How Farm Machines Stay Straight on Slopes for Different Tasks

This patent describes how a smart farm machine uses GPS and ground slope data to precisely adjust its tools sideways, ensuring follow-up tasks like fertilizing perfectly align with earlier tasks like seeding, even when working at different depths or heights.

What it covers

The patent describes a mobile machine, like a tractor, that uses a receiver with an antenna to get its exact position (Claim 1). It records the machine's location and the depth a tool (implement) is working at during a first pass over a field (Claim 1). For a later pass, perhaps with a different tool or task, the machine's computing system calculates new "reference points" for a second path. These points consider the previously recorded data, the slope of the ground, and the desired working depth or height for the new task (Claim 1). Based on these calculated reference points, the machine then precisely shifts its implement sideways (adjusts its "lateral position") to ensure it follows the correct path relative to the first pass (Claim 1). For example, if a farmer first seeds deep in the soil, the system can then guide a sprayer to apply fertilizer directly above those seeds, even if the sprayer is working above ground and the field has a slope.

What it doesn't cover

• —Does not cover systems that adjust implement position only based on the current machine's path without considering a previously recorded path or ground slope.
• —Does not cover systems that adjust implement position solely based on visual sensors without using position information and recorded working depth.
• —Does not cover machines where the implement cannot be shifted laterally relative to the machine's forward movement.
• —Does not cover single-stage farming operations that do not involve distinct functions over non-overlapping intervals of time.
• —Does not cover systems that only adjust the working depth of an implement, rather than its lateral position.

The clever bit

The cleverness lies in precisely calculating a second path's reference points by combining the first path's recorded position and depth with ground slope data and the second path's desired working depth or height. This allows for accurate alignment of different tasks, even when they occur at different vertical positions relative to the ground.

Why it matters

This technology is crucial for precision agriculture, allowing farmers to perform multiple tasks on the same field with high accuracy. By compensating for ground slope and varying working depths, it ensures that subsequent operations, like fertilizing or weeding, are precisely aligned with initial operations like seeding. This precision can reduce waste of resources like seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides, leading to more efficient and environmentally friendly farming practices.

Real-world examples

• 1.AGCO Fendt VarioGuide systems
• 2.John Deere AutoTrac systems
• 3.Case IH AFS AccuGuide
• 4.Precision planting equipment
• 5.Automated fertilizer applicators