Operation manual

Cerea Autosteer
Contents

1 Introduction.
2 Operation screens
2.1 Main screen
2.2 Implement Screen.
2.3 Configuration Screen.
3 Visual Guidance.
3.1 Visual Guidance
Introduction

Cerea Autosteeer is a so software for guidance and auto-guidance of farm vehícles.

The author, César Domínguez, and the company Ingeniería y Sistemas Cerea SL are not responsible of
the system misuse. We recommend to follow the safety norms.
The software should be installed in C:
Todos los valores de configuración del programa están en el archivo de configuración
c:\Cerea\configuracion.txt
All the configuration values that are modified in the configuration screens of the software are saved in this
file.
Warning: Decimal symbol is . ( be aware if you want to modify a float number in this file with a text editor)
Operation screens. Main
Main screen,5 different areas:

CENTRAL AREA where appears the triangle that

represents a farm vehicle.
Touch screen behaviour:
1. A touch in thel triangle: switch 2D 3D mode.
2. Touch plus minus: are the zoom controls
3. Touch over xte open the pattern panel..
4. Touch “Giro”, open the autorotation options
side panel.
Operation Screens. Main
UPPER AREA:
1. Operation speed (km/h).
2. Field name where I am farming.
3. Info: working statistics (hcts, times, etc.).
4. M (swath number): number of swath. It starts in
0, right positives, left negatives.
5. Partial hcts counter. (left button) Push to
reset..
6. Total hcts counter: (right button) Push to
reset
 Operation Screens. Main

LOWER ZONE
1. Antenna status
invalid → No position available,
SPS → Single point position,
DGPS → Differential positioning mode
RTK → RTK positioning mode fixed.
FRTK → RTK positioning mode floating..
2. nS: satellite number in the solution..
3. XTE, cross track error: distance from the guidance
line to the tractor.. PUSH TO INVERT THE
4. HDOP, horizontal dilution of precisión: indicates TRACTOR DIRECTION.
the error due to the constellation. Typical valuers
are around 1.
Operation Screens. Main

LEFT AREA:

· Connect → It connects software to the GPS.

· Exit → It closes the software.

· Implement → It navigates to Implement Screen.

· N → night Mode

· Cnf → It navigates to configuration screen (autosteer, connections, etc).

· Files → it navigates to File screen (see file screen).

· Tools→ (vehicles, curves, variables, measurement,contours.)

Operation Screens. Main
Right Area :

Related with AB line pattern we have A buton and B button. When A

and B are pushed B is converted to B+, this is the nudge button, that
allows to displace the guide line to our tractor position.
To create a new pattern of the same type you should push A again.
Operation Screens. Main

Giro pannel

We should have a pattern for autosteering over it. If we are working

with this option and push the Giro word on the main screen, a side
menu will appear.

<- will trigger left turn, -> will trigger right turn.. Si pulsamos sobre el
botón nos hace la autorotación en tablas.

Buttons +,-,C,Circles will define the autorotation superscheme

options.
Operation Screens. Main

If we push C button (“Calculation”) appears a new panel.

· ATMaxAngle:

With + and - buttons of the Giro menu we define the number

of swath that we want jump in an autorotation. For this
number of swaths, when we push Arch calculation, we say
the system that we want a perfect arch in autorotation.

· D headland: This parameter is used for modifying the

headland distance for triggering the autorotation.

Alternate and Circles see pg 39.

Operation Screens. Implements
If we push Implement button in left side.

We access to the implement screen. We

can select an implement* and modify its
definition.

(*) the implement names can be changed in the configuracion.txt

file ( in the software intallation software)·
A1:Abono:18.0:1.0:0.0:0:1-18.0:4.0:0.2:0.2
Where appears “Abono” we can put Fertilizer or whatever desired
name..
 Operation Screens. Implements

This screen has the following buttons:

· Implement width: it allows increase or decrease the implement with. For some tasks we recommend 10 cm less than real.
· Dist axis: It defines the distance between the tractor rear axle and the place when the implement starts to work(seeding line,
booms line, etc). This allows the painted path on the screen be in the correct place.
· Side offset: It defines the distance between the center of the tractor and the center of the implement. A positive value displace the
implement to right side, a negative to left side.
. Dragged implement→ we should check this option for activating the Dragged mode. If we push the Drag button, we navigate to
the definition panel.
. Booms activated→ we should check this option for activating Booms. Push Booms button for navigating to the booms panel..

