The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 13, 2021
Filed:
Jan. 21, 2019
Valmont Industries, Inc., Omaha, NE (US);
Tracy A. Thatcher, Gretna, NE (US);
Valmont Industries, Inc., Omaha, NE (US);
Abstract
A system and method for providing power and alignment control within an irrigation system having at least two spans and a drive system for moving the spans. According to a first preferred embodiment, the present invention includes a method for maintaining the alignment which includes the steps of: receiving a first set of Global Positing System (GPS) location data and second set of Real-Time Kinematics (RTK) error data; comparing the first set of GPS location data with the second set of RTK error data; calculating RTK error correction data; transmitting RTK error correction data to the intermediate drive towers and the last drive tower; calculating the location of the last drive tower using GPS data and RTK error correction data; calculating a straight, center line between the center pivot and the last drive unit; calculating the relative distances between each intermediate drive tower and the calculated center line using a linear regression algorithm; and controlling the average speed over time of each intermediate drive tower to reduce distance between their current locations the calculated center line The present invention provides a system for aligning drive towers within an irrigation system.