Granted Patent B2

US 12,736,349 · App. 18/764,414 · Granted Sep 15, 2026

Inventors: Alexander Grever (Osnabrueck, DE); Christian Schroeer (Neuenkirchen, DE)

Assignee: MASCHINENFABRIK BERNARD KRONE GMBH & CO. KG

G01C21/20A01D41/1278

Abstract

Claims (64)

1 . A method for a route planning for a field processing where an agricultural machine processes a processing area, the method comprising:

passing the agricultural machine in a manually controlled manner through a primary area of the processing area while automatically determining position data of the agricultural machine;

automatically determining all or part of a primary boundary which surrounds the primary area based on the position data;

determining a secondary outer boundary of a secondary area, the secondary outer boundary being arranged outside the primary area so as to meet the primary boundary at two connection points, wherein,

a part of the primary boundary which lies between the two connection points forms an inner boundary between the primary area and the secondary area,

the inner boundary, together with the secondary outer boundary, completely surrounds the secondary area;

automatically determining a driving route for processing at least the secondary area;

automatically generating control data for controlling the agricultural machine during the field processing, the control data representing a determined driving route; and

using the control data to control the agricultural machine during the field processing so that the agricultural machine processes the processing area.

2 . The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

performing an automatic optimization of the driving route by determining an optimum driving route from a plurality of possible driving routes according to an optimization criterion; and

automatically generating control data representing the optimum driving route.

3 . The method as recited in claim 2 , further comprising:

determining an inner area of the processing area and a headland which is arranged on an outside of the inner area,

wherein,

the driving route is determined so that the inner area is processed after the headland.

4 . The method as recited in claim 3 , wherein the headland is defined so that the primary area is completely arranged therein.

5 . The method as recited in claim 4 , further comprising:

determining whether or not the primary area has been partially processed or not processed when passing therethrough; and

when the primary area has been partially processed when passing therethrough, determining the driving route for processing the primary area and the secondary area.

6 . The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein,

the secondary outer boundary is automatically determined as a straight line between end points of a concave section of the primary boundary, the end points forming the two connection points, or

the secondary outer boundary is automatically determined using stored geographical data of an environment of the primary area, and/or

the method further comprises;

performing a sensory examination of surroundings of the primary area, and

the secondary outer boundary is automatically determined using the sensory examination.

7 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the using of the control data to control the agricultural machine during the field processing so that the agricultural machine processes the processing area comprises ploughing, fertilizing, mowing, tedding and/or colleting crops in the processing area.

8 . The method as recited in claim 6 , further comprising:

confirming the automatically determined secondary outer boundary by a user.

9 . The method as recited in claim 6 , wherein the secondary outer boundary is determined by a user.

10 . The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically determining a primary outer boundary of the primary area based on the position data,

wherein,

the primary outer boundary, together with the secondary outer boundary of the secondary area, completely encloses the processing area.

11 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein,

the driving route is determined externally for the agricultural machine, and

the control data are generated externally and transmitted to the agricultural machine.

12 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein,

the agricultural machine is configured to be driven autonomously,

the control data are generated for the agricultural machine which is configured to be driven autonomously, and

the agricultural machine which is configured to be driven autonomously is further configured to autonomously perform the field processing based on the control data.

13 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein,

the agricultural machine is configured to be steered by a driver,

the control data are generated for the agricultural machine which is configured to be steered by the driver, and

control instructions for the driver are generated based on the control data.

14 . A computer system for a route planning for a field processing where an agricultural machine processes a processing area,

wherein,

when a primary area of the processing area has been passed through by the agricultural machine under a manual control and position data of the agricultural machine has been automatically determined, the computer system is configured to:

automatically determine all or part of a primary boundary which surrounds the primary area based on the position data; and

when a secondary outer boundary of a secondary area, which secondary outer boundary is arranged outside the primary area, has been determined and meets the primary boundary at two connection points, a part of the primary boundary lying between the two connection points thereby forming an inner boundary between the primary area and the secondary area, the inner boundary, together with the secondary outer boundary, completely surrounding the secondary area, the computer system is further configured to:

automatically determine a driving route for processing at least the secondary area,

automatically generate control data for controlling the agricultural machine during the field processing, the control data representing a determined driving route, and

use the control data to control the agricultural machine during the field processing so that the agricultural machine processes the processing area.

15 . An agricultural machine comprising a computer system which is configured to provide a route planning for a field processing where the agricultural machine processes a processing area, wherein,

when a primary area of the processing area has been passed through by the agricultural machine in a manually controlled manner, and position data of the agricultural machine has been automatically determined, the computer system is configured to:

automatically determine at least a part of a primary boundary which surrounds the primary area based on the position data; and

when a secondary outer boundary of a secondary area, which secondary outer boundary is arranged outside the primary area, has been determined and meets the primary boundary at two connection points, a part of the primary boundary lying between the two connection points thereby forming an inner boundary between the primary area and the secondary area, the inner boundary, together with the secondary outer boundary, completely surrounding the secondary area, the computer system is further configured to:

automatically determine a driving route for processing at least the secondary area,

automatically generate control data for controlling the agricultural machine during the field processing, the control data representing a determined driving route, and

use the control data to control the agricultural machine during the field processing so that the agricultural machine processes the processing area.

16 . A non-transitory computer program product comprising a program code which enables the computer system as recited in claim 14 to,

automatically determine all or part of the primary boundary which surrounds the primary area based on the position data,

automatically determine the driving route for processing at least the secondary area, and

automatically generate the control data for controlling the agricultural machine during the field processing, the control data representing the determined driving route.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (20)