Hybrid combine harvester, and control method and controller therefor

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of agricultural machinery. Disclosed are a hybrid combine harvester, and a control method and a controller therefor. The harvester comprises: a hybrid system comprising a power battery and a range extender composed of an engine and a generator; an operation system comprising a plurality of operation components and a plurality of operation electric motors enabling each operation component to be driven by an electric motor; a traveling system comprising traveling wheels and traveling electric motors for driving the corresponding traveling wheels; and a control system comprising a vehicle controller and a plurality of electric motor controllers respectively corresponding to the operation electric motors, the traveling electric motors and the generator. The hybrid system supplies, in response to a power control strategy of the control system, power to corresponding electric motors in the operation system and the traveling system, so as to drive the harvester to travel and operate. The present application realizes a full electric-drive hybrid solution of the harvester, and avoids the problem of efficiency caused by multi-stage mechanical transmission of a traditional harvester.

Description

Hybrid combine harvester and control method and controller thereof

[0001] Cross-reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 202411099521.7, filed on August 12, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates to the technical field of agricultural machinery, in particular to a hybrid combine harvester and a control method and controller thereof. BACKGROUND

[0004] With the increasing demand for intelligent agricultural machinery in modern agriculture, traditional fuel-powered agricultural machinery is gradually unable to keep up with the pace of development under the new situation. Traditional fuel-powered combine harvesters use diesel engines to provide power, which is transmitted to various working components through multiple stages of mechanical transmission. The components are numerous, the transmission path is long, and thus the transmission efficiency is low, and it is prone to belt shedding and breaking and other faults. When the working parameters need to be changed, it is often necessary to replace the pulley and other operations, which is tedious and time-consuming, and cannot be accurately adjusted in real time, so the machine working performance is not stable, the oil consumption is large, and the carbon emissions are large. In addition, mechanical multi-stage transmission has a large delay in control response, and cannot adapt to the rapid response requirements of various intelligent control strategies.

[0005] Therefore, a hybrid combine harvester has emerged, but the current hybrid combine harvester is partially electrically driven, and many of its working components, such as the unloading mechanism, still rely on mechanical transmission mechanisms such as gear transmission, chain wheel transmission, and pulley transmission, and cannot solve the above-mentioned efficiency and performance problems caused by multi-stage mechanical transmission, and cannot adapt to intelligent control strategies for corresponding working components. SUMMARY

[0006] The purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide a hybrid combine harvester and a control method and controller thereof to at least partially solve the above technical problems.

[0007] To achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present application provides a hybrid combine harvester, comprising: a hybrid power system, including a power battery and a range extender composed of an engine and a generator; a working system, including a plurality of working components and a plurality of working motors for driving each working component; a traveling system, including traveling wheels and traveling motors for driving the corresponding traveling wheels; and a control system, including a vehicle controller and a plurality of motor controllers corresponding to each working motor, traveling motor and generator, and the vehicle controller is connected with the power battery, the motor controllers and the engine. Wherein, the hybrid power system provides power to the corresponding motors of the working system and the traveling system to drive the harvester to travel and work in response to the power control strategy of the control system.

[0008] In the embodiments of the present application, the working system includes a header system, a cleaning system, a threshing system, a straw chopping system and a grain unloading system. And for each working system, the working components and their corresponding working motors are as follows: the working components of the header system include a reel, a cutter, a header auger and a conveyor belt, wherein the reel is connected with the header auger, the cutter, the header auger and the conveyor belt are connected to a bridge motor as the working motor; the working components of the cleaning system include a fan, a cleaning sieve, a residue auger and a grain auger, wherein the fan is connected with a fan motor as the working motor, the cleaning sieve, the residue auger and the grain auger are connected with an intermediate shaft motor as the working motor through an intermediate shaft; the working component of the threshing system includes a threshing cylinder, and the threshing cylinder is connected with a cylinder motor as the working motor; the straw chopping system includes a chopper, and the chopper is connected with the intermediate shaft motor through the intermediate shaft; the grain unloading system includes a grain unloading device, and the grain unloading device is connected with a grain unloading motor as the working motor.

[0009] In the embodiments of the present application, the traveling system includes front wheels and rear wheels, and the traveling motors include front axle motors and rear axle motors corresponding to the front wheels and the rear wheels respectively, wherein the front axle motors and the rear axle motors cooperate to realize four-wheel drive or two-wheel drive of the harvester.

