Deere + Company

Chad A Ackerman

Scott Adam Stephens

Dolly Y Wu

David S Mercer

Mark A Harris

Jeffrey Scott Puhalla

Alex D Foessel

Stewart J Moorehead

Nathan Ogden

Brittany Sprabery

Mark D Moran

Blake Heltsley

Patrick Feltes

Eric Derbez

Aaron Trask

A computer-implemented method includes obtaining image data representing a set of images of a worksite captured by an image capture component of a mobile computing device, identifying a set of virtual markers associated with the set of images, each virtual marker having a corresponding position in one of the images, and determining, for each virtual marker, a set of coordinates in a coordinate system based on the corresponding position of the virtual marker. Based on the set of coordinates, boundary data is generated that represents a boundary on the worksite. The boundary data is communicated to a robotic mower for control of the robotic mower within an operating area defined based on the boundary.

Robotic mower boundary detection system

A scouting system can include an autonomous ground vehicle having a perception sensor and a motion sensor to construct an occupancy grid referenced to a coordinate system of the autonomous ground vehicle. The autonomous ground vehicle is configured to use information from the occupancy grid to detect crop rows in a crop field. The autonomous ground vehicle is configured to identify and classify one or more non-crop plant in-lier objects arranged within the crop rows and generate an output signal received by an external vehicle to cause the external vehicle to perform a task when the one or more non-crop plant in-lier objects are identified within the crop rows.

Scouting systems

Embodiments include a ground scout having an ability to identify the location of rows of crops and the end of the rows so that it can navigate, but in other embodiments, the ground scout can also rely more on an aerial drone to navigate, to act as a communication relay system, and so on. A buddy system including a ground scout and an air scout (e.g. drone) communicate their findings with each other.

A sensing system collects position data associated with one or more obstacles within a certain range of a vehicle. A former establishes an occupancy grid based on the collected position data. A motion monitoring module determines a reaction distance and a deceleration distance associated with a vehicle at a regular time interval during an operational state. A safety guidance module establishes a safety zone (e.g., safety zone grid) for the regular time interval based on the occupancy grid, the determined reaction distance, and the deceleration distance.

System and method for providing a safety zone associated with a vehicle

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Urbana, IL, United States of America

Chad A Ackerman