IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0907792
(2010-10-19)
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등록번호 |
US-8548649
(2013-10-01)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
- Guyette, Greg S.
- McVay, Ian
- Hennessey, Patrick H.
- Collins, Dennis M.
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출원인 / 주소 |
|
대리인 / 주소 |
Law Office of Mark Brown, LLC
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
11 인용 특허 :
282 |
초록
▼
A GNSS system in combination with a hydraulically-actuated, airborne dispenser for a dry material crop dusting system to optimize the distribution of dry materials over a particular tract of land. A GNSS subsystem is included using at least one GNSS antenna and one GNSS receiver located on the aircr
A GNSS system in combination with a hydraulically-actuated, airborne dispenser for a dry material crop dusting system to optimize the distribution of dry materials over a particular tract of land. A GNSS subsystem is included using at least one GNSS antenna and one GNSS receiver located on the aircraft. The aircraft is equipped with an electronic/hydraulic crop dusting subsystem connected to a GNSS CPU. The GNSS ranging signals received by the antennas are processed by a receiver and processor system for determining the vehicle's position and dynamic attitude in three dimensions (3D). A graphical user interface (GUI) placed in the vehicle will give the driver a real-time view of his or her current bearing as well as a calculated “optimal path” based on calculations and variable data, such as wind speed and direction, material moisture content, altitude, air speed and other conditions. The system is adapted for operation in a differential GNSS (DGNSS) mode utilizing a base station at a fixed location.
대표청구항
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1. A global navigation satellite system (GNSS) based material distribution control system for a vehicle, which system comprises: a material hopper associated with the vehicle and adapted for containing a material to be distributed;a spreader mechanism adapted for spreading the material along a trave
1. A global navigation satellite system (GNSS) based material distribution control system for a vehicle, which system comprises: a material hopper associated with the vehicle and adapted for containing a material to be distributed;a spreader mechanism adapted for spreading the material along a travel path of the vehicle;a gate box assembly connected to the hopper and the spreader mechanism;said gate box assembly being adapted for selectively controlling a flow of material from the hopper to the spreader mechanism;a GNSS subsystem mounted on the vehicle and including an antenna, a graphical user interface (GUI) and a GNSS receiver, said GNSS subsystem being adapted for providing GNSS-based positioning information for said vehicle; anda gate box control subsystem including a controller connected to the GNSS subsystem and the gate box assembly and adapted for controlling said gate box assembly using said GNSS-based positioning information. 2. The distribution control system of claim 1 wherein said GNSS subsystem includes: said antenna comprising a base antenna;a slave antenna mounted on said vehicle in spaced relation from said base antenna and connected to said GNSS receiver; andsaid GNSS subsystem being adapted for computing a heading of said vehicle using the relative positions of said antennas. 3. The distribution control system of claim 2, which includes: said GNSS subsystem being adapted for differential GNSS-based guidance using positioning corrections from a base GNSS station and GNSS-based positions computed by said on-board GNSS subsystem. 4. The distribution control system of claim 1, which includes: said GNSS subsystem including a multi-frequency receiver. 5. The distribution control system of claim 1, which includes: an imagery device connected to said controller and adapted for capturing and storing images along said vehicle travel path. 6. The distribution control system of claim 1 wherein the gate box assembly includes a gate box actuator adapted for selectively and adjustably controlling the flow of material through said gate box assembly. 7. The distribution control system of claim 6 wherein said gate box actuator is hydraulic. 8. The distribution control system of claim 6 wherein said gate box actuator is electrical. 9. The distribution control system of claim 1 wherein said vehicle comprises an aircraft and said spreader mechanism comprises a venturi spreader mounted below the aircraft. 10. The distribution control system of claim 1 wherein: said hopper includes a sub tank adapted for containing a second material; andsaid hopper and sub tank contents are mixed. 11. The system of claim 1, which includes an automatic geo-reference function. 12. The system of claim 1, which includes a telemetry device connected to said controller. 13. The system according to claim 12 wherein said telemetry device is chosen from among the group comprising radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR), optical, sonar and radar. 