WO2014105927A1

WO2014105927A1 - Using a virtual boom to steer agricultural equipment along the edge of worked/unworked areas

Info

Publication number: WO2014105927A1
Application number: PCT/US2013/077752
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jacob VANBERGEIJK; Kenneth WAGENBACH; Daniel Soldan
Original assignee: Agco Corporation
Priority date: 2012-12-28
Filing date: 2013-12-26
Publication date: 2014-07-03

Abstract

An agricultural machine includes an implement coupled to the agricultural machine, a steering control, a positioning system receiver coupled to the agricultural machine, and a control system comprising one or more controllers. The control system is configured to record worked and unworked areas in a field as the agricultural machine traverses the field. The worked and unworked areas of the field are associated with one or more logical sections of a virtual boom having a plurality of logical sections. Steering commands are proved to the steering control based on an edge between two of the plurality of logical sections.

Description

USING A VIRTUAL BOOM TO STEER AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT ALONG THE

EDGE OF WORKED/UNWORKED AREAS

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority to copending U.S. provisional application entitled,

USING A VIRTUAL BOOM TO STEER AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT ALONG THE EDGE OF WORKED/UNWORKED AREAS," having serial number 61/746,745, filed December 28, 2012, which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure is generally related to agriculture technology, and, more particularly, computer-assisted farming.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Recent efforts have been made to automate or semi-automate farming

operations. Such efforts serve not only to reduce operating costs but also improve working conditions on operators and reduce operator error, enabling gains in operational efficiency and yield. For instance, agricultural machines may employ a positioning system to reduce operator fatigue and costs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. [0005] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram that illustrates an example agricultural machine in which an embodiment of a virtual boom system is implemented.

[0006] FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates in overhead view an embodiment of a virtual boom method during field traversal by an agricultural machine.

[0007] FIG. 3A is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a virtual boom system.

[0008] FIG. 3B is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a controller for the virtual boom system of FIG. 3A.

[0009] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram that illustrates an example embodiment of a virtual boom method.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Overview

[0010] In one embodiment, an agricultural machine, comprising: an implement coupled to the agricultural machine; a steering control; a positioning system receiver coupled to the agricultural machine; and a control system comprising one or more controllers, the control system configured to: record worked and unworked areas in a field as the agricultural machine traverses the field; associate the worked and unworked areas of the field with one or more logical sections of a virtual boom having a plurality of logical sections; and provide steering commands to the steering control based on an edge between two of the plurality of logical sections.

Detailed Description

[001 1] Certain embodiments of virtual boom systems and methods are disclosed that enable automated control of steering operations for an agricultural machines through the use of a virtual boom as a sensor to detect a boundary between worked and unworked areas of a field. In one embodiment, the virtual boom system comprises a positioning system receiver (e.g., GNSS, GPS, etc.) and a control system comprising one or more controllers, the control system configured to record data about areas of a field that have been worked and unworked, and based on location data from the positioning system receiver, generate a virtual boom that is logically sectioned in a manner that each section reveals the state or status of the field (e.g., worked or unworked). For instance, in one embodiment, one of the controllers of the control system may provide workstate change commands (herein, also referred to merely as commands) to one or more logical sections on the virtual boom. These commands may also be received by another controller of the control system to generate steering commands based on the commands to the logical sections of the virtual boom. The steering commands are provided to a steering control, explained further below, which causes the agricultural machine to maneuver in accordance with the steering commands.

] Viewing from a higher-level perspective, an edge between a logical section corresponding to a worked area and a logical section corresponding to a non-worked area is aligned with the boundary between the worked and unworked area. The control system uses the edge (e.g., based on the commands to the logical sections, or in some embodiments, based on the work state of the logical sections) to provide steering commands to a steering control (e.g., a hydraulic pump, a motor, or other actuating devices) based on the location of edge (and hence based on the boundary between worked and unworked areas). For instance, navigation of the agricultural machine may be based on maintaining alignment of an edge of a coupled implement (e.g., header, towed planter, or sprayer, etc.) with the edge of the virtual boom, enabling the agricultural machine to maintain an efficient traversal of the field without unintended overlap (or underlap), or to minimize the amount of overlap or underlap, in farming operations.

] Digressing briefly, the recording of data corresponding to a worked area is typically the responsibility of a real-time mapping application running on an on-board computer mounted in the agricultural machine. For application-type equipment, such as planters, the on-board computers commonly use the coverage data to control the work state (e.g., the application of products is controlled through the determination of whether the equipment is located in a worked or an unworked area of the field). In certain embodiments of virtual boom systems, instead of controlling the work state, real-time mapping functionality of common, off-the-shelf on-board computers may be used for purposes of steering the agricultural machine.