Booms control allows painted path with booms (fertilizers, srpayers, etc)
 Operation Screens. Booms

Firstly the number of booms is defined and then the width of

each one.

· tAdvanced Open: time in seconds for opening the boom.

· tAdvanced Close: Time advanced for closing the boom.

This times are used for the Boom automatic control, and they are
defined by the electro-valve opening/close time.
· tAvanced Hydraulic: time to command the hydraulic openning
of the boom bar extremes.
· %Overlap: maximun allowed
overlap.Boom is opened until 95%
completed ( for example).
 Operation Screens. Configuration
If we push on left panel we navigate to the configuration menus
In this screen appears:
· Vehicle name where I am working (Cere by
defaults)

· Slider bar with buttons for controlling the

Guidance aggressiveness. Aggressiveness
means the quick or slow response of the
steering wheel control . Typical values are
50-150, depending on the vehicle..

· Slider bar for controlling the caption

aggressiveness. If we increase this value we
Typical values are 100.
· Advanced button. We access to the advanced control
options.
Advanced control options. Autosteer.
If we push we navigate to the
advanced options menu with several tabs.
Autosteer TAB:
· L: is the minimum Look Ahead.
When the bigger is this distance the softer is
the guidance control .Typical value is 0.1 m.
The software change the L internal value
depending on the Guidance Aggressiveness
Advanced control options. Autosteer.
TAB AutoSteer ...
· I: Integral value. Typical value 0.2.
We compensate with this value the lack of
fitting of the autosteer when there is a slope
on the field, slipper of the vehicle wheels,
orbitrol problems etc.
Advanced control options. Autosteer.
D AutoSteer...
· D: Derivative value. With this value we damp
the ondulations. Typical value is 0.2

· KD: Change the electric motor turning direction.

Advanced control options. Autosteer.
TAB AutoSteer...
· kV,kvD,kCaption: are related with control
parameters.It only should be changed by an
expert..

· Encoder: It allows read the encoder values

of the control board.( not available with
phidgets board)
Advanced control options. Autosteer.
TAB AutoSteer2 · Auto Auto: it activates the autosteer whether we
overtake the VMAA velocity. It is deactivated each
time we open the software.

· VMIA: It deactivates autosteer motor when the

vehicle is under this velocity.

· VMAA: Velocity autosteer activation value.

Autosteer is activated if the vehicle is over this
velocity and other aditional conditions.
Advanced control options. Autosteer2.
TAB AutoSteer2... · AT: Seconds that VMAA must be overtaken for
activating autosteer. Avoid false activation
condition.

· ACM: Maximum allowed angle with respect to

the guidance line for trigger autosteer. Avoid a
false activation condition.

· DC: Direct Current, Maximum allowed motor

comsuption.
Advanced control options. Connection.
TAB Conexión
We choose the antenna Port and the baudrate.
We can see used ports on the Device Manager of our computer.

· Whether we activate TCP it allows RTKLIB to be connected to tcp

client localhost:9999
When we work with rtklib, some issues may cause jumps in position
solution.

· CT ON: Option for activating automatic Boom control.

· Port CT: It allows to select automatic boom control comunication port..
Advanced control options. Connection.
TAB Conexión... · In order to avoid bad guidance when RTK jumps appears, the software has an
internal algorithm called Antijumping.
If antijumping is activated it detects distJumping jumps.. In the example, antiijumpig
detects jumps of 3cm and corrects them.

Typical values are: 0.2 for speeds lower than 7.2 km/h, 0.3 for speeds lower than
10.8 km/h,0.4 for speeds lower than 14.4 km/h

· RotEstimation when activated means that velocity angle is calculted by Cerea.

This allows to work in very low speed conditions.

· selectChanConfig: Option for changing the Novatel Antenna chanel.

