JP2018191522A - Work vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily find a wireless terminal device which can communicate with a work vehicle and can be taken out to the outside even if it is accidentally lost in the work place or around the work place. A work vehicle is a wireless communication unit capable of wireless communication between a work travel control unit, a vehicle position calculation unit 50 that calculates the vehicle position, and wireless terminal devices 9A and 9B that can be taken out to the outside. The radio wave strength detection unit 41 that detects the radio wave strength of the radio waves received from the 40 and the wireless terminal devices 9A and 9B, and the radio wave strength detected by the radio wave strength detection unit 41 are related to the position of the own vehicle as radio wave strength data. It is provided with a radio wave intensity recording unit 61 for recording. [Selection diagram] Fig. 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a work vehicle including a wireless communication unit capable of wireless communication with a wireless terminal device.

  A recent work vehicle includes a wireless communication unit and can perform data communication with an external communication device via a wireless communication network. In particular, a work vehicle that automatically travels receives various control commands relating to work travel from a wireless communication unit of another work vehicle or a remote control device that is brought by an administrator, and performs work travel operations based on the received control commands. Has the function to perform.

  In the work vehicle disclosed in Patent Document 1, as a manual travel operation unit that is operated to travel the work vehicle, it is used for an internal operation device provided inside the work vehicle and an operation from outside the work vehicle. And a remote control device which is a remote control. This work vehicle adopts a by-wire system, and an operation on the manual travel operation unit is input to the electronic control unit as an operation signal, and an output signal based on the operation signal is output through necessary arithmetic processing and determination processing. The Further, an automatic travel permission signal for permitting automatic travel is generated by a remote operation device (remote control) operated from the outside of the work vehicle and sent to the electronic control unit. During the automatic traveling of the work vehicle, the worker can leave the vehicle and monitor the work vehicle and perform emergency stop and resumption of travel by remote control as necessary.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-168883

  A remote control device such as a remote control is convenient because the work vehicle can be controlled from the outside of the work vehicle. However, since the remote operation device is compact in consideration of portability, there is a possibility that the remote operation device may be lost due to dropping out of the pocket or misplacement. In a case where the work vehicle is working on a work site such as a farm or a ranch, it is difficult to find out if the remote control device is dropped or misplaced around a large work site or work site. Under such circumstances, there is a demand for a technology that can easily find a wireless terminal device that can communicate with a work vehicle and can be taken outside even if it is accidentally lost in or near the work site.

  A work vehicle according to the present invention that travels on a work site is a wireless that can perform wireless communication between a work travel control unit, a host vehicle position calculation unit that calculates the host vehicle position, and a wireless terminal device that can be taken outside. A communication unit, a radio field intensity detection unit that detects radio field intensity of radio waves received from the wireless terminal device, and records the radio field intensity detected by the radio field intensity detection unit as radio field intensity data in association with the vehicle position. And a radio field intensity recording unit. The work vehicle in the present invention should be interpreted in a broad sense, and includes agricultural work vehicles such as tractors, construction machines such as backhoes, trucks, off-road vehicles that travel on wasteland and sand other than roads, and the like. In other words, here, the term “work vehicle” is used as a generic term for vehicles that can travel on other than roads.

  In this configuration, when a wireless terminal device taken out of the vehicle by an operator is lost, a series of radio wave intensity data consisting of the radio field intensity transmitted from the wireless terminal device and the position of the work vehicle is checked. Thus, it is possible to grasp the position where the highest radio field intensity is received, that is, the position where the radio terminal device is transmitting radio waves. Even in a vast work area where uneven objects are scattered or grass is thick, it is very difficult to find lost objects, and the location where the wireless terminal equipment is falling It is possible to narrow down to a narrow area. As a result, even if a wireless terminal device that can be taken outside is accidentally lost in or near the work place, it can be easily found.

