Patent ID: 12207583

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

Embodiments herein disclose methods and system for controlling power supply of at least one agricultural implement connected to an agricultural vehicle.

Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for implementing at least one standalone battery as a part of a control system of the at least one agricultural implement.

Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for powering up at least one component of the control system using the at least one battery based on a mode of the agricultural implement for saving energy of the at least one battery.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly toFIGS.2athrough6, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown embodiments.

FIGS.2a-2cdepict a control system201for controlling power supply of agricultural implement(s)200attached to an agricultural vehicle, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. The agricultural vehicle herein refers to any vehicle/farm machinery that can be used for performing at least one agricultural related operation. An example of the agricultural vehicle can be, but not limited to, a tractor, a thresher, a harvester, a combiner, and so on. Embodiments herein are further explained considering the tractor as an example of the agricultural vehicle, but it may be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that any suitable vehicle can be considered.

The agricultural vehicle can be capable of pulling, operating, and transporting one or more agricultural implements200connected thereto. Examples of the agricultural implement200can be, but not limited to, rotavators, sprayers, harrows, plows, planters, harvesters/reapers, fertilizer spreader, sprayers, dispersers, and so on. In an embodiment, the agricultural implement200can be connected to the agricultural vehicle using a detachable means, such as a three-point hitch/linkage, and so on. In an embodiment, the agricultural implement200can be connected to the agricultural vehicle permanently.

The agricultural implement includes the control system201, which can be mounted on the agricultural implement200at a suitable position. The control system201can be configured to manage operations of the agricultural implement200. In an embodiment, the control system201can be configured to control the power supplied to the agricultural implement200. As illustrated inFIG.2a, the control system201includes a Battery Management System (BMS) unit202, a communication unit204, a display unit206, a storage208, a sensor unit210, and a control unit212. The control unit212can be communicatively coupled with the BMS unit202, the communication unit204, the display unit206, the sensor unit210, and the storage208using at least one of the Internet, a wired network (a Local Area Network (LAN), a Controller Area Network (CAN) network, a Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART), a bus network, Ethernet and so on), a wireless network (a Wi-Fi network, a cellular network, a Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth, Zigbee and so on) and so on.

The BMS unit202can be configured to power up components204-212of the control system201by providing power supply to the components204-212. In an embodiment, the BMS unit202can provide power supply to the components204-210of the control system201under a control of the control unit212.

As illustrated inFIG.2b, the BMS unit202includes at least one standalone battery202a. In an embodiment, the at least one battery202acan be a rechargeable battery202a. The at least one battery202acan be configured to provide the power supply to the components204-212of the control system201of the agricultural implement. The at least one battery202acan be associated with at least one charging port/module202b, that can be used to connect with an external adapter/charger to recharge the at least one battery202a. The usage of the at least one standalone rechargeable battery202ain the agricultural implement eliminates a need for the agricultural implement200to derive the power supply from the agricultural vehicle.

The communication unit204can be configured to enable the control system201to connect with at least one external entity (such as an external server, a user/operator device (device used by an operator of the agricultural implement), and so on. In an embodiment, the communication unit204can enable the control system201to connect with the at least one external entity using at least one of a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), cellular communications (2G/3G/4G/5G or the like), and so on. In an embodiment, the communication unit204may include physical ports that enable the control system201to connect with additional devices/modules. Examples of the physical ports can be, but not limited to, general-purpose input/output (GPIO), Universal Serial Bus (USB), Ethernet, Display Serial Interface (DSI), and so on. Examples of the additional devices/modules can be, but not limited to, a CAN bus, On-board diagnostics (OBD) ports, the sensor unit210, and so on.

The display unit206can be configured to enable the operator of the agricultural implement200to interact with the control system201. The display unit206can display status/charging level of the at least one battery202ato the operator. The display unit206can also display various parameters (such as speed, load, and so on) of the agricultural implement200that are measured by the control unit212to the operator. The display unit206can also display alerts/warnings generated by the control unit212to the operator to operate the agricultural implement200in an optimized speed. The alerts/warnings can be in the form of at least one of a visual alert/warning (provided using the display or any other suitable means such as a light) or an audio alert/warning (provided using a speaker, headphones, earphones, and so on). The alerts/warnings can be also provided to another device (which may be present remotely), such as a mobile phone, smart phone, computer, server, and so on.

The sensor unit210can be configured to measure the speed of the agricultural implement200. As illustrated inFIG.2b, the sensor unit210includes at least one speed sensor210afor measuring the speed of the agricultural implement200. The speed can be measured with respect to the rotation of the agricultural implement200. The speed sensor210acan be mounted on the agricultural implement200at suitable position. In an embodiment, the speed sensor210acan be an hour counter. In an embodiment, the speed sensor210acan be, but not limited to, a magnetic type speed sensor, a proximity type speed sensor, a contact-type sensor, a non-contact type sensor and so on. In an embodiment, the speed sensor210acan be a Hall Effect sensor. However, it is also within the scope of the embodiments disclosed herein to provide any type of speed sensor without otherwise deterring the intended function of measuring speed values as can be deduced from this description and corresponding drawings.

