METHOD AND APPLIANCE FOR LAWN CARE WITH LANE RECOGNITION

Abstract

A self-propelled lawn care appliance for aerating and subsoiling the ground below a turf includes a chassis, an implement with piercing tools movable up and down for piercing the ground for subsoiling, and an optical lane recognition device comprising at least one camera and an image processing unit. In a first mode of operation of the lawn care appliance, the lane recognition device is designed to recognize a hole pattern of an area of the ground previously treated by the lawn care appliance and, based thereon, a boundary of a previously treated lane. In a second mode of operation of the lawn care appliance, the lane recognition device is designed to recognize a defined boundary of the deposited soil material of a ground area previously treated by the lawn care appliance and, based thereon, the boundary of a previously treated lane.

Claims

1. A self-propelled lawn care appliance for aerating or subsoiling the ground beneath a turf, comprising: a chassis having at least one drive shaft and a steering device; an implement comprising a row of piercing tools that extends over a lane width, the piercing tools having tines movable up and down for piercing the ground for subsoiling; and an optical lane recognition device comprising at least one camera for capturing an image of an area of the ground laterally of or laterally and at least partly ahead of the implement with respect to the direction of travel, and an image processing unit for image processing of and pattern recognition in images captured by the at least one camera, a) wherein in a first mode of operation of the lawn care appliance, the working implement is configured to produce a hole pattern with a predefined lane width when travelling across the ground during the use of the working implement, and the lane recognition device is configured to recognize the hole pattern of an area of the ground previously treated by the lawn care appliance and, based thereon, a boundary of a previously treated lane, and/or b) wherein in a second mode of operation of the lawn care appliance, the implement is configured to remove soil material from the ground and deposit it on the predefined lane width with a defined boundary, wherein the lane recognition device is configured to recognize the defined boundary of the deposited soil material of a ground area previously treated by the lawn care appliance and, based thereon, the boundary of a previously treated lane.

2. The lawn care appliance according to claim 1, wherein in a third mode of operation, the lawn care appliance is configured to produce, by means of a supporting or engaging element engaging the ground, a ground pattern having a defined boundary of the lane width, the lane recognition device being configured to detect, on the basis of the defined boundary of the ground pattern, a previously treated lane.

3. The lawn care appliance according to claim 1, wherein the lawn care appliance is remotely controllable and a user interface is formed on a remote control of the lawn care appliance.

4. The lawn care appliance according to claim 1, further comprising: a controller configured to control the drive shaft and the steering device, wherein in an automatic mode, the controller is configured to steer the lawn care appliance, based on the output of the lane recognition device, in such a way that the current lane of the implement extends immediately adjacent to the previously treated lane.

5. The lawn care appliance according to claim 1, further comprising: an operator interface comprising a display, wherein information on a target lane determined from data of the lane recognition device and information on a current actual lane are indicated on the display.

6. The lawn care appliance according to claim 1, wherein the camera of the lane recognition device is arranged laterally on the lawn care appliance outside the lane width.

7. The lawn care appliance according to claim 1, wherein the lane recognition device comprises a camera on each of the two sides.

8. The lawn care appliance according to claim 1, wherein the drive shaft has two differently controllable and drivable drive wheels and the chassis further comprises at least one freely rotatable swivel wheel arranged at a distance from the drive shaft in the direction of travel.

9. The lawn care appliance according to claim 1, wherein in the first mode of operation, solid tines are provided on the piercing tools and/or, in the second mode of operation, hollow tines are provided on the piercing tools.

10. The lawn care appliance according to claim 1, wherein at least one mechanical guiding and/or marking element is provided for producing the visually recognizable defined boundary of the previously treated lane.

11. The lawn care appliance according to claim 10, wherein the at least one mechanical guiding and/or marking element comprises a swath board or a swath plate or a tracking disc for engaging the ground.