[0010] The second aspect of the present application provides a harvester control method, for the above hybrid combine harvester, and comprising: for harvesting operation, controlling the range extender to continuously run, and when there is surplus in the current power generation power relative to the vehicle load power, charging the power battery, and when there is fluctuation in the load of the traveling system or the working system, adjusting the charge and discharge of the power battery to fill the load fluctuation, so as to ensure that the load of the range extender is unchanged; and for grain unloading operation, closing the engine to provide the vehicle load power only by the power battery.

[0011] In the embodiment of the present application, the harvester control method further comprises: when the difference between the whole vehicle load power and the current power generation power is less than a first set threshold, only adjusting the discharge power of the power battery; when the whole vehicle load power is greater than the current power generation power and the corresponding difference is greater than a second set threshold, increasing the rotation speed of the engine and the power of the generator while adjusting the discharge power of the power battery; and when the whole vehicle load power is less than the current power generation power and the corresponding difference is greater than the second set threshold, decreasing the rotation speed of the engine and the power of the generator while adjusting the discharge power of the power battery.

[0012] In the embodiment of the present application, the harvester control method further comprises: when the rotation speed of the engine is increased, controlling the engine to operate in a high-efficiency power interval determined according to an engine characteristic MAP.

[0013] In the embodiment of the present application, the harvester control method further comprises: obtaining load change information of the working components in each working system, and adjusting the walking speed of the harvester in combination with the load change information and the current power generation power to ensure normal operation of the corresponding working components.

[0014] In the embodiment of the present application, the harvester control method further comprises: obtaining and according to the torque change information of the walking motor, the whole vehicle posture information and the whole vehicle power demand information, performing four-wheel drive travel control, two-wheel drive travel control or switching between the two for the harvester.

[0015] In the embodiment of the present application, the harvester control method further comprises, for scene transfer operation: controlling the engine to drive the generator to generate power to drive the walking motor to work at a constant rotation speed and power, and controlling the power battery to charge and discharge to compensate for the power fluctuation of the walking motor; or controlling the power battery to provide power to the walking motor only, and starting the engine to operate in a preset power interval to provide power to the walking motor and charge the power battery until the SOC (State of Charge) of the power battery is lower than a preset lower limit, and stopping the engine when the SOC of the power battery reaches a preset upper limit.

[0016] The third aspect of the present application provides a controller for a harvester, comprising: a memory configured to store instructions; and a processor configured to call instructions from the memory and capable of realizing any of the above-mentioned harvester control methods when executing the instructions.

[0017] By the technical solution, the harvester is powered by the power battery and the range extender, all working parts and traveling wheels of the harvester are driven by the motors, each motor has a corresponding motor controller, the motor controller cooperates with the vehicle controller to perform power distribution, and therefore, a hybrid scheme of full electric drive is realized, and the efficiency and performance defects caused by multi-stage mechanical transmission of the traditional fuel power combined harvester and the hybrid harvester with partial electric drive are avoided.

[0018] Other features and advantages of the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail in the following specific implementation part. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0019] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present application, constitute a part of the specification and are used to explain the embodiments of the present application together with the following specific implementation, but do not constitute a limitation to the embodiments of the present application. In the drawings:

[0020] Fig. 1 schematically shows a structural schematic diagram of a hybrid combined harvester according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Fig. 2 schematically shows an example functional structure diagram of the hybrid combined harvester of Fig. 1;

[0022] Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a harvester control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Fig. 4 is a flowchart of an example power control strategy executed by the harvester control method according to an embodiment of the present application; and

[0024] Fig. 5 schematically shows a structural block diagram of a controller according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more clear, the technical scheme of the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in combination with the drawings of the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the specific implementation described herein is only used to illustrate and explain the embodiments of the present application, and is not used to limit the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0026] It should be noted that if the application embodiments involve directionality indication (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, …), the directionality indication is only used to explain the relative position relationship, motion condition, etc. between the components in a certain posture (as shown in the drawings), and if the certain posture changes, the directionality indication also changes accordingly. In addition, it should be noted that the "power", "electricity", "energy" involved in the embodiments of the application can be understood interchangeably.

[0027] In addition, if the application embodiments involve "first", "second" and the like, the "first", "second" and the like are only for description purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying the relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features limited by "first", "second" can be explicitly or implicitly included at least one of the features. In addition, the technical solutions of each embodiment can be combined with each other, but it must be based on the realization of the ordinary skilled in the art, when the combination of technical solutions appears contradictory or unachievable, it should be considered that the combination of technical solutions does not exist, nor within the scope of protection claimed by the present application.

[0028] Fig. 1 schematically shows a structural schematic diagram of a hybrid combine harvester according to an embodiment of the application. As shown in Fig. 1, the hybrid combine harvester can include a hybrid power system 100, a working system 200, a walking system 300 and a control system 400.

