneous output O.sub.RGS provided by the rear ground sensors 40 and the instantaneous output O.sub.FGS provided by the front ground sensors 42, if applicable, to calculate an average variance AV.sub.RGS and AV.sub.FGS in the surface of the ground as the agricultural implement moves in the travel direction for the after working and before working positions, respectively. In order to accomplish this, the controller 80 implements statistical postprocessing to convert the instantaneous output O.sub.RGS, O.sub.FGS into useful statistical parameters, such as average variance AV.sub.RGS, AV.sub.FGS. This may include plotting the ground vertical displacement over time or over distance as shown. In other words, the controller 80 calculates the average variance AV.sub.FGS in the surface of the ground as the agricultural implement moves in the travel direction prior to the ground being worked using the output O.sub.FGS of the front ground sensors 42.

(19) The controller 80 calculates the average variance AV.sub.RGS in the surface of the ground as the agricultural implement moves in the travel direction after the ground has been worked using the output O.sub.RGS of the rear ground sensors 40. When both front and rear ground sensors 40 and 42 are used, the change in average variance ΔAV in the surface of the ground from before being worked by the field cultivator 10 to after being worked by the field cultivator 10 is calculated by the controller 80, thereby giving an indication of the quality of work being performed by the agricultural implement. This may be presented as a changing value as shown, or may be presented in graphical format. When only the rear ground sensors 40 that sense the ground after it has been worked by the cultivator shanks 36 of the field cultivator 10 are used, the controller 80 compares the average variance AV.sub.RGS calculated from the output O.sub.RGS of the rear ground sensors 40 to a target value, thereby giving an indication of the quality of work being performed by the agricultural implement.

(20) The controller 80 or other device, whether connected directly to the field cultivator 10 or carried by the towing vehicle, may again utilize the average variance AV.sub.RGS and AV.sub.FGS and/or the change in average variance ΔAV of the ground surface to make adjustments to the field cultivator 10 using the hydraulic cylinders 54, 55, 58, 60, and 68. A single rear ground sensor 40 or a single rear ground sensor 40 and a single front ground sensor 42 may be used to determine the average variance AV.sub.RGS and AV.sub.FGS and/or the change in average variance ΔAV of the surface of the ground for the entire agricultural implement 10. Alternately, a rear ground sensor 40 or a rear ground sensor 40 and a front ground sensor 42 may be used to determine the average variance AV.sub.RGS and AV.sub.FGS and/or the change in average variance ΔAV of the surface of the ground for each section of the agricultural implement 10, for example for the main shank frame 28 and each of the left inner wing section 14A, right inner wing section 14B, left middle wing section 16A, right middle wing section 16B, left outer wing section 18A, and right outer wing section 18B.

(21) In another embodiment, the controller 80 or other device which receives the output O.sub.RGS, O.sub.FGS of the rear ground sensor or sensors 40 and/or the front ground sensor or sensors 42 incorporates or is connected to a position locating system 82 such as GPS. In this way, the average variance AV.sub.RGS of the surface of the ground after having been worked by the agricultural implement 10 and/or the change in average variance ΔAV of the surface of the ground from before having been worked by the agricultural implement 10 to after having been worked by the agricultural implement 10 is correlated with the physical location of the agricultural implement 10.

(22) This information may be recorded in, for example, a field mapping system, which field mapping system may be remote or may be directly incorporated within the controller 80. The location correlated ground surface average variance information AV.sub.RGS and AV.sub.FGS and/or change in ground surface average variance information ΔAV may subsequently be used by the controller 80 and/or one or more controllers within the towing vehicle during subsequent agricultural operations, such as fertilizing or seeding. For example, recorded location correlated ground surface average variance AV.sub.RGS that indicates an area of high ground surface roughness may be used by such controllers to set a low forward speed of the towing vehicle when subsequently seeding. Other factors that may be varied as a result of recorded location correlated ground surface average variance information AV.sub.RGS and AV.sub.FGS may include, but are not limited to, seeding depth, seeding density, and fertilizer application rate. Furthermore, the recorded location correlated ground surface average variance information AV.sub.RGS and AV.sub.FGS may be used during subsequent passes of the agricultural tillage implement 10 itself in making adjustments to the agricultural tillage implement 10.

(23) Whether the controller 80 is using the average variance AV.sub.RGS and AV.sub.FGS and/or the change in average variance ΔAV of the ground surface to make adjustments to the field cultivator 10 using the hydraulic cylinders 54, 55, 58, 60, and 68 during an individual pass, or whether the controller 80 and/or one or more controllers within the towing vehicle is using recorded location correlated ground surface average variance AV.sub.RGS and AV.sub.FGS and/or change in average ground surface average variance ΔAV to make adjustments during subsequent agricultural operations, the controller 80 may incorporate one or more algorithms, learning routines, or fuzzy logic to recognize the significance of trends or momentary changes within the sensor output O.sub.RGS, O.sub.FGS or recorded data. Further, the controller 80 may incorporate one or more algorithms, learning routines, or fuzzy logic to recognize how changes to settings of the agricultural implement 10 affect the desired ground surface average variance AV.sub.RGS and/or change in average ground surface average variance ΔAV. In this way, the controller 80 may continuously improve the performance of the agricultural tillage implement 10 according to its individual characteristics and according to unique field conditions.