Effect of tractor travelling speed on a tire slip

The rural labor force has gradually been decreasing due to the decrement of the farm population and the increment of the aging population. To solve these problems, it is necessary to develop and study autonomous agricultural machinery. Therefore, analyzing the dynamic behavior of vehicles in an autonomous agricultural environment is important. Until now, most studies on agricultural machinery, especially on ground vehicle dynamics, have been done by field tests. However, these field test methods are time consuming and costly with seasonal restrictions. A research method that can replace existing field test methods by using simulations is needed. In this study, we did basic research analyzing the effect of the travelling speed of a tractor on tire slip using simulation software. A tractor simulation model was developed based on field conditions following a straight path. The simulation was done for three ranges of speed: 20 - 30 km/h (considered the normal travelling speed range), 6 - 8 km/h (considered the plow tillage speed range) and 2 - 4 km/h (considered the rotary tillage speed range). The results of the simulation show that the slip ratio and slip angle values tended to increase as the traveling speed range of the tractor decreased. From the simulation results, it can be concluded that at low tractor speeds, it becomes more difficult to control the vehicle path. In future research, simulations will be done with various work environments such as a curved path as well as with various friction coefficient conditions, and the simulation results will be experimentally verified by applying them to an agricultural tractor.