System and method for automatically controlling a work vehicle during the performance of an earthmoving operation

Abstract

A method for automatically controlling an operation of a work vehicle during the performance of an earthmoving operation may include receiving an input associated with initiating an automated dumping operation to allow a load of worksite materials contained by an implement of a lift assembly of the work vehicle to be released onto a dump pile. The method may further include determining a current vertical height of the dump pile based on data from at least one sensor and determining a dumping height of the implement for performing the dumping operation based on the current vertical height. Additionally, the method may include controlling an operation of the lift assembly to move the implement to the dumping height and then to pivot the implement from a load-carrying position to a load-dumping position to release the load of worksite materials onto the dump pile from the dumping height.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for automatically controlling a work vehicle during the performance of an earthmoving operation, the system comprising:
 a lift assembly including a boom and an implement coupled to the boom, the implement being pivotable relative to the boom between a load-carrying position and a load-dumping position;   at least one sensor supported relative to the lift assembly, the at least one sensor being configured to generate data indicative of a vertical height of a dump pile located at a dump location within a worksite; and   a computing system communicatively coupled to the work vehicle and the at least one sensor, the computing system being configured to:
 receive an input associated with initiating an automated dumping operation to allow a load of worksite materials contained by the implement to be released onto the dump pile at the dump location; 
 determine a current vertical height of the dump pile based at least in part on the data from the at least one sensor; 
 determine a dumping height of the implement for performing the dumping operation based at least in part on the current vertical height of the dump pile; 
 control an operation of the lift assembly to move the implement to the dumping height in response to receiving the input associated with initiating the dumping operation; and 
 control an operation of the lift assembly to pivot the implement relative to the boom from the load-carrying position to the load-dumping position to release the load of worksite materials onto the dump pile from the dumping height. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the dump location is spaced apart from a current dig location of the work vehicle in a horizontal direction across the worksite,
 wherein the computing system is further configured to determine a travel path for moving the implement between a starting point disposed at or adjacent to the current dig location to an ending point disposed at or adjacent to the dump location, the ending point being positioned above the dump pile and at the dumping height, and   wherein controlling the operation of the lift assembly to move the implement to the dumping height comprises controlling the operation of the lift assembly to move the implement along the travel path from the starting point to the ending point.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the dumping operation is a first dumping operation, and
 wherein the computing system is further configured to:
 receive an input associated with initiating a subsequent automated dumping operation to allow a subsequent load of worksite materials contained by the implement to be released onto the dump pile at the dump location, subsequent to the first dumping operation; 
 determine an updated current vertical height of the dump pile after the first dumping operation based at least in part on the data from the at least one sensor; 
 determine an updated dumping height of the implement for performing the dumping operation based at least in part on the updated current vertical height of the dump pile; 
 control an operation of the lift assembly to move the implement to the updated dumping height in response to receiving the input associated with initiating the subsequent automated dumping operation; and 
 control an operation of the lift assembly to pivot the implement relative to the boom from the load-carrying position to the load-dumping position to release the subsequent load of worksite materials onto the dump pile from the updated dumping height. 
   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the dumping height for the first dumping operation is disposed at a first vertical offset above the dump pile and the updated dumping height for the subsequent dumping operation is disposed at a second vertical offset above the dump pile, the first and second vertical offsets being equal. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one vision-based sensor configured to generate vision-based data indicative of the vertical height of the dump pile, and
 wherein the computing system is configured to determine the current vertical height of the dump pile based at least in part on the vision-based data.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the at least one vision-based sensor is further configured to generate vision-based data indicative of a fill-level of the implement, wherein the input associated with initiating the automated dumping operation is received in response to the fill-level of the implement being equal to or greater than a fill-level threshold. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the computing system is further configured to:
 determine a predicted height of the dump pile associated with adding the load of worksite materials to the dump pile based at least in part on the fill-level of the implement and the current vertical height of the dump pile; and   compare the predicted height of the dump pile to a height threshold for the dump pile,   wherein the computing system is configured to control the operation of the lift assembly to move the implement to the dumping height if the predicted height of the dump pile is less than the height threshold.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one vision-based sensor configured to generate vision-based data indicative of a fill-level of the implement, and
 wherein the computing system is configured to determine the current vertical height of the dump pile based at least in part on a fill-level of at least one previous load of worksite materials.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one payload sensor configured to generate data indicative of a weight of the load of worksite materials contained by the implement,
 wherein the computing system is configured to determine the current vertical height of the dump pile based at least in part on a weight of at least one previous load of worksite materials.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the input associated with initiating the automated dumping operation is received in response to the weight of the load of worksite materials being equal to or greater than a weight threshold. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the computing system is further configured to:
 determine a predicted height of the dump pile associated with adding the load of worksite materials to the dump pile based at least in part on the weight of the load of worksite materials and the current vertical height of the dump pile; and   compare the predicted height of the dump pile to a height threshold for the dump pile,   wherein the computing system is configured to control an operation of the work vehicle to move the implement to the dumping height if the predicted height of the dump pile is less than the height threshold.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing system is configured to determine the dumping height based at least in part on the current vertical height of the dump pile and a predetermined vertical offset. 
     