[0014] Having summarized certain features of virtual boom systems of the present disclosure, reference will now be made in detail to the description of the disclosure as illustrated in the drawings. While the disclosure will be described in connection with these drawings, there is no intent to limit it to the embodiment or embodiments disclosed herein. For instance, in the description that follows, one focus is on an agricultural machine embodied as a windrower, though it should be appreciated that some embodiments of virtual boom systems may use other machines, towed or self-propelled, and hence are contemplated to be within the scope of the disclosure. Further, although the description identifies or describes specifics of one or more embodiments, such specifics are not necessarily part of every embodiment, nor are all various stated advantages necessarily associated with a single embodiment or all embodiments. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents included within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Further, it should be appreciated in the context of the present disclosure that the claims are not necessarily limited to the particular embodiments set out in the description.

[0015] Note that references hereinafter made to certain directions, such as, for example,

"front", "rear", "left" and "right", are made as viewed from the rear of the windrower looking forwardly. Referring now to FIG. 1 , shown is an example agricultural machine 10 embodied as a windrower (also known as a swather or generally, harvester) in which all or at least a portion of certain embodiments of virtual boom systems and methods may be employed. One having ordinary skill in the art should appreciate in the context of the present disclosure that the windrower design and operation shown in, and described in association with, FIG. 1 is merely illustrative, and that other designs and/or variations in operation are contemplated to be within the scope of the disclosure. The windrower 10 shown in FIG. 1 is self-propelled, and is operable to mow and/or collect standing crop in the field, condition the cut material as it moves through the machine to improve its drying characteristics, and then return the conditioned material to the field in a windrow or swath. The windrower 10 includes a chassis or frame 12 supported by a pair of front drive wheels 14, 16 and a pair of rear caster wheels 18 (only the left rear caster wheel 18 being illustrated) for movement across a field to be harvested. In one embodiment, steering of the windrower 10 is achieved through a steering control (e.g., hydraulic pump, motor, etc.) receiving steering command signals to alter the direction of the windrower 10 (e.g., left or right), those signals provided from a control system as described below, the command signals causing the steering control to adjust the direction that the windrower travels (e.g., by providing more or less fluid to the steering control). In some embodiments, other well-known mechanisms for achieving steering functionality may be used, and hence the example depicted in FIG. 1 is merely illustrative. The frame 12 carries a cab 20, within which an operator controls operation of the windrower 10, and a rearwardly spaced compartment 22 that houses a power source (not shown) such as an internal combustion engine. An implement, such as a harvesting header 24 as shown in FIG. 1 , is supported on the front of frame 12 in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art. [0017] The header 24 may include a rotary cutter bed (enclosed in the header 24 and not shown) across the front of the machine 10 that serves as a mechanism to sever standing crops as the windrower 10 advances across a field. The header 24 may also comprise a discharge opening behind the cutter bed which serves as an inlet to one or more sets of conditioner rolls. As the operation of a windrower is well-known to those having ordinary skill in the art, further discussion is omitted here for the sake of brevity. Note that some embodiments may use different header types, such as sickle-type headers. In addition, though depicted as a front header for a windrower 10, some agricultural machines (of the same or different type than shown) may use a different type of implement, including those that trail the towing vehicle.