12. A lawn care method for soil aeration or subsoiling of the ground below a turf, comprising: moving a lawn care appliance along a first lane across the ground and treating the ground by alternately inserting and extracting a series of piercing tools with tines of the lawn care appliance while pivoting the inserted piercing tools in the ground, thereby producing a visually recognizable pattern to determine a boundary of the first lane; and moving the lawn care appliance along a second lane adjacent to and in parallel with the first lane to correspondingly treat the ground along the second lane, wherein the first lane is detected by optically detecting the recognizable pattern to recognize the boundary of the first lane and steer the lawn care appliance in response to the detected boundary.

13. The lawn care method according to claim 12, further comprising: remote controlling the lawn care appliance by an operator spaced from the lawn care appliance at a distance from the lawn care appliance.

14. The lawn care method according to claim 12, wherein the pattern recognition comprises: a) detecting a pattern of holes on the ground produced by the piercing tools; and/or b) producing a defined optically detectable boundary of the first lane by at least one mechanical supporting, guiding or marking element and optically detecting the boundary of the first lane.

15. The lawn care method according to claim 14, wherein step b) comprises: depositing soil material removed from the ground during the insertion and extraction of the piercing tools and arranging the deposited soil material on the first lane up to the defined boundary.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0079] One exemplary embodiment will be explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings it is shown by:

[0080] FIG. 1 a top view of a preferred embodiment of a lawn care appliance in a working mode according to a first mode of operation;

[0081] FIG. 2 a top view similar to FIG. 1, wherein the lawn care appliance is operated in a second mode of operation;

[0082] FIG. 3 a perspective view of the lawn care appliance in operation according to the second mode of operation, together with a remote control of the lawn care appliance;

[0083] FIG. 4 an enlarged view of an embodiment of the remote control.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0084] FIGS. 1 to 3 show a preferred embodiment of a lawn care appliance 11 in different modes of operation. The lawn care appliance 11 comprises an implement 12, which is articulated to a chassis 16 by means of an implement linkage 14 so as to be vertically movable relative to the chassis 16. By means of a lifting actuator not shown in more detail in the Figures, the implement linkage 14 and thus the implement 12 can be raised relative to the chassis 16 in a transport mode and lowered for contacting the ground 18 in a work mode shown in the Figures.

[0085] The chassis 16 comprises a drive shaft 20 and at least one swivel wheel 22 spaced from the drive shaft 20. Further, the lawn care appliance 10 is provided with a steering device 120.

[0086] In the illustrated embodiment, the drive shaft 20 comprises a first drive wheel 24-1 on one side of the lawn care appliance 11 and a second drive wheel 24-2 on the other side of the lawn care appliance 11. Each of the drive wheels 24-1, 24-2 is drivable differently by its own drive motor 26-1, 26-2. The steering device 120 has a steering control unit as part of the controller 102 of the lawn care appliance 11, by means of which the drive motors 26-1, 26-2 can be controlled, so that cornering is made possible by different drive speeds of the drive wheels 24-1, 24-2, and turning of the lawn care appliance 11 is also made possible by different drive directions. The swivel wheel 22 can be swiveled accordingly about a swivel axis 28 extending vertically with at least one directional component, in order to support the front area of the lawn care appliance 11 and thereby follow the steering movements.

[0087] The implement 12, since most of the energy is required for this purpose, is directly driven by a drive unit 30 which also provides the energy for the drive motors 26-1, 26-2. In a preferred embodiment, the drive unit 30 comprises an internal combustion engine 64. In one possible embodiment, the drive motors 26-1, 26-2 are hydraulically driven, with the internal combustion engine 64 also driving a hydraulic pump to supply hydraulic pressure. In the preferred embodiment, the drive motors 26-1, 26-2 are electric motors, with the internal combustion engine 64 supplying the electric power via a generator. Of course, other drive units 30 are also possible, such as a battery-electric motor combination or the like.

[0088] The implement 12 is designed as a subsoiling device 38, as known for example from literature [1]-[7]. Reference is made to [1]-[7] for more details on the possible design of the subsoiling device.

[0089] Accordingly, the implement 12 includes a series of piercing tools 40 with tines 42 that are movable up and down on support arms 44. In the position supported on the ground, the tines 42 of the piercing tools are thereby pierced into the ground when the respective support arm 44 is moved downwards, pivoted there somewhat in order to loosen the ground below the turf, and then pulled out of the ground again when the support arm 44 is moved upwards.