[0029] Among them, the hybrid power system 100 includes a power battery and a range extender composed of an engine and a generator.

[0030] Among them, the working system 200 includes a plurality of working components and a plurality of working motors for driving each working component. That is, each working component is driven by a motor, for example, the working components mentioned below, such as the cylinder, the fan, the reel, the chopper, etc. are all driven by the motor. It should be noted that one working motor can be configured for each working component, or multiple working components can share one working motor, and the embodiments of the application do not limit this.

[0031] Among them, the walking system 300 includes walking wheels and walking motors for driving corresponding walking wheels. That is, the walking wheels of the harvester are also driven by the motor.

[0032] Among them, the control system 400 includes a vehicle controller and a plurality of motor controllers corresponding to each working motor, walking motor and generator, and the vehicle controller is connected with the power battery, the motor controller and the engine.

[0033] Further, the hybrid power system 100 provides power to corresponding motors in the working system 200 and the walking system 300 in response to the power control strategy of the control system 400, to drive the harvester walking and working.

[0034] Thus, the harvester of the embodiment of the application is powered by the power battery and the range extender, and all working components and walking wheels thereof are driven by the motors, and each motor has a corresponding motor controller which cooperates with the whole vehicle controller to perform power distribution. Therefore, the embodiment of the application realizes a hybrid scheme equivalent to full-electric drive, avoiding the efficiency and performance defects of the traditional fuel-powered combine harvester and the partially electric-driven hybrid combine harvester due to multi-stage mechanical transmission.

[0035] FIG. 2 is an example functional structure diagram of the hybrid combine harvester of FIG. 1. The implementation details regarding the hybrid power system 100, the working system 200, the walking system 300 and the control system 400 are further described below in combination with FIG. 2.

[0036] I. Hybrid power system 100

[0037] Referring to FIG. 2, the design of the range extender requires the engine and the generator to be directly connected in an integrated structure. This directly connected integrated structure eliminates the need for a clutch between the two, which helps to reduce the volume of the formed range extender. In addition, a clutch is provided between the engine and the power take-off shaft PTO, so that the power of the engine is input to the generator and through the clutch to the PTO, which makes the power of the engine directly input to the transfer case at the end of the PTO without passing through the reducer, and can avoid excessive transmission loss. Further, the range extender is not directly connected to the power battery, but is directly connected to the high-voltage power distribution system to distribute the output power to the power battery and each motor through the high-voltage power distribution system. Based on this design of the range extender, the harvester of the example directly connects the engine and the generator without a clutch, which on the one hand can directly start the engine by reverse dragging the engine through the range extender, and on the other hand the range extender is always working according to the power demand, and then the energy-saving control program can be used to coordinate the output of the range extender and the power battery, to ensure that the SOC of the power battery is within the preset range, to realize reasonable and effective energy distribution from multiple power sources to multiple target loads, to effectively reduce the load and power of the power battery, and to improve the service life of the power battery. In the example power control strategy, when the engine load exceeds the preset value, the power battery will discharge to make up for the power output of the engine, so as to maintain the stability of the engine load and save fuel consumption.

[0038] Therefore, the hybrid power system 100 in the embodiment of the present application directly connects the engine and the generator, and can directly start the engine through the range extender to reverse the engine, thereby simplifying the starting structure, facilitating the operation, and reducing the cost. In addition, the hybrid power system 100 uses the power battery and the range extender to complement each other to realize reasonable and effective energy distribution of multiple power sources to multiple target loads, thereby effectively reducing the load and power of the power battery, improving the service life of the power battery, and reducing the fuel consumption and carbon emission of the whole machine. In addition, the hybrid power system 100 can also balance the endurance and energy saving of the whole machine.

[0039] II. The work system 200.

[0040] In the example, with reference to FIG. 2, the work system 200 includes a header system, a cleaning system, a threshing system, a straw chopping system, and a grain unloading system. For each work system, the work components and the corresponding work motors are as follows:

[0041] 1) The work components of the header system include a beater, a cutter, a header auger, and a conveyor belt, wherein the cutter, the header auger, and the conveyor belt are collectively referred to as a header in FIG. 2, the beater is connected to the header auger, and the cutter, the header auger, and the conveyor belt are connected to a bridge motor as the work motor through a bridge.

[0042] 2) The work components of the cleaning system include a fan, a cleaning screen, a residue auger, and a grain auger, wherein the cleaning screen, the residue auger, and the grain auger are collectively referred to as a cleaner in FIG. 2. The fan is connected to a fan motor as the work motor, and the cleaning screen, the residue auger, and the grain auger are connected to an intermediate shaft motor as the work motor through an intermediate shaft.