  The field strength data recorded in the field strength recording section includes the vehicle position and field strength, so the location where the wireless terminal device was lost from the list of field strength data (the location that currently exists) It is possible to search for. However, the spread of the radio field intensity is relatively gradual, and the radio field intensity data is developed over time and two-dimensionally. For this reason, it is necessary to be skilled to find the position of the lost wireless terminal device from the radio wave intensity data simply displayed as a list. For this reason, a search algorithm using a computer well known in the radar field or the like is used to analyze the radio wave intensity data obtained over time, thereby searching for an area where the wireless terminal device is most likely to exist. It is preferable. In order to realize this, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a terminal search unit that calculates the current position of the wireless terminal device from the radio wave intensity data is provided.

  Reading the dropped position of the wireless terminal device from the list of radio wave intensity data is an operation that requires skill. However, a radio wave intensity map indicating a radio wave intensity distribution can be generated by expanding the radio wave intensity data into two-dimensional coordinates using a well-known graph generation program. When such a radio wave intensity map is displayed, it is possible to easily find a region having a high radio wave intensity, that is, a region having a high probability of existence of a wireless terminal device, from a human visual judgment. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a radio wave intensity distribution map generating unit that generates a radio wave intensity distribution map indicating a radio wave intensity distribution of the wireless terminal device at the work site based on the radio wave intensity data; A display device for displaying the radio wave intensity distribution map is provided. Further, at that time, if the radio wave intensity map is superimposed on the map and displayed on the display device, the position of the lost wireless terminal device on the map can be easily known from the display screen.

  When a display such as a liquid crystal is mounted on a work vehicle, the display can be used as a display device for displaying a radio wave intensity distribution map. In addition, preferably, a display of a wireless terminal device such as a tablet computer or a smartphone brought by an operator who gets off the work vehicle can also be used as a display device for displaying the radio wave intensity distribution map. Thereby, the operator can search for the lost wireless terminal device while looking at the radio wave intensity distribution map displayed on the display of the wireless terminal device held in his / her hand. In particular, a display such as a tablet computer is advantageous because it has a large screen size. For this reason, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, one of the display devices is a display provided in a tablet computer, and the tablet computer is capable of wireless communication via the wireless communication unit and can be taken outside. It is. The data transmission of the radio wave intensity distribution map to the wireless terminal device used when searching for the lost wireless terminal device is performed wirelessly.

  If the radio terminal device lost at the work place is not transmitting radio waves for some reason, the radio field intensity data is not recorded. If the radio wave transmission interval is too long, only radio wave intensity data that is not suitable for searching for a lost wireless terminal device is recorded. In such a case, it is difficult to find a wireless terminal device based on the radio wave intensity data, so that the work vehicle travels for the purpose of searching so as to obtain radio wave intensity data suitable for searching for the lost wireless terminal device. Do. At that time, it is more convenient if transmission of radio waves suitable for searching for a wireless terminal device can be requested. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a search control unit that searches for the lost wireless terminal device in response to a search request is provided, and the search control unit transmits a signal to be searched to the wireless terminal device. Is configured to require

  It is also effective to require the work vehicle to travel to record radio wave intensity data for searching for a lost wireless terminal device after noticing the loss of the wireless terminal device. When performing a search travel in response to such a search request, it is important to employ an efficient travel route for searching for a wireless terminal device. For example, it is efficient to travel along a trajectory in which an operator who has dropped a wireless terminal device moves and to steer in a direction in which radio waves become stronger during the traveling. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a search route generation unit that generates a search travel route based on a request from the search control unit is provided. At this time, a configuration in which a trajectory of movement of an operator who has lost the wireless terminal device is given to the search route generation unit through an input device or the like is preferable.

  In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the work travel control unit has an automatic travel control function for performing automatic travel based on the vehicle position and a set travel route, and the wireless terminal. The device is a remote control device that is taken out of the vehicle, and the remote control device is configured to transmit the automatic travel start command and the automatic travel stop command. In a work vehicle that automatically travels, a monitor or a worker is away from the work vehicle and monitors the movement of the work vehicle, and the work travel control unit of the work vehicle is used to start and stop travel using a remote control device. To In such a case, since the frequency of use of the remote control device is not so high, there is a high possibility that the remote control device placed in a pocket or the like is dropped or misplaced somewhere and lost. Therefore, a combination of a work vehicle that automatically runs and a remote control device is an effective application example of the present invention.

