Deere & Company

Innovations in the mechanical design and functionality of cutting, collecting, or processing components directly interacting with crops or ground cover.

Utilizing optical sensors and image processing to detect, classify, and analyze crops, terrain features, or harvested material to inform automated machine actions and decision-making.

Technologies for efficiently collecting, conveying, separating, and managing harvested materials, including quality control, blending for desired parameters, and processing of biomass.

Dynamically adjusting machine parameters such as cutting height, travel speed, or power output in response to real-time environmental conditions, crop characteristics, or operational goals.

Systems and methods for enabling earth-moving machines to perform tasks with reduced or no human intervention, often leveraging predictive models, sensor fusion, and coordinated multi-machine operations.

Innovations in the mechanical design, modularity, and enhanced functionality of excavator attachments and implements, including multi-axis rotation, specialized grapples, and integrated compaction tools.

Techniques and components for improving the efficiency, control, and responsiveness of hydraulic systems in heavy machinery, often involving variable displacement pumps, pressure regulation, and flow control.

Methods and components for optimizing the performance, efficiency, and control of electric motors, inverters, and power converters within electric vehicle and hybrid vehicle drivetrains.

Addresses the design and arrangement of electric motors, transmissions, and associated power electronics (like inverters) to form integrated drive units for hybrid or electric vehicles, including specific components like busbars and electric brakes.

Integration of diverse sensors and machine perception algorithms to gather and interpret data about the machine's environment, its own state, and subsurface conditions for improved operation, safety, and mapping.

Electronic, hydraulic, or steer-by-wire systems that precisely control vehicle direction, often incorporating feedback loops, compensation, and adaptation for various driving conditions or vehicle types.

Systems for coordinating and controlling fleets of autonomous vehicles or machines, including task allocation, route optimization, and monitoring their operational status and progress.

Transmissions designed to provide a continuous range of gear ratios between fixed limits, often employing ball-planetary, toroidal, or belt-pulley mechanisms, and including their control systems for stable operation in various directions.

Design and management of battery packs and power systems for electric or hybrid outdoor agricultural and landscaping machinery, focusing on capacity, longevity, and modularity.

Technologies for safely and efficiently connecting, stabilizing, and maneuvering trailers, including hitch mechanisms, load sensing, and trailer-specific steering or stabilization.

Algorithms and systems for generating, optimizing, and executing trajectories for autonomous vehicles or robots to move through an environment, often involving obstacle avoidance, route validation, and goal reaching.

Methods and components for converting power into mechanical motion to drive pump mechanisms, encompassing electric motors, hydraulic actuators, and specialized motion converters like ball screws or solenoids.

Integration of electric machines, energy storage, and power transfer systems with gas turbine engines to enable hybrid operation, electric starting, or auxiliary power generation, improving efficiency or operational flexibility.

Algorithms and systems for planning and executing complex vehicle maneuvers, often involving cooperation with other vehicles or infrastructure, to optimize traffic flow, avoid collisions, or navigate challenging scenarios. This includes lane changes, cut-ins, and traffic congestion.

Systems designed to manage the temperature of multiple components in electric or hybrid vehicles, such as batteries, electric motors, power electronics, and the passenger cabin, often using shared or interconnected cooling/heating circuits.

Systems that employ imaging and image processing to automatically detect defects, verify states, or ensure quality control in manufactured goods, printed materials, or industrial processes.

Designs and components for efficiently supplying, collecting, and managing lubricants (oil, grease) within gearboxes and transmissions to reduce friction, dissipate heat, and extend component operational life.

Novel configurations and materials for gears and drivetrain components, including specialized profiles, self-aligning features, damping elements, and complex gear train arrangements like planetary, cycloidal, or strain wave gearing.

Methods and apparatus for performing non-standard or highly specific excavation tasks, such as underwater harvesting, material screening, or earth removal with structural reinforcement.

Techniques and hardware for autonomous systems to gather and interpret data about their surroundings, including obstacle detection, object recognition, and depth estimation, to inform control decisions.

Systems and methods for enhancing the safety of vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists) by improving their detection, prediction, and precise localization relative to the vehicle, often leveraging communication technologies and specialized markers.

Control systems for managing vehicle braking and maintaining a stationary state, including brake pedal actuation sensing, automatic brake hold functions, and coordination with parking brakes.

Innovations in the materials, manufacturing, and assembly of vehicle body components to enhance rigidity, crashworthiness, and functional integration.

Techniques for combining data from disparate sensor types (e.g., cameras, radar, mobile device signals) to achieve a more robust and comprehensive understanding of an environment or subject, often leveraging machine learning for interpretation and correlation.

Focuses on the structural integrity, housing, mounting, and physical integration of battery cells into robust and protected packs within electric vehicles, including manufacturing considerations.

Methods and systems for improving the quality of video streams, generating intermediate frames, or continuously locating and following objects within a sequence of images, even under occlusion.

Methods and systems for managing the interaction, communication, and collaborative tasks among multiple autonomous entities, or between autonomous entities and a central control system or users.

Design and integration of systems for storing and delivering alternative fuels (e.g., hydrogen, CNG, or specific fuel vapor management for gasoline) within the vehicle, including pressure vessels and specialized valves.

Methods and apparatus for improving the visual fidelity, resolution, or compression efficiency of video signals, often through advanced processing, up-scaling, or neural network-based filters.

Methods and apparatus for detecting objects and determining their three-dimensional position and orientation (pose) using imagery or point cloud data, often for navigation, surveying, or environmental understanding.

Techniques utilizing deep learning models like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) or diffusion models to create new images, modify existing ones, or generate synthetic data based on various inputs or conditions.

Systems that monitor a vehicle operator's physiological state, attentiveness, or behavior using in-cabin sensors and machine learning to enhance safety or personalize vehicle functions.

Mechanisms that convert rotational input (typically from an electric motor) into precise linear output motion, often employing screw-nut assemblies, ball screws, or cam-follower systems for various applications.