Automatic raising and lowering equipment attached to front or back.
A plow or other equipment can in some circumstances “bog down” or get filled up with earth, the tractor will then start to spin or loose forward momentum and eventually either stall or get stuck. The only way to clear the problem is to raise the equipment so the “clog” clears.
Backing up with a trailer, may need a sensor to read the angle/ position of the trailer related to the rover.
Optically finding and hitching on to the trailer hitch.
(May cause issues with connections to the trailers lights and hydraulic brakes and systems )
PTO control, useful for autonomous spraying.
Should be possible to combine with a sensor that reads remaining pesticides/herbicide.
Sense of trailer capacity remaining.
If anyone has more features that might be handy, please add them.
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hi…I know it is an old thread, but as I have some simmilar thoughts, I would like to share/start discussing.
lets define 3 “usecases” with differences in the needs.
- mowing (thats the most easy part I guess): easy to define working-arear and a mission according to mowingpatterns. so circles should be extra easy. (zig-zag is another thing, see below)
lowering or lifting the mower(s) could be easyly obtained by using the cam-operating-stuff
- plowing (or things like that):
I agree with you that “clogging” detecion is a must, but I am almost sure, that the autopilot will not be able to do that (compantion-computer)
the next “problem” is driving itself. the first “lane” is no problem. thats a A-B point to ppoint navigation thing, can easyly be done with the autopilot. but then you have to go the second “lane”, with one side of the vecile in the “old track” (the low-part , I hope I am understandable). zig-zag pattern is may a bit of a help, but the autopilot has nothing to find that trough, so → compantion-computer
- seeding: I think there are the same problems like we have in plowing, but on another torgue-level.
- removing weeds: thats a completely other thing, as you have (maybe to repeat) a recorded track (from seeding) and want the autopilot to just repeat that tracks. we have to state in advance that GPS (even included glonass, gallileo, …) accuracy is below 2cm as you don’t want to destroy your seed with the tools in the ground. so for me “lane finding” on a from-plant-to-plant-base is mandatory → companion-computer
GPS-accuracy: I don’t say, that some new-gen receivers cam do that. but this all depends on the topographic area you work in. I can imagine regions in USA or RUS, where there a flat fields of thousands of squarekilometers with (sic!) no hills or mountains. where this accurracy could be done. but, let me give you an example, that would never work in a valley between high mountains like the inn-valey in austria. they get 2cm accuracy most of the time with differential, but positions defer more then 1 meter depending on the sat-constellation. I have talked to a salad-framer there and he wanted to do that gps-based and he said he tried several years but it is not working.