Granted Patent B2

US 12,619,236 · App. 18/492,426 · Granted May 5, 2026

Inventors: David Wilson (Prairie City, IA); Adam Fett (Nevada, IA); Caleb Huitt (Story City, IA); AJ Steenhoek (Mingo, IA); Kolton Rottink (Santa Clarita, CA); Mitchell Freshour (Urbandale, IA); Nate Mohling (Ankeny, IA); Ryan Kool (Elkhart, IA); Steve Schulteis (Story City, IA); Bill Cran (Ames, IA); Joe Holoubek (Ames, IA); Luke Call (Ames, IA); Mike Myers (Madison, WI)

Assignee: Ag Leader Technology

G05D1/0214A01B69/008B60K35/00B60K35/10B60K35/22B60K35/65B60Q9/008G05D1/0295G05D1/6985B60K35/26B60K35/28B60K2360/166B60Q2800/20G05D1/617

Abstract

Claims (39)

1 . An agricultural vehicle navigation system comprising:

a) an automatic steering system; and

b) a processor configured to:

(i) receive first vehicle path data from a first vehicle;

(ii) store the first vehicle path data;

(iii) generate one or more follow guidance paths for a second vehicle from the stored first vehicle path data;

(iv) perform at least one of gap filling and/or curve smoothing on the first vehicle path data; and

(v) output the generated follow guidance paths and command the automatic steering system on a second vehicle to follow the generated follow guidance paths thereby automatically steering the second vehicle along the generated follow guidance paths.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first vehicle path data is received via a cloud server.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the first vehicle path data comprises first vehicle swath data.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the follow guidance paths are generated by applying an offset to the first vehicle path data.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

i) establish a first vehicle swath and heading; and

ii) apply an offset.

6 . An agricultural navigation and guidance system comprising a processor configured to:

i) receive a vehicle path data comprising path data from a first vehicle;

ii) store the vehicle path data;

iii) generate one or more guidance paths for a second vehicle via establishing a first vehicle swath and heading; and

iv) output the generated one or more guidance paths for command of an automatic steering unit in the second vehicle to traverse the one or more guidance paths and automatically steering the second vehicle.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the vehicle path data comprises:

a) first vehicle location data; and

b) first vehicle swath data.

8 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the vehicle path data comprises first vehicle characteristic data and second vehicle characteristic data.

9 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the vehicle path data comprises user input data.

10 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the generation of one or more guidance paths comprises establishing swath center and/or establishing swath edge.

11 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is further configured to gap fill and/or curve smooth.

12 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is further configured to predict collision points and issue collision warnings.

13 . A guidance and navigation system comprising a processor configured to:

i) receive path data comprising a series of first vehicle swath path data from a first vehicle;

ii) store the path data;

iii) generate one or more guidance paths for use by an automatic steering unit of a second vehicle, wherein the one or more guidance paths comprise guidance path data comprising previous, adjacent first vehicle swath path data; and

iv) output the one or more guidance paths from the stored path data and command of an automatic steering unit on the second vehicle to follow the one or more guidance paths and automatically steering the second vehicle.

14 . The system of claim 13 , further comprising an enterprise system configured to be executed by a plurality of second vehicles.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to gap fill and/or curve smooth.

16 . The system of claim 13 , further comprising a collision alert system.

17 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the process is configured to utilize sensor data during generation of the one or more guidance paths.

18 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the path data further comprises first vehicle characteristic data and second vehicle characteristic data.

19 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the path data further comprises first vehicle location data and first vehicle swath data.

20 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the path data further comprises second vehicle roll, pitch and yaw data.

Continuity (3)

References Cited (391)