[0018] Referring now to FIG. 2, shown in overhead plan view is the windrower 10 with the coupled header 24 disposed in the front of the windrower 10, the windrower 10 also depicted with a positioning system receiver 26 located at the top of the cab 20. The positioning system receiver 26 may be configured as a positioning device based one or more of global positioning systems (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, among other constellations, including hybrids of these constellations). Though depicted in this example as centered with respect to the width of the cab 20 and proximal to the front of the cab 20, the positioning system receiver 26 may be located elsewhere on the windrower 10 as should be appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art in the context of the present disclosure. The windrower 10 is depicted in FIG. 2 as traversing a field 28, the field including a worked area 30 that the windrower 10 has already traversed and processed (e.g., mowed) and an unworked area 32 (represented with diagonal lines running within the boundaries of the area 32) that is yet to be processed by the windrower 10. One border or boundary 34 (running along the direction of movement of the windrower 10) is shown in front of the windrower 10 and aligned with an edge of the header 24 (e.g., the inside edge). At one side of the boundary 34 is the worked area 30 and the other side of boundary 34 comprises the unworked area 32. Also shown is another boundary or border 36, running in the direction of the movement of the windrower 10, and located to the side of the windrower 10. The boundary 36 separates the worked area 30 from the unworked area 32. One embodiment of a virtual boom system includes a control system 38 (shown in phantom) that includes one or more controllers. The control system 38 cooperates with the positioning system receiver 26 to generate a virtual boom, conceptually shown in FIG. 2 and denoted with reference numeral 40. In some embodiments, the control system 38 may generate one or more additional virtual booms, such as virtual boom 42. Referring to the virtual boom 40 in FIG. 2, with similar applicability to the virtual boom 42, the virtual boom 40 is logically segmented into a plurality of logical sections denoted with numerals 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. These logical sections may be of the same or, as shown in FIG. 2, of varying width, and in some embodiments, the virtual boom 40 may have a different quantity of segments. Somewhat similar to a conventional section controller in a planter with multiple rows, the logical sections 1-6 are individually commanded by the control system 38 to be either in a worked or unworked state depending on whether the corresponding section of the field 28 is worked or unworked, with each section of a given state (e.g., a binary state of worked or unworked corresponding to its location relative to the worked and unworked areas 30, 32 of the field 28). For instance, the control system 38 receives information such as dimensional data of the coupled header 24 (e.g., based on sensing identifying information of that header or based on operator input), as well as information pertaining to whether the windrower operations (e.g., mower operations) are in effect at any given time. Also, the control system 38 records the location or positional data (e.g., based on input received from the positioning system receiver 26) as windrower operations ensue when the windrower 10 is traversing the field 28. Such location data may correspond to the location and size of the virtual boom.

[0020] Based on one or more of the aforementioned information, the control system 38 can associate the logical sections 1-6 of the virtual boom 40 to the worked or unworked state of the field 28. In other words, the control system 38 can determine the boundary 34 between the worked 30 and unworked 32 areas of the field 28. In one embodiment, a controller of the control system 38 performs the association by issuing workstate change commands (or simply, commands) to one or more logical sections of the virtual boom. These commands to the logical sections are used by another controller of the control system 38 to issue steering commands to cause a steering control 44 (e.g., via wirelessly or wired signal command communications), shown in phantom, to adjust the steering direction of the windrower 10 to enable the windrower 10 (e.g., the inside edge of the header 24 on the left-hand-side of FIG. 2) to maintain alignment with the boundary 34.

[0021] In one embodiment, the control system 38 may use a single controller to perform these functions, and in some embodiments, two or more controllers may be used. In some embodiments, the control system 38 may translate (e.g., convert) the commands to the logical sections into steering commands (e.g., based on one or more of positional data, machine controls, etc.), and in some embodiments, the control system 38 may use the state of the virtual boom 40 (and one or more of positional data, machine controls, etc.) to derive the steering commands. Note that the steering control 44 may be located elsewhere in the windrower 10, the location shown being for illustrative purposes. In this example, the control system 38 achieves this accurate direction of windrower travel by ensuring the edge between the logical sections 3 and 4 is aligned with the boundary 34. Offsets in steering direction (e.g., to the left or right, as commanded by the control system 38 to the steering control 44) to maintain alignment with the boundary 34 and the edge between logical sections 3 and 4 are denoted conceptually by the dual-headed arrow located above the virtual boom 40.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 2, the logical sections 1 -3 are located within the worked area

30, and the logical sections 4-6 are located within the unworked area 32. In some embodiments, other edges of the virtual boom 40 may be used to guide the navigation of the windrower 10. For instance, the control system 38 may choose to align the inside edge of the header 24 with an offset within the worked area 30 to provide overlap in field processing. In this example, the control system 38 may achieve that objective by aligning the edge between logical sections 2 and 3 of the virtual boom 40 through the command signals to the steering control 44. Other variations of the manner of navigation to enable overlap (or underlap) of worked 30 or unworked 32 areas may be used and hence are contemplated to be within the scope of the disclosure. The virtual boom 42 may be used in similar manner for detecting the boundary 36 and maintaining guidance of windrow travel according to that boundary 36 (e.g., in lieu of or in addition to the other boundary 34), or in some embodiments, the additional virtual boom 42 may be used for estimating a trajectory of one or both of the boundaries 34 or 36.