     
         13 . A method for automatically controlling an operation of a work vehicle during the performance of an earthmoving operation, the work vehicle having a lift assembly including a boom and an implement coupled to the boom, the implement being pivotable relative to the boom between a load-carrying position and a load-dumping position, the method comprising:
 receiving, with one or more computing devices, an input associated with initiating an automated dumping operation to allow a load of worksite materials contained by the implement to be released onto a dump pile located at a dump location within a worksite;   determining, with the one or more computing devices, a current vertical height of the dump pile based at least in part on data indicative of a vertical height of the dump pile from at least one sensor;   determining, with the one or more computing devices, a dumping height of the implement for performing the dumping operation based at least in part on the current vertical height of the dump pile;   controlling, with the one or more computing devices, an operation of the lift assembly to move the implement to the dumping height in response to receiving the input associated with initiating the automated dumping operation; and   controlling, with the one or more computing devices, an operation of the lift assembly to pivot the implement relative to the boom from the load-carrying position to the load-dumping position to release the load of worksite materials onto the dump pile from the dumping height.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one vision-based sensor configured to generate vision-based data indicative of the vertical height of the dump pile, and
 wherein determining the current vertical height of the dump pile comprises determining the current vertical height of the dump pile based at least in part on the vision-based data.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one vision-based sensor is further configured to generate vision-based data indicative of a fill-level of the implement,
 wherein receiving the input associated with initiating the automated dumping operation comprises receiving the input associated with initiating the automated dumping operation in response to the fill-level of the implement being equal to or greater than a fill-level threshold.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 determining, with the one or more computing devices, a predicted height of the dump pile associated with adding the load of worksite materials to the dump pile based at least in part on the fill-level of the implement and the current vertical height of the dump pile; and   comparing, with the one or more computing devices, the predicted height of the dump pile to a height threshold for the dump pile,   wherein controlling the operation of the lift assembly to move the implement to the dumping height comprises controlling the operation of the lift assembly to move the implement to the dumping height if the predicted height of the dump pile is less than the height threshold.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one vision-based sensor configured to generate vision-based data indicative of a fill-level of the implement, and
 wherein determining the current vertical height of the dump pile comprises determining the current vertical height of the dump pile based at least in part on a fill-level of at least one previous load of worksite materials.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one payload sensor configured to generate data indicative of a weight of the load of worksite materials contained by the implement,
 wherein determining the current vertical height of the dump pile comprises determining the current vertical height of the dump pile based at least in part on a weight of at least one previous load of worksite materials.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein receiving the input associated with initiating the automated dumping operation comprises receiving the input associated with initiating the automated dumping operation in response to the weight of the load of worksite materials being equal to or greater than a weight threshold. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 determining, with the one or more computing devices, a predicted height of the dump pile associated with adding the load of worksite materials to the dump pile based at least in part on the weight of the load of worksite materials and the current vertical height of the dump pile; and   comparing, with the one or more computing devices, the predicted height of the dump pile to a height threshold for the dump pile,   wherein controlling an operation of the work vehicle to move the implement to the dumping height comprises controlling an operation of the work vehicle to move the implement to the dumping height if the predicted height of the dump pile is less than the height threshold.