· Scan: It allows to scan the antenna port and motor port ( not detected with phidgets
board)
Advanced control options. Filters.

The inertial measurement unit or IMU is used when GPS antena is located on
TAB Filters
the top of combine harvesters or in terrain with slopes.
Usually it is recommended mount the GPS antenna on the nose of the tractor.
This is the zone with higher sensibility to the corrections. With this
configuration it is not needed an IMU
IMU, additionally to correct the slope of the terrain also add sensibility when
the vehicle rotates.

If activated you should include IMU ID on the configuration file

------
UIDIMU:6rnfpd
This UID is known with Tinkerforge software.
Advanced control options. Filters.

Tab Filters...

With the imu installed we can select the following parameters:

· Tare Roll: With this option we set a 0 tilt angle.

· Fusion Roll: It set the tilt correction percentage, typical 0.2-1.2

· FIR: digital filter for tilt signal. Category 50,60,70,80. We filter the
tilt noise due to the terrain. Thi bigger the softer signal.

. Positon Filter: Filter the roll 1Hz noise ( Balancing)

Advanced control options. Geometry.

TAB Vehicle geometry

All vehicle distanes are in meters.(todas ellas en metros).

· b: Rear axle-Forward axle distance.

· d: Rear axle antenna distance

· h: Antenna height

· eAntena: antena eccentricity. Positive wheter right displaced,

negative left displaced.
 Advanced control options. Headland.
TAB Headland

Autorot allows rotate the vehicle in headlands automatically.

It simplifies the operator work.
We define with the parameter the path to follow.
The electrical actuator requires a time for approaching to the goal line. The path to follow may be an arch or a bulb. It depends
on the turn radius of the vehicle and the width of the implement., the number of swath to jump.

The best performance is obtained with arch type paths and executing it at moderate speed.
Advanced control options. Headland.
TAB Headland

· ATMaxAngle: AutoTurn Max Angle, theoretical angle of the trajectory.. Typical vales 20-22 degrees. With the C
option a perfect arch is calculated as trajectory.
· OffsetAT: Offset de Auto Turn, distance from the outer side of the field to the trigger line for autorot.
·LERotation: Deprecated.

·dGap: Gap for adjunt the autorot entrance.. Typical ..2-0.5 meters..

· stanleyTime: time that preserve autorot algorithm running after auto turn has been finished.Typical: 0.0-0.5 seg.

· ATLimitAngle: Maximun allowed real angle. It used to be 10 degree more than ATMaxAngle.
Advanced control options. Headland.
TAB Headland...

· nARotation: Point of the curve when finish the autorot guidance curves. Typical 2-3.

· aCurvaRot: meters of look ahead for calculating autorot distance error and angle error.

· kED: Gain of lateral error. Typical 0.6.

· kEA: Gain of angle error. Typical 0.3

· OffsetC: Number of times that ExtraContour is painted when booms is activated.

· warningHeadland: deprecated.
Advanced control options. Contour.
TAB Contour

· Confirm record: with this option activated, appears a panel

for recording or not the contour recorded.
· Record curve in contour: Record a curve pattern when you
are recording a contour.

· Radius: Radius of the contour finish point.

 Operation screen. Files
The tree of files is organized in:

Client
Field
Contour
Pattern
Work1
Work2 * Exists a default Client that is named Cerea
Work3 * Exists a default Field that is named Cerea
…..

Patterns are associated to the field and are loaded automatically when you open a filed.
Contour is also associated to the field. .
Operation screen. Files
If you push on the left main screen zone.

· In this screen it is showed

Current work, as: name of current
Client (Cerea by default), name of
the field Field ( Cerea by default),
and name of the Field Job
Operation screen. Files
Pushing.

We navigate to the new file creation menu.

We can create or select:client, field, with list menus for selecting existing clients of fields.Pushing + we can add
new Clients and Fields.

· File: this is the name of the file where we are going to record
the path. The prosed name is composed by date_implement.

