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:
Aug. 24, 1999
Filed:
Aug. 28, 1996
Ronny L Barnes, O'Donnell, TX (US);
H Wayne Mathews, Sherman, TX (US);
Gar-Bar Corporation, O'Donnell, TX (US);
Abstract
A farm tractor is automatically guided along a row of stalks to harvest the crop from the stalks. Every 30 ms the average of 10 ms readings of the distance or deviation of the tractor from the row of stalks is calculated. The angles of the guiding wheels are measured. These two are compared. If the wheels are not angled correctly according to this comparison, a correction is made to the steering wheel, which is the manual steering wheel normally used to guide the tractor. For Auto-Track the deviation is averaged for 7/8ths of a second. If this average shows that the tractor is deviating consistently to one side or another the deviation will be corrected according to the controls. The 7/8ths second calculation is repeated every 7/8ths of a second. At any time that the 7/8ths calculation shows that there is a persistent deviation a correction will be made. These corrections will remain as a permanent correction until a subsequent correction changes them. Subsequent corrections may either add to or subtract from the correction. For Smart-Drive every 30 ms a determination is made as to whether the tractor is on the same side of the stalks as it was one second previously. Also, the determination will be made as to whether the tractor is closer to the row of stalks on the same side of the stalks than it was one second earlier. If the tractor is closer to the row of stalks, and on the same side as it was one second earlier, then the guiding wheels are adjusted to bring the tractor back to the row of stalks at a slower correction rate than before.