Method for assisting during execution of a sequence of cuttings in a tree, and system for assisting during execution of a sequence of cuttings in a tree

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10905053-B2
Application number	US-201816026798-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 3, 2018
Priority date	Jul 4, 2017
Publication date	Feb 2, 2021
Grant date	Feb 2, 2021

Abstract

A method assists during execution of a sequence of cuttings in a tree, wherein, during a cutting sequence, a first cut in the tree is followed by a second cut in the tree At least a part of an ideal course of the second cut depends on at least a part of a course of the first cut. The method includes the steps of: identifying at least the part of the course of the first cut in the tree; precalculating at least the part of the ideal course of the second cut in the tree based on the identified part of the course of the first cut; and outputting cutting information for executing the second cut based on the precalculated part of the ideal course of the second cut.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic method for assisting during execution of a sequence of cuttings in a tree, wherein, during a cutting sequence, a first cut in the tree is followed by a second cut in the tree, wherein at least a part of an ideal course of the second cut depends on at least a part of a course of the first cut, the method comprising the steps of:
a) automatically identifying, using an identification device, at least the part of the course of the first cut in the tree;
b) automatically precalculating, using a precalculation device, at least the part of the ideal course of the second cut in the tree based on the identified part of the course of the first cut; and
c) automatically outputting, using an output device, cutting information for executing the second cut based on the precalculated part of the ideal course of the second cut.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein
the step a) includes at least one of: identifying the part of the course of the first cut and identifying a position or an orientation of a cutting apparatus executing the first cut, wherein
the identifying uses one or more of:
optical identification,
inertial measurement,
a spirit level,
a compass,
local position determination, or
satellite position determination.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first cut or the second cut are selected from a group consisting of: a kerf lower cut, a kerf upper cut, a felling cut, a relief cut and a separation cut.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the step b) includes: precalculating at least the part of the ideal course of the second cut such that at least one of:
the kerf upper cut as the second cut meets the kerf lower cut as the first cut in a kerf chord,
the kerf lower cut as the second cut meets the kerf upper cut as the first cut in the kerf chord,
the felling cut as the second cut has a horizontal offset and a vertical offset in relation to the kerf lower cut or the kerf upper cut as the first cut, or
the separation cut as the second cut meets the relief cut as the first cut.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of: providing a geometric property of the tree, wherein
the step b) includes: precalculating at least the part of the ideal course of the second cut as a function of the provided geometric property.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the cutting information for executing the second cut includes at least one of:
the at least one part of the ideal course of the second cut, an ideal position, position or an ideal orientation of a cutting apparatus executing the second cut based on the at least one precalculated part of the ideal course.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in step c) the cutting information is outputted using at least one of optics, acoustics or haptics.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
d) at least one of identifying at least a part of a course of the second cut during execution thereof and identifying a position, or an orientation of a cutting apparatus executing the second cut during execution thereof;
e) at least one of comparing the identified part to the precalculated part of the ideal course of the second cut, and comparing the identified position or the identified orientation of the cutting apparatus to an ideal position or an ideal orientation of the cutting apparatus based on the precalculated part of the ideal course; and
f) outputting further cutting information for executing the second cut based on the comparison during step d).

Assignees

• Stihl Ag & Co Kg Andreas

Inventors

• Eppinger Andreas
• Eppinger Florian
• Frey Benjamin
• Hollmeier Friedrich
• Jaeger Dirk
• Kraemer Fernandez Antonio
• Kugel Steffen
• Mang Harald
• Maier Bettina
• Reinert Michael
• Suepple Steffen
• Tippelt Martin

Classifications

• A01G23/099 Primary

  Auxiliary devices, e.g. felling wedges · CPC title

• B23D59/008

  comprising computers · CPC title

• A01G23/08

  Felling trees · CPC title

• A01G23/091

  Sawing apparatus specially adapted for felling trees (A01G23/081, A01G23/083, A01G23/093 take precedence) · CPC title

• A01G3/086

  Chain saws · CPC title