The present invention is described below with reference to an agricultural application, with which inventive object 1 is designed as an agricultural working machine 2. The present invention is expressly not limited to this application, however. Instead, it can also be used in any field in which informative depictions of particular object 1 are assigned to certain objects 1, and objects 1 can access these depictions, which are not described in greater detail.
In the example shown, the stored data records include manufacturer information 11, such as product documentation, operating instructions, and repair instructions. This information makes it possible for the operator of agricultural working machine 2 to call up machine-specific data from individualized Internet web site 9, which are independent of the incorporation of object 1 in process chains, since they are also tailored specifically to object 1 as such.
Individualized data record 10 also includes machine information 12, which can include process-dependent and process-independent information. A machine profile can be stored here, which includes machine specifications, performance parameters, technical data, software versions, and installed systems. The machine information can also include information that supports applications and processes carried out by agricultural working machine 2. The information should pertain, in particular, to whether and how to support quality management systems, automatic process data acquisition, and hauling logistics. It is also feasible that machine information 12 includes information as to whether the specific agricultural working machine 2 supports automated turnaround systems, teleprocess optimizations, and automatic steering systems and, if so, how this is carried out.
Data record 10 can also include operator information 13, which is tailored to recipient 4 who will use agricultural working machine 2, and mainly includes features of vehicle pool management, information about the vehicle fleet, and information about available business systems, such as accounting software and lease management systems.
The data record can also include agricultural information 14 in the broadest sense. Information of this type is coupled mainly to the structure of the particular process chain in which agricultural working machine 2 is incorporated. This includes, e.g., information about farm management, quality assurance, and the data required to use mapping and precision farming tools.
Data record 10 can also include networking information 15, which mainly describes the type of communication equipment provided on agricultural working machine 2, or which communication systems are available in specific regions, depending on the process chain.
Data record 10 can also include maintenance information 16 that mainly describes when and how maintenance is to be carried out, which diagnostics systems are available, and whether forecasting systems are available, and how they are used.
Due to the large amount of information that inventive data records 10 can contain, it can require a considerable amount of expert knowledge to acquire it. Inventive data configuration and provision system 17 is therefore structured such that data records 10 stored on individualized Internet web site 9 are generated by manufacturer 3, agricultural working machine 2, and external suppliers 18, or jointly by a combination thereof, and data records 10 are integrated in Internet web site 9.
In a simple application, the provision of information could be structured such that manufacturer 3 provides all manufacturer-specific information, while agricultural working machine 2 provides machine-specific and process chain-related information, such as optimized working parameter settings, quality information such as grain loss, and crop material information such as moisture content. External suppliers 18 can provide the information that requires a particular type of special knowledge and which cannot be generated by manufacturer 3 or the machine operator, or only with a great deal of effort. This would include business accounting and task administration systems, information about the vehicle pool, and, e.g., region-specific information, when a special process chain is involved.
Inventive data configuration and provision system 17 can also be configured such that individualized Internet web site 9 initially includes only a basic configuration of inventive data record 10. In the simplest case, this basic configuration is set up by manufacturer 3. Data record 10, which can be called up via individualized Internet web site 9, can now be supplemented, adapted, or subdivided further, throughout the service life of the object, thereby resulting in a data record 10 that is tailored to particular object 1 in an increasingly individualized manner.
A particularly efficient data configuration and provision system 17 is depicted schematically in
Each of these program modules 20 through 27 can be structured in a manner similar to data record 10 shown in
Since data storage and editing unit 19 is operated via Internet 7, it can be represented by one or more servers 29 located anywhere in the world. It would also be feasible for data storage and editing unit 19 to be located directly on agricultural working machine 2. To ensure that program modules 20 through 28 can be easily exchanged in Internet 7, program modules 20 through 28, which contain data records 10, are written in a universal modulation language known per se.
Combine harvester 35 and hauling vehicle 36 include data exchange systems 37—which are known per se and will therefore not be described in greater detail—via which they can exchange data with each other and with a central computer unit 38. Position data, crop material quantities, and crop material qualities are exchanged in this manner in particular. An exact picture of the current stage of the “grain harvest” process chain at a particular instant is therefore produced in central computer unit 38, particularly with regard for which areas of working territory 34 still need to be harvested. This information is transferred by computer unit 38—which serves as external supplier 18—via data transmission systems 39 known per se to Internet 7, i.e., higher-order data configurator 6.
Combine harvester 30 can incorporate this information in its individualized Internet web site 9 as grain harvest program module 22. It would also be feasible for this incorporation to be carried out directly by external computer unit 38. Vehicle pool center 33 can also simultaneously assign an accounting program module 26 to combine harvester 30, thereby making it possible for the services performed by combine harvester 30 to be accounted for immediately. Program modules 20, 22, 26 mentioned as examples form higher-order program module 28, which contains inventive data records 10.
Selected program modules 20, 22, 26 now contain all of the information that guides combine harvester 30 to territory 34 to be worked, enables combine harvester 30 to be incorporated in the process chain that is underway, enables the machine parameters to be optimized in terms of producing a high-quality crop product and to utilize the machine efficiently, and ultimately ensures that the invoicing to the owner of territory 34 that has been worked is accomplished easily. If damage occurs to combine harvester 30 while it is being used, combine harvester 30 activates—via its individualized Internet web site 9 and using its assigned ID address—a repair program module 27 that provides him with on-line help to perform the repair work.
It would also be feasible for the activation of repair program module 27 to incorporate a repair shop 40 in the repair process directly using suitable data exchange systems 39, e.g., by requesting repair work, in the simplest case. It is within the scope of the present invention for repair shop 40 itself to provide repair program module 27. A similar procedure can be provided when maintenance work is to be performed on combine harvester 30, and combine harvester 30 activates a maintenance program module 25 via its individualized Internet web site 9. Activated program module 25 also includes all information required by the operator of combine harvester 30 in this case.
One skilled in the technical art is capable of transforming the method described in a manner not described, or to use it in applications other than those depicted here, to obtain the effects described, without leaving the scope of the present invention.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions and methods differing from the type described above.
While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a method for data configuration and provision, for agricultural working machines in particular, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2006 030 970.7 | Jul 2006 | DE | national |