VEHICLE ASSEMBLY CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMPOSING OR DECOMPOSING A TASK
The present invention relates to a method for decomposing a task to be performed by at least one vehicle assembly. Initially, a higher-order information layer relating to the task and one or more rules for decomposing the higher-order information layer are provided. The method includes the step of decomposing, with a controller and at least partially, the higher-order information layer with the rules to form a lower-order information layer. The lower-order information layer relates to at least one subtask of the task. The present invention also relates to a method for composing the task.
1 . A method for decomposing a task to be performed by at least one vehicle assembly, the method including the steps of:
providing a higher-order information layer relating to the task and one or more rules for decomposing the higher-order information layer; and
decomposing, with a controller and at least partially, the higher-order information layer with the rules to form a lower-order information layer, the lower-order information layer relating to at least one subtask of the task.
2 . A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the information layers include spatial information relating to a space in which the vehicle assembly operates.
3 . A method as claimed in claim 2 , further including the step of displaying task information on a display of the vehicle assembly based upon the spatial information.
4 . A method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the displayed task information includes a map.
5 . A method as claimed in claim 1 , further including the step of the vehicle assembly performing the subtask in space in accordance with information in the lower-order layer.
6 . A method as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the lower-order information layer includes a set of waypoints in the space with each waypoint associated with one or more attributes for performing the subtask.
7 . A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the rules include spatial rules relating to a space in which the vehicle assembly can perform the task.
8 . A method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the vehicle assembly is an agricultural vehicle assembly, the space is a field and the task is the spraying of the field.
9 . A method as claimed in claim 1 which, prior to the step of providing, further includes the step of decomposing an even higher-order information layer with other rules to form the higher-order information layer.
10 . A method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the even higher-order information layer and other rules are stored in a database of the controller.
11 . A method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the database is synchronized with databases of other vehicle assemblies.
12 . A method as claimed in claim 1 which, prior to the step of providing a higher-order information layer, includes the step of:
composing, with a computational device, the higher-order information layer based upon input information relating to the task to be performed by the vehicle assembly.
13 . A method as claimed in claim 12 , further including the step of forming the rules using received input from a user, the composed higher-order information layer being based upon the received input.
14 . A method as claimed in claim 13 , further including the step of displaying verification information on a display of the computational device, the verification information relating to the higher-order information layer and the rules.
15 . A method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the verification information includes a map.
16 . A method as claimed in claim 13 , further including the step of storing the composed higher-order information and the rules in a database, the database synchronized with a database of the vehicle assembly.
17 . A controller for decomposing a task to be performed by at least one vehicle assembly, the controller configured to:
decompose with rules and at least partially, a higher-order information layer relating to the task to form a lower-order information layer, the lower-order information layer relating to at least one subtask of the task.
18 . A method for composing a task to be performed by at least one vehicle assembly, the method including the steps of:
composing, with a computational device, a higher order information layer relating to the task; and
forming one or more rules for at least partially decomposing the higher-order information to form a lower-order information layer, the lower-order information layer relating to at least one subtask of the task.
19 . A method as claimed in claim 18 , further including the step of displaying verification information on a display of the computational device, the verification information relating to the higher-order information layer and the rules.
20 . A method as claimed in claim 19 , wherein the verification information includes a map.
21 . A method as claimed in claim 18 , further including the step of storing the composed higher-order information and the rules in a database, the database synchronized with a database of the vehicle assembly.
22 . A method as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the composed higher order information layer and formed rules are based upon user-specified attributes.
23 . A computational device for composing a task to be performed by at least one vehicle assembly, the computational device configured to:
compose a higher order information layer relating to the task; and
form one or more rules for at least partially decomposing the higher-order information to form a lower-order information layer, the lower-order information layer relating to at least one subtask of the task.