The sensor unit210can also be configured to measure parameters of the agricultural implement200such as, but not limited to, load, hours of usage, speed, time of operation, and so on.

In an embodiment, the speed sensor210acan be configured to generate at least one input signal by sensing rotation of the agricultural implement200. The speed sensor210amay generate pulse with the signal based on duration and a number of detecting pulses, which can be converted to the speed. The generated at least one input signal can correspond to the speed of the agricultural implement200. In an example herein, the generated at least one input signal can be a digital signal. The speed sensor210acan be coupled to a signal-conditioning unit210b. The signal-conditioning unit210bcan process the at least one input signal generated by the speed sensor210ausing at least modulation technique. The signal-conditioning unit210bfurther provides the processed at least one input signal (generated by the speed sensor210a) to the control unit212. In an example herein, the signal-conditioning unit210bcan convert the at least one digital input signal generated by the speed sensor210ainto an analog signal using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM).

In an embodiment, the speed sensor210acan be used as a voltage generator. The speed sensor210acan generate the voltage by sensing the rotation/rpm of the agricultural implement200. The speed sensor210aincludes a magneto system for generating the voltage/charge (as disclosed in Indian patent application No. 201941008765 (“Methods and apparatus for integrated sensing and self-charging in farm implements”)). In an embodiment, the voltage generated by the speed sensor210abased on the rotation of the agricultural implement200can be used to power up the control unit212. In an embodiment, the voltage generated by the speed sensor210acan be used to power up the components (the communication unit204, the display206, the storage208, and the control unit212) of the control system201. In an embodiment, the voltage generated by the speed sensor210acan be used to charge the at least one battery202aof the BMS unit202. Thereby, a need for a charging port requirement on the control system201and a need for a battery replacement requirement can be eliminated. Due to the elimination of such needs, the control system201(as illustrated inFIG.2c) can be completely sealed. The completely sealed control system201can be dust proof, leak proof, water proof and able to withstand dry land and wet land cultivation and vibration as per the farm requirements. In addition, the control system201(as illustrated inFIG.2c) may have zero maintenance as the control system201is completely sealed and does not require any replacement of the at least one battery202.

The control unit212can include at least one of a single processer, a plurality of processors, multiple homogeneous or heterogeneous cores, multiple CPUs of different kinds, a microcontroller, and other accelerators. Further, the plurality of processing units may be located on a single chip or over multiple chips. The control unit212also includes components such as, but not limited to, Input/Output (I/O) ports, a memory, a storage unit, and so on. The control unit212can be configured to measure the various parameters of the agricultural implement200using the sensor unit210and accordingly provides the warning/alerts to the operator to operate the agricultural implement200in the optimized speed.

In an embodiment, the control unit212can be configured to control the power supply to the components (the communication unit204, the display206, the sensor unit210, and the memory208) of the control system201, thereby saving energy of the at least one battery202aof the BMS unit202. The control unit212may decide to power up the components of the control system201based on a mode of the agricultural implement, thereby saving energy of the at least one battery202a. The mode can be an idle mode, in which the agricultural implement does not operate. The mode can be an operative mode, in which the agricultural implement operates/starts rotates.

In an embodiment, the control unit212can alone be powered up/turned ON to operate in the idle mode of the agricultural implement200. During the idle mode, the control unit212can decide to only turn ON the speed sensor210aof the sensor unit210for a first pre-determined time (for example; ‘X’ milliseconds (ms)). When the control unit212decides to turn ON the speed sensor210a, the control unit212provides instructions to the BMS unit202to provide required amount of power supply to the speed sensor210a. In an embodiment, the amount of power supply/current can be pre-determined/fixed, however, calibration may be used to fix the amount of power supply. In an embodiment, the amount of power supply can be varied based on requirements for charging the other components, however the amount of current may be fixed charge only. When the sensor unit210is turned ON for ‘X’ ms (hereinafter referred as a turn ON period) during the idle mode, the control unit212checks for the signal from the speed sensor210abased on the rotation of the agricultural implement200. On receiving the signal from the speed sensor210aduring the turn ON period, the control unit212determines that the agricultural implement200has entered into the operative mode.

Once the signal from the speed sensor210ais received, the control unit212decides to turn ON all other components (the communication unit204, the display206, and the storage208) of the control system201. When the control unit212decides to turn ON one or more of the components204-208, the control unit212instructs the BMS unit202to provide the power supply to one or more of the components204-208. If the control unit212does not receive any signal from the speed sensor210during the turn ON period, the control unit212does not turn ON all other components204-208of the control system201. Thus, all other components of the control system201can be in a sleep state/turned OFF state during the idle mode.

