System and method for adjusting harvest characteristics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9872433-B2
Application number	US-201615154526-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 13, 2016
Priority date	May 14, 2015
Publication date	Jan 23, 2018
Grant date	Jan 23, 2018

Abstract

The systems and methods described herein adjust harvest characteristics by selecting one or more harvest characteristics according to the location of a harvester within a field. For example, the selection includes determining the location of the harvester within the field, associating the location with a corresponding zone of a plurality of zones in the field where each of the plurality of zones corresponds to a respective crop planted within the field (for instance a hybrid type), and assigning one or more harvest characteristics to a harvest operation according to at least the corresponding zone and the respective crop within the corresponding zone. Harvest operations are conducted with the assigned one or more harvest characteristics. The systems and methods described repeat selecting the one or more harvest characteristics as the harvester changes location within the field according to further examples.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for adjusting harvest characteristics comprising:
selecting one or more harvest characteristics according to the location of a harvester within a field including:
determining the location of the harvester within the field with a GPS locator,
associating the location with a corresponding zone of a plurality of zones in the field, each of the plurality of zones corresponds to a respective crop planted within the field with a controller of the harvester, and
assigning one or more harvest characteristics of a harvest operation according to at least the corresponding zone and the respective crop within the corresponding zone with the controller;

conducting the harvest operation with the harvester;
changing the harvest operation with the controller according to the assigned one or more harvest characteristics; and
repeating assigning the one or more harvest characteristics and automatically changing of the harvest operation as the harvester changes location within the field.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a planting map that includes at least first and second zones of the plurality of zones corresponding to first and second respective crops, and the one or more harvest characteristics include at least a first harvest characteristic for the first respective crop and a second harvest characteristic for the second respective crop, and
assigning one or more harvest characteristics to the harvest operation according to at least the corresponding zone includes:
assigning the first harvest characteristic with the harvester in the first zone, and assigning the second harvest characteristic with the harvester in the second zone.

3. The method claim 2 , wherein conducting the harvest operation includes calculating yield, and
with the harvester in the first zone yield is calculated with the first harvest characteristic, and
with the harvester in the second zone yield is calculated with the second harvest characteristic.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein conducting the harvest operation includes harvesting with the harvester, and
with the harvester in the first zone the harvester harvests the first respective crop according to the first harvest characteristic, and
with the harvester in the second zone the harvester harvests the second respective crop according to the second harvest characteristic.

5. The method of claim 1 comprising updating at least one harvest characteristic of the one or more harvest characteristics including:
measuring at least one property of the respective crop of the corresponding zone with a sensor connected to the harvester,
calculating at least one updated harvest characteristic for the respective crop, and
changing the at least one harvest characteristic to the updated harvest characteristic.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more harvest characteristics comprise one or more of an estimated test weight, an actual test weight, one or more aspects related to a yield calculation, a parameter or calculation related to a sensor, and a harvester operation.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the harvester operation comprises changing one or more of a ground speed, a width of stripper/deck plates, a cylinder/rotor clearance, a cylinder/rotor speed, an opening or closing of sieves, a fan/blower speed, a header height, and a reel height of the harvester with a signal from the controller.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crop comprises two or more hybrid types, and assigning one or more harvest characteristics to a harvest operation according to at least the corresponding zone and the respective crop within the corresponding zone includes:
generating a planting map that assigns each of the plurality of zones with a hybrid type of the two or more hybrid types; and
assigning an estimated test weight to each zone of the plurality of zones of the planting map according to the assigned hybrid type of that zone.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein selecting one or more harvest characteristics according to the location of the harvester in the field includes selecting the estimated test weight corresponding to the assigned hybrid type based on the location of the harvester in the field and the corresponding zone.

10. The method of claim 9 , comprising conducting a yield calculation for a yield monitor based upon the selected estimated test weight.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the yield calculation for the yield monitor is performed manually or automatically based upon a planting identifier.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the estimated test weight for each of the two or more hybrid types comprises a statistical average based upon a historical average for each hybrid type.

13. The method of claim 9 , comprising determining an actual test weight according to the location of the harvester in the field based upon the estimated test weight corresponding to which of the plurality of zones the harvester is located in and further based upon a measured test weight as measured by one or more instruments on the harvester.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising changing one or more aspects of a calculation of the measured test weight based upon the hybrid type according to the location of the harvester in the field.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the one or more aspects comprise one or more calculation parameters related to moisture sensor data.

16. The method of claim 1 , comprising generating a planting map and storing the planting map in a memory device of the controller during a planting operation before conducting the harvest operation, and the planting map includes the one or more harvest characteristics associated with each zone of the plurality of zones.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein generating the planting map includes at least one of manually generating or automatically generating the planting map.

18. The method of clam 1 , comprising storing in a memory device of the controller a plurality of data associated with the plurality of harvest characteristics, the location in the field, the hybrid type corresponding to that location in the field, and a yield from which the data is used, measured, or implemented including in planning future seed prescriptions.

19. The method of claim 1 , comprising generating a yield for each hybrid type in the field.

20. The method of claim 19 , comprising assigning the yield to a planting map to display the yield for each hybrid type at the corresponding zones in the field on a display device connected to the controller.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crop comprises two or more hybrid types, and further comprising calculating one or more of a yield per each of the two or more of hybrid types, a yield per zone with reference to a planting map, an average actual test weight per hybrid per each of the two or more of hybrid types, a moisture content per each of the two or more of hybrid types, a yield per location in the field, an average test weight per location in the field, and a moisture content per location in the field.

22. A method for determining a test weight of a crop for yield calculations comprising:
determining a location of a harvester within the field using a GPS locator;
associating the location of the harvester with a corresponding zone of a plurality of zones, each of the zones having an assigned hybrid and a corresponding assigned estimated test weight associated with the assigned hybrid;
selecting the a

Assignees

• Raven Ind Inc

Inventors

• Acheson John Earl
• Weidenbach Alex John

Classifications

• A01D41/127 Primary

  Control or measuring arrangements specially adapted for combines · CPC title