Agricultural rate management
View Patent ↗Agricultural rate adjustments performed by autopilots or farm information displays help eliminate guesswork and improve farm efficiency.
1. A method for managing agricultural rates comprising:
providing a farm information display system for a vehicle, including: a display, processor and memory; a GNSS receiver that estimates vehicle position and speed; a material quantity sensor; and, an application rate actuator;
estimating, using the processor, a material quantity on the vehicle using the material quantity sensor;
estimating, using the processor, a rate of change of material on the vehicle;
obtaining a desired vehicle end point from a user;
estimating, using the processor, a time to the vehicle end point based on the estimated vehicle speed; and,
adjusting, using the processor, the rate of change of material via the application rate actuator such that: (1) material quantity on the vehicle is exhausted when the vehicle reaches the vehicle end point, and (2) within a user-defined special rate area, the rate of change of material is different from that outside the special rate area.
2. The method of claim 1 where the rate of change is estimated with respect to time.
3. A method for managing agricultural rates comprising:
providing a farm information display system for a vehicle, including: a display, processor and memory; a GNSS receiver that estimates vehicle position and speed; a material quantity sensor; and, an application rate actuator;
estimating, using the processor, a material quantity on the vehicle using the material quantity sensor;
estimating, using the processor, a rate of change of material on the vehicle;
obtaining a desired vehicle end point from a user;
estimating, using the processor, a distance to the vehicle end point based on the estimated vehicle position; and,
adjusting, using the processor, the rate of change of material via the application rate actuator such that: (1) material quantity on the vehicle is exhausted when the vehicle reaches the vehicle end point, and (2) within a user-defined special rate area, the rate of change of material is different from that outside the special rate area.
4. The method of claim 3 where the rate of change is estimated with respect to vehicle position.
5. A method for managing agricultural rates comprising:
providing a farm information display system for a vehicle, including: a display, processor and memory; a GNSS receiver that estimates vehicle position and speed; and, a material quantity sensor;
estimating, using the processor, a material quantity on the vehicle using the material quantity sensor;
estimating, using the processor, a rate of change of material on the vehicle; and,
estimating, using the processor, a time and location where the material quantity on the vehicle will be exhausted, taking into account a different rate of change of material within a user-defined special rate area.
6. The method of claim 5 further comprising communicating the estimated material quantity to another vehicle via a wireless network.
7. The method of claim 5 further comprising communicating the estimated time and location to another vehicle via a wireless network.
8. A farm information system comprising:
a display including a processor and memory;
a GNSS receiver in communication with the display, the receiver estimating position and speed of a vehicle;
a material quantity sensor in communication with the display, the sensor estimating a material quantity on the vehicle; and,
an application rate actuator in communication with the display, the actuator adjusting material application rate;
wherein the display:
estimates a rate of change of material quantity on the vehicle;
obtains a desired vehicle end point from a user;
estimates a time to the vehicle end point based on estimated vehicle speed; and,
adjusts the rate of change of the material quantity via the application rate actuator such that: (1) the material quantity on the vehicle is exhausted when the vehicle reaches the vehicle end point, and (2) within a user-defined special rate area, the rate of change of material is different from that outside the special rate area.
9. The system of claim 8 where the rate of change is estimated with respect to time.
10. The system of claim 8 further comprising a wireless transceiver in communication with the display, the wireless transceiver communicating with a farm information system on a second vehicle.
11. The system of claim 10 , the wireless transceiver communicating the vehicle end point to the farm information system on the second vehicle.
12. The system of claim 10 , the wireless transceiver communicating a map location to the farm information system on the second vehicle.