Deere & Company

William Daniel Robinson

Eric Richard Anderson

Tyler David Schleicher

Alfred Sigmund Smemo

Glenn Owen Scheer

David William Stubben

Judson Paul Clark

Daniel Pflieger

Daniel Warren Williams

Gladys L Evans

Russell Arthur Schneidewind

William Michael Walter

Judson P Clark

Alfred Signmund Smemo

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed that control vehicle steering. An example apparatus includes: a path acquisition interface configured to obtain, via a user interface a sampling interval; and a controller configured to, during acquisition mode: determine a steering angle of a wheel of the vehicle based on a trigonometric function including a distance associated with a turn radius of the front wheel; and cause, utilizing the steering angle, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver to travel from a first position to a second position, the GNSS receiver located at the first position at a first sampling time and the second position at a second sampling time, the first sampling time and the second sampling time differing by the sampling interval.

Methods and apparatus to control vehicle steering

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed for vehicle steering to follow a curved path. An example apparatus includes interface circuitry to determine vehicle data of a vehicle, navigation manager circuitry to determine navigation data of the vehicle, and tracking mode controller circuitry to: determine the vehicle is approaching a curve based on the navigation data, in response to determining the vehicle is approaching a curve: determine a wheel steering angle utilizing the navigation data and the vehicle data, the wheel steering angle corresponding to the curve, determine a heading error offset adjustment utilizing the navigation data and the vehicle data, and generate steering commands based on the wheel steering angle and the heading error offset, the steering commands to control the vehicle to reduce control errors and follow the wheel steering angle.

Apparatus and methods for vehicle steering to follow a curved path

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed for vehicle steering to follow a curved path. An example vehicle disclosed herein includes a front axle, a rear axle, a location sensor, and a tracking mode controller to determine a wheel steering angle based on a turn center location corresponding to a navigation curve and one or more measurements between the turn center location and the vehicle, determine a heading error offset adjustment based on the turn center location and the one or more measurements between the turn center location and the vehicle, and cause the vehicle to move along the navigation curve based on the wheel steering angle and the heading error offset adjustment.

As an off-road vehicle traverses a curved path driven by an operator, a data processor determines an error estimate between the points on the curved path and a generally circular perimeter about an estimated center point consistent with alignment of the curved path to the generally circular perimeter in accordance with a least squares algorithm or a modified least squares algorithm. The data processor or user interface provides an indicator to an operator of the vehicle that an arc length or angular displacement of the curved path with respect to the estimated center point is sufficient to estimate accurately the estimated center point and the radius of the generally circular perimeter if the determined error estimate is less than a threshold error.

Method for guiding an off-road vehicle along a curved path

A system and method of achieving ride control for a work vehicle that replaces a traditional accumulator with a ride control valve, a directional control valve and a fluid pressure source. The fluid pressure source may be a variable displacement hydraulic pump. The ride control valve is set to a first relief pressure that allows fluid to flow from the head end of a hydraulic cylinder when the loading on the cylinder, i.e., the pressure in the head end is equal to or greater than the first relief pressure. A work tool of the vehicle falls from a first position to a second position when fluid flows from the head end. The ride control valve is then reset to a second relief pressure, higher than the first relief pressure and sufficient to move the work tool toward the first position. Afterwards, the directional control valve is opened long enough to allow fluid from the fluid pressure source to enter the head end and move the work tool back to approximately the first position. The ride control valve may be dynamically adjusted.

Semi-active ride control for a mobile machine

A dual path hydrostatic drive system having an electronic auxiliary drive auxiliary drive controller controlling the hydraulic output of left and right variable displacement pumps in response to the speed of the main drive wheels and a speed ratio signal from a speed ratio input control. In addition, the auxiliary drive auxiliary drive controller controls the outputs of the pumps within three basic boundary conditions; a hydraulic pressure boundary condition, a motor speed boundary condition and a power boundary condition. A clutch mode activation switch has two positions for signaling the auxiliary drive auxiliary drive controller to operate in a first mode in which the auxiliary drive system is shut down upon activation of the main clutch or a second mode where the auxiliary drive controller attempts to mirror the operation of the main drive wheels.

Growing community of inventors

Ames, IA, United States of America

William Daniel Robinson