[0023] Attention is now directed to FIG. 3A, which illustrates an embodiment of a virtual boom system 46. It should be appreciated within the context of the present disclosure that some virtual system embodiments may include additional components (e.g., other components shown in FIG. 3A or components not shown) or fewer or different components, and that the example depicted in FIG. 3A is merely illustrative of one embodiment among others. The virtual boom system 46 comprises the control system 38 coupled via a network 48 to the positioning system receiver 26, machine controls 50, and a user interface 52. The control system 38 may be configured with a single controller in one embodiment, or plural controllers in some embodiments. The network 48 may be configured as a wired and/or wireless network. For instance, in one embodiment, the network 48 comprises a CAN network, though not limited to a CAN network and not limited to a single network. The positioning system receiver 26 includes the ability to access one or more constellations jointly or separately. The machine controls 50 collectively comprise the various actuators, sensors, and/or subsystems (e.g., steering control 44) residing on the windrower 10 (FIG. 1 ), including those used to control machine navigation (e.g., speed, direction), implement (e.g., header or trailer) position and/or control, internal machine processes, among others. The user interface 52 may be a keyboard, mouse, microphone, touch-type display device, joystick, steering wheel, or other devices (e.g., switches) that enable input by an operator.

[0024] The positioning system receiver 26, as is known, may enable autonomous or semi-autonomous operation of the windrower 10 in cooperation with the machine controls 50 and the controller 38 (e.g., via guidance software residing in one or more controllers of the control system 38). The positioning system receiver 26 further enables a determination (e.g., via guidance software) of the virtual boom size and location, the implement location and/or dimensions, and machine location. In some embodiments, information about implement specifications and/or machine specifications (in addition to or in lieu of the information via the positioning system receiver 26) may be inputted via the user interface 52 (e.g., operator input), or detected via machine controls 50 (e.g., detecting a bar code, RFID tage, etc., that enables access to specifications of the implement and/or machine).

[0025] The control system 38 is configured to receive and process the information from the positioning system receiver 26, the machine controls 50, and/or the user interface 52. For instance, the controller 38 may receive input from the user interface 52 such as to enable intervention of machine operation by the operator, to provide feedback of a change in speed or direction and/or or an impending change or need or recommendation for change, and/or to receive specifications about the machine and/or implement. In some embodiments, the control system 38 may receive input from the machine controls 50 (e.g., such as to enable feedback as to the position or status or specifications of certain devices, such as a header height and/or width, and/or speed, direction of the windrower 10, among other information associated with machine and/or implement operation or specifications). The control system 38 is also configured to provide command signals (e.g., logical section workstate commands, steering commands, etc.) for use by the control system 38 and/or the machine controls 50 (e.g., steering control 44) and/or user interface 52 (e.g., to display or otherwise provide operational updates or alerts). FIG. 3B further illustrates an example embodiment of a controller 54 of the control system 38 (FIG. 3A). One having ordinary skill in the art should appreciate in the context of the present disclosure that the example controller 54 is merely illustrative, and that some embodiments of controllers may comprise fewer or additional components, and/or some of the functionality associated with the various components depicted in FIG. 3B may be combined, or further distributed among additional modules, in some embodiments. As explained above, the control system 38 may be configured with one or more additional controllers with the same or similar configuration in some embodiments. For instance, one controller may have responsibility for keeping track of worked and unworked areas and commanding the logical sections of the virtual boom, and another controller may have responsibility for modeling the agricultural machine (e.g., windrower 10 (FIG. 1 ) operations) and communicating the mower state of the cutterbar and the location and size of the virtual boom. The aforementioned segregation of functionality among two controllers is merely illustrative, and other segmenting of functionality may be used in some embodiments. For purposes of illustration, a single controller, controller 54, is used for the control system 38 to achieve the above and other functionality, with the contemplation of additional controllers in some embodiments. Further, it should be appreciated that, though described in the context of residing in an agricultural machine such as a windrower 10, in some embodiments, the control system 38 or controller 54 in this depicted example or all or a portion of its corresponding functionality may be implemented in a computing device located outside of the field. Referring to FIG. 3B, with continued reference to FIG. 3A, the controller 54 is depicted in this example as a computer system, but may be embodied as a programmable logic controller (PLC), FPGA, among other devices. It should be appreciated that certain well-known components of computer systems are omitted here to avoid obfuscating relevant features of the controller 54. In one embodiment, the controller 54 comprises one or more processing units, such as processing unit 56, input/output (I/O) interface(s) 58, and memory 60, all coupled to one or more data busses, such as data bus 62. The memory 60 may include any one or a combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., random-access memory RAM, such as DRAM, and SRAM, etc.) and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, tape, CDROM, etc.). The memory 60 may store a native operating system, one or more native applications, emulation systems, or emulated applications for any of a variety of operating systems and/or emulated hardware platforms, emulated operating systems, etc. In some embodiments, the memory 60 may store one or more field maps that were recorded from a prior traversal of a given field, or currently recorded, enabling autonomous or semi-autonomous traversal of a given field when activated. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3B, the memory 60 comprises an operating system 64, virtual boom software 66, and guidance software 68. It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, additional or fewer software modules (e.g., combined functionality) may be employed in the memory 60 or additional memory. In some embodiments, a separate storage device may be coupled to the data bus 62, such as a persistent memory (e.g., optical, magnetic, and/or semiconductor memory and associated drives).

