Work vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10274963-B2
Application number	US-201515534617-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 10, 2015
Priority date	Dec 11, 2014
Publication date	Apr 30, 2019
Grant date	Apr 30, 2019

Abstract

A mowing vehicle provided with a traveling machine and a mowing device includes a first image-capturing device and a controlling unit configured to control the traveling machine to travel autonomously along a boundary line of grass before and after mowing formed by the mowing device. The controlling unit includes a boundary-detecting unit configured to detect the boundary line and a traveling-controlling unit configured to control traveling directions of the traveling machine. The boundary-detecting unit is configured to generate intensity distribution information regarding texture information in a predetermined direction by filtering with a Gabor filter on a captured image. The boundary-detecting unit is configured to carry out statistical processing on the intensity distribution information per inspection area divided in plural in a vertical direction so as to detect boundary points and to detect the boundary line from the boundary points per the inspection area.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A work vehicle configured to work while traveling, provided with a traveling machine and a working machine, comprising:
a first image-capturing device configured to capture peripheries of the traveling machine; and
a controlling unit configured to control the traveling machine to travel autonomously along a boundary line showing traces of work consecutively formed by the working machine,
wherein the controlling unit includes:
a boundary-detecting unit configured to detect the boundary line by processing an image captured by the first image-capturing device, and
a traveling-controlling unit configured to control traveling directions of the traveling machine so as to be along the boundary line detected by the boundary-detecting unit, and
wherein the boundary-detecting unit is configured to:
generate intensity distribution information regarding texture information in a predetermined direction by filtering with a Gabor filter on the image captured by the first image-capturing device,
carry out statistical processing on the intensity distribution information per inspection area divided in plural in a vertical direction so as to detect boundary points, and
detect the boundary line from the boundary points per the inspection area.

2. The work vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined direction is an upward direction or a downward direction.

3. The work vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the first image-capturing device is disposed in such a manner that the boundary line showing the traces of work is placed substantially at the center in the horizontal direction of the image to be captured.

4. The work vehicle according to claim 1 , comprising first image-capturing devices provided corresponding to each of right-and-left edges of the working machine,
wherein the controlling unit is configured to carry out processing on an image captured by one of the first image-capturing devices.

5. The work vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising: a memory unit and a second image-capturing device capable of capturing the traces of work right after the work of the working machine,
wherein the controlling unit is configured to:
generate another intensity distribution information regarding texture information in a predetermined direction by filtering with the Gabor filter on an image captured by the second image-capturing device,
store in the memory unit processing results obtained by carrying out statistical processing on aforementioned another intensity distribution information per inspection area divided in plural in a vertical direction, and
use later the processing results stored in the memory unit when carrying out the statistical processing in which the image captured by the first image-capturing device is processed so as to detect the boundary line.

Assignees

• Yanmar Co Ltd

Inventors

• Fukuda Toshio
• Sekiyama Kosuke
• Hasegawa Yasuhisa
• Fukukawa Tomoya
• Hiramatsu Toshifumi

Classifications

• A01B69/008 Primary

  automatic · CPC title

• A01D2101/00

  Lawn-mowers · CPC title

• A01B69/001

  Steering by means of optical assistance, e.g. television cameras (steering devices for road marking vehicles E01C23/163) · CPC title

• A01B69/00

  Steering of agricultural machines or implements; Guiding agricultural machines or implements on a desired track · CPC title

• A01D34/66

  with two or more cutters · CPC title