It is a side view of the tractor which is an example of the working vehicle of this invention and can drive | work automatically. It is a schematic diagram which shows the tractor which is driving | running | working automatically the agricultural field which is a work place, and the remote control apparatus which a supervisor has. It is a top view of a remote control device. It is a functional block diagram which shows the control system function part of a tractor. It is a data flowchart which shows the flow of the data in radio wave intensity map preparation. It is a screen figure which shows an example of the electromagnetic wave intensity distribution map displayed on the touch panel of a tablet computer.

  FIG. 1 shows a tractor as an example of a work vehicle. This tractor is provided with a steering unit 20 at the center of the vehicle body 1 supported by the front wheels 11 and the rear wheels 12. At the rear of the vehicle body 1, a rotary tilling device 30 as a working device is provided via a hydraulic lifting mechanism 31. The front wheel 11 functions as a steered wheel, and the steering angle is changed by the steering mechanism 13 so that the traveling direction of the tractor is changed. The steering mechanism 13 includes a steering motor 14 for automatic steering. In manual travel, the front wheels 11 are steered using a steering wheel 22 disposed in the control unit 20. In the control unit 20, a tablet computer 9B as a general-purpose terminal provided with a touch panel 99 that also functions as a display is mounted on a cradle installed in a cockpit. The tablet computer 9B has a wireless data transmission function, and is capable of data communication with the control system of the tractor even if it is removed from the cradle and taken out of the tractor. The tablet computer 9B has a function of providing information to the driver and a function of inputting information from the driver.

  The cabin 21 of the tractor is provided with a satellite positioning module 80 configured as a GNSS (global navigation satellite system) module. A satellite antenna for receiving a GNSS signal (including a GPS signal) is attached to the ceiling area of the cabin 21 as a component of the satellite positioning module 80. In order to complement the satellite navigation, the satellite positioning module 80 can be combined with an inertial navigation module incorporating a gyro acceleration sensor or a magnetic direction sensor. The inertial navigation module may be provided at a location different from the satellite positioning module 80.

  FIG. 2 shows a state where the farm is plowed by the tractor that automatically travels. Here, the tractor is a repetition of a turning (U-turn) traveling performed in a peripheral area also called a headland defined along the ridge and a straight traveling performed in a substantially rectangular central region surrounded by the peripheral area, Plow the field. An operator who brings the remote control device 9A stands at a position away from the tractor. The remote control device 9A can wirelessly communicate with the communication unit 4 of the tractor, and the operator can use the remote control device 9A to instruct the tractor control system to start or stop traveling.

  FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the remote control device 9A. This remote control device 9A is a handy type that can be operated with one hand. On the surface, a power button 90, an emergency stop button 91, an automatic travel start button 92, and a temporary stop button 93 are provided. When the emergency stop button 91 is pressed, an emergency stop command is transmitted to the tractor control system, when the automatic travel start button 92 is pressed, an automatic travel start command is transmitted, and when the pause button 93 is pressed, a temporary stop command is transmitted.

  FIG. 4 shows a functional block diagram of the tractor control system. The control unit CU, which is the core element of this control system, includes an output processing unit 7 and an input processing unit 8 as input / output interfaces. In order to perform wireless communication with different types of wireless communication devices, a communication unit 4 operable with a plurality of communication methods is connected to the control unit CU. Of course, the communication unit 4 may be constructed in the control unit CU. In FIG. 4, a remote control device 9 </ b> A and a tablet computer 9 </ b> B are illustrated as wireless terminal devices that can perform wireless communication with the control unit CU via the communication unit 4. Note that the tablet computer 9B can also be directly connected to the in-vehicle LAN and exchange data with the control unit CU.

  The communication unit 4 includes a wireless communication unit 40 that can wirelessly communicate with a wireless terminal device such as the remote control device 9A and the tablet computer 9B, a radio wave intensity detection unit 41 that detects a radio wave intensity of a radio wave received from the wireless terminal device, and It has.

