Reichert, Christian

The seed valve assembly, comprising: a hinge (430, 470) having a hinging axis (431, 471) positioned substantially perpendicular to a seed metering member of the seed meter (344); and a valve (420, 460) having a first end (421, 461) coupled to the hinge (430, 470) and a second end (422, 462) configured to sealingly mate with an abutment surface (423, 463), the valve (420, 460) having a first lateral side configured to slide along an inner surface and a second lateral side configured to slide along the seed metering member, wherein the valve (430, 470) has a first position corresponding to a first position of the seed meter (344) and a second position corresponding to a second position of the seed meter (344), the first position configured to allow commodity to pass through the valve (420, 460) and the second position configured to block commodity from passing through the valve (420, 460).

The seed meter assembly (344) comprising: a seed meter housing (352) at least partially defining a cavity (346); a seed metering member (54) within the seed meter housing (352) and at least partially defining the cavity (346), the seed metering member (54) having first side (54B) and a second side (54C) and a plurality of apertures (78) extending between the first side (54B) of the seed metering member (54) and the second side (54C) of the seed metering member (54) and arranged in an annular array, wherein the seed metering member (54) is configured to adhere at least one seed to at least one aperture of the plurality of apertures (78) using a pressure differential, to rotate about a seed metering member axis (68), and to move the at least one seed adhered to the at least one aperture of the plurality of apertures (78) along a seed path (382) from a seed pick-up location (380) to a seed hand-off location (384); and a seed curtain assembly (400) comprising: a substantially linear seed curtain (480, 490) held between an inner surface of the seed meter housing (352) and the first side (54B) of the seed metering member (54) and at least partially intersecting the seed path (382), the seed curtain (480, 490) comprising a plurality of projections extending toward the seed metering member (54) from a seed curtain (480, 490) base coupled to the inner surface of the seed meter housing (352).

A mowing vehicle (100) is disclosed. The mowing vehicle (100), comprising: a propulsion subsystem (112); a steering subsystem (114); a cutting head (104, 106); and a mowing vehicle control system (105) configured to dynamically identify (288) an actuation point for issuing a cutting head position command, to change (320, 336) a position of the cutting head (104, 106) from a first position to a second position, based on a current ground speed (328) of the mowing vehicle (100) and based on a location where the cutting head (104, 106) is to be in the second position. Furthermore a computer implemented method of controlling such a mowing vehicle (100) is disclosed.

A vehicle (100) is disclosed. The vehicle (100) comprising: first and second traction wheels (104b, 104c); at least one speed input (224) configured to provide information related to a speed of said vehicle (100); at least one steering input (220) configured to provide information related to a direction of travel of said vehicle (100); at least one differential lock input (222); a vehicle control unit (200) including at least one memory (202) and at least one processor (204), said vehicle control unit (200) operable to: command differential speed of said first and second traction wheels (104b, 104c) based on said information related to a speed of said vehicle (100) and said information related to a direction of travel of said vehicle (100); detect (304) a differential lock input request from said at least one differential lock input (222); and command equal speed of said first and second traction wheels (104b, 104c) during a period of time in which said differential lock is requested. Furthermore, a computer-implemented method of operating such a vehicle (100) is disclosed.

A grass mowing vehicle (100) is disclosed. The grass mowing vehicle (100) comprising: a plurality of ground engaging traction elements (108, 110) moveable to carry the grass mowing vehicle (100) across a worksite (600); one or more cutting units (104, 106) configured to cut grass at the worksite (600); and a control system (205) configured to: generate (832) a path plan (360) for a mowing operation of a plurality of separate mowing areas (604) of a worksite (600), the path plan (360) including a set of respective swaths (606, 608, 610) corresponding to each separate mowing area (604), wherein a subset of swaths (606-1/606-2, 608-1) of a first set of respective swaths (606, 608, 610) are aligned with a subset of swaths (606-2/606-3, 608-2) of a second set of respective swaths (606, 608, 610); and automatically control (836) the grass mowing vehicle (100) based, at least, on the path plan (360). Furthermore, a method performed by such a grass mowing vehicle (100) is disclosed.