[0043] 3) The work components of the threshing system include a threshing cylinder, which is simply referred to as a cylinder in FIG. 2, and the threshing cylinder is connected to a cylinder motor as the work motor.

[0044] 4) The straw chopping system includes a chopper, and the chopper is connected to the intermediate shaft motor through the intermediate shaft. The chopper is, for example, a chopper cylinder.

[0045] 5) The grain unloading system includes a grain unloading device, which is simply referred to as unloading in FIG. 2, and the grain unloading device is connected to an unloading motor as the work motor.

[0046] It should be noted that the work components and the corresponding work motors can be directly connected, such as the fan and the fan motor, or can be connected through a reduction box or a transmission box, such as the cylinder motor, the grain unloading device, and the like in FIG. 2.

[0047] III. The traveling system 300.

[0048] In an example, referring to FIG. 2, the walking system includes front wheels and rear wheels, the front wheels include left front wheels and right front wheels, and the rear wheels include left rear wheels and right rear wheels, and the walking motors include front axle motors and rear axle motors corresponding to the front wheels and the rear wheels respectively, wherein the front axle motors and the rear axle motors cooperate to realize four-wheel drive or two-wheel drive of the harvester, for example, to realize switching between four-wheel drive and front-rear two-wheel drive modes, to realize a balance between power and economy.

[0049] It should be noted that between the walking wheels and the corresponding walking motors, for example, the front wheels are connected to the front axle motors through the front axle and the gearbox, and the rear wheels are connected to the rear axle motors through the rear axle and the reduction box.

[0050] Through the above introduction of the working system 200 and the walking system 300, according to the structural characteristics and working characteristics of the hybrid combine harvester, for example, the threshing system, the threshing system and the walking system are both driven by motors, so that in combination with the power consumption curve of the drum motor, constant speed control of the threshing drum can be realized. And by adaptively adjusting the walking speed during operation and the output torque of the drum motor in real time, the operation efficiency can be improved and the drum can be prevented from being blocked.

[0051] Four, control system 400.

[0052] In an example, in addition to the above-mentioned whole vehicle controller and motor controller, the control system 400 can further include sensors and a high-voltage power distribution system, thereby realizing power control or operation control for the harvester. Each motor controller, referred to as an electric control in FIG. 2, is connected to the corresponding motor and the range extender. The sensors are used to collect the speed signal of the motor and the like, and send the signal to the motor controller and the whole vehicle controller. The whole vehicle controller is connected to the engine, the range extender, the power battery, the high-voltage power distribution system, and each motor controller.

[0053] For example, according to the set power control strategy, the whole vehicle controller calculates the real-time power according to the real-time speed torque signal collected by the sensor, and distributes the range extender power and the power battery power according to the power battery SOC, to ensure that the whole machine power output can meet the needs of each working motor, and to keep the power battery SOC within the preset value range; at the same time, the engine load is balanced, and the energy is reasonably and effectively distributed from multiple power sources to multiple target loads.

[0054] In this example, as shown in FIG. 2, eight motor controllers can be configured, denoted as electric control 1-electric control 8. Each motor controller responds to the strategy instruction from the whole vehicle controller to independently control each working motor and walking motor, which is conducive to realizing multiple control modes.

[0055] For the cooperation of the multiple systems shown in FIG. 2, for example, when the harvester generates a working load, the engine drives the generator to generate electricity, part of the generated electricity directly drives the header system, the cleaning system, the control system, the threshing system, the walking system and the straw chopping system through the high-voltage power distribution system, and the other part of the surplus electricity charges the power battery. When the load of the working system and the walking system fluctuates, the power battery compensates for the load fluctuation of the whole machine by constantly charging and discharging, so as to maintain the balanced load of the engine. By controlling the range extender through the control system, the SOC of the power battery is ensured to be always within the preset value range, so that the power of the power battery and the range extender is used to drive the walking system and the working system.

[0056] In summary, all working components (the drum, the fan, the bridge, the unloading device, the intermediate shaft, etc.) in the example are driven by the motor, the multi-stage transmission structure is reduced, and thus the energy transmission loss is reduced. Compared with the fuel vehicle, for example, the unloading device, in the traditional fuel vehicle, when unloading, in the idling unloading state, the engine is in a poor economic interval, and the throttle needs to be increased to increase the engine speed to achieve fast unloading, and the fuel consumption is high; after using the motor drive of the embodiment of the application, the engine power does not need to be changed when unloading, thereby effectively improving the unloading speed.

