Working vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11533835-B2
Application number	US-202117351293-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 18, 2021
Priority date	Dec 26, 2018
Publication date	Dec 27, 2022
Grant date	Dec 27, 2022

Abstract

A working vehicle is capable of autonomously traveling on a target traveling route and appropriately performing illumination during autonomous traveling to enable an operator to reliably confirm the presence of obstacles or the like on the target traveling route. The working vehicle includes a traveling body to autonomously travel on the target traveling route, illumination lamps located on the traveling body to respectively illuminate different directions, and a controller to change a control relating to a way of turning on the illumination lamps during the autonomously traveling.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A working vehicle comprising:
a traveling body to autonomously travel on a target traveling route;
a plurality of illumination lamps located on the traveling body to respectively illuminate different directions; and
a controller configured or programmed to change a control relating to a way of lighting the illumination lamps during the autonomous travel; wherein
before the traveling body changes direction, the controller is configured or programmed to selectively light at least one of the illumination lamps based on the target traveling route so that the selectively lighted at least one illumination lamp illuminates a target direction to be set as a subsequent traveling direction after the changing direction; and
the controller is configured or programmed to include:
a storage to store a plurality of illuminating patterns each of which defines a combination of the illumination lamps including one or more illumination lamps to be lighted and other one or more illumination lamps to be extinguished; and
an illuminating pattern selector to select, based on the target traveling route, one of the illuminating patterns stored in the storage so as to illuminate a target direction to be set as a subsequent traveling direction for the traveling body after the changing direction.

2. The working vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a camera located on the traveling body to capture an image of surroundings of the traveling body;
a grader to grade clearness of the image captured by the camera; and
a display to display the image captured by the camera; wherein
the controller is configured or programmed to change the control relating to the way of lighting the illumination lamps based on the clearness graded by the grader.

3. The working vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to selectively light at least one of the illumination lamps to illuminate a capturing direction of the camera, based on the clearness graded by the grader.

4. The working vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to change an illuminance of the illumination lamp illuminating the capturing direction of the camera, based on the clearness graded by the grader.

5. The working vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the display is a mobile terminal capable of being arranged at a position separate from the traveling body.

6. The working vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an illuminance sensor to measure an illuminance around the traveling body; wherein
the illuminating pattern selector is configured or programmed to select one of the illuminating patterns based on the illuminance measured by the illuminance sensor.

7. The working vehicle according to claim 6 , further comprising:
a camera located on the traveling body to capture an image of surroundings of the traveling body; and
a display to display the image captured by the camera; wherein
the controller is configured or programmed to include:
an image quality estimator to estimate, based on the illuminance measured by the illuminance sensor, an image quality of an image to be displayed on the display; and

the illuminating pattern selector selects one of the illuminating patterns so that the image quality estimated by the image quality estimator satisfies a predetermined condition where the image quality fits for recognition of a captured object.

8. The working vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein the display is a mobile terminal capable of being arranged at a position separate from the traveling body.

9. A working vehicle comprising:
a traveling body to autonomously travel on a target traveling route;
a plurality of illumination lamps located on the traveling body to respectively illuminate different directions;
a controller configured or programmed to change a control relating to a way of lighting the illumination lamps during the autonomous travel; and
a cabin mounted on the traveling body; wherein
the illumination lamps include a plurality of work lamps attached to an upper portion of the cabin.

10. The working vehicle according to claim 9 , wherein the illumination lamps include a plurality of head lamps attached to a front portion of the traveling body.

Assignees

• Kubota Kk

Inventors

• Kurogi Toshiaki

Classifications

• A01B69/001 Primary

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

• B60Q1/12

  due to steering position · CPC title

• B60Q2300/12

  Steering parameters · CPC title

• E02F9/2045

  Guiding machines along a predetermined path (for graders E02F3/841; machines for construction of roads E01C19/004) · CPC title

• A01B69/008

  automatic · CPC title