Residue spread mapping
Systems and methods for mapping the distribution of residue material in an environment in which one or more agricultural machines are operable. A sensing arrangement having one or more sensors mounted or otherwise coupled to an agricultural machine operating within the environment is used to obtain sensor data indicative of residue material spread by a spreader tool of the agricultural machine. From this a local distribution of residue material associated with the spreader tool is determined which is used to update a map of a global distribution of the residue material across the environment. The map comprises a grid-based map having a plurality of cells corresponding to sub-regions within the environment, wherein a value associated with each cell is representative of a measure of the residue material present within the corresponding sub-region.
1 . A system for mapping the distribution of residue material in an environment, the system comprising:
an agricultural machine operable in the environment, the agricultural machine comprising a spreader tool;
at least one sensor mounted in a sensing arrangement to the agricultural machine;
a grid-based map of a global distribution of the residue material in the environment, wherein the grid-based map comprises a plurality of cells, each of the plurality of cells corresponding to predefined sub-regions of the environment and having a value representative of a measure of the residue material spread within the corresponding predefined sub-regions; and at least one controller configured to:
receive sensor data from the at least one sensor indicative of the residue material spread by the spreader tool of the agricultural machine;
determine, from the sensor data, a local distribution of the residue material associated with the spreader tool; and
update the grid-based map of the global distribution of the residue material in the environment based on the local material distribution determined from the sensor data and a location of the agricultural machine, the grid-based map being updated by incrementing the value of at least one of the plurality of cells by a predetermined amount for each determination that the residue material has been spread within the corresponding predefined sub-regions of the environment.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of cells corresponding to the predefined sub-regions within the environment are of a given area of the environment.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is operable to set the value of each of the plurality of cells based on a harvested state of the corresponding predefined sub-regions of the environment.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is operable to increment the value of the plurality of cells based on the local material distribution.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one controller is operable to increment the value of the cells by 1.
6 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one controller is operable to increment the value of each of the plurality of cells by an amount proportional to the local distribution of the residue material into the corresponding predefined sub-regions of the environment.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is operable to control at least one operating parameter of the agricultural machine based on the mapped global distribution of the material.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the at least one controller is operable to prevent distribution of the material as the agricultural machine passes areas of the environment corresponding to the predefined sub-regions where the material has previously been spread for the predefined sub-regions corresponding to each of the plurality of cells where the value is above a threshold.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is further configured to control operation of a user interface to provide a graphical representation of the mapped global distribution.
10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the graphical representation comprises a two-dimensional map of the environment with the predefined sub-regions of the environment indicated.
11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the predefined sub-regions are indicated in the graphical representation with a color based on the value of each of the plurality of cells.
12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the user interface comprises at least one of the following:
a user interface of the agricultural machine;
a display on a remote device; and
a user terminal on at least one further machine operating in the environment.
13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensing arrangement comprises at least one of the following:
an image sensor; and
a transceiver type sensor, having a transmitting component for transmitting a measurement signal and a receiving component for receiving reflected measurement signals.
14 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a position module, the position module being operable to provide information relating to a location of an associated agricultural machine in or with respect to the environment.
15 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an inertial measurement unit used to determine an orientation of the agricultural machine in the environment.
16 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising multiple agricultural machines, each comprising at least one sensor for obtaining sensor data, wherein each of the multiple agricultural machines is communicable with a central processing unit having the at least one controller.
17 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is operable to set the value of each of the plurality of cells at a base level of 0 for unharvested crop or prior to the beginning of a harvesting operation.
18 . The system of claim 2 , wherein each of the predefined sub- regions comprise an area of at least 1 m 2.