[0057] In this way, all working components and walking wheels of the hybrid combine harvester of the embodiment of the application are driven by the motor, the transmission system is simplified, the working efficiency is improved, the response speed is fast, and the overload capacity is strong. Moreover, each working component has a separate motor controller for control, so that the working parameters can be self-adaptively and accurately adjusted and matched in real time under different working conditions.

[0058] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a control method of a harvester according to an embodiment of the application. The control method is for the hybrid combine harvester described above, and is executed by the vehicle controller, for example. As shown in FIG. 3, the control method of the harvester can include the following steps:

[0059] S100, for the harvesting operation, the range extender is controlled to continuously operate, and when there is surplus power of the current power generation relative to the whole vehicle load power, the power battery is charged, and when the load of the walking system or the working system fluctuates, the charge and discharge of the power battery is adjusted to compensate for the load fluctuation, so as to ensure that the load of the range extender is constant.

[0060] S200, for the unloading operation, the engine is turned off, and the whole vehicle load power is provided by the power battery only.

[0061] It should be noted that the steps S100 and S200 are not limited by the execution order, and the execution order of the two can be exchanged.

[0062] The steps S100 and S200 belong to a part of the power control strategy executed by the vehicle controller, which makes the engine in the range extender work all the time in the harvesting operation, and the power battery continuously charge and discharge to maintain the engine load balance. Only in the low load condition such as the unloading operation, the engine can be turned off to avoid the engine running at low thermal efficiency and causing fuel consumption loss, thereby achieving the fuel saving effect, and also avoiding the deep charge and discharge of the power battery, prolonging the service life of the power battery. Moreover, a power battery with smaller capacity can be selected according to the above to reduce the cost. In addition, the control schemes in the harvesting operation and the unloading operation will be introduced in detail below, and thus will not be described here.

[0063] In a preferred embodiment, the harvester control method further comprises a power following strategy as follows: when the difference between the vehicle load power and the current power generation power is less than a first set threshold, only adjusting the discharging power of the power battery; when the vehicle load power is greater than the current power generation power and the corresponding difference is greater than a second set threshold, increasing the speed of the engine and the power of the generator while adjusting the discharging power of the power battery; and when the vehicle load power is less than the current power generation power and the corresponding difference is greater than the second set threshold, reducing the speed of the engine and the power of the generator while adjusting the discharging power of the power battery. The first set threshold and the second set threshold are preferably small values, and they can be the same or different.

[0064] In an example, when increasing the speed of the engine, the engine is controlled to operate in a high-efficiency power interval determined according to an engine characteristic MAP. That is, the speed of the engine is adjusted by using the engine characteristic MAP, and thus the power following strategy is realized as follows: the target speed of the engine is controlled by the vehicle controller, and the target speed is not only calibrated according to the high-efficiency point in the engine MAP, but also considers the high-efficiency interval of the range extender. Most of the time, the engine operates not only at a constant speed but also at a constant load. Only when the load changes greatly and the power battery cannot compensate for the load, the vehicle controller will send a control instruction to make the target speed of the engine rise or fall. For example, when the vehicle load power is slightly greater than the current power generation power, only the discharging power of the power battery is adjusted; when the load power is slightly less than the current power generation power, only the discharging power of the power battery is adjusted; when the load power is much greater than the current power generation power, the speed of the engine and the power of the generator are increased according to the more optimal point in the engine characteristic map; and when the load power is much less than the current power generation power, the speed of the engine and the power of the generator are appropriately reduced. In this way, both the thermal efficiency of the engine and the motor conversion efficiency are considered, and the fuel consumption loss caused by the fluctuation of the engine load is also avoided.

[0065] Further, in addition to the harvesting operation and the unloading operation, the harvester control method of the embodiment of the application further comprises, for a transfer operation: controlling the engine to drive the generator to generate electricity at a constant rotating speed and power to drive the traveling motor to work, and controlling the power battery to charge and discharge to compensate for power fluctuation of the traveling motor; or controlling the power battery to provide power to the traveling motor only, and starting the engine to run at a preset power range to provide power to the traveling motor and charge the power battery until the SOC of the power battery is lower than a preset lower limit, and stopping the engine when the SOC of the power battery reaches a preset upper limit. The control scheme under the transfer operation will be described below, and will not be described here in detail.

