Patent ID: 8452496

Claim:
A system for identifying, locating, and tracking a cotton module of harvested cotton unloaded from a harvesting vehicle and transported by at least one transport vehicle that eliminates a need for physically marking the cotton module, comprising: location system configured and operable to automatically determine a heading of the harvesting vehicle, a heading of the transport vehicle, wherein the heading indicates a direction of travel at least during unloading, and a location of the cotton module each time the cotton module is unloaded therefrom and loaded onto, respectively; and communication network apparatus including at least one processor programmed to communicate with the harvesting vehicle, the at least one transport vehicle, the location system, and a user through a user interface, and to automatically: a) assign an identifier to the cotton module when unloaded from the harvesting vehicle, b) develop a record of information related to the cotton module including at least the identifier and the information from the location system, c) augment the record with the information of the heading and location from the location system each time the cotton module is unloaded and loaded, d) store the record in a database, and e) output the record of information; whereby the cotton module is identified, located, and tracked by the processor as a function of at least one location of the cotton module determined from the location system and the headings of the corresponding vehicle from which the cotton module was unloaded at that at least one location, wherein the location system is configured to determine unloaded locations of the module from a position of the harvester or transport vehicle and the heading of the harvester or transport vehicle that unloaded the module.