[0028] The virtual boom software 66 may comprise one or more algorithms to create a virtual boom and manage its properties for the detection of a boundary between worked and unworked areas. For instance, the virtual boom software 66 comprises functionality to determine (e.g., measure) on which side of the windrower 10 (FIG. 1 ) the boundary between worked and unworked areas resides. In some embodiments, the virtual boom software 66 determines (e.g., measures) the location of the boundary between the worked and unworked areas relative to the location and/or direction of the windrower 10. The virtual boom software 66 determines the commands for changing the status (e.g., worked or unworked) of the logical sections of the virtual boom, and uses those commands to determine steering commands needed to optimize the operation of the windrower 10 based upon a location of the boundary relative to the location and/or direction of the windrower 10. The virtual boom software 66 also enables adjustments of parameters of one or more algorithms to field conditions and/or environmental conditions and/or operational speeds. The virtual boom software 66 may be a component of an onboard computer (which may be the controller 54), or in some embodiments, a separate component that communicates with the on-board computer. In short, the virtual boom software 66 enables a translation of the detected boundary to steering commands.

[0029] The guidance software 68 may coordinate inputs from the positioning system receiver 26 and output control signals to one or more machine controls 50 to enable guided traversal and/or performance of various farming operations on a field based on input from the virtual boom software 66. In some embodiments, the functionality (e.g., code) of the virtual boom software 66 may be embodied in the guidance software 68, and in some embodiments, the functionality (e.g., code) of the guidance software 68 may be embodied in the virtual boom software 66. As noted above, the software functionality may be distributed among more than a single controller 54 in some embodiments.

[0030] Execution of the software modules 66 and 68 may be implemented by the processing unit 56 under the management and/or control of the operating system 64. In some embodiments, the operating system 64 may be omitted and a more rudimentary manner of control implemented. The processing unit 56 may be embodied as a custom- made or commercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU) or an auxiliary processor among several processors, a semiconductor based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip), a macroprocessor, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), a plurality of suitably configured digital logic gates, and/or other well-known electrical configurations comprising discrete elements both individually and in various combinations to coordinate the overall operation of the controller 54.

[0031] The I/O interfaces 58 provide one or more interfaces to the network 48 and other networks. In other words, the I/O interfaces 58 may comprise any number of interfaces for the input and output of signals (e.g., analog or digital data) for conveyance over the network 48. The input may comprise input by an operator (local or remote) through the user interface 52 (e.g., a keyboard, joystick, steering wheel, or mouse or other input device (or audible input in some embodiments)), and input from signals carrying information from one or more of the components of the virtual boom system 46, such as the positioning system receiver 26 and/or machine controls 50, among other devices. [0032] When certain embodiments of the controller 54 are implemented at least in part as software (including firmware), as depicted in FIG. 3B, it should be noted that the software can be stored on a variety of non-transitory computer-readable medium for use by, or in connection with, a variety of computer-related systems or methods. In the context of this document, a computer-readable medium may comprise an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical device or apparatus that may contain or store a computer program (e.g., executable code or instructions) for use by or in connection with a computer-related system or method. The software may be embedded in a variety of computer-readable mediums for use by, or in connection with, an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions.

[0033] When certain embodiment of the controller 54 are implemented at least in part as hardware, such functionality may be implemented with any or a combination of the following technologies, which are all well-known in the art: a discrete logic circuit(s) having logic gates for implementing logic functions upon data signals, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) having appropriate combinational logic gates, a programmable gate array(s) (PGA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.

[0034] Attention is directed now to FIG. 4, which illustrates one method embodiment of a virtual boom system, and is denoted as method 46A. In one embodiment, the method 46A comprises recording a worked area of a field from an agricultural machine (70); associating the worked area of the field with one or more sections of a virtual boom having a plurality of logical sections (72); and providing steering commands to a steering control of the agricultural machine based on which logical section of the virtual boom the worked area is associated (74). In one embodiment, the associating involves the use of commands issued by the control system 38 to the logical sections of the virtual boom as a basis for providing the steering commands.

