US 11,937,548 B2
System and method for sensing an edge
James Edward Slichter, Hill City, SD (US); Andrew Joseph Pierson, Sioux Falls, SD (US); Derek Michael Stotz, Sioux Falls, SD (US); and Jonathan William Richardson, Douglas, WY (US)
Assigned to Raven Industries, Inc., Sioux Falls, SD (US)
Filed by Raven Industries, Inc., Sioux Falls, SD (US)
Filed on Aug. 24, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/410,809.
Application 17/410,809 is a continuation of application No. 16/258,081, filed on Jan. 25, 2019, granted, now 11,154,011.
Application 16/258,081 is a continuation of application No. 14/640,740, filed on Mar. 6, 2015, granted, now 10,225,984.
Claims priority of provisional application 61/948,925, filed on Mar. 6, 2014.
Prior Publication US 2022/0078975 A1, Mar. 17, 2022
Int. Cl. A01D 75/00 (2006.01); A01B 69/00 (2006.01); G01S 7/48 (2006.01); G01S 17/42 (2006.01); G01S 17/87 (2020.01); G01S 17/89 (2020.01)
CPC A01D 75/00 (2013.01) [A01B 69/007 (2013.01); G01S 7/4808 (2013.01); G01S 17/42 (2013.01); G01S 17/87 (2013.01); G01S 17/89 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for guiding an agricultural vehicle comprising:
at least one distance sensor configured for coupling with the agricultural vehicle, the at least one distance sensor configured to conduct scans, each scan includes a plurality of scan lines and a distance measurement along each scan line of the plurality of scan lines to monitor a plurality of distances of at least one crop row, the at least one crop row including:
a first edge of the at least one crop row; and
a second edge of the at least one crop row; and
a controller in communication with the at least one distance sensor, the controller includes:
a comparator module configured to compare values corresponding to the monitored plurality of distances of the at least one crop row from the plurality of scan lines of each scan, comparing values includes:
generating an array of standard deviations based on the plurality of distances including one or more standard deviation couplets, each standard deviation couplet having a first standard deviation of a first subset of the plurality of distances and a second standard deviation of a second subset of the plurality of distances;
an identification module configured to identify the first and second edges of the at least one crop row based on the compared values; and
a navigation module configured to guide the agricultural vehicle according to one or more of the identified first or second edges of the at least one crop row.