Material supply system and material supply method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025085722-A1
Application number	US-202418958681-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 25, 2024
Priority date	May 30, 2022
Publication date	Mar 13, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A material supply system that causes a transport vehicle to supply an agricultural material for consumption by an agricultural machine in agricultural work includes a computer configured or programmed to determine a transport start timing for the transport vehicle toward a delivery location of the agricultural material, based on a consumption status of the agricultural material in an agricultural task by the agricultural machine in a field, a position of a storage location of the agricultural material, and a position of the delivery location of the agricultural material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A material supply system that causes a transport vehicle to supply an agricultural material for consumption by an agricultural machine in agricultural work, the material supply system comprising:
a computer configured or programmed to determine a transport start timing for the transport vehicle toward a delivery location of the agricultural material, based on a consumption status of the agricultural material in an agricultural task by the agricultural machine in a field, a position of a storage location of the agricultural material, and a position of the delivery location.

2 . The material supply system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is configured or programmed to:
estimate a time of depletion at which a remaining amount of the agricultural material becomes smaller than a predetermined amount based on the consumption status of the agricultural material; estimate a traveling time required by the transport vehicle in order to move to the delivery location based on a relative positioning of the storage location of the agricultural material and the delivery location of the agricultural material; and determine the transport start timing based on the time of depletion and the traveling time.

3 . The material supply system of claim 2 , wherein the computer is configured or programmed to determine, as the transport start timing, a timing before a point in time that is derived by subtracting the traveling time from the time of depletion.

4 . The material supply system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is configured or programmed to transmit information indicating the transport start timing to a controller configured or programmed to control self-driving of the transport vehicle.

5 . The material supply system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is configured or programmed to determine a loading start timing at which to begin loading of the agricultural material onto the transport vehicle based on the transport start timing and a transport amount of the agricultural material to be transported by the transport vehicle.

6 . The material supply system of claim 5 , wherein the computer is configured or programmed to:
estimate a loading time required for loading the agricultural material onto the transport vehicle based on the transport amount; and determine, as the loading start timing, a timing before a point in time that is derived by subtracting the loading time from the transport start timing.

7 . The material supply system of claim 5 , wherein the computer is configured or programmed to provide a notification of the loading start timing to a terminal usable by a worker to perform the loading work.

8 . The material supply system of claim 1 , further comprising a controller configured or programmed to acquire information indicating the transport start timing and to control self-driving of the transport vehicle; wherein
the controller is configured or programmed to, upon acquiring the information indicating the transport start timing, initiate self-traveling toward the delivery location at the transport start timing.

9 . The material supply system of claim 1, 1 wherein the computer is configured or programmed to monitor a state of the agricultural machine, and estimate the consumption status of the agricultural material based on the state of the agricultural machine.

10 . The material supply system of claim 9 , wherein the computer is configured or programmed to monitor a position and a moving speed of the agricultural machine, and estimate the consumption status of the agricultural material based on the position and the moving speed of the agricultural machine.

11 . The material supply system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is configured or programmed to estimate the consumption status of the agricultural material based on a previously-set work plan of the agricultural machine.

12 . The material supply system of claim 11 , wherein the computer is configured or programmed to estimate the consumption status of the agricultural material based on information of a work path and a work speed of the agricultural machine included in the work plan.

13 . The material supply system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is configured or programmed to:
estimate a point of depletion at which the remaining amount of the agricultural material becomes smaller than a predetermined amount, based on the consumption status of the agricultural material, a work path of the agricultural machine, and a position and a moving speed of the agricultural machine; and determine the delivery location in accordance with the point of depletion.

14 . The material supply system of claim 8 , wherein, based on a previously-set operating schedule of the transport vehicle, the controller is configured or programmed to control self-traveling of the transport vehicle to circulate through a route that includes the storage location and the delivery location.

15 . The material supply system of claim 8 , wherein, after unloading of the agricultural material from the transport vehicle is completed at the delivery location, the controller is configured or programmed to initiate self-traveling from the delivery location to the storage location, in response to a command from a device that is operated by a user.

16 . The material supply system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to initiate self-traveling to the delivery location, upon receiving a notification that loading of the agricultural material onto the transport vehicle at the storage location has been completed and upon acquiring information indicating the transport start timing.

17 . The material supply system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is mounted in or on the agricultural machine, in a computer configured or programmed to communicate with the agricultural machine, or in or on the transport vehicle.

18 . The material supply system of claim 1 , wherein
the agricultural material includes seedlings of a plant; and the agricultural machine is a transplanter that travels while planting seedlings of the plant in a field.

19 . A method of causing a transport vehicle to supply an agricultural material for consumption by an agricultural machine in agricultural work, the method comprising:
acquiring information of a consumption status of the agricultural material in an agricultural task by the agricultural machine in a field, information of a position of a storage location of the agricultural material, and information of a position of a delivery location of the agricultural material; based on the consumption status of the agricultural material, the position of the storage location, and the position of the delivery location, determining a transport start timing for the transport vehicle toward the delivery location; and providing information indicating the transport start timing for a controller configured or programmed to control self-driving of the transport vehicle.

Assignees

• Kubota Kk

Inventors

• Tamatani Kenji

Classifications

• A01B79/005

  Precision agriculture · CPC title

• G05D1/225

  operated by off-board computers · CPC title

• G05D1/667 Primary

  Delivering or retrieving payloads · CPC title

• G05D2105/28

  of freight · CPC title

• G05D1/646

  Following a predefined trajectory, e.g. a line marked on the floor or a flight path · CPC title