US Patent 9585309 Header height control system for an agricultural harvester

An agricultural harvester includes a chassis, a header carried by the chassis, and a header height control system. The header is movable in upward and downward directions. The header height control system includes an electrical processing circuit, a non-contact sensor and a contact sensor. The non-contact sensor is positioned to sense a crop canopy ahead of the header. The contact sensor is positioned to sense an actual ground position relative to the header. The electrical processing circuit is coupled with and receives signals from each of the non-contact sensor and the contact sensor. The electrical processing circuit is operable to predict an upcoming ground position based upon the sensed crop canopy and actual ground position.