[0066] The above describes the power control strategy for the hybrid combine harvester for the harvesting operation, the unloading operation and the transfer operation. Fig. 4 is a flowchart of an example power control strategy executed by the harvester control method of the embodiment of the application. In combination with Fig. 4, the above power control strategy can be described as follows:

[0067] According to the SOC state of the battery, the charging and discharging power limit of the battery (for example, denoted as SOC_MAX) is calculated. When the SOC is high, the charging power of the battery is limited; when the SOC is low, the discharging power of the battery is limited. Then it is calculated whether the current power generation power is within the range required to maintain the dynamic balance of the whole machine energy flow (i.e. the whole vehicle load power), if yes, the current range extender power is maintained, so as to maintain the current engine load stability, if not, the next higher (if the current power generation power is low) or lower (if the current power generation power is high) working condition point in the working condition interval (determined by using the engine performance MAP) considering the engine and generator efficiency is selected.

[0068] Further, in combination with Fig. 4, a hybrid energy-saving control strategy can be developed for the hybrid combine harvester of the embodiment of the application, for example, taking the power consumption of each motor, the SOC of the power battery, the BMS charging and discharging power table, the engine MAP and the generator MAP as inputs, a dynamic battery energy management and range extender power control strategy is constructed. This strategy considers the SOC level, power demand, range extender energy efficiency curve, engine energy efficiency, etc., adjusts the charging and discharging of the power battery, and at the same time makes the generator and engine work in the high efficiency area, so as to realize the energy efficiency optimization of the whole system.

[0069] In addition to the above power control strategy, the harvester control method of the embodiment of the application also relates to the following anti-blocking control strategy, driving control strategy, kinetic energy recovery strategy, etc.

[0070] For the anti-blocking control strategy, the harvester control method further comprises: acquiring load change information of the working components in each working system, and adjusting the walking speed of the harvester in combination with the load change information and the current power generation power to ensure normal operation of the corresponding working components.

[0071] For example, in order to give full play to the advantages of electric drive, the motor power change curve (which reflects the power and torque of the bridge and the drum and the change trend, to monitor and predict the drum load) about the drum load change and the bridge load change (through the real-time speed and torque feedback of the drum motor and the bridge motor) is established, and the current power generation power is considered, and the walking working speed is adjusted in real time to prevent the drum from being blocked, so as to achieve maximum feeding capacity harvesting operation and efficient operation.

[0072] For the driving control strategy, the harvester control method further comprises: acquiring and according to the torque change information of the walking motor, the whole vehicle attitude information and the whole vehicle power demand information, performing four-wheel driving control, two-wheel driving control or switching between the two for the harvester.

[0073] For example, according to different working condition requirements, by monitoring the torque change of the walking motor, the whole vehicle attitude and the whole vehicle power demand in real time, the walking system can be switched to front two-wheel drive, rear two-wheel drive, or switched to front and rear four-wheel drive. For example, during harvesting, the walking system preferentially uses front two-wheel drive to meet better steering performance and energy saving. When climbing or the road surface is undulating, preferentially rear two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive is used to meet the demand for power performance. When driving on a flat road at low speed, preferentially front two-wheel drive is used to meet the demand for steering and energy saving, and when driving on a flat road at high speed, four-wheel drive is started to meet the demand for power performance. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present application can realize the switching of four-wheel drive and two-wheel drive walking modes, and realize the compromise of power performance and economy.

[0074] For the kinetic energy recovery strategy, for example, when descending or driving braking, the walking motor can appropriately supplement negative torque to reduce the braking distance and recover the energy in the braking process. When the combine harvester is disconnected from the main clutch (exits the working state), the drum with the largest power is braked by the drum motor, and this part of energy can also be recovered. The kinetic energy recovery strategy helps to reduce the braking distance of the harvester and recover the energy in the braking process to achieve energy saving effect.

[0075] In combination with FIG. 4, the control of the harvester control method of the embodiments of the present application on harvesting operation, unloading operation and field transfer operation is specifically described below.

[0076] I. Harvesting operation.

[0077] At the time of harvesting, the engine drives the generator to generate electricity, and the electricity is provided to the walking motor, the working motor and the power battery. The target power of the range extender is kept relatively constant by using the hybrid energy-saving control strategy, so as to maintain the engine load stable in the high-efficiency interval in the MAP diagram, and to achieve the purpose of saving oil. During harvesting, the front two-wheel drive is preferentially used for the walking system, so as to meet better steering performance and energy saving. At the same time, the load fluctuation of the working motor is flattened by the charging and discharging of the power battery, and finally the dynamic balance of "engine power = range extender power + battery power + walking and working motor power" is realized.

[0078] II. Unloading operation.

