초록 ▼

A prescription farming control system includes a navigation controller and a product delivery controller for controlling the rate of operation of a number of agricultural product delivery mechanisms mounted on an applicator vehicle as a function of the global position of the vehicle in an agricultur

A prescription farming control system includes a navigation controller and a product delivery controller for controlling the rate of operation of a number of agricultural product delivery mechanisms mounted on an applicator vehicle as a function of the global position of the vehicle in an agricultural field. Information is stored in computer memory on board the vehicle to define a number of layers corresponding to each of the delivery mechanisms, each layer including a number of zones representing different levels of activity of the corresponding mechanism. Each zone is defined by a plurality of vertices, rather than on a pixel-by-pixel basis. The navigation controller receives satellite positioning data to combine with pseudorange correction data received from a fixed ground station to determine a corrected accurate global position of the vehicle. A graphics coprocessor includes active invisible graphics memory page onto which each layer is sequentially drawn and interrogated. One user selected layer can be stored on an inactive visible graphics memory page for visual display and then page flipped to the active page for subsequent interrogation. The pixel on each layer associated with the current global position of the vehicle is interrogated to determine the proper level of activity of the delivery mechanism at that location. The product delivery controller includes features to prevent re-application of a product on portions of the agricultural field over which the vehicle has already traveled.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A prescription farming control system for use in controlling product delivery mechanisms mounted on an applicator vehicle, the delivery mechanisms operable to deliver product to spreader mechanisms for spreading products over an agricultural field, each of the product del

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A prescription farming control system for use in controlling product delivery mechanisms mounted on an applicator vehicle, the delivery mechanisms operable to deliver product to spreader mechanisms for spreading products over an agricultural field, each of the product delivery mechanisms having a device controller which controls the rate of operation of the corresponding delivery mechanism in response to a control signal derived in accordance with a prescription for the field, the control system comprising:means for storing in a digital memory information defiling a digital map representative of the prescription for the field, the map being defined by a number of layers, each layer corresponding to one of the product delivery mechanisms, and each layer including a number of zones, each zone corresponding to a rate of application of the corresponding product in accordance with the prescription for the field at a plurality of global positions within the zone;means for storing a data table containing control signal values for each of said number of zones in each of said number of layers, said control signal values being indicative of the rate of application of the product associated with a corresponding layer at positions of the vehicle within a corresponding zone;navigation means for determining the current position of the applicator vehicle on the agricultural field in global coordinates as the vehicle moves over the field; andmeans for transmitting, to each device controller, selected ones of said control signal values corresponding to said zone of each layer for which the determined current position of the vehicle corresponds to one of said plurality of global positions within the zone.