It is possible to change the default name writing directly on the

screen.
Operation screen. Files
Pushing

We access to a menu where it is

possible to rename the file.
 Operation screen. Files
Pushing

We accesss to the load menu. We can select an

existing Client and Field for selecting an existing
work.
From Work we select the job ( painted file)

From Contour and Load Dose we can load contours or dose maps prepared previously.
Operation screen. Files

Pushin

We can delete the Clients and Fields that are recorded

previously. It is not allowed to delete the current place
of work. Also is forbidden to delete the defaults
Client/Field names Cerea.
Operation Screen. Tools
Pushing on the left area of main screen.

We access to the tools panel.

 Operation Screen. Tools
Pushing

We can selecet the contours recorded inside the Fields of

the current Client. We can select one of them..

Selection is made automatically if we center the vehicle.r

Vehículo (opción por defecto) cuando el vehículo está
cerca de un contorno.
Also we can drag and select other contour.
Whether we accept the selection , explorer will send
cerea the info for loading automatically contour and
patterns of the field.
Operation Screen. Tools
By pushing

It opens a panel that allows measure distance since we

push until the next push of the button. .
Operation Screen. Tools
Pushing
We can select a super-scheme for autorotation.:

Alternate

We establish the autoturn option as Alternate Then we should select the

first turn, the software will automatically select the next turn when the vehicle
reach the headland.. (For width greater than 12m it is recommended jump
some swath ).

Circles

This establish the auto turn option as Circles like the figure below.
Operation Screen. Tools
Pushing

We can add vehicles pushing + or delete pushing -. Then, for selecting the desired vehicle we push
the select button.

Pushing

This option allows to pause the parallel curve calculation when you are working in a curve pattern.
 Operation Screen. Tools

Pushing

This option allows to paint color plots with the variables speed, altitude and
external parameter, We can establish the upper and lower desired ranges.
 Operation Screen. Tools
Pushing

With a contour recorded we can establish a point for centering the contour or dose map with respect to
the reference point.For centering we will push -><-. Also we can go step by step with the buttons
“N,S,E,W”.

· Undo: Allows to undo the translation “P”.

· Autorot exclusion: With a contour we can select a zone of it that excludes

the auto rotation trigger. Record button will preserve the points selected for
other session..
Operation Screen. Pattern management.

· Patterns are the target lines or curves.

They can be recorded ( ab rect, ab curve , pivot), also renamed and
select between several.
When we create a pattern the default name is composed by a letter (
Rect,Curve,Pivot ) plus the time.

Pushing on the main screen on a pattern appears the selectable menu.

· With double click or selecting it the selected patterns will be the current
pattern. With this menu it is also possible to record a re-centered abrect
pattern.
Operation screen. Patterns.

Pushing the button of current pattern we can create a new one with its
parameters.
Operation screen. Patterns.
“D” set the displacement of the guide line each time we push the left right
TAB AB-Rect
arrows.

· bplus Auto grouped: It means that each time we push auto, the software
will do two operations, re-center the guideline and push the auto option.

· Auto+M: This option will coordinate the paint on screen with the auto
option.

· Auto Auto: is a shortcut for the auto auto option explained previously.
Operation screen. Patterns.
TAB AB-curve This is a complex pattern that requires a lot of calculation
effort. Parameters are

- Distance:Distance in meters of the points in the curve.

- Parallels: Number of parallels that will be calculated

each time.

- Number of swaths: It will pause the calculation when

we are far from the group of parallels.
Operation screen. Patterns.

TAB ABC-Pivot

D value is the same than AB Rect.

Pivot correction is a mandatory option for the correct

performance.
Operation screen. Patterns.
TAB Two directions
A panel will appear on the main screen with a button “90”,
This will create a perpendicular pattern to the current pattern.
Operation screen. Patterns.
Pattern underground irrigation Parameters of the underground irrigation system are.

- A: defines the width.

- NH: Number of rows.
- B: distance of rows.
- S1: Tolerance between the first row and irrigation line..

After introducing the input parameter we push Calculate.

The software will calculate the number of threads that enters the
overlap and three distances for jumping between lines of irrigation.
Operation screen. Patterns.
We define the AB Irrigation line with a standard AB Line pattern.