[0090] In embodiments not shown in more detail, the lawn care appliance 11 may be formed as described and shown in literature [1], with an operator seat and with an operator interface that is arranged, for example, on the chassis 16 together with a driver's cab, or it may be designed as described and shown in literature [2], comprising a handle such as a handlebar, a steering handle or the like having the operator interface for an operator to walk along.

[0091] In the preferred embodiment of the lawn care appliance 11 shown, the lawn care appliance 11 is designed to be remotely operated by an operator who can also stand or walk at a certain distance from the lawn care appliance 11. For this purpose, the lawn care appliance 11 has a remote control 122 in communication with the controller 102 via a bidirectional radio link, on which an operator interface 124 is provided with a display 126 and with actuating elements 128.

[0092] For example, the actuating elements 128 can be used to control forward travel, reverse travel, and the steering device 120. In addition, actuating elements 128 are provided for operating further actuators of the lawn care appliance 11 and for setting different modes and modes of operation of the lawn care appliance 11. The display 126 is designed, for example, as a display via which different information about the state and operation of the lawn care appliance 11 can be displayed.

[0093] In order to achieve the most uniform growth of lawns, for example on golf courses or in soccer stadiums or in parks, lawn care should be carried out as uniformly as possible. When driving across a lane, the ground 18 is treated with a working width of the implement 12 over which the tines 42 of the piercing tools 40 are distributed. This working width of the implement 12 is referred to herein as the width of a lane or lane width 130. If a larger area is to be treated, it is advantageous if the individual lanes 140, 142 are directly adjacent to one another, i.e., if possible, without spacing between the lanes 140, 142 and also without overlapping between the lanes. For this purpose, with the conventional lawn care appliances of literature [1]-[7], the operator had to control the lawn care appliance 11 as precisely as possible.

[0094] To assist the operator, an optical lane recognition device 132 is provided in the illustrated embodiments of the lawn care appliance 11. The lane recognition device 132 comprises a lane detection unit 134-1, 134-2 on at least one of the sides, preferably on both sides of the lawn care appliance 11, each of which comprises at least one camera 136. The cameras 136 capture an image of an area to the side of the lawn care appliance 11 and in front of the implement 12, which in this case is in front of the drive shaft 20. Further, the lane recognition device 132 comprises, for example as part of the controller 102 or as part of the respective lane recognition units 134-1, an image processing unit 138 for image processing of the images captured by the respective camera 136 and for pattern recognition in these images. Corresponding optical devices having cameras 136 and image processing units 138, each capable of recognizing predetermined patterns, are available on the market and are described and shown, for example, in literature [8] and [9].

[0095] In embodiments not shown in detail, the lane recognition device 132 may further include at least one light source for illuminating the area to be captured by the camera. The image quality of the camera images can thus be enhanced, for example, in ambient conditions with low light intensity, by the use of additional light sources mounted on the lawn care appliance 11.

[0096] According to the attached drawing figures, the at least one image processing unit 138 is configured to recognize different patterns depending on the mode of operation, so as to recognize or discern the boundary of a previously treated first lane 140 when driving along an adjacent second lane 142 and either assist the operator to drive along the second lane 142 immediately adjacent to the first lane 140 or, in an automatic mode, issue corresponding commands to the steering device 120 to automatically drive along the second lane 142 so that the same is immediately adjacent the first lane 140.

[0097] The lawn care appliance 11 can be operated in different modes, depending on which a different ground image can be selected for pattern recognition by the image processing unit 138.

[0098] In the first mode of operation shown in FIG. 1, the subsoiling device 38 is operated with solid tines as tines 42, and the lawn is relatively short. Accordingly, a hole pattern 144 having a defined hole spacing is optically recognizable by the cameras 136 and can be detected by the image processing unit 138 in a first setting. The lateral boundary of the hole pattern 144 indicates the boundary 156 of the first lane 140, along which the lawn care appliance 11 is to travel in order to process the second lane 142 immediately thereafter.