  The output processing unit 7 is connected to a work travel device group 70 including a vehicle travel device group 71 and a work device device group 72, and a display device 73 such as a liquid crystal display. The vehicle travel device group 71 includes control devices related to vehicle travel, such as engine control devices, shift control devices, braking control devices, steering control devices, and the like. In this embodiment, the work device group 72 includes a power control device such as a PTO clutch that turns power transmission to the tilling device 30 on and off, and a lifting cylinder control device of the lifting mechanism 31 that moves the tilling device 30 up and down. ing.

  The input processing unit 8 is connected to a satellite positioning module 80, an automatic / manual switching operation tool 81, a travel system detection sensor group 82, a work system detection sensor group 83, and the like. The automatic / manual switching operation tool 81 is a switch for selecting either an automatic travel mode in which the vehicle travels by automatic steering or a manual steering mode in which the vehicle travels by manual steering. For example, by operating the automatic / manual switching operation tool 81 during traveling in the automatic steering mode, the vehicle can be switched to traveling by manual steering, and by operating the automatic / manual switching operation tool 81 during traveling by manual steering. It can be switched to automatic steering. The traveling system detection sensor group 82 includes sensors that detect states of operation tools such as an engine speed adjusting tool, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, and the steering wheel 22. The work system detection sensor group 83 includes sensors that detect the drive state and posture of the tilling device 30.

  In the control unit CU, a work travel control unit 5, a search module 6, and a host vehicle position calculation unit 50 are constructed as functional units particularly related to the present invention.

  The own vehicle position calculation unit 50 calculates the own vehicle position which is the coordinate position (map coordinate or field coordinate) of the vehicle body 1 based on the positioning data sequentially transmitted from the satellite positioning module 80.

  The work travel control unit 5 includes a travel control unit 51, a work control unit 52, an engine control unit 53, an automatic work travel command unit 54, and a travel route generation unit 55. The travel control unit 51 controls the vehicle travel device group 71 such as the steering motor 14. The tractor is configured to be able to travel both in automatic travel (automatic steering) and manual travel (manual steering). For this reason, the traveling control unit 51 has a manual traveling control function and an automatic traveling control function. When the manual travel control function is executed, the vehicle travel device group 71 is controlled based on an operation by the driver. When the automatic travel control function is executed, the vehicle travel device group 71 is controlled based on the automatic steering command given from the automatic work travel command unit 54. The work control unit 52 gives a work control signal to the work device group 72 in order to control the movement of the tilling device 30. The engine control unit 53 gives an engine control signal to an engine operating device.

  The travel route generation unit 55 reads out the contour data of the field from the input field information, and generates an appropriate travel route in the field. This travel route is generated based on basic initial parameters input by the driver. The travel route generation unit 55 can also download and use a travel route generated by another computer. In any case, the travel route obtained by the travel route generation unit 55 is expanded in the memory and used as a target travel route in automatic travel. Of course, this travel route can be used for guidance for the tractor to travel along the travel route even in manual travel.

  The automatic work travel command unit 54 calculates an azimuth shift and a positional shift between the travel route set as the target travel route by the travel route generation unit 55 and the own vehicle position, and eliminates the azimuth shift and the positional shift. An automatic steering command is generated and given to the travel control unit 51.

  The search module 6 has a function of searching for a lost wireless terminal device when a wireless terminal device such as the remote control device 9A used outside the tractor during operation is dropped or misplaced and lost. . In the following description, it is assumed that the lost wireless terminal device is the remote control device 9A. In this embodiment, the search module 6 includes a radio wave intensity recording unit 61 and a radio wave intensity distribution map generating unit 62. Furthermore, the search module 6 can optionally include a search control unit 63, a search route generation unit 64, and a terminal search unit 65.

  The function of the search module 6 is demonstrated using FIG.4 and FIG.5. The radio field intensity recording unit 61 relates the radio field intensity of the remote control device 9A detected by the radio field intensity detection unit 41 at a predetermined interval to the own vehicle position output from the own vehicle position calculation unit 50, and as radio field intensity data. Record in memory. Each radio wave intensity data is also given a time stamp. A series of radio wave intensity data recorded in the memory can be read out and displayed on the display device 73 by a list display arranged continuously, a list display arranged by the vehicle position, or the like.

