Agricultural Vehicle Speed Control via Gear Index Estimation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Agricultural vehicles equipped with balers face inefficiencies due to small speed variations when returning to a desired speed after stopping, leading to undesirable travel speeds and reduced baling operation efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A speed control system that estimates speeds associated with gear index changes in a step ratio transmission and adjusts the gear index to minimize the difference between the target and current speeds, ensuring the vehicle operates closer to the desired speed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the vehicle operates in constant engine speed mode and uses step ratio transmission to return to desired speed after stopping, then the vehicle can resume operation, but the aggregate of small speed differences causes the vehicle to travel at undesirable speed (slower than desired)
Solution Approach 1:
The control system continuously monitors the current speed of the agricultural vehicle and compares it with the target speed. Based on this feedback, the system dynamically determines whether to increase or decrease the gear index to minimize speed differences and maintain accurate travel speed, thereby resolving the accumulation of small speed deviations that previously reduced baling efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the gear index of the step ratio transmission based on real-time speed conditions rather than using fixed gear settings. The control system evaluates estimated speeds for both increasing and decreasing gear index and selects the direction that brings the vehicle closer to target speed, enabling adaptive speed management that maintains productivity while improving speed accuracy
2Speed
If the vehicle upshifts through gears to return to desired speed after stopping, then the vehicle can accelerate back to operating speed, but this process causes speed to be slightly faster or slower than target
Solution Approach 1:
Before executing a gear index change, the control system calculates and compares the estimated speeds that would result from both increasing and decreasing the gear index. This preliminary evaluation allows the system to select the optimal gear adjustment direction in advance, ensuring that the vehicle accelerates or decelerates in a controlled manner to reach the target speed more accurately, rather than relying on simple upshifting sequences
Data Source
AI summary
A speed control system for an agricultural system having an agricultural vehicle includes a control system. The control system instructs an engine to maintain a constant speed, determines a first estimated speed of the agricultural vehicle associated with increasing a gear index of a step ratio transmission, determines a second estimated speed of the agricultural vehicle associated with decreasing the gear index of the step ratio transmission, instructs the step ratio transmission to increase the gear index if the first estimated speed is closer to a target speed than the second estimated speed and a current speed of the agricultural vehicle, and instructs the step ratio transmission to decrease the gear index if the second estimated speed is closer to the target speed than the first estimated speed and the current speed.