[0079] During unloading, the engine load is far below the rated value, and the engine thermal efficiency is very low. Therefore, during unloading, the engine can be stopped, and the power battery is used to drive the unloading motor to unload, so as to achieve the effect of saving oil. Alternatively, the engine can be boosted to the vicinity of the point of optimal thermal efficiency, and the engine drives the generator to generate electricity. Part of the electricity is supplied to the unloading motor to complete the unloading work, and the excess electricity is charged to the power battery.

[0080] III. Transferring operation.

[0081] During transferring, the engine, the generator, the power battery and the walking motor of the whole machine are mainly working. According to the engine power and the power battery capacity, the working state of the hybrid harvester during transferring can be two states.

[0082] The first state is that the engine runs in an interval with lower fuel consumption rate and higher range extender efficiency. The interval is pre-marked by the generator MAP diagram and the engine MAP. In the interval, the engine drives the generator to generate electricity at a relatively constant speed and power, so as to drive the walking motor to work. The power battery charging and discharging compensates for the power fluctuation of the walking motor, and finally realizes the dynamic balance of "engine power = range extender power + power battery power".

[0083] The second state is that the walking motor is completely driven by the power battery. Only when the power battery SOC is lower than the lower limit of the preset value, the engine is started and continuously runs in an interval with the lowest fuel consumption rate and the highest range extender efficiency. The interval is pre-marked by the generator MAP diagram and the engine MAP. At this time, the engine drives the generator to generate electricity to drive the walking motor, and the excess electricity is charged to the power battery until the power battery SOC reaches the upper limit of the preset value. The engine is stopped, and the walking system is completely driven by the power battery.

[0084] In practical application, the interval of engine operation is located in the overlapping interval of the lowest fuel consumption rate of the engine and the highest efficiency of the generator, if not overlapping, the interval of the maximum comprehensive efficiency is considered. When transferring, the walking system can be switched to front two-wheel drive, rear two-wheel drive, or front and rear four-wheel drive driving according to real-time road conditions. For example, when climbing or the road surface is undulating, the rear two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive is preferred to meet the demand for power performance. When driving on a flat road at low speed, the front two-wheel drive is preferred to meet the demand for steering and energy saving, and when driving on a flat road at high speed, the four-wheel drive is started to meet the demand for power performance. When braking and descending, the vehicle controller can request negative torque from the walking motor to recover the kinetic energy of the vehicle and achieve energy saving effect.

[0085] In this way, through the embodiments of the present application, the engine works all the time in the harvesting operation, and the power battery is continuously charged and discharged to maintain the engine load balance, without pure electric harvesting mode; in the low load condition such as unloading operation, the engine can be turned off to avoid the oil consumption loss caused by repeated start-stop process of the engine, and to avoid the engine running at low thermal efficiency, thereby achieving the effect of saving oil, and also avoiding deep charging and discharging of the power battery, prolonging the service life of the power battery; in the transfer operation, the power control strategy, the anti-blocking control strategy, the driving control strategy, the kinetic energy recovery strategy, etc. can be flexibly executed to ensure efficient operation, safe driving and energy saving effect of the harvester.

[0086] FIG. 5 schematically shows a structural block diagram of a controller according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 5, the embodiment of the present application provides a controller for the harvester, which can include a memory configured to store instructions, and a processor configured to call the instructions from the memory and capable of realizing the above-mentioned harvester control method when executing the instructions. In an example, the controller is, for example, a vehicle controller of the harvester or a separately configured controller.

[0087] The embodiment of the present application also provides a machine readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon for causing a machine to execute the above-mentioned harvester control method.

[0088] Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as a method, a system or a computer program product. Therefore, the present application can take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Moreover, the present application can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer usable program code.

[0089] The computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0090] These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0091] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0092] In one typical configuration, the computing device includes one or more processors (CPUs), input / output interfaces, network interfaces, and memory.

[0093] The memory can include non-persistent memory and / or volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) and / or cache memory, for storing, in general, data and / or program instructions. The memory can also include non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM) and / or flash memory, for storing, in general, static data and / or instructions that are not very likely to ever change. The memory can store software

[0094] Computer-readable media includes permanent and non-permanent, movable and non-movable media that can implement information storage by any method or technology. The information can be computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, phase-change memory (PRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), other types of random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technologies, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassette, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information accessible to a computing device. According to the definition herein, computer-readable media does not include transitory media such as modulated data signals and carriers.

[0095] It should also be noted that the terms "comprising", "containing", or any other variant thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, so that a process, method, article or apparatus that includes a list of elements does not only include those elements, but also includes other elements not explicitly listed, or further includes elements inherent in such a process, method, article or apparatus. Without more limitations, the element defined by the statement "comprising a" does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or apparatus that includes the element.

