Raking Machine Controller Adjusts Settings for Uniform Swaths
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Solution Overview
Problem
The variability in shapes of swaths formed during grass raking in agricultural fields makes it difficult to introduce them uniformly into roll balers, leading to unstable intervals of roll bales.
Innovation Solution
A working machine equipped with a traveling vehicle, a rake assembly, sensors, and a controller that uses imaging data to adjust settings such as clearance, distance, and rotation speed to form uniform swaths based on real-time and pre-work field conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If manual operation adjustments are used to adapt to varying grass conditions, then the raking machine can handle different grass amounts, but the swath shapes become inconsistent and difficult to introduce into roll balers
Solution Approach 1:
The system captures images of the grass state using imaging devices, analyzes the images to determine grass amount and distribution, and automatically adjusts raking parameters based on this feedback. This closed-loop control ensures consistent swath shapes while adapting to varying grass conditions, eliminating the need for manual adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The raking machine performs self-adjustment of its operating parameters by automatically analyzing imaging data and modifying its own raking settings. The system serves itself by making real-time parameter changes without operator intervention, maintaining both adaptability and precision.
2Manufacturing precision
If automatic adjustment based on imaging data is implemented, then swath shape consistency is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional sensors and controllers
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging device serves multiple functions: capturing grass state images, analyzing grass amount and distribution, and providing data for parameter adjustment. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized sensors, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving precise swath formation.
3Productivity
If real-time image analysis is performed to adjust raking parameters, then productivity is improved through automated control, but loss of time occurs during image processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system captures images of the grass state before raking operations begin. By having the imaging data ready in advance and performing analysis prior to actual raking, the system minimizes processing time during the raking operation itself, thereby maintaining high productivity while reducing time loss.
Data Source
AI summary
A raking machine includes a traveling vehicle, a rake coupled to the traveling vehicle to rake grass in an agricultural field and form a swath, a sensor to obtain a state of the grass or the swath in the agricultural field, and a controller to change, when the rake performs raking, setting information regarding the rake based on the state obtained by the sensor.