A grass mowing vehicle (100) is disclosed. The grass mowing vehicle (100) comprising: a plurality of ground engaging traction elements (108, 110) moveable to carry the grass mowing vehicle (100) across a worksite (700); one or more cutting units (104, 106) configured to cut grass at the worksite (700); and a control system (205) configured to: adjust (820) an off path error tolerance corresponding to the grass mowing vehicle (100) to generate a path plan (360) for the grass mowing vehicle (100) at the worksite (700); and automatically control (824) the grass mowing vehicle (100) based, at least, on the adjusted off path error tolerance. Furthermore, method performed by such a grass mowing vehicle (100) is disclosed.

A mowing vehicle (100) is disclosed. The mowing vehicle (100) comprising: a set of cutting heads (104, 106); a propulsion subsystem (112); a steering subsystem (114); a patch cleanup control system (25) configured to receive a path plan (280) identifying a route for the mowing vehicle (100) to mow an area of interest , the route including passes across the area of interest and a cleanup lap (156) following a boundary (152) of the area of interest, the patch cleanup control system (25) being configured to receive an estimated location and size of an uncut patch (194, 196) in the area of interest that will not be mowed by the mowing vehicle (100) when following the route identified in the path plan (280), and to receive an indication of a patch cleanup pass (212) to cover the uncut patch (194, 196) based on the location and size of the uncut patch (194, 196), and to generate a modified route with the patch cleanup pass (212) added to the route, the patch cleanup control system (25) being configured to access a patch cleanup decision value to determine whether to control the mowing vehicle (100) to follow the route or the modified route and generate a decision output indicator based on the patch cleanup decision value; and a navigation system (246) configured to control the propulsion subsystem (112) and the steering subsystem (114) to follow the route or the modified route based on the decision output indicator. Furthermore, a method of controlling such mowing vehicle (100) is disclosed.

A grass mowing vehicle (100) is disclosed. The grass mowing vehicle, comprising: a propulsion subsystem (112); a steering subsystem (114); a cutting unit (104, 106); a perception system (246), including a perception sensor (120), configured to generate a perception signal; and a mower control system (105) configured to determine whether a human supervisor (222) is locally present to the grass mowing vehicle (100) based on the perception signal and control autonomous operation (252) of the grass mowing vehicle (100) based on whether the human supervisor (222) is locally present to the grass mowing vehicle (100). Furthermore, a computer implemented method of operating such grass mower vehicle (100) is disclosed.

An air cart comprising: a plurality of primary chutes (108, 308); a plurality of metering devices (116, 316) each coupled to a corresponding primary chute and configured to deposit seed at a metering rate at a location between the corresponding primary chute's first end (110, 310) and second end (112, 312), wherein the metering rate of each metering device is individually configurable; one or more blowers (102, 302) configured to produce a plurality of airstreams within the plurality of primary chutes, such that each of the plurality of primary chutes has an air flow rate; and a controller (118, 318) configured to receive the metering rate of each metering device and individually control each air flow rate of the plurality of primary chutes based on the metering rate of the corresponding metering device. Furthermore, a method for depositing seeds using such air cart is disclosed.

A mower (100) is disclosed. The mower (100) comprising: a first cutting unit row (134) including at least a first cutting unit (106, 108), said first cutting unit (106, 108) movable between a plurality of first cutting unit positions; a second cutting unit row (136) including at least a second cutting unit (110), said second cutting unit (110) movable between a plurality of second cutting unit positions, and wherein said first and second cutting units (106, 108, 110) are staggered; a controller (142) including at least one memory (144) and at least one processor (146), said controller (142) operable to: detect a request to move said first and second cutting units (106, 108,110) to different first and second cutting unit positions; command said first cutting unit (106, 108) to move to said different first cutting unit position; determine a distance traveled by said mower (100) after said first cutting unit (106, 108) is moved to said different first cutting unit position; and command said second cutting unit (110) to move to said different second cutting unit position such that an approximately straight mow line is created across a total desired cutting width (140) of said mower (100). Furthermore, a method (200) of controlling such a mower (100) is disclosed.