After an expiry of the turn ON period without receiving any signal from the speed sensor210a, the control unit212decides to turn OFF the speed sensor210afor a second pre-determined time (for example: ‘Y’ ms (hereinafter referred as a turn OFF period)) during the idle mode. During the turn OFF period of the speed sensor210a, the control unit212turns OFF all other components of the control system201. Thus, during the idle mode of the agricultural implement200, power consumption from the at least one battery may be reduced, which increases the battery life.

In an embodiment, the turn ON period and the turn OFF period may be decided based on requirements to save the energy of the battery202a. Also, the turn ON period and turn OFF period may be varied based on a change in requirements to save the energy of the battery202a. For example, if the requirement is changed to save more energy of the battery202a, then the turn ON period and turn OFF may be set accordingly.

In an example herein, the control unit212decides the turn ON period for speed sensor210ato turn ON based on the requirement to save the energy of the battery202a, wherein the turn ON period may be decided for few msec. During the turn ON period, the control unit212sends a signal to the speed sensor210ato determine any rotation of the agricultural implement. Further, the at least one other component (for example, consider the other component may be the communication module/Bluetooth204) may be in the sleep/default OFF mode. The speed sensor210amay obtain the signal in a frequent amount of time from the control unit212to determine the speed variations based on the rotations of the agricultural implement. On determining the rotations/speed variations, the control unit212may power up the Bluetooth204using the power supply from the battery202a, thereby makes huge energy saving in Bluetooth204to be in a broadcast mode in default. Otherwise, the control unit212decides to operate the Bluetooth204in the sleep mode. The control unit212further sends a successive signal after a gap of sec, wherein the gap between the few msec and sec may be effective. The successive signal may be for the speed sensor212ato turn off for few sec.

In an embodiment, when the speed sensor210is the voltage generator, the components202-208of the control system201may not be powered up during the idle mode including the control unit212. Thus, the entire control system201may be in the sleep state. When the agricultural implement enters into the operative mode/starts rotating, the speed sensor210agenerates the voltage by sensing the rotation of the agricultural implement200. The generated voltage corresponds to the speed of the agricultural implement200, which is indicating the operative mode of the agricultural implement200. The generated voltage can be used to turn ON/power up the control unit212. Thus, the control unit212can be turned ON only during the operative mode of the agricultural implement200. When the control unit212turns ON, the control unit212decides to turn ON all other components204-208of the control system201using at least one of the voltage generated by the speed sensor210aand the power supply of the at least one battery. Thus, reducing the power consumption.

The storage212can store at least one of the measured parameters of the agricultural implement200, inputs collected from the sensor unit210, the pre-determined turn ON period and the pre-determined turn OFF period, and so on. The storage212includes at least one of a file server, a data server, a memory, a server, a cloud and so on. The memory may include one or more computer-readable storage media. The memory may include non-volatile storage elements. Examples of such non-volatile storage elements may include magnetic hard discs, optical discs, floppy discs, flash memories, or forms of electrically programmable memories (EPROM) or electrically erasable and programmable (EEPROM) memories. In addition, the memory may, in some examples, be considered a non-transitory storage medium. The term “non-transitory” may indicate that the storage medium is not embodied in a carrier wave or a propagated signal. However, the term “non-transitory” should not be interpreted to mean that the memory is non-movable. In some examples, the memory can be configured to store larger amounts of information than the memory. In certain examples, a non-transitory storage medium may store data that can, over time, change (e.g., in Random Access Memory (RAM) or cache).

FIGS.2a-2cshow exemplary blocks of the control system201, but it is to be understood that other embodiments are not limited thereon. In other embodiments, the control system201may include less or more number of blocks. Further, the labels or names of the blocks are used only for illustrative purpose and does not limit the scope of the embodiments herein. One or more blocks can be combined together to perform same or substantially similar function in the control system201.

FIG.3is an example flowchart300depicting a method for controlling power supply of the control system201, according to embodiments as disclosed herein.

At step302, the method includes, turning ON only the control unit212in the idle mode of the agricultural implement200by providing the power supply to the control unit212from the at least one battery202a. At step304, the method includes controlling, by the control unit212, the power supply to the components204-208of the control unit212based on the signal generated by the speed sensor210a. The control unit212turns ON the speed sensor210afor the pre-determined turn ON period and turns OFF the speed sensor210afor the pre-determined turn OFF period (a turn ON and turn OFF logic) during the idle mode of the agricultural implement200. Based on the signal received from the speed sensor210aduring the turn ON period, the control unit212decides to turn ON the other components204-208of the control system201by providing the power supply. Thus, an average power consumption from the at least one battery202amay be very less during the idle mode of the agricultural implement200, as the components (excluding the control unit212) are in the sleep state/turned OFF during the idle mode. The various actions in method300may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed inFIG.3may be omitted.

