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Agricultural navigation systems
Our company presents a new kind of navigation systems for agricultural machines. The focus is on trajectory control where a Nonlinear Model Predictive path tracking for tractor and trailer system is presented. The agricultural objective is to drive so that swaths are exactly side-by-side, without overlapping or gaps. It is difficult to control the lateral position of the towed implement and to keep it close to the adjacent driving line. The adjacent driving line is recognized locally by using a 2D laser scanner. The sufficient accuracy requirement is at most 10cm lateral error at a speed of 12km/h. Our specialists are ready to help you to adapt the system to different kinds of agricultural machines.
In agriculture, there is a growing demand to increase the efficiency of machinery. This has led to increasingly larger machines and an increasing usage of automation. The challenge is that there are numerous different combinations of tractors and implements and they all have to work together. The ISO 11783 standard is a widely accepted standard for realising an information exchange between the tractors and implements.
There was the nesessary to reduce the workload of the driver and also to improve the efficiency and accuracy of field work. This was achieved by removing the human being from behind steering wheel and letting the navigation system do the driving. Because of their size, implements are more commonly towed these days. The navigation system should also take into account the towed implement.
The results of the field tests show that the accuracy of the navigation systems is within the given limits. The systems are also able to complete the field work without human intervention, including making headland turnings and avoiding electricity poles. The required information on combined navigation has been illustrated based on the case studies. It is possible to build systems based on the ISO 11783 standard and distribute sensors and actuators.