[0096] The above is only an embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. For those skilled in the art, the present application can have various modifications and changes. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the scope of claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A hybrid combine harvester characterized by, The combined harvester comprises: a hybrid power system comprising a power battery and a range extender composed of an engine and a generator; a working system comprising a header system, a cleaning system, a threshing system, a straw chopping system and a grain unloading system, and each working system comprises one or more working components and a plurality of working motors for driving each working component; a traveling system comprising traveling wheels and traveling motors for driving the corresponding traveling wheels; and a control system comprising a vehicle controller and a plurality of motor controllers respectively corresponding to each working motor, traveling motor and generator, and the vehicle controller is connected with the power battery, the motor controllers and the engine; wherein the hybrid power system provides power to the corresponding motors in the working system and the traveling system to drive the combined harvester to travel and work in response to a power control strategy of the control system.

2. The combined harvester according to claim 1, wherein: the working components of the header system comprise a beater, a cutter, a header auger and a conveyor belt, wherein the beater is connected with the header auger, and the cutter, the header auger and the conveyor belt are connected to a bridge motor as the working motor through a bridge; the working components of the cleaning system comprise a fan, a cleaning sieve, a chaffer and a grain auger, wherein the fan is connected with a fan motor as the working motor, and the cleaning sieve, the chaffer and the grain auger are connected with an intermediate shaft motor as the working motor through an intermediate shaft; the working component of the threshing system comprises a threshing cylinder, and the threshing cylinder is connected with a cylinder motor as the working motor; the straw chopping system comprises a chopper, and the chopper is connected with the intermediate shaft motor through the intermediate shaft; the grain unloading system comprises a grain unloading device, and the grain unloading device is connected with a grain unloading motor as the working motor.

3. The hybrid combine harvester of claim 1, wherein, the traveling system comprises front wheels and rear wheels, and the traveling motors comprise front axle motors and rear axle motors corresponding to the front wheels and the rear wheels respectively, wherein the front axle motors and the rear axle motors cooperate to realize four-wheel drive or two-wheel drive of the combined harvester.

4. A harvester control method characterized by, The combined harvester according to any one of claims 1 to 3, and comprising: for a harvesting operation, controlling the range extender to continuously operate, and when there is surplus of current power generation relative to vehicle load power, charging the power battery, and when there is fluctuation in load of the traveling system or the working system, adjusting charge and discharge of the power battery to fill the load fluctuation, so as to keep the load of the range extender unchanged; and for a grain unloading operation, shutting down the engine to provide the vehicle load power only by the power battery.

5. The harvester control method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The combined harvester control method further comprises: when the difference between the vehicle load power and the current power generation is less than a first set threshold, only adjusting the discharge power of the power battery; when the vehicle load power is greater than the current power generation and the corresponding difference is greater than a second set threshold, increasing the speed of the engine and the power of the generator while adjusting the discharge power of the power battery; and When the whole vehicle load power is less than the current power generation power and the corresponding difference is greater than the second set threshold, the engine speed and the power generation power of the generator are reduced while the discharging power of the power battery is adjusted.

6. The harvester control method according to claim 5, characterized by, The harvester control method further comprises: When the engine speed is increased, the engine is controlled to operate in a high-efficiency power range determined according to an engine characteristic map.

7. The harvester control method according to claim 4, characterized by, The harvester control method further comprises: Load change information of the working components in each working system is obtained, and the walking speed of the harvester is adjusted according to the load change information and the current power generation power to ensure normal operation of the corresponding working components.

8. The harvester control method according to claim 4, characterized by, The harvester control method further comprises: Torque change information of the walking motor, whole vehicle posture information and whole vehicle power demand information are obtained, and four-wheel drive travel control, two-wheel drive travel control or switching between the two is performed for the harvester.

9. The harvester control method according to any one of claims 4 to 8, characterized by, The harvester control method further comprises, for transfer operation: The engine is controlled to drive the generator to generate power to drive the walking motor to work at a constant speed and power, and the power battery is controlled to charge and discharge to compensate for power fluctuation of the walking motor; or The walking motor is controlled to be powered only by the power battery, and until the SOC of the power battery is lower than a preset lower limit, the engine is started to operate in a preset power range to provide power to the walking motor and charge the power battery, and when the SOC of the power battery reaches a preset upper limit, the engine is controlled to stop.

10. A controller for a harvester, characterized in that Comprise: a memory configured to store instructions; and a processor configured to call instructions from the memory and enable the harvester control method of any one of claims 4-9 to be implemented when the instructions are executed.

11. A machine-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The machine readable storage medium has instructions stored thereon for causing a machine to perform the harvester control method of any one of claims 4-9.

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