Cut quality detection and reporting system for a harvester

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12102033-B2
Application number	US-202017097897-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2020
Priority date	Nov 13, 2020
Publication date	Oct 1, 2024
Grant date	Oct 1, 2024

Abstract

A harvester including an inlet configured to receive a crop including a stalk, a blade configured to cut the crop into a billet, a sensor configured to detect a three-dimensional appearance of at least a portion of the billet and generate a signal associated with the three-dimensional appearance of the at least a portion of the billet, and a control system having a processor, a memory, and a human-machine interface. The control system is configured to receive the signal from the sensor and programmed to 1) analyze the three-dimensional appearance of the at least a portion of the billet, 2) classify the three-dimensional appearance using an indicator of cut quality and 3) index the indicator of cut quality into the memory.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A harvester comprising:
an inlet configured to receive a crop including a stalk;
a blade configured to cut the crop into a billet;
a sensor configured to detect a three-dimensional appearance of at least a portion of the billet and generate a signal associated with the three-dimensional appearance of the at least a portion of the billet; and
a control system including a processor, a memory, and a human-machine interface, wherein the control system is configured to
receive the signal from the sensor,
analyze the three-dimensional appearance of the at least a portion of the billet,
classify the three-dimensional appearance using an indicator of cut quality,
index the indicator of cut quality into the memory, and
communicate a message, by way of the human-machine interface, wherein the message indicates blade life and/or blade sharpness level inferred from the three-dimensional appearance of the at least a portion of the billet.

2. The harvester of claim 1 , wherein the message is informative of cut quality based on the three-dimensional appearance of the at least a portion of the billet.

3. The harvester of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes at least one of a three-dimensional vision camera, a LIDAR device, or a structured light three-dimensional scanner.

4. The harvester of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to detect a three-dimensional image of a cut area of the billet, wherein the cut area is defined as an end portion of the billet that has been severed by the blade.

5. The harvester of claim 4 , wherein a cut quality indicator is indexed in the memory based on a level of damage detected in the cut area of the billet.

6. The harvester of claim 1 , wherein at least one of roundness of the cut area, appearance of severed fibers proximate the cut area, or a deviation from an optimal three-dimensional appearance of the cut area are parameters in analyzing the three-dimensional appearance.

7. The harvester of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to employ a neural network to analyze and/or classify the three-dimensional appearance of the at least a portion of the billet, and
wherein a degree of crushing of the cut area and/or a number of cut surfaces proximate the cut area are parameters in analyzing the three-dimensional appearance.

8. The harvester of claim 1 , wherein classifying the cut quality includes assigning a cut quality indicator from a range of cut quality indicators, wherein the range of cut quality indicators includes at least one indicator of relatively high cut quality and at least one indicator of relatively low cut quality.

9. A harvester comprising:
an inlet configured to receive a crop including a stalk;
a blade configured to cut the crop into a billet and thereby form a cut area of the billet;
a sensor configured to detect an appearance of the cut area of the billet in response to the billet passing through the harvester and to generate a signal corresponding to the appearance of the cut area of the billet; and
a control system including a processor, a memory, and a human-machine interface, wherein the control system is configured to receive the signal from the sensor, analyze the degree of roundness of the cut area of the billet, and communicate information, by way of the human-machine interface, indicative of blade wear inferred from the degree of roundness of the cut area of the billet.

10. The harvester of claim 9 , wherein the message is further indicative of a cut quality inferred from the three-dimensional appearance of the at least a portion of the billet.

11. The harvester of claim 9 , wherein the appearance of the cut area of the billet includes a three-dimensional appearance of the cut area of the billet.

12. The harvester of claim 9 , wherein the sensor includes at least one of a three-dimensional vision camera, a LIDAR device, or a structured light three-dimensional scanner.

13. The harvester of claim 9 , wherein the control system is further configured to index a cut quality indicator into the memory based on a level of damage detected in the cut area of the billet.

14. The harvester of claim 11 , wherein at least one of degree of crushing, number of cut surfaces, appearance of severed fibers, or a deviation from an optimal appearance of each cut area are parameters in analyzing the appearance.

15. The harvester of claim 9 , wherein the information indicates at least one of blade life inferred from the appearance of the cut area of the billet, a blade sharpness level inferred from the appearance of the cut area of the billet, or a blade damage level inferred from the appearance of the cut area of the billet.

16. A harvester comprising:
an inlet configured to receive a crop including a stalk;
a blade configured to cut the crop into a billet;
a sensor coupled to the harvester downstream of the blade, the sensor configured to detect a three-dimensional appearance of at least a portion of the billet and generate a signal corresponding to the three-dimensional appearance of the at least a portion of the billet; and
a control system including a processor, a memory, and a human-machine interface, wherein the control system is configured to
receive the signal from the sensor,
compare the detected three-dimensional appearance to an optimal three-dimensional appearance,
determine a degree of deviation between the detected three-dimensional appearance and the optimal three-dimensional appearance,
classify a cut quality of the billet based on the degree of deviation, wherein classifying the cut quality includes assigning a cut quality indicator from a range of cut quality indicators to the billet, wherein the range of cut quality indicators includes at least one indicator of relatively high cut quality and at least one indicator of relatively low cut quality,
index the cut quality indicator into the memory, and
communicate information, by way of the human-machine interface, indicative of blade life and/or blade sharpness level inferred from the degree of deviation between the detected three-dimensional appearance of the at least a portion of the billet and the optimal three-dimensional appearance.

17. The harvester of claim 16 , wherein the cut quality indicator is assigned based on a level of visual damage to the billet caused by the blade.

18. The harvester of claim 16 , wherein roundness and/or number of cut surfaces are parameters in classifying the cut quality.

19. The harvester of claim 16 , wherein a degree of crushing and/or an appearance of severed fibers proximate the cut area are parameters in classifying the cut quality.

Assignees

• Deere & Co

Inventors

• Dugas Bryan E
• Dighton John A
• Johnson Peter A

Classifications

• G06F18/24

  Classification techniques · CPC title

• G01B11/25

  by projecting a pattern, e.g. {one or more lines,} moiré fringes on the object (G01B11/255 takes precedence {; image analysis for depth or shape recovery G06T7/50}) · CPC title

• G06T2207/30164

  Workpiece; Machine component · CPC title

• G01S17/89

  for mapping or imaging · CPC title

• G06T7/0004

  Industrial image inspection · CPC title