METHOD FOR OPERATING A ROOT CROP CONVEYING MACHINE

Abstract

A method for operating a root crop conveying machine is provided, as well as a root crop conveying machine. Sensor data are recorded by at least one optical sensor. The optical sensor is directed to a measurement region of a flow of harvested material conveyed by at least one conveying element in a conveying direction. On the basis of the sensor data, mass data characterizing at least a mass of at least a part of the harvested material are calculated by an evaluation device. Yield data are calculated and provided by the evaluation device at least on the basis of the mass data. The yield data reflect at least the mass and/or a value calculated on the basis of the mass.

Claims

1. A method for operating a root crop conveying machine comprising the following steps: recording sensor data by means of at least one optical sensor, which is directed to a measurement region of a flow of harvested material conveyed by at least one conveying element in a conveying direction, calculating mass data characterizing at least a mass of at least a part of the harvested material by an evaluation device on the basis of the sensor data, providing, by the evaluation device, yield data calculated at least on the basis of the mass data and reflecting at least the mass and/or a value calculated on the basis of the mass, generating an adjustment signal, by the evaluation device, at least on the basis of the sensor data, the mass data, and/or the yield data, the adjustment signal for adjusting at least one separating element, which in operation is arranged along the flow in front of or behind the measurement region and acts mechanically on at least a part of the harvested material, of a separating device which is designed for separating a first part of the harvested material from a further part of the harvested material.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the evaluation device uses for the calculation of the mass data and/or for the provision of the yield data at least; sensor data of that sensor whose sensor data the evaluation device also uses for the generation of the adjustment signal.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the evaluation device for calculating the mass data and for generating the adjustment signal distinguishes between root crops comprised by the harvested material and at least some of the admixtures comprised by the harvested material.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the evaluation device, at least on the basis of the sensor data, calculates at least a number of root crops comprised by the harvested material and/or at least one dimension of at least part of the root crops.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the evaluation device generates the adjustment signal in dependence on property data characterizing a property of at least one component of the harvested material, and calculated on the basis of the sensor data, and/or in dependence on a property distribution of the root crops calculated on the basis of the sensor data.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the evaluation device calculates the yield data at least by assigning the property data or data based thereon or the property distribution or data based thereon to position or batch data.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the evaluation device calculates the yield data at least by assigning the mass data or data based thereon to position or batch data.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the evaluation device virtually reproduces a field area on which the root crop conveying machine is used on the basis of the position data, subdivides it into area sections of the same size and assigns at least a part of the mass data or data based thereon to each area section.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flow of harvested material in the measurement region is irradiated with laser light by at least one laser device at least substantially along a line of which the main direction of extent is arranged at an angle to the conveying direction, and the optical sensor records light of the laser device scattered and/or reflected by the flow.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the flow is irradiated with laser light by the laser device at least substantially along at least two lines, the main directions of extent of which are each arranged at an angle to the conveying direction.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the flow is irradiated along a first of the lines with laser light of a first wavelength and along a second of the lines with laser light of a second wavelength different from the first wavelength.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the optical sensor has at least one monochrome camera.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the evaluation device identifies, on the basis of sensor data forming the basis of a first camera image and sensor data forming the basis of a second camera image, at least one image portion of at least one of the camera images that shows at least part of a background.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the evaluation device identifies the at least one image portion on the basis of path data representing a path distance that the conveying element has traveled in the conveying direction between the recordings of the two camera images.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least on the basis of the sensor data the contours of individual root crops and/or admixtures are identified in at least one camera image of the sensor.

16. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein, at least on the basis of the sensor data, the evaluation device distinguishes at least one root crop from an admixture at least on the basis of an extent of a reflection and/or a backscattering of the laser light by the respective imaged surfaces.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the separating device is arranged downstream relative to the measurement region and in relation to the flow of harvested material.

18. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the evaluation device generates the adjustment signal in dependence on a position of an identified component to be separated, of the harvested material with respect to a transverse direction.

19. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein a plurality of ejector elements of the separating device, which are arranged next to each other as viewed in the conveying direction are activated by the adjustment signal.

20. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein that the position of a separating edge for separating root crops and admixtures, which is comprised by the separating device and is arranged below the ejector elements, is adjusted by the adjustment signal.

21. The method claimed in claim 1, wherein the evaluation device calculates the yield data at least on the basis of operating characteristic data of the root crop conveying machine.

22. The method claimed in claim 1, wherein the conveying element forms a plurality of root crop receiving regions which are located at least in portions at a lower level and which are delimited from one another both in the conveying direction and in the transverse direction by separating elements of the conveying element.

23. A root crop conveying machine comprising: at least one conveying element, an optical sensor and an evaluation device, wherein the machine performs the method as claimed in claim 1.

24. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the separating device is comprised by the root crop conveying machine.

25. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the evaluation device calculates at least a proportion of the root crops or of the admixtures in the harvested material.

26. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the property data characterizing a property includes a size of at least one component of the harvested material.

27. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the sensor data include gray values and/or depth information.

28. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the evaluation device modifies at least part of the sensor data in such a way that the image portion is at least partially removed from the camera image.

29. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the volume of individual root crops and/or admixtures are determined on the basis of stored basic data.

30. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the separating device separates admixtures from root crops.

31. The method as claimed in claim 21, wherein the evaluation device calculates the yield data on the basis of a travel speed and/or a position of share blades of the root crop conveying machine.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings, which illustrate the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention and wherein similar reference characters indicate the same parts throughout the views.

[0046] FIG. 1 is a side view of a root crop harvester according to the invention.

[0047] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a first conveying element with an optical sensor.

[0048] FIGS. 3a-4b are schematic illustrations of a second conveying element with an optical sensor.

[0049] FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of an image recorded by the optical sensor.

[0050] FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of a separating device.

[0051] FIG. 7 is a schematic flow chart of an embodiment of a method according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0052] The features of the exemplary embodiments according to the invention explained below can also be the subject of the invention individually or in combinations other than those shown or described. Where useful, functionally equivalent parts are provided with identical reference signs.

[0053] The method according to the invention is applied in particular to a root crop harvester 2 according to FIG. 1. The root crop harvester 2 comprises a plurality of conveying elements 8 and an optical sensor 4, which is shown only schematically in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows the conveying element 8 of the root crop harvester 2 above which the optical sensor 4 is arranged. During operation of the root crop harvester 2, the strand of the conveying element 8 closer to the optical sensor 4 is moved along in the conveying direction 10. The optical sensor 4 is directed here onto a stationary measurement region 6.

[0054] According to the method according to the invention, sensor data 3a, 3b are recorded by means of the optical sensor 4. The optical sensor 4 is directed here onto the measurement region 6, through which a flow of harvested material 12 is moved by the conveying element 8 in the conveying direction 10 (see also FIGS. 3a-4b). The harvested material 12 comprises root crops 22 and admixtures 24, of which a herbage component is shown by way of example in FIG. 3a.

[0055] In particular, the optical sensor 4 is arranged in an enclosure open to the conveying element 8 in the conveying direction 10 (cf. FIGS. 3b and 4b). In particular, this enclosure also encloses the conveying element 8 in a transverse direction 32.

[0056] On the basis of the sensor data 3a, 3b, an evaluation device 14 calculates mass data characterizing at least a mass of at least part of the harvested material 12. Thereupon, the evaluation device 14 provides yield data 16 calculated at least on the basis of the mass data. The yield data 16 reflect at least the mass and/or a value calculated on the basis of the mass. According to the method according to the invention schematically shown in FIG. 7, the evaluation device 14 draws on stored basic data 15, in particular from a memory of the evaluation device 14, for calculating the yield data 16, said data including, for example, a density of the root crops 22.

[0057] The evaluation device 14 also generates an adjustment signal 18 for adjusting at least one separating element of a separating device 20, in particular comprised by the root crop harvester 2 (cf., for example, FIG. 6). The adjustment signal 18 is generated here at least on the basis of the sensor data (3a, 3b), the mass data and/or the yield data 16. The separating device 20 is designed to separate a first part of the harvested material 12 before a further part of the harvested material 12, wherein in the present example the first part is root crops 22 and the further part is admixtures 24. For calculating the yield data 16 and for generating the adjustment signal 18, the evaluation device 14 uses sensor data 3a, 3b of the same optical sensor 4 or sensor data 3a of a first optical sensor 4 and further sensor data 3b of a further optical sensor 4 (cf. FIG. 7). For calculating the mass data, the evaluation device 14 distinguishes root crops 22 comprised by the harvested material 12 from admixtures 24 comprised by the harvested material 12. In addition, the evaluation device 14 calculates a number as well as a measure of the root crops 22 moved through the measurement region 6 on the basis of the sensor data 3a, 3b. The evaluation device 14 calculates the yield data 16 by assigning the mass data to position data determined by means of a GPS sensor (not shown).

[0058] The flow of harvested material 12 is irradiated with laser light in the measurement region 6 by means of a laser device along second lines 26, 28 (cf. FIG. 5). The lines 26, 28 are parallel at the level of the conveying element 8 and run in a straight line in the horizontal transverse direction 32 at right angles to the conveying direction 10. The optical sensor 4 records light from the laser device scattered and reflected by the flow. In FIG. 5, the lines of 26, 28 each strike a root crop 22 arranged on the left and an admixture 24 arranged on the right, which scatter and reflect the light in different ways.

[0059] The separating device 20 adjusted by the adjustment signal 18 comprises a plurality of separating elements which, viewed in the conveying direction 10, are designed as ejector elements 30 arranged next to each other. These separating elements are arranged along the flow behind the measurement region. Activation of one of the ejector elements 30, which means pivoting of the ejector element 30 to the left from the position shown in FIG. 6, depends on a position of an identified component of the harvested material 12 to be separated with respect to the transverse direction 32.

[0060] The position of a further separating element, which forms a separating edge 34 comprised by the separating device 20, is also dependent on the adjustment signal. This is shifted horizontally as a function of the adjustment signal 18 in such a way that the intact root crops 22 land to the right of the separating edge 34 when the ejector elements 30 are not activated and admixtures 24 are deflected by the ejector elements 30 in such a way that they land to the left of the separating edge 34.