Performance Improvement of the Horizontal Control System for a Tractor Implement Using Sensor Signal from the Front Axle

Purpose: Many tractors have adopted the horizontal control system designed to maintain the three-point mounted implements in horizontal position when they are tilted sideways. The control system rotates the implement in the opposite direction to the inclination of rear axle of the tractor. However, the current control system was found to have poor performance in accuracy and response. A new control system was therefore developed to improve the performance. Methods: The new control system was designed to get the response of the implement to be started earlier by using the tilt information from the front axle of the tractor. By this approach, the rotation of the implement can be adjusted as required to make it horizontal at the expected time, even though the response is slow. The optimal values of the control parameters for the new system were determined by computer simulation and validated by a performance test conducted with an obstacle of 120 mm height on a flat concrete surface. The performance of the control system was evaluated by the root mean square error (RMSE) of the rotation angle of the implement with respect to the actual inclination of the rear axle. Results: The new control system reduced the RMSE of the current control system by 44.6% indicating a high performance improvement. The inclination of the front axle was easily obtained from a sensor mounted on the front axle of the tractor and used as input to the new control system. Conclusions: The method of getting the response of the implement to be started earlier by utilizing the inclination information of the front axle can be applied to improve the performance of the current control system at least cost.