  The radio wave intensity distribution map generation unit 62 generates a radio wave intensity distribution map indicating the radio wave intensity distribution of the remote control device 9A in the field (working place) based on a series of radio wave intensity data read from the memory. An example of the radio wave intensity distribution map is shown in FIG. In this radio wave intensity distribution map, the radio wave intensity at each coordinate position of the field is cumulatively calculated, and based on the calculation result, the calculated radio field intensity distribution in the field is shown in contour lines. At that time, the radio wave intensity is divided into a plurality of stages, and is color-coded according to the radio wave intensity of each stage. In FIG. 6, the stronger the radio wave intensity is, the darker the color is, but the color-coded display is actually more effective. By looking at the radio wave intensity distribution map displayed on the display device 73, an approximate register of the current position (lost position) of the remote control device 9A can be obtained.

  If the radio wave intensity distribution map is configured to be displayed on the touch panel 99 of the tablet computer 9B, the operator can take the tablet computer 9B out of the tractor. While looking at the radio wave intensity distribution map displayed on the touch panel 99 of the tablet computer 9B that has been taken out, it is possible to walk toward a place where the radio wave intensity distribution indicated by the radio wave intensity distribution map is strong. For this reason, the search module 6 also has a function of transferring the radio wave intensity distribution map to the tablet computer 9B.

  However, only by looking at the radio wave intensity distribution map generated only by the cumulative calculation result of the radio wave intensity and displayed on the display device 73, only the approximate position of the lost remote control device 9A can be known. Since the tractor travels back and forth so as to cover the entire field without gaps, it detects the radio waves from the lost remote control device 9A from various positions, and a large amount of radio wave intensity data as a result is stored in the memory. Have been accumulated. Therefore, when an algorithm such as radar search is used, the current position of the remote control device 9A can be calculated from such a large amount of radio wave intensity data. The terminal search unit 65 is a functional unit having such an algorithm.

  If the radio wave intensity distribution map of the remote control device 9A is not generated at all when the remote control device 9A is lost, or if an appropriate radio wave intensity distribution map has not been generated, a new tractor is attached. It is also possible to generate a radio wave intensity distribution map while running. In this case, it is important for the tractor to focus on a place where the tractor may be lost, that is, a place where an operator who has operated the remote control device 9A has moved. Also, if a place with high radio field intensity is found, radio wave intensity data indicating the position of the remote control device 9A more accurately can be obtained by intensively driving around the place, and a highly accurate radio wave intensity distribution map is generated. It becomes possible. For this purpose, a search route generation unit 64 that generates a travel route for search based on a request from the search control unit 63 is provided.

  If the transmission radio wave of the remote control device 9A is weak or the transmission interval is too long, the radio wave intensity data of the remote control device 9A may not be generated at all, or appropriate radio wave strength data may not be generated. Therefore, the search control unit 63 has a function of requesting the remote control device 9A to transmit a signal to be searched such as a broadcast signal based on the search request given by the worker. When the transmission radio field intensity of the remote control device 9A can be adjusted from the outside, the search control unit 63 requests the remote control device 9A to transmit a stronger signal for search. Thereafter, by traveling the tractor, good radio wave intensity data is recorded, and as a result, an accurate radio wave intensity distribution map is generated.

  Further, when the battery capacity of the remote control device 9A is reduced, the reception intensity from the remote control device 9A is reduced or reception is impossible. Such a decrease in reception strength or inability to receive can be determined from changes in reception strength over time. The reception strength data when such a decrease in signal strength or inability to receive occurs is invalidated.

  In the example described above, it is assumed that the communication terminal device that may be lost is one remote control device 9A, and only one type of radio wave intensity data is created. However, if there are a plurality of communication terminal devices that may be lost, radio wave intensity data is created for each communication terminal device. At that time, radio wave intensity data in which the ID code of the communication terminal device, for example, the MAC address is associated with the vehicle position and the radio wave intensity is created and recorded in the memory. Thereby, the radio wave intensity distribution map for each communication terminal device can be generated.