[0035] Any process descriptions or blocks in flow diagrams should be understood as representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process, and alternate implementations are included within the scope of the embodiments in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure.

[0036] It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure, particularly, any "preferred" embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the disclosure without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS At least the following is claimed:

1. A method, comprising:

recording a worked area of a field from an agricultural machine;

associating the worked area of the field with one or more sections of a virtual boom having a plurality of logical sections; and

providing steering commands to a steering control of the agricultural machine based on which logical section of the virtual boom the worked area is associated.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising recording an unworked area of the field and associating the worked area of the field with one or more remaining logical sections of the virtual boom.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising using the virtual boom to detect a boundary in the field between the worked area and the unworked area, wherein the boundary in the field is aligned with an edge between one of the logical sections of the virtual boom corresponding to the worked area and one of the logical sections of the virtual boom corresponding to the unworked area.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein associating comprises providing commands to the logical sections of the virtual boom to configure each of the logical sections as either a worked or unworked state, and wherein providing steering commands to the steering control is based on the commands to the logical sections

5. The method of claim 4, wherein providing comprises providing the steering commands to the steering control to cause an edge of an implement coupled to the agricultural machine to align with the edge of the virtual boom between the two logical sections.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein providing comprises providing the steering commands to the steering control to cause an edge of an implement coupled to the agricultural machine to overlap with one or more of the logical sections of the virtual boom corresponding to the worked area.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein associating comprises receiving location data from a positioning system receiver.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein associating further comprises receiving machine operation data.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein associating comprises receiving implement dimensional data, the implement dimensional data corresponding to an implement coupled to the agricultural machine.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein associating comprises receiving field conditions, environmental conditions, or a combination of both field conditions and environmental conditions.

1 1. The method of claim 1 , wherein associating further comprises associating the worked area of the field with one or more logical sections of one or more additional virtual booms, each of the one or more additional virtual booms comprising a plurality of logical sections.

12. An agricultural machine, comprising:

an implement coupled to the agricultural machine;

a steering control;

a positioning system receiver coupled to the agricultural machine; and a control system comprising one or more controllers, the control system configured to:

record worked and unworked areas in a field as the agricultural machine traverses the field;

associate the worked and unworked areas of the field with one or more logical sections of a virtual boom having a plurality of logical sections; and

provide steering commands to the steering control based on an edge between two of the plurality of logical sections.

13. The agricultural machine of claim 12, wherein the control system is configured to use the virtual boom to detect a boundary in the field between the worked and unworked areas, wherein the boundary in the field is aligned with the edge between the two of the plurality of logical sections comprising one of the logical sections of the virtual boom corresponding to the worked area and one of the logical sections of the virtual boom corresponding to the unworked area.

14. The agricultural machine of claim 13, wherein the control system is configured to provide commands to the logical sections of the virtual boom and provide the steering commands to the steering control to cause an edge of the implement to either align with the edge of the virtual boom between the two logical sections or overlap with one or more of the plurality of logical sections of the virtual boom corresponding to the worked area.

15. The agricultural machine of claim 14, wherein the control system is configured to provide the steering commands to the steering control based on the commands to the logical sections.

16. The agricultural machine of claim 12, wherein the control system is configured to associate based on receiving location data from the positioning system receiver, the location data enabling a determination of the size and location of the virtual boom.

17. The agricultural machine of claim 16, wherein the control system is configured to associate based on receiving machine operation data.

18. The agricultural machine of claim 16, wherein the control system is configured to associate based on receiving implement dimensional data, implement operational data, or a combination of both, the implement comprising an implement coupled to the agricultural machine.

19. The agricultural machine of claim 12, wherein the control system is further configured to associate the worked and unworked areas of the field with one or more logical sections of one or more additional virtual booms, each of the one or more additional virtual booms comprising a plurality of logical sections.

20. A system, comprising:

a positioning system receiver; and

a control system comprising one or more controllers configured to execute software to:

record data corresponding to worked and unworked areas in a field as an agricultural machine traverses the field, machine operations, and location data received from the guidance receiver;

associate the worked and unworked areas of the field with one or more logical sections of a virtual boom having a plurality of logical sections by providing commands to change the state of the one or more logical sections of the virtual boom based on the recorded data; and

provide steering commands to a steering control based on the commands to the the virtual boom