FIG.4is an example flowchart400depicting control logic of the control unit212for operating the components204-208of the control system201, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. At step402, the method includes deciding by the control unit212to turn ON the speed sensor for the pre-determined turn ON period by providing the power supply to the speed sensor from the at least one battery202a. The speed sensor can be turned ON, on sensing the rotation of the agricultural implement, which indicates the operative mode of the agricultural implement. At step404, the method includes waiting by the control unit212to receive the signal from the speed sensor210aduring the turn ON period of the speed sensor210a. The signal can be generated by speed sensor210aon sensing the rotation of the agricultural implement.

At step406, the method includes the control unit212turning ON the other components204-208of the control system201during the turn ON period of the speed sensor210a, on receiving the signal from the speed sensor210a. The control unit212may instruct the BMS unit202to provide the power supply to the other components204-208of the control system201. At step408, the method includes the control unit212not turning ON the other components of the control system201, if the control unit212does not receive the signal from the speed sensor210aduring the turn ON period of the speed sensor210a.

At step410, the method includes the control unit212turning OFF the speed sensor210afor the pre-determined turn OFF period, if the control unit212does not receive the signal from the speed sensor210aon the expiry of the turn ON period of the agricultural implement200. Thus, power consumption from the at least one battery202amay be reduced. The various actions in method400may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed inFIG.4may be omitted.

FIG.5is an example timing diagram depicting control logic of the control unit212, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. The control unit212alone can be turned ON/powered up during the idle mode of the agricultural implement. The control unit212turns ON the speed sensor210afor the pre-determined turn ON period by providing the power supply to the speed sensor210a. In an example herein, the turn ON period ‘X’ may be pre-determined as 100 ms using a clock. During the turn ON period of the speed sensor, the control unit212turns ON the other components204-208of the control system201if the control unit212receives the signal from the speed sensor based on the rotation/operative mode of the agricultural implement.

The control unit212further turns OFF the speed sensor210afor the pre-determined turn OFF period if the control unit212does not receive the signal from the speed sensor210aon the expiry of the speed sensor210a. In an example herein, the pre-determined turn OFF period may be 2 sec. During the turn OFF period of the speed sensor210a, the control unit212does not turn ON the other components of the control unit212. Thus, the turn ON and turn OFF logic of the control unit212may save a huge amount of the battery energy.

FIG.6is an example flowchart600depicting a method for operating the control unit212, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. At step602, the method includes using the speed sensor210aas the voltage generator. In such a case, the power consumption from the at least one battery202acan be reduced by not powering up the control unit212and the other components202-208of the control system201during sleep state/idle mode of the agricultural implement200. At step604, the method includes generating, by the speed sensor210a, the voltage corresponding to the speed of the agricultural implement200based on the rotation/operative mode of the agricultural implement200. At step606, the method includes using the voltage generated by the speed sensor210ato power up/turn ON the control unit212. Therefore, the control unit212can be triggered by the speed sensor itself without providing power supply to the speed sensor210a. The control unit212may further turn ON the other components202-208of the control system201. Thus, the components202-212of the control system201can be only turned ON during the operative mode of the agricultural implement200, which further enhances the battery life. At step608, the method includes using the voltage generated by the speed sensor210ato charge the at least one battery202a. Thus, a need for the charging port202bon the control system201may be eliminated. The various actions in method600may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed inFIG.6may be omitted.

The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the network elements. The network elements shown inFIGS.2a-2cinclude blocks, which can be at least one of a hardware device, or a combination of hardware device and software module.

The embodiments disclosed herein describe methods and systems for controlling power supply of an agricultural implement connected to an agricultural vehicle. Therefore, it is understood that the scope of the protection is extended to such a program and in addition to a computer readable means having a message therein, such computer readable storage means contain program code means for implementation of one or more steps of the method, when the program runs on a server or mobile device or any suitable programmable device. The method is implemented in at least one embodiment through or together with a software program written in e.g. Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) another programming language, or implemented by one or more VHDL or several software modules being executed on at least one hardware device. The hardware device can be any kind of device which can be programmed including e.g. any kind of computer like a server or a personal computer, or the like, or any combination thereof, e.g. one processor and two FPGAs. The device may also include means which could be e.g. hardware means like e.g. an ASIC, or a combination of hardware and software means, e.g. an ASIC and an FPGA, or at least one microprocessor and at least one memory with software modules located therein. Thus, the means are at least one hardware means and/or at least one software means. The method embodiments described herein could be implemented in pure hardware or partly in hardware and partly in software. The device may also include only software means. Alternatively, the invention may be implemented on different hardware devices, e.g. using a plurality of CPUs.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of embodiments and examples, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims as described herein.