· D1: is the needed jump between the irrigation line and the first guidance line

· D2: Is the displacement needed in the last guidance line toward the center of the irrigation “street”

· D3: is the jump between the last swath and the next swath in a new irrigation street.
Operation screen. Patterns.
TAB Plants

- D plants: Establish the distance between trees

- tAdvanced : needed time for having into account the

delay of the tree plant operation.
- D value is a value for helping in the positioning
procedure. It allow to displace the plant lines.
Operation screen. Patterns.
TAB Plants... - The calibration procedure is:

Plant two lines a constant velocity with

tAdvanced=0, measure the discrepance.

Introduce the parameters and it will

calculate the tAdvanced needed for the
correct planting.

-
Visual guidance.
· Visual guidance it is used for fertilizing and spraying.
Usually the field is rounded and then we make several lines or
curves.

· When we round the field with the contour option pushed, the
contour area will be available at Info button.
Visual guidance
We will drive (Blue pattern) without overlap the worked area.
By the way, we could use also guidelines. We should mark an A
point a B point and drive over this line.
 Autosteer.
Autosteer is a function that drives the tractor over the
guideline with the help of an electric motor.
Autosteer is a robot, it’s goal is to drive the vehicle
over the line. The XTE error on screen is the robot
error.
This is not the error on the floor. The only way for
knowing this is to measure it on the floor.
A Cerea Autosteer tuned, in uniform field,at 8-9 kmh,
should give a XTE between -3 - +3 cm, being the
likelihood value 0cm
The antenna precision, being Novatel Ag-Star l, with
DGPS and glide activated should give a pass to pass
error of 10-15 cm
The measure period should be 15-20 minutes.
 Autoguiado
If we have at least Edge mobile coverage we can use
RTKNavi for connecting a public or private RTK base
station.
With this Open Source Software we can obtain an
RTK L1 solution. The precision depends on the
BaseLine, number of satellites available.
Our measured precision is 5 cm pass to pass error
with public base stations located less than 10km of our
position.
When we use a twin antenna for base and we are less
than 10km the error may be decreased to 2.5 cm year
to year.
 Autosteer

Also, we can plug a L1/L2 antenna for obtaingn a year Autosteer tricks:
to year error of 2.5cm with public base at 10km or
more. There is antennas of this type in the market. - Autosteer robot should be activated with the
vehicle in movement, in order to get a correct
Abstract, We have an antenna error plus a robot error..
orientation.
For example, an ag-star DGPS egnos we could have in a worst
case
- Autosteer could oscillate, decreasing the
+15+3 o -15-3
Guidance aggressiveness could fix this problem
For example with a hemisphere A325 double frecuency
+2.5+3, -2.5-3.
- Autosteer has been designed for antennas
delivering 10Hz data at 200m/s until 25 kmh.
Anexo. Versión 288_33_91_3X

With this panel you

have access to the
main apps.

You can change the

rouhtes in Tools>
Routes. ( only
available in spanish)
Anexo. Versión 288_33_91_3X

In this panel appears

the Implement button
with the vehicle name.
Anexo. Versión 288_33_91_3X

With the connect button you can

choose where cerea should
connect. Autonomous directly
with the antenna, and with
RTKnavi

With the scan button we can see

what hardware is connected to
the computer.

IMU unit it is detected if it has

been configured previously.
Anexo. Versión 288_33_91_3X

Auto Cin and Auto Cout allows

activate and deactivate auto steer
when we are DCin an DCout
distance from the contour gray
line.

XteAlam activate an alarm if the

vehicle goes in reverse or if xte is
between the expresed tolerance
xtemin and xtemax.
Anexo. Versión 288_33_91_3X
In the conection panel we can
stablish the output port for Button
and CT ( autobooms control)
Anexo. Versión 288_33_91_3X
En la pantalla de filtros, debemos:

Activar EKF si tenemos IMu y

queremos guiado Marcha atrás.

Desactivarlo para el guiado

clásico.

Se activan automáticamente
otros valores.

Los demás valores sólo los debe

tocar un técnico..
Anexo. Versión 288_33_91_3X
In ABRect, it is posible to
introduce overlap ( solape)

If you put 0.5, the overlap will be

0.5 m in each side.