Harvester Row Unit Shutdown Control for Empty Crop Rows
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing agricultural harvesters inefficiently manage energy consumption when harvesting crops in fields where certain rows have already been harvested, leading to unnecessary fuel usage and reduced operational efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A row unit control system with a controller that identifies the absence of crops along each row unit's path and terminates specific components like choppers, feed rollers, and chains to conserve energy, using sensors and GPS for precise location tracking and map updates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the harvester continues to operate all row units throughout the field, then harvesting coverage is maintained, but energy consumption increases unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
The header is divided into multiple independently controllable row units, each equipped with its own sensor and control system. This segmentation allows individual row units to be activated or deactivated based on crop presence detection, enabling selective operation that reduces energy consumption while maintaining harvesting productivity in areas where crops are present.
Solution Approach 2:
Sensors in each row unit continuously monitor crop presence and provide feedback to the control system. Based on this real-time feedback, the control system dynamically adjusts row unit operation, shutting down units that detect no crops and activating units that detect crops, thereby optimizing energy consumption while maintaining harvesting efficiency.
2Loss of energy
If sensors and control systems are added to each row unit, then energy consumption is optimized, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is designed to manage multiple row units through a standardized architecture where each row unit contains identical sensor and control components. This universal design allows the same control logic and hardware configuration to be applied across all row units, simplifying the overall system despite the added complexity of individual row unit control.
Data Source
AI summary
A row unit control system for an agricultural harvester includes a controller having a memory and a processor. The controller is configured to identify an absence of crops along a respective path of each row unit of a set of row units of the agricultural harvester. In addition, the controller is configured to terminate operation of at least one component of the row unit in response to identifying the absence of the crops along the respective path of the row unit.