Patent ID: 7437230

Claim:
A method for steering an agricultural vehicle comprising: receiving global positioning system (GPS) data including position and velocity information corresponding to at least one of a position, velocity, and course of said vehicle; receiving a yaw rate signal corresponding to a yaw rate of said vehicle; computing a compensated heading for said vehicle based on an integration of said yaw rate signal, said compensated heading comprising a blend of said yaw rate signal with heading information based on said GPS data, wherein said compensated heading is further dynamically calibrated based on said GPS data; for each desired swath comprising a plurality of desired positions and desired headings: computing an actual track and a cross track error from said desired swath based on said compensated heading and said position, wherein said position is compared with a selected desired position of said plurality of desired positions and said compensated heading is compared with a selected desired heading of said plurality of desired headings: calculating a desired radius of curvature to arrive at said desired swath with a desired heading; said desired radius of curvature calculating step including generating radius of curvature data based on best fit algorithms from said GPS data including a current position, a heading and a speed to a desired aim point and a desired heading; said aim point being at least one of: on a straight line with parallel guidance; an interpolated point from a point of closest approach to a previously logged, stored or generated curved track; a series of points defining an edge of a previously traveled swath; and a data file of track points based on best fit algorithms; and generating a steering command based on said desired radius of curvature to a steering mechanism, said steering mechanism configured to direct said vehicle.