Patent Application
20170115833
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an agricultural system, and, more particularly, to a display regime for presenting a top bar portion on a display associated with an agricultural vehicle system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern farming practices have developed to improve the speed and efficiency of the farm equipment used to plant, maintain, and harvest crops. For example, tractors include a global positioning system (GPS) and a controller in the tractor is configured to provide a topographical view of a field and to identify the location of the tractor within the field based on the GPS coordinates. In addition, multiple agricultural implements may be connected to the tractor. During planting, for example, the tractor may pull an air cart having multiple containers including one or more types of seed and/or fertilizer. The tractor may also pull a planter to plant the seeds.
The controller on the tractor may be configured to control operation of the implements connected to the tractor. Different models of each implement may include varying operating parameters such as capacity, rate of application, or number of rows. The operating parameters may also depend, for example, on the configuration or operating characteristics of the tractor or the location within the field. Each of the operating parameters needs to be configured prior to operation of the respective implement. Consequently, each implement typically includes a configuration module stored on the controller of the tractor to configure operation of the respective implement.
However, as the number of features on the agricultural implements increase so does the number of operating parameters and the complexity of configuring operation of the tractor and the connected implements. In addition, different implements such as the air cart and planter may interact with each other. Changing the configuration of a parameter on one of the implements may impact operation of the other implement.
In a known type of planting implement, seed planting or row units are attached to a toolbar extending transverse to the direction of planting. The toolbar is coupled to a tractor or other work vehicle suitable for pulling the planting implement along a field that is to be seeded to a crop. Each planting unit includes a ground penetrating assembly, often including one or more discs, for opening a seed trench or furrow in the ground as the planting implement is pulled across a field. Components of the ground penetrating assembly shape the bottom and sides of the seed trench, and a seed-metering device provides individual seeds at a controlled rate for deposit in the seed trench. Furrow closing components of each row unit close the seed trench in a controlled manner.
Agricultural planters are commonly used implements to plant seeds in soil. An agricultural planter can include a chassis that carries one or more storage tanks carrying seed, and chemical applications that are to be applied to the field during the planting operation, a hitch mechanism that attaches to a tractor or other implement pulled by a tractor, and a tool bar that row units can be connected to so they are carried by the chassis. The planter can also include a pneumatic system carried by the chassis that supplies pressurized air to transport the seeds or other particulate from the storage tanks to the row units.
Each row unit of the agricultural planter places seeds in the field. By having multiple row units working in unison as the planter is pulled across a field, many seeds can be effectively planted in an efficient manner.
The modern farmer faces the challenge of integrating many kinds of equipment starting with the vehicle itself, which can be coupled to all kinds of implements (planters, sprayers, seeders, tillage equipment etc.), and have various navigational controllers and high precision GPS receivers installed. These all lead to very complex setups and a large amount of data.
What is needed in the art is a robust system that allows for the presentation of data and selections in an intuitive and efficient manner on a display.
The present invention provides a display regime that allows information and selections to be available along a top bar of a screen.
The invention in one form is directed to an agricultural system including a vehicle, a controller; and a display mounted in the vehicle. The display is coupled to the controller and has a display area. The controller is configured to: present a top bar display along at least a portion of a top side of the display area; position a fixed central information section; and align a plurality of other sections to a left or a right position relative to the fixed central information section.
The invention in yet another form is directed to a method of displaying information on a display for an agricultural system that includes a vehicle, and a controller, the display being mounted in the vehicle, the display is coupled to the controller, the method comprising the steps of: presenting a top bar display along at least a portion of a top side of the display area; positioning a fixed central information section; and aligning a plurality of other sections to a left or a right position relative to the fixed central information section.
An advantage of the present invention is that the clock is centered and the other selection or information in the top bar is positioned relative to the central clock display.
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplification set out herein illustrates one embodiment of the invention, in one form, and such exemplification is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to
Now, additionally referring to
While a planter 14 is shown in detail it is to be understood that any agricultural implement 14 can be utilized. Further, although a towing of implement 14 by tractor 12 is illustrated herein it should be understood that tractor 12 may be any agricultural, construction, or forestry vehicle that can be coupled to various implements 14.
Now, additionally referring to
The Phoenix Display is divided into several distinct screen regions: a Top Bar 50, a Left Hand Area 52, a Runscreen 54, and a Bottom Bar 56.
The Top Bar 50—Provides access to global level information, tools, and setups. The Top Bar 50 is shown all the time, is never covered by popups, and includes fault lamps, status, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Guidance statuses, as well as access to the Menu and the Home Screen.
The Left Hand Area 52 (LHA)—Contains vehicle status and performance data; with views and controls needed as the operator drives and bounces through the field. The LHA 52 is shown all the time to the user, and is never covered by popups. The upper portion is dedicated to vehicle 12. The upper portion can show either regulatory or platform requirements. This portion is not changeable by the user. The lower portion is changeable by the user, with default displays provided. The expandable drawers show additional info when selected by the operator, just one touch away from the runscreen 54.
The Runscreen 54—Contains controls that users need daily in order to efficiently operate the equipment 10 and productively accomplish the job. The Runscreen 54 has views and controls you needed to drive in the field, for example, Target rate control, a planter bar graph, Combine ACS engage, and loss monitors. Layouts of the Runscreen 54 are changeable by the user, with defaults being provided.
The Bottom Bar 56—Contains runscreen 54 page controls, status and shortcuts drawers. These are shown all the time, are never covered by popups. The regions help to organize the data and provide the user with a system for understanding where certain types of data, controls, or interactions are available. A particularly distinctive feature is the way the data is organized, with all the setups that are done once in a while being stored under a menu (accessed through Top Bar 50).
Now, additionally referring to
A Top Bar 150 concept has been transitioned to Hawk, (see
To close top bar 150, the user presses on the close arrow pressable space 80 or slides a finger from right to left over arrow 80. The closing of the extended top bar 150 can be done only by the user with some exceptions, such as when the runscreen 54 page contains a map or a Universal Terminal (UT) full screen User Defined Window (UDW). This feature is added in case the user would prefer not to place anything on the top two grid cells of the runscreen 54 or keep the top bar 150 always extended. The region of the screen that is to be covered by the extended top bar 150 must not be covered by pop-ups or other type of UI overlays. The goal of the Top Bar 50, 150 region is to provide access to global level information, tools, and setups, which include providing the display with a region that will be always visible and contain access to setups, faults and statuses, thereby solving user experience issues.
While this invention has been described with respect to at least one embodiment, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.
