• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2011

Tractor implements are mainly utilized for the tillage operation. The proposed hydraulic system control was implemented to experimental apparatus. An implement control system for tractor using proportional valve was fabricated to improve the working efficiency. Hydraulic circuit included the proportional solenoid valve and on/off solenoid valve and so on. This paper shows results of a specification and design of an implement control system for tractor using proportional valve for automation. It was conducted to evaluate response characteristics of the designed implement control system under experimental conditions of various input flow rates. The results of experiments showd that the response characteristics was sufficient to be used as the implement control system.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.314-318
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• 2011

Arm-type implements of tractor are mainly utilized for the slope land operation. The proposed hydraulic system was implemented to arm-type implements of tractor. An experiment was conducted to evaluate response characteristics of the designed arm-type implement control system attached by three-point hitch of tractor at various conditions, such as engine speed, pumping rate and cylinder input flow. Effects of the valve response time didn't affect engine speed. The flow rate of pump and cylinder changed to the pressure loss. Also, the pressure loss was within 2 MPa and the response characteristic was sufficient enough to use as the arm-type implement system.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.328-343
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• 1993

To control depth of tractor implement, an automatic depth control system based upon microcomputer was developed. This system consists of data aquisition system to measure and to record travel speed, draft and depth of the implement, hydraulic system to control the implement depth and 3-point hitch to attach the implement. Program, written in C language, was able to select position control, draft control and mixed control. To analyze parameters affecting this system, the performance of the system was evaluated through use of computer simulation and verified in soil bin experiments. 3-point hitch was lifted by hydraulic pressure and lowered by implement weight. Dead band was one of the important factors which affect the stability and the accuracy of the system. The system became unstable when the flow rate was increased or when the dead band was decreased. The position control mode with on-off control showed the great ability to control the implement at the given plowing depth. With the draft control, the tractor load could be reduced, however the plowing depth was changed unexpectedly when the soil was hard and inconsistent. The mixed control could improve the performance of the system to maintain the plowing depth without overload of the tractor.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.31 no.1 s.114
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• pp.16-23
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• 2006

Depth and working load control is one of the most important technique in control system for tractor rotary implement automation. Keeping the depth consistent is critical to bring along crops and to improve the efficiency and quality of the following operations. Keeping the load of engine consistent is an essential factor for the efficiency of operation and engine protection of tractor. In this study we investigated the possibility of application of depth and working load control system for tractor using a proportional valve through field tests. Depth control was implemented by the ascent and descent of 3 point linkage for the change of setting depth. There were 4 mm and 5.2 mm control deviations for setting depths of 50mm and 100mm, respectively. Load control was operated appropriately by the ascent and of descent of 3 point link for the change of setting working load. The standard deviations between setting load and engine load were 171 rpm at 1.3 km/h and 164 rpm at 2.3 km/h tractor travel velocity. The results of experiment showed that the characteristics of response was sufficient to be used as the implement depth and working load control system for tractor using proportional valve.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.67-74
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• 2016

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.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.1123-1134
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• 2020

The goal of this study was to develop an accelerated life test for an implement working pump for an agricultural tractor. The field experiments were conducted to measure the load of an implement working pump during major agricultural operations such as plow tillage, rotary tillage, baler operations, and wrapping operations. The measurement system for an implement working pump load was constructed using a pressure sensor, the engine rotational speed, and the hitch pump displacement. The measured implement working pump load was calculated as an equivalent load for each agricultural operation using the Palmgren-Miner rule, which is a cumulative damage method. The equivalent load was calculated using the total load data and peak load data when the total data included the operation of an implement working. The annual usage time of the agricultural tractor was applied to develop two integrated equivalent loads. The acceleration factor was calculated to develop an accelerated life test and was calculated from the two integrated equivalent loads, the maximum pressure, and the flow rate conditions of the hitch pump. In Korea, the warranty life of a tractor is 2,736 hours, and the time required for the test to guarantee the operational life of tractors was calculated as 7,561 hours. The acceleration factors were calculated as 453.6 and 38.3, respectively, from the total load data and peak load data. The fatigue test time can be shortened by 16.7 and 197.4 hours according to the result of the acceleration factors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.31-48
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• 1993

Economic background is discussed with consequences for tractor industry and tractor concepts. Particular reference is given to the question of frame chassis instead of block concept. Development trends of tractor components are analyzed for driving system (including four-wheel drive and brakes), diesel engines, transmissions, human engineering , hydraulics and implement control. Consideration is given to electronics and aspects of environmental protection as well. Expected further tractor design developments are summarized at the end of the paper.

• Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2003

An autonomous tractor requires not only automatic steering (automatic guidance) but also automated control of tractor functions and implement operations. Examples of tractor functions include engine throttle, transmission speed, and 3-point hitch position. Implement operations include tillage, planting, and cultivating. This article provides an overview of a map-based methodology used for the implementation of autonomous field operations of agricultural tractors. The procedure for developing autonomous field operation maps were presented, and several important issues in the implementation of map-based autonomous operations were discussed. These issues included combining field operation maps, position offset, and real-time sensing and update of field operation maps.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.301-308
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• 1999

Path planning for field operation of agricultural machinery is an indispensible part for precision farming or autonomous field operation. In this study, two algorithms (I, II) of generating a time-based shortest operation path were suggested to plan an optimal operation of an agricultural tractor-implement in a rectangular shaped field. The algorithms were based on modification of a minimum spanning tree algorithm, and applied for tractor-implement operations. the generated path was consisted of round operation and returning operation sections. The number of round operation was determined from the condition that a tractor can turn smoothly at headlands. The performance of the algorithms was evaluated by the calculation number for path generation and the total path length generated. Their stability was affected by the number of returning operation, but the algorithm II was considered to be more stable. In addition, the performances of the developed algorithms were compared with those of the conventional field operations at selected field sizes and shapes. The results showed that the algorithms could reduce field operation time greatly. For a 100m$\times$40m field, the reduced path length was 78m. The study also included an user interface program for implementing the algorithms and generating GPS coordinates that could be used in GIS softwares for precision farming.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.31-75
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• 2000

The tractor is the most important machine for farming keeping probably this position also for feeding the future fast growing world population. Band width of power and functions continues to increase worldwide, examples are given. Regarding the high developed countries, general farming demands as well as precision farming issues require closed loop control principles for the system "driver-tractor-implement". Progress in information technologies supports this trend, but comprehensive component and system developments are necessary to make the tractor ready for automatic or semi-automatic controls. The following technical highlights are, for example, discussed for Europe: hydropneumatic front axle suspensions, 50 km/h top speed, front brakes, electronically controlled multivalve diesel engines, automatic hydrostatic power split CVTs, load sensing hydraulics with proportional valves, improved cab and working places with "operations by wire" and more electronics on board than ever before.