  Note that the configurations disclosed in the above-described embodiments (including other embodiments, the same applies hereinafter) can be applied in combination with the configurations disclosed in the other embodiments as long as no contradiction arises. The embodiment disclosed in this specification is an exemplification, and the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this. The embodiment can be appropriately modified without departing from the object of the present invention.

[Another embodiment]
(1) In the embodiment described above, there are two modes for recording radio wave intensity data. One of them is a first recording mode in which radio wave intensity data is recorded from the start of traveling of the tractor or the start of use of the remote control device 9A. The other is a second recording mode in which radio wave intensity data is recorded by running the tractor after noticing the loss of the remote control device 9A. As another embodiment, it is possible to adopt only the first recording mode or only the second recording mode.
(2) When the tractor travels the same position in the travel of the tractor for the purpose of searching after the loss of the remote control device 9A, the radio field intensity data of the stronger radio field intensity is adopted as the radio field intensity data at the position. When the wave intensity distribution map is generated simultaneously with the recording of the radio wave intensity data, the radio wave intensity distribution form (colored) of the radio wave intensity distribution map is updated when the radio wave intensity data is rewritten.
(3) In the above-described embodiment, the remote control device 9A is configured as a simple signal transmitter that performs unidirectional wireless communication. However, the remote control device 9A may be configured as a remote control device 9A capable of bidirectional communication.
(4) Each functional unit in the functional block diagrams shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is divided mainly for the purpose of explanation. Actually, each functional unit may be integrated with other functional units, or may be further divided into a plurality of functional units.
(5) In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to a work vehicle capable of automatic traveling. However, the present invention can also be applied to a work vehicle incapable of automatic traveling.
(6) In the above-described embodiment, a tractor equipped with the tilling device 30 as a work device is taken up as a work vehicle. In addition to such a tractor, for example, farm work vehicles such as rice transplanters, fertilizer machines, and The present invention can also be applied to various work vehicles such as construction work vehicles.

  The present invention can be applied to a work vehicle including a wireless communication unit capable of wireless communication with a wireless terminal device.

4: communication unit 40: wireless communication unit 41: radio wave intensity detection unit 5: work travel control unit 50: own vehicle position calculation unit 51: travel control unit 52: work control unit 6: search module 61: radio wave intensity recording unit 62: Radio wave intensity distribution map generation unit 63: search control unit 64: search route generation unit 65: terminal search unit 73: display device 80: satellite positioning module 9A: remote control device (wireless terminal device)
9B: Tablet computer (wireless terminal device)
99: Touch panel (display)
CU: Control unit

Claims (7)

A work vehicle that travels in a work area,
A work travel control unit;
A vehicle position calculation unit for calculating the vehicle position;
A wireless communication unit capable of wireless communication with a wireless terminal device that can be taken outside;
A radio wave intensity detector for detecting radio wave intensity of radio waves received from the wireless terminal device;
A radio wave intensity recording unit that records the radio wave intensity detected by the radio wave intensity detection unit as radio wave intensity data in association with the vehicle position;
Work vehicle equipped with.   The work vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a terminal search unit that calculates a current position of the wireless terminal device from the radio wave intensity data.   A radio wave intensity distribution map generating unit that generates a radio wave intensity distribution map indicating a radio wave intensity distribution of the wireless terminal device in the work site based on the radio wave intensity data; and a display device that displays the radio wave intensity distribution map. The work vehicle according to claim 1 or 2.   The work vehicle according to claim 3, wherein one of the display devices is a display provided in a tablet computer, and the tablet computer is capable of wireless communication via the wireless communication unit and can be taken out to the outside.   The search control part which searches for the lost said radio | wireless terminal apparatus according to a search request | requirement is provided, and the said search control part requests | requires the transmission of the signal for to-be-searched to the said radio | wireless terminal apparatus. The work vehicle as described in.   The work vehicle according to claim 5, further comprising a search route generation unit that generates a search travel route based on a request from the search control unit. The work travel control unit has an automatic travel control function for performing automatic travel based on the vehicle position and the set travel route, and
The wireless terminal device is a remote control device that is taken out of a vehicle, and the remote control device can transmit a start command for the automatic travel and a stop command for the automatic travel. The work vehicle as described in.

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