14. A global navigation satellite system (GNSS) based material distribution control system for an aircraft, which system comprises: a material hopper associated with the aircraft and adapted for containing a material to be distributed;a venturi spreader mechanism mounted below the aircraft and adapted for spreading the material along a travel path of the aircraft;a gate box assembly connected to the hopper and the spreader mechanism;said gate box assembly being adapted for selectively controlling a flow of material from the hopper to the spreader mechanism;a GNSS subsystem mounted on the vehicle and including a base antenna, a slave antenna mounted on said vehicle in spaced relation from said base antenna and connected to said GNSS receiver, a graphical user interface (GUI) and a multi-frequency GNSS receiver, said GNSS subsystem being adapted for providing GNSS-based positioning information for said vehicle;said GNSS subsystem being adapted for computing a heading of said vehicle using the relative positions of said antennas;a gate box control subsystem including a controller connected to the GNSS subsystem and the gate box assembly and adapted for controlling said gate box assembly using said GNSS-based positioning information;said GNSS subsystem being adapted for differential GNSS-based guidance using positioning corrections from a base GNSS station and GNSS-based positions computed by said on-board GNSS subsystem;an imagery device connected to said controller and adapted for capturing and storing images along said aircraft flight path;said gate box assembly including a gate box actuator adapted for selectively and adjustably controlling the flow of material through said gate box assembly;said controller including an automatic geo-reference function; anda telemetry device connected to said controller chosen from among the group comprising radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR), optical, sonar and radar. 15. The system of claim 14, wherein said hopper is adapted for receiving dry material for use in crop dusting applications. 16. The system of claim 14, wherein said GNSS flow control system is adapted for spreading material over a targeted tract of land. 17. The system of claim 14, further comprising: a targeted tract of land defined by a plurality of positioning parameters indicating a boundary of said tract, the parameters being entered into the GNSS subsystem;said GNSS subsystem adapted for receiving three-dimensional information regarding a position and altitude of the aircraft over said targeted tract of land;said GNSS subsystem CPU adapted for instructing the gate box control subsystem to open or close a material dispensing gate;said GNSS subsystem adapted for indicating an optimal flight path and flight speed over said targeted tract to the pilot via GUI; andsaid GNSS subsystem adapted for indicating deviations from said optimal path to the pilot via said GUI. 18. The system of claim 14, further comprising: a plurality flight parameters including altitude of the aircraft, ground speed of the aircraft, temperature, humidity, moisture content of the material and ambient wind speed;said GNSS subsystem CPU adapted for compensating the spread of material based on said flight parameters; andwherein said flight parameters may be gathered in real time from said aircraft instruments or may be manually entered pre-flight. 19. A method of optimizing the spreading of dry crop dusting material, the method comprising the steps; providing a crop dusting aircraft, including a gate box assembly and spreader;loading said gate box assembly with crop dusting material;providing a DGNSS subsystem, the subsystem including a CPU, a master antenna, at least two slave antennas, a graphical user interface (GUI) and a DGNSS receiver;providing an electrical dry gate controller subsystem;electrically connecting said DGNSS subsystem to said dry gate controller subsystem and attaching the mounting to said crop dusting aircraft;detecting said aircraft's three-dimensional positioning using said DGNSS subsystem;defining a set of input parameters to establish the boundaries of a targeted tract of land with said CPU;recalling said input parameters and associating said input parameters with said aircraft three-dimensional positioning using said CPU;instructing said electrical dry gate controller with said CPU to open and/or close said gate box assembly; andinforming the pilot of ideal flight patterns and speeds determined by said CPU to produce optimal coverage of said crop dusting material. 20. The method of claim 19, including the additional steps of: providing a base station assembly including a base antenna, transmitter, and a receiver unit located near said tract of land designated for fly-over by said aircraft; andproviding differential GNSS guidance to said aircraft using said base station assembly to reduce GNSS errors.
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