[0099] In the mode of operation shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, hollow spoons are used as tines 42. The corresponding hollow tines 42, which are formed with a lower opening and an upper ejection, thus remove soil material 146 and deposit it on the ground 18 in the form of soil material cones 148. With corresponding guide elements 150, such as a coulter 152, here formed as a lateral swath plate 154 (only one shown on the side, the other corresponding one on the other side omitted for illustration purposes) limits the dropping area and ensures that the soil material cones 148 are only on the first lane 140, so that a visually recognizable transition is produced at the boundary 156 of the first lane 140. In this second mode of operation, the image processing 138 is configured to recognize the deposition pattern of the soil material cones 148 so as to determine the boundary 156 of the first lane 140.

[0100] In a third mode of operation, not shown in detail, the lawn is higher, so that the hole pattern 144 is not optimally optically recognizable.

[0101] The support rollers 46 are arranged to extend exactly to the boundary of the lane width 130. When traveling across the ground, the lawn is pressed down by means of the support rollers 46 (or additionally or alternatively by other means, e.g. by means of the drive wheels 24-1, 24-2), so that the boundary 156 between the pressed-down lawn and the lawn still standing up is visually discernible. In this third mode of operation, a corresponding ground image is also set as a pattern to be recognized in the image processing unit 138.

[0102] The image processing unit 138 is designed as an electronic unit with corresponding control programs and memories, in which the respective ground images are set as patterns to be recognized and which can be selected at the operator interface 124 in accordance with the selected operating mode of the lawn care appliance 11.

[0103] The one lane 140 previously treated is thus used as a reference lane for traveling the subsequent lane 142. The boundary 156 of the respective reference lane 140 is recognized.

[0104] In some embodiments, in a manual mode, a target lane 158 is displayed on the display 126, as shown in FIG. 4, based on the boundary 156 of the reference lane thus detected, and a current actual lane 160 is displayed based on the current setting of the steering device 120. The operator can thus control the steering device 120 by means of the actuating elements 128 in such a way that the reference lane 158 and the actual lane 160 coincide, in order to then move the implement 12 over the next area 142 of the ground 18 adjacent to the already treated area 140 of the ground.

[0105] In an automatic mode, the steering device 120 is controlled by appropriate control programs in the controller 102 in response to the output of the lane recognition device 132.

[0106] The hardware of the optical lane recognition devices 132 is available at very low cost compared to other possible positioning units. The lane recognition device 132 enormously facilitates the operation of the lawn care appliance 11 and enables a very uniform treatment of an even larger area, even in shaded areas such as in soccer stadiums, by precisely traveling lanes 140, 142 that are exactly adjacent to each other. The subsoiling device 38 is removably hinged to the implement linkage 14 and can also be replaced by another implement 12, for example a mowing deck, in order to perform other work as well.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0107] 11 lawn care appliance [0108] 12 implement [0109] 14 implement linkage [0110] 16 chassis [0111] 18 ground [0112] 20 drive shaft [0113] 22 swivel wheel [0114] 24-1 first drive wheel [0115] 24-2 second drive wheel [0116] 26-1 first drive motor [0117] 26-2 second drive motor [0118] 28 swivel axis [0119] 30 drive unit [0120] 38 subsoiling device [0121] 40 piercing tools [0122] 42 tine [0123] 44 support arm [0124] 46 support roller [0125] 64 combustion engine [0126] 102 controller [0127] 120 steering device [0128] 122 remote control [0129] 124 operator interface [0130] 126 display [0131] 128 actuating element [0132] 130 lane width [0133] 132 lane recognition unit [0134] 134-1 lane recognition unit [0135] 134-2 lane recognition unit [0136] 136 camera [0137] 138 image processing unit [0138] 140 first lane [0139] 142 second lane [0140] 144 hole pattern [0141] 146 soil material [0142] 148 soil material cone [0143] 150 guiding element [0144] 152 coulter [0145] 154 coulter plate [0146] 156 boundary [0147] 158 target lane [0148] 160 actual lane